Rusty's French Trip ... June 2011.

[Rusty]

Well, after a week back in Blighty I find myself with a bit of spare time to let you all know how it went A La Francais ... 9 blokes, with a whole mix of experience and ability, all ridden together before on anything from The Gtr, obviously, a Blackbird, a TDM 900, a GSXR 750, a CBR600, a Gs 1200 an Sv750 and a Verysys all down to France to cover about 1300 miles in 7 days at a decent pace with no agenda other than to have a good time. Routes planned with 2  main map readers and a bit of Sat Nav thrown in for good measure.
So it all started with a coffee at the Chunnel on a very wet morning 2 weeks ago .... off onto French soil only to find the rain even heavier and more persistent  >:(
The Rukka kit that I bang on about all the time was worth every penny as by lunch time there some very wet guys wringing out their gloves hoping that the weather forecast was going to improve , all with soggy crutches and feet swimming inside their boots .....
Bang out the first few miles on the motorway just to get going and then onto some decent roads on our way to Chateauneuf Sur Loir .. just south east of Gay Parry ... about 280 miles. By lunchtime the clouds were gone and someone had switched the oven on .... never have I seen such sodden kit dry out so quickly and the smiles return to the wet ones  ;D
The campsite was, for 8 euros, pretty good ... basic but clean and tidy with a lovely river down the side, which of course was a bit chilly but none the less had to be dipped into ....
We popped out in the evening for supplies and spent a very nice evening eating, drinking and talking bollox ..... what else do blokes do on holiday ?  ;D
We were all up early to bright blue skies and fresh pastries from the lady of the site, and with plenty of coffee flowing through our veins we were off to Ebruiel... about 180 miles. Decent roads no traffic and sunglasses as a "must" we were all enjoying the break that had been several months in the planning ... stopping for fuel I thought I could smell beer ??? " Don't be an arse ! " I thought and of course off we went ..... a little later at the next stop I went to get something out of the Top Box only to find the stubbies that I couldn't bear to leave behind the night before had leaked in to my kit ... nothing that couldn't be dried out but I was smelling of beer for a while  ;D
Another busy afternoon in the life of the local French town !!
All was going swimmingly ... the weather was great the locals were friendly and the bikes were ticking along .... until .... no ... only joking  ;D ;D
The next day was down to Beynac so we were well and truly into the trip ... about 100 miles east of Bordeaux ...so well south and deep so to speak !
We had been to this site a few years ago and it was just a lovely as we remembered ......
   
With the Castle up in the rocks and flags flying it was just like being at home  ;D
This was going to be a rest day for us ... up late, off to the pattiserie and then a bus trip to the canoe centre .... about 15K up stream. Buy your food and supplies, then float back down to the campsite as slow as you like ... about 4 hours ... stopping to eat and drink if you wish .... as you can imagine it was a bad choice .......
  Peace and quiet ruled the day ... just lovely !
When we managed to get back to the site after our adventurous kayak expedition we fell into the pool, which was decorated with some lovely French locals who thought we were all rather jolly ..... Down into town for steak chips salad and cold cold lager in the evening .... there was no way anyone was going to wake me in the night with their snoring after that lot  ;D
Our second day was very much harder ... ping pong, cards, and a walk to the local market to buy the tea .........

There can be nothing better than local fresh garlic sausage with cheese, batons, and wine to while away the late afternoon .... more snoring !!!  ;D ;D
Tents were unzipped to a very warm morning with not a cloud in site .... oh, do I have to get on that bike again and ride those fantastic roads to nowhere ??
This was going to be a bit of a long day ... about 300 miles up to Chanteloup, near Le Mans, .... again somewhere we had stayed before. The week previously it had been taken over by The Aston Martin Owners Club for their yearly bash at Le Mans so you can imagine it's top drawer ......
Just lovely ... huge place with hardly anyone there, a fully stocked bar with tents in the garden for evening shade  ;D ;D

We were by now heading up North towards the end of the trip but the weather didn't cool. Everything had gone well, I hadn't taken loads of stuff that hadn't been used and the bike had performed brilliantly.
Between the 9 of us we worked a system on the move that had done previously .... know who the front lead man is and know who is at the back ... those 2 stay the same all day ... when you get to a junction that is anything other than straight on the 2nd man,whoever that is, and of course it changes all the time stops and waits for everyone else to play catch up ... as the last man approaches, toot toot and he goes off to rejoin the group .. move up all you like or sit at the back it matters not ... it works well and everyone gets to change around within the ride.
Sadly it was time for this on the last day....
We arrived a little early and were able to board the next boat ......
Another trip done and dusted .... the Gtr was just amazing and I was truly staggered by it's ability to eat up the miles and hustle along all at the same time ... what a great bike  ;D The new 660 was great too ... I have only just registered it and unlocked the maps so next year it will get a proper outing .. this last week I took it along just to play with it.
There are many many more photos but I don't think the Forum will take it ! It was a truly great week with friends and good weather on a bike ... what more could a man want ?? ;D ;D

[fatharry]

Nice write up LR.....i too was in france this year...had a great old time, haven't quite got round to posting any pictures here yet.....but they are posted elsewhere on the web. Glad you had such a good time...a week away with the lads, is always a good chuckle ;D

[Lonewolf]

Rusty, thanks for posting the photos and doing the write up. Excellent account of your trip.

It'd be nice though and I'm sure NB wont mind if you want to stick some more photos on your post. Have you any plans for next year yet?

[Kevin]

Nice write-up thanks, looks like you had fun.

Kevin

[Lonewolf]

Rusty, I meant to ask, did you camp every night or did you have Guest Houses sorted?
Also get some more pics posted.

[Rusty]

Mr Wolf ... more pics posted just for you  ;D
We camped every night .... we were not going to book them but just turn up ....  I think in the end a quick E mail a few days before just to let them know we were coming type thing sufficed. We have never been turned away but then again it's never been THAT busy when we have travelled. i dare say that in August it would be a different story ! I would consider GH's if we were riding earlier or later in the year or perhaps if it was going to be 2/3 week trip ... no matter how good your kit there is nothing quite like a PROPER bed.  ;D