Papal Palace from the Pont D'Avignon

03 Sunday 14th June Avignon

The overlook from Les Baux

What it is all about 'Flower Sniffing!'

What a ride, just a few kilometers South of Avignon is Les Baux-de-Provence a fortified hilltop village and Graham and I were in true flower sniffing mode, both Harleys throbbing through the countryside in morning sunlight with the sky festoned with butterflies working their magic in natures rich pattern. Meeting up with Robin and Chantal we could put All The Gear (ATG) into their car and don tourist clothing! Arriving just in time for the trebauchet demonstration. I'd been fortunate enough to see the huge trebauchet at Warwick Castle fired in anger but here we saw the developemnt of this medievil siege weapon and some even got to try. Our afternoon bimble through the desserted lanes of France had us at an antique fair in L'Isle-sur-la-Sourge where the highlight for me was to dip my feet in the cold river running through the village!

Back in Avignon our local hosts Robin and Chantal took us to a Corsican restaurant, off the tourists trail, for a gourmet adventure. Bliss! And to top off a wonderful day I found that the Hotel d'Angleterre offered free WiFi; what more could a man ask?

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Graham and Jannettes Photos HERE.Go to Graham and Jannettes page 2 photos HERE.

04 Monday 15th June Avignon to Privas

Lunch stop in Sault

View of Lavender fields (a week too soon!)

Our plan today was a gentle 110km North on 'D' roads to Privas but plans can be changed, so armed with the local knowledge the plan was amended to include Sault where the lavender fields were about ready for harvest. Unfortunately we were about a week early so the carpet of blue in the valley was not quite there yet; however the human eye rather than my camera could detect it. On to Privas to end our gentle flower sniffing day where the air was full of the scent of lavender - helped by the fact that we both had bunches of lavender zip tied to our bikes!

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Graham and Jannettes Photos HERE.Go to Graham and Jannettes page 2 photos HERE.

05 Tuesday 16th June Privas

Burzet

Cascade du Ray Pic

06 Wednesday 17th June Privas to Nice

Road alongside the Gorge, heaven

Pont in Gorge

07 Thursday 18th June Nice to Tende

08 Friday 19th June Tende to Aosta

Jen and I on the Grand Prix Circuit Monaco

Le Mouton Dort Hotel Tende

Because we had booked the hotel in Tende we decided to take the real flower sniffing coastal route through Monaco. St-Tropez, Ste.Maxime, St-Raphael, Frejus all were great but the thought of hacking through Cannes in the 37oC heat was too much for me and I cut out to the coastal Peage Road. This gave me enough energy to attack Monaco! One and a half laps of the Grand Prix Circuit was enough and we were on the road climbing the French/Italian Alps to our overnight at Le Mouton Dort (The Sleeping Sheep) and what a find this was. Once more Logis Hotels came up trumps with a true mountain retreat at Saint Dalmas de Tende. I was showered and in the pool before two shakes of a lambs tail - brilliant and we also had an al fresco evening meal to look forward to.

The meal was all that I expected, simple and fantastic with a back drop of the French Alps. An unusual starter of onion puree on a pizza base, followed by pork fillet, mushroom and rice rounded off by a custard with strawberry comport. If ever you are in this neck of the woods Le Mouton Dort I highly recomend.

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Graham and Jannettes Photos HERE.Go to Graham and Jannettes page 2 photos HERE.

09 Saturday 20th June Yende to Aosta

The sign of a good plan is flexability and as I sit here in the high mountain morning air I'm thinking a change to the plan is in order. To do Aosta justice we need a full day in the town so with enough scenic roads already in the bag I will float the idea of a high speed run direct to Aosta and miss the two high mountain passes planned for today - we shall see where the votes fall........

Well that worked out great. Into Aosta at about 15:30 and the local Tourist Information had us in the Roma Hotel in no time flat - so far no internet but a bloody good shower!

Rode 50% of todays distance on fast'ish 'A' style roads, great for the Harley. We took the AutoPista to get around Turin and to put a few miles on but the morning started with Tende Mountain pass and and the 4km very old style Alpine tunnel and on an almost empty tank not the sort of tunnel to stop in! The day ended with a fantastic Italian Meal in a family restaurant for families. We got in just in time, no reservations, you want to eat you wait, and we timed it just right. I'd been dreaming about Parma Ham and Pasta and I got both! Could the day get better; it just did with free hotel fast WiFi. Hotel Roma, another family business and another winner; see it HERE.

10 Sunday 21st June Aosta to Schenkenzell

The Romans built the road and the modern day Italians decided to fix the road just as we wanted to use it. The climb to the summit from Aosta towards Switzerland is a challenging road two up on a Glide with a fourtnights luggage but on gravel it can become a nightmare! Tight switchbacks on a loose surface creats a certain tightness in you bottom area; however with the off road skills learnt at i2i Training we soon were at the summit for a well earned coffee and the discovery that I still had the Hotel Roma room key! Room key sorted by giving it to the bus driver who was on his way to Aosta - sorry Marco.

Decent on the Switzerland side is brilliant and a road made for a glide, excellent road surface and sweeping bends; we were on a mission and it was to the Musee du Chiens St.Bernard. Luckily for me, Dan from the IBA UK Forum, had briefed me about the museum. It is not very well advertised or signposted but for me was a good daily focus and one we all enjoyed.

Getting into the swing of the ride in the early afternoon it was not a hard decission to motor on and arrive at Hotel Waldblick a day early. This is a bikers hotel and part of the Motor Bike Hotels International group.

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Graham and Jannettes Photos HERE.Go to Graham and Jannettes page 2 photos HERE.

11 Monday 22nd June Aosta to Schenkenzell

It's a small World! At the next breakfast table to us were a couple from Seaburn; just a mile from our home in South Shields. Every where I travel you are sure to find a Geordie. They were on their way to Vienna on Honda X11, using our theory for their return journey taking a train from Vienna up to Dortmund.

Today was a day off the bike so we could check out the village, give La Reina Roja a well earned wash and detailing and maybe a little laundry. lovely rest day and planning for a roam through the Black Forrest tomorrow. Checked out the nearest Harley Dealer at Tuttlingen and the Touratech facility plus a bimble through the biking roads of this biking Nirvana.

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Graham and Jannettes Photos HERE.Go to Graham and Jannettes page 2 photos HERE.

12 Tuesday 23rd June Schenkenzell

Mission accomplished! Touratech is a good visit but not so much for the touring bike; they have fantastic kit for the biking adventurer. Our home was H-D Tuttlingen what a fantastic welcome, very friendly lot. Our tour back to Walblick along fantastic biking roads but the weather was against us; rain. The first rain of the tour so we'd been very lucky. Soon back at Walblick and a siesta was on the cards. This is really a flower sniffing ride.

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Graham and Jannettes Photos HERE.Go to Graham and Jannettes page 2 photos HERE.

13 Wednesday 24th June Schenkenzell to Muhlen

Today schedule takes in the B500, a legendary bikers road and received some routing advice last night that should make the ride even more enjoyable. And it was. The first part was brilliant it is the B500 best section which is South of Baden-Baden for about 40km. Dry road and virtually no traffic, this road has to be ridden by any biker at least once in their life; today it lived up to its billing and my smile is still firmly fixed after what later turned into a GPS trauma.

Having negotiated the B500 all the way to Baden-Baden we hopped onto the Autobahn to knock off a few miles and then the fun started. Last night I was advised to take the Road that follows the west bank of the Rhine up to Boppard called the B9 , which was excellent advise because it is a beautiful ride; however getting there from the Autobahn was another story. Because I'd forgotten my USB cable I had to amend the routes withinn the Zumo and to drag the route across to the B9 I had to add a waypoint and with a mixture of not zooming in small enough and having a large digit I managed to hit a waypoint smack in the middle of a forest! To compound my error I followed her (the voice in the Zumo, Emily I believe) instructios to the letter and was well into off-road mode inside the forest before I realised my error. Doh! It was tight scary 5km in, turnaround on a hill on gravel in my own space, (a 5 point turn) and 5km out. Luckily my riding partners could see the humour in it all - even when Graham dropped his bike at the turnaround!

The B9 lived up to its billing and we had a relaxing drink and ice cream to sooth our shattered nerve. Arriving at Hotel Forsthaus it was clear that this hotel was run by bikers for bikers.

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Graham and Jannettes Photos HERE.Go to Graham and Jannettes page 2 photos HERE.

14 Thursday 25th June Muhlen

Todays focus is the World famous Nurburgring, where in a few weeks the German Grand Prix will be held, Graham is set on doing a lap of the old circuit 'the widow maker' but I'm too much of a wimp to even try. I will enjoy the Mosel Riding part of the day, later.

We'd seen the lake on the way in so our morning RV was Maria Laach. We then shot down to where the Mosel feeds the Rhine and proceed West along alternate banks of the Mossel, observing all that German culture had to offer. There were geriatric cyclists, trains, barges and wildlife to prick our senses and castles linning the banks of the Mosel. Graham knew the best and he soon had us at Eltz Castle which for 850 years has stood tall and proud; now even though I forgot my camera their websidte, HERE, has some better shots than I would have managed (STOP PRESS Graham saved the day with his shots!). This castle is very original and has a lot of its soft furnishings intact and is marvelous for that fact. The Eltz dynasty still own the castle, much of the reason for its continued habitable state is down to their stewardship and the fact that it is in the middle of nowhere and no one really wanted to fight over it! Our guide had a good sense of humour and his insights to life at the castle over the last 850 years had us enthralled. If you plan on visiting a castle then you could do a lot worse than Eltz Castle on the banks of the Mosel, just North of Cochem.

Cultured out is was off to the 'Ring' I bought a sticker but Graham wanted a lap. Final STOP PRESS no lap for Graham either!

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Graham and Jannettes Photos HERE.Go to Graham and Jannettes page 2 photos HERE.

15 Friday 26th June Muhlen to Brugge (should be Euro Tour now adding Belgium!)

Graham and Janette went to see a couple of oldArmy friends today so Jen and I were on our own and we decided to break two of the Flower Sniffing Ride Rules. Rule 1. We did just over 200 miles, and rule 4 we had no daily focus! Using the Logis group of hotels that had been so successful so far we booked another in Brugge, Hotel Het Gheestelic Hof.

It was a good day. I used the H-D POI file in my Zumo to find one on route to Brugge, it was RMC CLassic, Zemst, Belgium., which was spot on. The file should be used with caution as many dealers change locations and businesses but as a tool it is brilliant and had us just a few kilometres off course and a super dealer was found. Got a new t, obviously, and a pair of braces for my FXRG pants that had been slipping down; generous cut not slimming on my part.

Arriving in Brugge we soon found our hotel and the first major issue of where to park La Reina Roja. I have her in an underground secure 24 hour park so we shall see how secure later on Satrurday if she is still there intact!

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Graham and Jannettes Photos HERE.Go to Graham and Jannettes page 2 photos HERE.

16 Saturday 27th June to Calais.

Panic over La Reina Roja was waiting just where I left her! Fantastic 'City Break' style day. This. I think, has taken over from Paris as the city for Lovers, everywhere, all ages, all shapes and sizes, all persuasions were to be seen in the various flushes of L'Amour; and we fitted right in. Doing our usual City Break idea we took the City Tour bus and in an hour had seen all that was on offer, we even went as far as taking the water bourne version of the City Tour and saw Brugge from a different aspect.

Just people watching, chilling and sight seeing. Gourmet lunch and Belgium Waffle with Strawberries for afternoon tea! I found Brugge to be a delightful city and doing it on a Saturday where many streets were pedestrianised with local stalls was even better. Jen could not be persuaded to go to the Diamond Museum; she said her husband had got her enough diamonds - strange from a woman; I think she'd rather see our hard earned go into our pensions than diamonds but with the state of the money markets perhaps diamonds are the way to go?

Leaving Brugge at 17:30 we were at our billet in Calais by 18:30 and re-joined our buddies who'd been there an hour earlier. Well 09:20 check in tomorrow for the Chunnel and a blast North to HOME.

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Graham and Jannettes Photos HERE.Go to Graham and Jannettes page 2 photos HERE.

17 Sunday 28th June Calais to South Shields

Last days arrive and you wonder where the holiday went. Bit of a kerfuffle at the check in and I also used the opportunity to see if I could enter UK with only my photo i/d licence - NO. You must have your passport or you don't get in. The UK is still an International Border. In a blank moment on the M20 I missed the slip road for the M25 and followed the Zumo 550 instructions blindly. You'd have thought I learned my lesson in a Forrest in Germany!
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Graham and Jannettes Photos HERE.Go to Graham and Jannettes page 2 photos HERE.