2023 European trip France / Belgium / Luxembourg / Germany

[Rynglieder]

This year's little European excursion has just ended, all over now bar washing the bike. It was a relatively short one this year, about 1700-1800 miles over 10 days. On the whole I enjoyed it but in truth there were some disappointments that pulled down the good bits. Oh, and I lost my trousers on the Autobahn...

Once again, the GTR1400 was selected from the garage as the right bike for the job, all of the hotels were booked around a month beforehand via Booking.com. For crossing the channel, I chose the DFDS Dover-Dunkirk ferry this time round; Yes, the tunnel is theoretically quicker but the return crossing by the ferry came in at £81.00 as opposed to £130+ for the tunnel. As one of the "economically inactive" chaps living off his savings, fifty quid is fifty quid, plus quite frankly after 200 motorway miles down to Dover I'm more than happy to rest my ar$e for two hours and get something to eat and drink.

The map shows a rough overview but there were a few more twiddly bits to it than it suggests.

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[Rynglieder]

Day 1 Home > St-Omer (278 miles)

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The motorway run was uneventful, broken into three chunks to feed my nicotine addiction and I arrived at the port well ahead of my 14:00 sailing. Motorcycles were first on and first off for this crossing and the crew took care of all of the tying down. Back in my working days I would have been up at the Crack Of Sparrows for an earlier crossing and the pushed into the continent for another couple of hundred miles, but now I'm not hemmed into the constraints of annual leave I can take a bit more time so found a budget hotel in St-Omer, just 40 miles in from the coast.

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The ride to St-Omer was off the motorways but was none the less somewhat flat straight and unexciting. I already knew that I was in for problems with the Gramin Zumo again though, I'd given up on sending any routes to it in total frustration with the Basecamp software, so I'd gone off with a printed list of addresses as waypoints with the intention of selecting them one at a time. The problem was that having got off the ferry I found France did not exist – if I wanted to chose a country beginning with F it would have to be Faroe Islands, Finland or one other that I had not heard of. Fortunately, it did seem to have some odd waypoints lodged in its memory that I had set earlier in the year so with being able to select that from "favourites" and some decent signposting, I got by.

Having arrived at a sensible time I checked into my adequate but soulless hotel on the edge of the Old Town and set about finding the cathedral and abbey ruins for my camera and a bar for two beers for the inner man.

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[pross]

Glad you had an enjoyable trip although trouser less you need to explain lol 😆👍

[Rynglieder]

Glad you had an enjoyable trip although trouser less you need to explain lol 😆👍

Thanks. It may take some time to write up, but I'll get there eventually 

[Rynglieder]

Day 2 St-Omer > Rocroi (150 miles)

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There were an awful lot of straight lines on the map again for today but I knew it was going to be more interesting. There were only about 150 miles planned as there were a couple of places I wanted to visit and the first of these was only a few minutes from the hotel. It was dry but there'd obviously been a bit of overnight rain as the bike was damp and needed a bit of a wipe over before starting out. Barely as my breakfast had settled and the oil got warm around the engine, I was arriving at La Coupole. To remind me I was back in France though they had arranged to resurface the road with the famous "Gravellons" so that last half mile was like riding on a pebble beach.

La Coupole is a WWII Nazi complex tunnelled into the hills and capped with a 71m diameter concrete dome and it was where they intended to build V1 Flying Bombs and V2 rockets for firing at London. There is a 400-metre walk through the tunnels and then a lift takes you up below the dome where an exhibition deals with the development of the bombs and rockets, the forced labour and concentration camps associated with the site and moves on to space exploration that evolved from the prototype rockets. It was a bit of a rushed visit as I was on a tight schedule for those with more time there is also a planetarium to visit. Annoyingly the sun was coming up behind the dome at the time so I haven't got a decent photo of it from my visit.

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Back on the bike again I was off the northern French countryside without much effort going into the steering except when encountering the road closures and long diversions that the French seem to love and followed up by a couple of kilometres of slippery Gravellons. Just as I was preparing myself for a drive into Arras a couple of ruined towers unexpectedly came into view. As I drew past them, I started to look for a spot to pull up on the sunny side in the hope of catching a photo. It wasn't on the schedule but it seems that I had chanced up the remains of Mont St-Eloi abbey, a monument that had I have known was coming up could have gone and explored for nothing.

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A period of straight countryside miles followed and I was finding the 50mph speed limit a bit restrictive. Nearly everything can travel that fast so there seemed to be long periods of staring at the back of the same van or truck. After my experience in Norway a few years back when going 11mph over limit cost me £500.00 I'm a bit reluctant to let the bike stetch its legs too much. Nevertheless, before long I was fighting my way through the traffic in the small city of Arras. Although I found my way to my target car park OK, it was closed along with many of the adjacent streets for some sort of event, fortunately there is nearly always somewhere you can squeeze a bike so it was locked up prior to me taking a slightly longer than intended walk into the Citadel of Arras.

Citadels just happened to become a bit of a theme of this trip. It wasn't particularly intended to be that way, but the lands bordering modern France, Belgium and Germany have long been fought over and these star forts – mostly designed by Vauban – keep coming up. The one at Arras ceased to have a military function just a few decades ago and the old barracks buildings are now residential properties and small businesses set within the preserved bastions. Interesting to look around but not a lot to entertain you. At least having visited Swiss Saxony a few years back no one can now accuse me of not knowing my Arras from my Elbe.

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From Arras there was another point-and-go run via a McDonalds for a late lunch before moving through Parc naturel régional de l'Avesnois which was new to me and threw up some more interesting riding. Thereafter was an almost seamless change at the Belgian border as I entered the Wallonia region. The only significant difference was that the road signs were different colours and I could go 10mph faster on non-urban roads. It's surprising what difference this extra bit of speed makes to the enjoyment of the ride. At least Belgium had not been excommunicated from my Zumo and I could now find addresses again.

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A quick cigarette break in the Belgian small Belgian town of Sivry-Rance and I was then onward to a slightly longer stop at nearby Chimay. I really do enjoy being on the bike in this area, it was good to be back and poking into some little towns and villages that I had not visited before.

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After Chimay it was a pleasant ride back over the French border again on some nice roads and onto the fortified town of Rocroi. Once again, I was in the middle of a star or pentagon shaped complex and quickly found the Hotel du Commerce on the town square. A quick shower, change of clothes and there was still enough of the evening left for a walk around the bastions before finding something to eat and a beer.

Not a bad day - easy milage, some curvy roads mixed in with the straight stuff, a few interesting sights captured and all rounded off with a couple of glasses of Jupiler.

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[O.C.]

I love reading your reports, the pictures and accompanying narrative are superb,,,, thanks for sharing with us       

[Boomer]

Ahhh, les Ardennes, my old playground. Looking forward to the next installments 

[Rynglieder]

Thanks guys. More to come as I can fit it in.

As always the phots will go up on Flickr quicker than I can review my video and write it up, so if you just want the pictures check in here over the next week:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/rynglieder/

[Rynglieder]

Day 3 Rocroi – Mettlach (c.130 miles) – part 1

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Over breakfast I pondered my original intention to visit the city of Luxembourg during this section of the trip. The GTR is a bit of a lump around a city centre especially when bearing 10 days' worth of laundry in various states of decomposition. I was minded to scratch it from the fixture so decided I would spend half an hour looking around Rocroi in the daylight before I left. Once I had had a stroll around some different parts of the bastions to the previous evening I fired up the bike and hit the road again.

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It proved a really good road to ride for a tour, initially through the French Ardennes Regional Park, eventually joining the River Meuse at Deville after which it was smooth curves, loops and sunshine – exactly the sort of riding I hoped for. I know the section of the Meuse between Dinant and Namur quite well from previous trips but had never travelled this southern section. After crossing the Meuse at Monthemè a café presented itself as a good place to pull over and take a couple of photos and have a coffee.

Leaving the Meuse at Monthermè my route took me eastwards, now joining the Semois valley and I was treated to another looping riverside ride all the wall to the Belgian border near Bohan. Naturally the cruising speed rose from 50 to 60mph now it felt safer to do so.

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I did a quick stop at Bohan-sur-Semois as I wanted to see the historic bridge. A section of railway had been built early in the 20th century eliminating a loop in the Semois by means of two bridges and a tunnel. The railway did not last long, after the outbreak of war the two river bridges were blown up and the tunnel blocked by the French army in an effort to slow the German advance – after the war it was never reconstructed. I got my souvenir photo of the truncated bridge and made may way off again for another enjoyable half hour of Ardennes riding.

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There was another brief stop on the bridge over the Semois in Bouillon. I didn't linger as I'd stayed here before some years ago and had already gathered a few pictures. It was at this point I made the decision to skip the visit to Luxembourg city so I adjusted the Zumo to allow a bit of motorway work and directed it to a waypoint on Luxemburg's eastern border.

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A bit of a straight cross country run in the direction of Arlon ensued as I had expected, but I think I should have smelt a rat as I found myself going through it rather than around it on the motorway. I'd also envisaged orbiting Luxembourg and been given the slingshot around the other side by the motorway but it was looking suspiciously more central.

Eventually I realised that the Zumo was indeed taking me straight through the middle – all of the congestion and frustration I was hoping to avoid without visiting the actual place I was originally considering going. Just has I had been drawn over for a right hand turn I saw the exact spot I had wanted dead ahead. No chance of changing lanes now, so it was over the Pont Adolphe (and I wouldn't be coming back this way either as it was trams only in the opposite direction). On impulse I swung the bike for a right turn into a side street and then a left and chanced upon an empty stand of motorcycle bays. Although I had given up on Luxembourg it looks like the Zumo had not been prepared to pass it up so it was time for a five-minute walk.

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[O.C.]

Great report and accompanying pictures....thanks again      

[Rynglieder]

Day 3 Rocroi – Mettlach (c.130 miles) – part 2

For those who don't know Luxembourg it is a lovely small city that seems to be cleaved in two by a deep valley spanned by several bridges, the valley is filled by a park giving respite from the built-up areas either side and above. The best views can be had from the Pétrusse Casemates and it was at this spot I had previously stopped off with my wife on our first ever European motorcycle trip 39 years ago. Despite the passing of time, I was pleased to find it was exactly as I remembered it, complete with kiosk for a take-away coffee while you stand at the stone balustrade taking in the view.

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Once my visit was complete, I found the run out of the city was not so bad as I'd feared and the roads soon opened up as I headed out toward Remich. Not as enjoyable as the river valleys of the morning, but a tolerable ride nonetheless. I'm glad the Zumo had forced my hand by its desire for a city break. The sky was looking a bit overcast ahead of me but it was also starting to get unpleasantly warm in all the bike gear, I was already looking forward to the evening's shower.

Remich lies on the Luxembourg side of the Moselle River with Germany over on the opposite bank. It seemed as good a place as any to take my next break from the bike. In truth I didn't do much exploring, just a short walk along the Moselle Esplanade to straighten out my back and then it was back on the bike to start my ride over the Moselle bridge and into a fourth country in this one day.

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This was a pleasant ride into the Saarland and once again I was on the edge of familiar territory, this region is at the southern end of the area that I have ridden around regularly in the past when basing myself on the German Mosel and I began to pass signs for the Saar viewpoints that I had previously visited.

It was probably not much mor than half an hour since entering Germany that the bike was descending into Mettlach in the Saar valley and I was trying to locate the rather elusive driveway to my hotel for the night, the Gästehaus Schloss Saareck.

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At around £100 for the night, I had busted my budget a bit for this one, but it looked like a quality hotel in an interesting building and in a little town that had visited before and thought worthy of another look. Once inside I realised it may be a bit too grand for an Englishman festooned with dead insects, but the very upmarket receptionist and waiting staff in their penguin outfits made me perfectly welcome. A quick shower and a change of clothes and I was ready to go for my evening stroll. Unfortunately, it had started to rain... Not wanting to pull the bike jacket back on or ruin my hair (I simply can't do a thing with it) it looked like I was in for the night. I enquired about a beer and with a click of the manager's fingers one appeared on a silver tray and was placed on a small table at the side of a winged armchair in the reception for me. I managed to find a tree in the grounds that gave a bit of shelter for my last smoke and after reclaiming my armchair and a second beer that was the day done bar the sleeping.

[O.C.]

lovely pictures of beautiful surroundings and an interesting report...it'sjust like being there     

[Rynglieder]

Day 4 Mettlach > Oberharmersbach (c.135 miles) (Part 1)

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Opening the curtains at the Gästehaus Schloss Saareck revealed that the rain had not stopped and lingering over breakfast did not improve the situation. So, in a bit of light but warm rain I crossed the Saar with the idea of the Magionot Line defences planted in the Zumo's tiny mind. A first the run was comfortable enough, roughly following the Saar in a south-easterly direction but as I neared Saarlouis and Saarbrüken it all started to get a bit industrial, albeit in a tidy German sort of way.

Once again it was becoming obvious that I was to be taken through the heart of the city give or take a road closure and diversion which I steadfastly navigated through by the diversion signs rather than the Zumo's dubious suggestions.

Most of the morning's riding was unattractive, wet, at 40, 30 or 19mph and I'm pretty sure that although I was trying to be careful, I got flashed by a speed camera in a 19mph zone in the city. After an hour and a half of such progress I reached the border town of Kleinblittersdorf with France just the other side of a small river.  It seemed as good a place as any to pull over at a roadside café and have a few minutes off the bike.

Ready for action again, I mounted up and crossed another border. I'd lost count by now of how many times I have flipped between countries on this trip. The roads were damp but at least it was not actually raining now as I cleared Sarreguemines.  Back into the open French countryside I could legally cruise at up to 50mph again, pinching a bit here and there – a nice enough ride but I eventually ran into rain again. At least the GTR's big fairing and screen was working as it should and by mid-morning I was pulling up at the Ouvrage du Simserhof, the site of a Maginot Line fortress exhibition that I'd considered poking at like a good tourist. I'd arrived too early though and the visitor centre was not due to open for another hour and a half. I'm not sure what I could have seen by walking the marked trails, but the rain was putting me off the idea of trudging round if I was only going to find anything interesting behind locked gates, so in the end all I saw was the car park. It seemed a better idea to push on to the Citadel of Bitche which was the next intended stop, just a few minutes away and I knew via the miracle of Google it would be open.

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As I approached the settlement of Bitche there was no missing the citadel squatting on the hill above the town. The Zumo had a good attempt at finding its way up there but an inevitable road closure lead to a little improvisation before settling on the car park.

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To be continued...

[Rynglieder]

Day 4 Mettlach > Oberharmersbach (continued)

I handed over a few Euros and got a ticket and English audio guide in exchange and started having a mooch around, the sun was beginning to break though now which cheered things up a bit.  There was enough to interest me for an hour or so before I raided the coffee shop and got back onto the bike.

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A ride through the North Vosges Regional Natural Reserve ride followed, now in the dry and made the more enjoyable as they seemed to have grasped the concept of bends and included one or two in the road design for the pleasure of motorcyclists.

Only a couple of smaller towns interrupted my flow until I reached the larger town of Haguenau and a conveniently placed fast food outlet allowed me to top up on calories as a precaution as I was really not sure what would be available this evening.

After busting out of the congestion of Haguenau there was a ride through the flat lands of the Rhein valley, the roads were a little busier now but the hills of the Black Forest were clearly visible on the horizon. A moment of doubt flickered through my mind as I approached the Rhein canal locks near Gambesheim as two motorcycles were hurling towards me on the same side of the road but I quickly realised they were clearing the way for a motorcade of black SUVs running in that pretentious "look at me" nose-to-tail fashion so loved by American Presidents. Pulling into the car park at the riverside I had to compete for space with Gendarmerie and half a dozen reporters packing up their gear - no idea what I had missed...I lingered for a final cigarette in France before I crossed the Rhein on the Pont du Gambesheim and once again there was a change of road sign style as I thrust into Germany.

Just as on the French side of the Rhein plain the roads were pretty open, flat and straight at first but those forested hills were getting ever closer. And once again I could ride at 60mph without looking over my shoulder. The ascent seemed to start at just beyond Oberkirch, the GTR's nose was getting a bit of an upward tilt and the roads became more sinuous and wooded.

There was 15 or 20 minutes or so of pleasant Black Forrest riding and I arrived at the Gasthaus Linde a little quicker than I expected. The reason for this became apparent as I tried to check-in with a rather confused barman who eventually spotted that I should be at the Gasthaus Zur Linde down in the next valley. Who'd have thought that there would be two so similarly named hostelries so close together? Suitably remorseful, I stuck the luggage back in the panniers and got on with it.

As it happened I was treated to a superb last few miles between my misguided stop in Löcherberg and my final destination; a road that climbed and looped up, over and down a mountain in a series of bends and hairpins before putting me at my accommodation on the edge of Oberharmersbach.

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This time I had the foresight to check I was actually at the right place before dragging all of the bags off the bike. Just as well really, as it was only nearly right. My room was in a separate house across the road from the main bar and restaurant that looked as if it had been carved up into various guest rooms and self-catering apartments. It was perhaps a little dated for some tastes, but it was big enough, clean and had everything I needed. Being a little away from the main centre of evening festivities it would also be a little quieter, in fact it would do nicely for the next four nights. I pulled the bike away from the main building and locked it up on the house car park.

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I had another much-needed shower and change of clothes, spent a little time sorting through the luggage and finally strolled across the road where I was served a couple of drinks up on the patio of the main building before turning in for the night. It hadn't been a long day in terms of riding, just over 140 miles - it was a mixed bag, some really good, some unexciting but tolerable and some frustrating stuff around Saarbrücken.

7/10.

[O.C.]

Your reports are so enjoyable...well done and thank you