This touring is addictive. 6 day tour this time

[sunstone121266]

This touring is so addictive. Just got back from 6 days touring but not quite so far as last time, only managed about 1300 miles this time. We went through France, Belgium, Holland, Germany and Luxemburg.

Set off from Devon in the rain again at about 0530 in the morning and headed for Folkestone to catch the Channel tunnel. We left a bit earier than we needed to in the hope of catching an earlier train. Due to some technical problems with a train we were delayed later than our booked time. We get to Calais and turn left and head for Brugge for a 2 night stop over in an Ibis hotel. We find the hotel and are happy with the hotel and its location which is within easy walking distance of the city centre. Good parking for the bike with railing to chain it up to. Always take my bike cover so that i can cover it over and hopefully out of site, out of mind! Brugge is a great place with a nice relaxed attmosphere about it. There is so much to see there and great historical buildings. The food is quite expensive around the square but cheaper places can be found in the many back streets. They did have a market in the square one day which was good for stocking up on fruit and snacks. Well worth a visit if you have not been there before and not far from Calais. The weather was fantastic for us again this trip once we were away from England.

After our 2 day stay it was off to Amsterdam. We had booked a 2 day stay here again in an Ibis hotel. It was so hot from Brugge to Amsterdam with 39 degrees. We went into Rotterdam on the way and saw the temperature outside a chemist. The visit to Rotterdam was unplanned my wife thinks it was because i took a wrong turning but i like to think it was a nice detour! Got stuck in traffic on the motorway which took about 2 hour to travel 4 miles in 39 degrees. |I have never been so hot! Had to take helmets and jackets off when we were stopped. We were drenched in sweat but a nice car driver gave us a bottle of cold water to keep us hydrated. How kind is that. Finally get to our hotel just outside Amsterdam near the airport. Quick shower and change and we catch the bus into town. OMG what can i say about Amsterdam! Its a bit different to the sleepy Devon town we come from! The first thing we noticed were that everyone seemed to be gay. Nothing against gay people and i know a few but some of these were scary. Leather straps and hot pants seemed to be the latest fastion. Turns out it was gay pride week over there with a massive canal carnival on the next day which i must admit we did go along to see it. They certainly know how to throw good parties thats for sure! We were disappointed with Amsterdam as it can be quite seedy (ok we did venture into some different places!) The smell of drugs is everywhere you go through the streets, i think thats why we ate so much as we constantly had the munchies!

I will write up the second half of the trip in the next couple of days and add a few pictures.

 

[sunstone121266]

PART 2.

So after what can only be decribed as an enlightening visit to Amsterdam we set off south to Luxemburge. The only reason we decided to go there was because we have never heard of anyone going there. As we headed south we went through Germany. I knew we were on the German motorway as my sat nav didn't show any speed limit. Very nice on the Blackbird! Arrived in Luxemburge on a Sunday and the hotel was very nice with a bus stop just outside so no need to ride into town. What a great city it is. A lot more relaxed and less busy than Amsterdam. There is loads to see with a lot of history. Worth a visit but probably only for a couple of days any longer might be too much.

Next we headed north to Lille in France for a nights stop over. Found the hotel i had booked. When i booked it i thought it was cheap at 36 euros a night but it did have secure parking for the bike. When we pulled up out side we thought it looked a rough area. Went up to the room and the metal shutters on the room window added to our concern. Managed to get a shower just before the electric went off. We decided to walk into town while they were sorting the electric. Walked about 500 yards down the roads and there was an illegal imigrate site. The smell was undelieveable, smelt like a hundred ferrets in a bag! There were real dodgey people every where. Certainly would not want to be walking around after dark. Just up the road was a girl of about 7 begging from the cars at the traffic lights. That was it back to hotel packed and left. That was our 2 hours in Lille!

Got on the net on the phone and looked for a different hotel and decided to head for Calais and book a place there. Booked an Ibis near the Euro shopping centre. Booked in and walked over for a bit of shopping. Nice stay here and only 5 minutes from the channel tunnel.


We have not decided what to do next year for our next adventure but probably won't be city breaks again. We think it needs to be some where with beaches. City touring is good but it was not so relaxing as we would like. Give us a hot sunny beach and nothing to do for a week, that would be more like it. We are a little spoilt living in Devon and get use to beaches and a quiter pace of life.

We do have some photos of this tour but i do need to sort them out before putting them on here.

 

[4_4_2]

PART 2.
We do have some photos of this tour but i do need to sort them out before putting them on here.

yep there is a special thread for THOSE pictures called Big Tits!

the rest can go in here...:-0)

 

[sunstone121266]

Lol. 442.
I think some of the photos might not even be suitable for the big tits section. We did try and get some culture in our visit to Amsterdam and visit a few museums. Well the sex museum, erotica museum and was going to do the hemp museum but that was too expensive. Lol. Who says we are not cultured!

 

[Rheumatoid]

Lol. 442.
I think some of the photos might not even be suitable for the big tits section. We did try and get some culture in our visit to Amsterdam and visit a few museums. Well the sex museum, erotica museum and was going to do the hemp museum but that was too expensive. Lol. Who says we are not cultured!

do you have any photos of the girl in 14 Bloedstraat per chance? They could go in the BT section.

R.

 

[sunstone121266]

http://www.flickr.com/photos/100396486@N07/

Link to picture if it works.

 

[ozziesda]

Cool pics. Thanks for sharing. @tu*

I'm planning on doing a similar trip, possibly next April. I've an Aunt living in Maastricht so I'm probably going to dump the bike there and take the train up to Amsterdam for a day trip instead. Aside from the ferry crossings, this is probably going to be the only day off the bike on the trip.

My planning is still in its infancy, but its starting to shape up like this -

- Dublin to Rosslare for an overnight ferry to Cherbourg.
- Cherbourg to Riems for 1st night.
- Riems via Luxembourg to Maastricht for 2 or 3 nights including the trip up to Amsterdam and a trip into Germany for a few hours.
- After that we are going to head west into Belgium and take the ferry / Chunnel across to England and Wales to come home via the Holyhead to Dublin ferry.

On the map, It looks something like this - 8 different countries in 8 days.

https://maps.google.ie/maps?saddr=Aston+Quay%2FCrampton+Quay%2FN4&daddr=N25+to:50.664759,-6.0126457+to:Unknown+road+to:A4+to:49.80844,6.42771+to:Maasboulevard+to:Rue+de+Valenciennes+to:A55+to:Burgh+Quay%2FN11&hl=en&ll=51.795027,1.318359&spn=7.381139,21.643066&sll=53.34594,-6.218777&sspn=0.055646,0.169086&geocode=Fa__LQMdWXKg_w%3BFcItHQMdaOye_w%3BFTcVBQMdG0Gk_ylrR_Y6sHpqSDF9KUpJCPyYHQ%3BFbiI9QId7mjn_w%3BFf5n7wIdDeU7AA%3BFTgE-AIdPhRiACllhiRlemCVRzH5YxcdDpzKUA%3BFQzeBwMdBOhWAA%3BFfRRCQMde0wcAA%3BFVZPLQMd7mu5_w%3BFSkELgMdRoag_w&mra=mi&mrsp=9&sz=13&via=2,5&t=m&z=6

Dave

 

[sunstone121266]

Hi Dave.

Your trip is very similar to what we just did apart from the journey from Ireland. It looks like a long ferry ride from Ireland to France and probably expensive. We use the Channel tunnel as it is so quick and it is the side of France that we have toured. Next year we will probably get the ferry from Plymouth to France/spain as we want tour down this side.

We went through Maastricht on our way from Amsterdam to Luxemburge. I was grad we never rode into Amsterdam and took the bus there as the traffic is mental. I see that your route takes you through Paris that is one places i have been always told to stay clear off due to the traffic. I live in Devon so i do not ride through big cities very often and like to stay clear of them if possible.

Have you toured abroard before?

 

[ozziesda]

Hi Sunstone121266

Yeah, I have toured abroad before - Myself (on a Vstrom 1000) and a mate (on an SP1!!) did 1500 miles in 8 days in France in 2008. Basically we got the ferry to Cherbourg and headed to La Rochelle via Tours and hugged the west coast back up to Normandy and did a few of the D Day beaches on the way up to Cherbourg from Caen. Myself, The Mrs and the kids usually holiday in France with Keycamp or Europarcs too.

I'll probably avoid Paris alright as it seems to be suicide if you are not used to the French city slickers 'alternative road manners' :wank:

The ferry from Rosslare to Cherbourg is about 18 hrs but you'd never think it once on board. A few beers watching the on board 'entertainment', free WiFi and comfortable cabins make the overnight crossing less monotonous and once you get up, have a shower and grab a breakfast, Its practically time to disembark. Irish Ferries anyway are very bike friendly and you're usually off just after the vehicles that have paid for the speedy exit.

Its actually not that expensive - Usually between ?250 and ?300 with a basic cabin return but they have specials occasionally outside of the peak times. When we went in August 2008, it was about ?500 each return but since the recession and Celtic Link ferries coming on line the prices are way better nowadays.

When you take into account the ferry across to Wales from Ireland (rip off!), Fuel, possible overnight stop and the Chunnel its actually probably cheaper to get the overnight crossing direct to France but then I'll be 2 countries short of my masterplan this time :-0)

Plymouth to Santander looks like an excellent service and then just head either East through The Pyrenees and towards The Alps or North and back through the Dordogne etc. Either way would be a fantastic trip.

As I was saying, nothing is set in stone as of yet but my Brother has expressed interest in doing a foreign trip and that will take the sting out of the ferry prices as we'd be sharing a cabin.

Decisions, Decisions.................

Dave