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Stonesie's Euro trip photo's
Posted: 08 Jul 2023, 21:58
by Stonesie
After 2 weeks away and 2615 miles I'm home again.
A friend, Sergio is from the mountain area near Lake Como in Italy so this year he made a Biking holiday out of his trip home and invited myself and Gary along for the trip, and for once I had the money and time off available to say yes! First time outside the UK as an adult as I have that medication which has to stay cold, my entire top box was dedicated to a vile of medication smaller than my little finger but modern tech made it possible.
All ready to go
Bikes on a Train
Day 1
Bit of a whirlwind on day 1 and it was HOT! on both sides of the channel, it was all about getting to that hotel for a shower and something cold to drink.
We then had a bit of a walk to a local restaurant for dinner.
Re: Stonesie's Euro trip photo's
Posted: 08 Jul 2023, 22:25
by Stonesie
Day 2
Rue Pablo Picasso - Contrexeville with a peak of 36°c
385Km and some very sunny weather through the flat Northern French countryside, after day 1 we were avoiding the autoroutes and stopping every hour for drinks, either at a cafe or just somewhere with shade, my fridge was very useful for carrying up to 5, 0.5L bottles of water chilled to about 5°c.
One such stop for Ice cream happened in Domrémy-la-Pucelle, I parked in the shade of the church then spotted a sign...
We had stumbled across the birth place of Joan of Ark...
And then onwards to the Hotel for the night, the Hotel Cosmos, a 3 star hotel for €70, Booking.com turned up a couple of gems on this trip.
Re: Stonesie's Euro trip photo's
Posted: 09 Jul 2023, 11:18
by C00kiemonster
I still cant believe you had an onboard fridge - brilliant.
Re: Stonesie's Euro trip photo's
Posted: 09 Jul 2023, 12:05
by kiwikrasher
Glad the fridge plan worked out and you didn’t let your medical needs limit your enjoyment and adventures, good on ya mate!!
Re: Stonesie's Euro trip photo's
Posted: 09 Jul 2023, 17:01
by Stonesie
Day 3
Contrexéville - Thonon les bains. 387km in high heat and just skirting the boarder of Switzerland... Some not so straight roads here.
Loaded up like a pack mule in 35°c and the Continental RA4s never missed a line, I set personal lean angle record's both ways, excellent fun.
After the now usual lunchtime hotel search and booking we found the IBIS in Thonon les bains, basic but clean and the restaurant next door was pretty good.
Re: Stonesie's Euro trip photo's
Posted: 09 Jul 2023, 17:21
by Stonesie
Day 4
Thonon - Aime
A shorter day because of several near 400Km days, only 206 today and a peak of 30°c felt more reasonable.
We found a couple of nice roads and got yet more scenic shots and coffee brakes, Sergio was loving the Espresso's
A coffee stop,
The hotel in Aime was another good one, under €100 per room and had an indoor pool, sauna and hot tub.
Re: Stonesie's Euro trip photo's
Posted: 09 Jul 2023, 20:58
by Kwacky
It looks like a fantastic trip
Re: Stonesie's Euro trip photo's
Posted: 09 Jul 2023, 21:49
by Stonesie
It was amazing and all new to me, it did show that my touring set-up is a wonderful "Light" touring solution, a few days, maybe a week... This was not a light tour so for the next one I need more boxy panniers to fit the stuff in that I really need, I was borrowing stuff that I couldn't carry even with the tail pack on the back seat and tank bag bulging.
One thing you can't say near the Alps is "A GS? How unusual!" the things are EVERYWHERE! And I can see why, my little XR was working hard on the passes with the cooling fan running it's little heart out for half an hour at a time, the bike was chewing through oil and has lost some coolant. I got rinsed €25 for 1 litre of Motul 5/40... But I bought 1 bottle of water from their vending machine and it freaked out and gave me 3, for €0.60... It was well needed.
I got chatting to a GS owner who we kept bumping into for 2 days and he was shocked at how hard my XR was having to work, his bike was just lapping it up riding 2 up and he was matching our pace up the passes. I've been right on the edge of buying one for a while and this trip has proven that if I am going to tour more, which I really want to do then I do not have the right tool for the job.
Re: Stonesie's Euro trip photo's
Posted: 09 Jul 2023, 22:28
by Stonesie
Re: Stonesie's Euro trip photo's
Posted: 10 Jul 2023, 07:51
by Perkles
lovely and on my bucket list
Re: Stonesie's Euro trip photo's
Posted: 10 Jul 2023, 17:39
by Stonesie
Day 6
Guillestre - Cuneo.
I didn't get a good mileage reading as Gaz's garmin broke and I loaned him mine using my phone and BMW app as my own navigation, somehow it didn't record the trip until the lunch break at Saint Etienne-de-Tinee.
The view from the Hotel at Guillestre
It was our first wet day so the waterproofs were on and at one point I had to rely on the nav on my phone, zoomed right in to see
where the road went... Riding through clouds is no fun when you're on a twisty mountain pass and they're thick/raining.
We decided to treat ourselves and booked in to a Best Western Hotel, the AC in the room was very nice, as was the €5 breakfast in the morning. Surprisingly not the most expensive room of the trip.
In a city centre restaurant I paid a little extra for a ham and mushroom pizza with Buffalo Mozzarella, it was delicious.
Re: Stonesie's Euro trip photo's
Posted: 10 Jul 2023, 17:47
by Stonesie
Day 7
Cuneo - Como
No pictures of the ride as it was mostly flat industrial areas until we got near Como and they we just wanted to get there, the driveway of Sergio's brother's house was wet slippery and steep (he had to use 4 low on his Suzuki Jimney) so the bikes were parked down the slightly less steep driveway of his neighbour, under some trees and out of sight. A second Jimney was roped in to transport all the luggage whilst we walked through the woods between houses.
Re: Stonesie's Euro trip photo's
Posted: 10 Jul 2023, 18:10
by Stonesie
Re: Stonesie's Euro trip photo's
Posted: 10 Jul 2023, 18:26
by Stonesie
Re: Stonesie's Euro trip photo's
Posted: 10 Jul 2023, 18:31
by Stonesie
One of the neighbours houses, it started as a cow shelter...
That's about a 1 in 4 driveway, hard to capture on camera but in 33°c it makes you sweat a bit walking up it.
Re: Stonesie's Euro trip photo's
Posted: 10 Jul 2023, 18:43
by Frankie
Nice, enjoyed that
Re: Stonesie's Euro trip photo's
Posted: 10 Jul 2023, 18:59
by Kwacky
Thanks for sharing. It looks fantastic. What biking is all about.
Re: Stonesie's Euro trip photo's
Posted: 10 Jul 2023, 19:06
by Stonesie
Re: Stonesie's Euro trip photo's
Posted: 10 Jul 2023, 19:21
by Stonesie
Re: Stonesie's Euro trip photo's
Posted: 10 Jul 2023, 19:29
by Stonesie
Day 12
Ravensburg - Landstuhl
Not too many pictures as we were all getting worn out and just wanted to get there, yet again it was HOT! But we did a bit of the B500 and stopped here for drinks and a browse of the tourist trap.
Landstuhl
Giraffes in the hotel