I got home last night. Good 4 days with some good friends.
No time to post on TS, so thought i'd do my writeup this morning.
Slightly different from my perspective as i'm already in France, so i bookend the tour with two solo travel days and meet them at their first stop usually. About 5hrs and 200 miles for me this year to get to Chartres. Great roads, but as with so many things this year - full of rain. It also fills in some of my areas of France i havent ridden yet. I avoid motorways, so twisty and fun in places, but wet.
Small but characterful hotel literally next to the big cathedral in Chartres. Very historic city with medieval defences set on a hill. Tons of architecture and culture. The boys stopped at Pegasus Bridge and a cafe on the way down so i was there first, so i checked in and had a wander. Nice. Good evening in Chartres - nice French restaurant and some beers
Next day the destination was Dijon - about 200 miles of riding, across the top of the Morvan national park which is beautiful. A stop next to the Loire for a long French lunch. Obligatory mad Frenchman
in the bar who wanted to chat
but 3 courses
nom.
Then we left to head further East, weather starting to improve (the sun arrived!). Now i'd been tail end charlie at the back of the group (so i can do what i like and have a sat nav just in case too) but I was 3rd in the group. 2 mins away from the restaurant and I'm being flagged down by Jon who's at the back. What the feck does he want - is a strap lose on my luggage? No - my rear tyre is down to the canvass
Bit of swearing and then hit google maps. Luckily i know the names of French motorbike shops, so there is one 20 miles away and only just off route - head for that *carefully* and see what happens. On the way Duke spots a small motobike shop - try there - miserable Frenchman - too busy to help - fecker. Carry on and find what turns out to be a motorcycle dealer and workshop - brilliant place. Quick chat with the staff and which tyre would you like? Quick committee meeting with the boys and 45 mins later I'm rocking a new Michelin Power RS rear
The bill was really good too - 160 euros fitted.
I'll let the other chaps discuss the lovely French lady who was waiting for her new bike
So off we go. Frankie tells me to go easy for the first 25 miles - new tyre and all that. Dry and sunny now. Ok - good point. How long did that last? 2 minutes - we hit the first proper dry and awesome twisties and we are off. I'm going steady mid pack trying to judge the rear - Frankie goes past
and the chase is on. Fast flowing twisties and a lot of fun. I dont think this tyre needed bedding it - very impressive indeed and nicely worn in when we stop for fuel.
The rest of the day is glorious - so warm, how it should be. We get to Dijon (which is huge) and nice hotel - very modern and clean.
The parking for the hotel however turned out to be 10 mins across town - not ideal but how it is in some French cities. So we unload and go to take the bikes - cant find the entrance and we are all tired. Eventually we do and we have one ticket to park the 4 bikes. The slope into the car park is 45 degrees. Barrier opens, two bikes just about get through and then the barrier flies down and nearly knocks Jon and I off our bikes. Now we are stuck - against the barrier - 45 degree slope. Stuck on the brakes. No going backward - impossible with the slope. Jon managed to get his VFR on the stand and wedge it against the barrier - goes to find Duke (its a long way down) and brings back the ticket. Single use ticket FFS. So I have to get off the bike while holding the brake on a 45 degree slope in full leathers and heat. Jon bends the barrier up and it's only just high enough to get the bike under, so i have to crouch, while holding the brake and the bike at 45 degrees and roll it under. Sweat?
Then roll the bike down to a safe place, back up the slope and Duke has joined us - we have to detatch the topbox from Jons bike (as it's much taller) and do the same, then rebuild his bike then park. Jeeez.
Exhausting end to an adventurous day, but it is where the stories come from!
Off out for a wander and piccies - Stumbled across a fantastic pizza restaurant with wood fired oven. Fill our faces with food and beer.
Next day it's a debate where we go - weather is a big factor - we can go East to the Swiss border or West to explore Morvan. We chose East and the gorges near the border - beautiful but a very very wet day - some amazing scenery - would blow your mind in the dry with some of the roads, but still fun in the wet. I'm not a wet weather rider very often but it certainly gave me some more confidence in the wet. The Power RS is very impressive in the wet and you can feel it moving, but plenty of warning. We found a lovely restaurant / hotel in the middle of a gorge - quite posh too. I asked the manager if we could be served - bearing in mind we are all dripping wet in the middle of his posh restaurant, wets on etc etc. No problem, so hospitable. Bet the seating area needed a clean after we left!
Then a very wet ride back towards Dole on the way back to Dijon via another route. Dole was ok, but everywhere was shut for some reason, so no cake
so we headed back. We were all cold and wet so back to Dijon. Early beers then into the city for an explore and more beers and food.
Following day was my last day - the boys had a long run back to Caen - 8 hours riding? So we went our separate ways at about 9:30. They got to Caen at about 7pm, I got home about 5pm.
Overall i did about 1450 kms in 4 days - bike was amazing - i love it. It does anything you throw at it and keeps up with most.
Bit flat today as i'm not riding, but i shall watch MotoGP and clean my kit and bike today - its filthy!
I'm sure more pics and stories will come after the boys get back today. I need another cuppa
Will check my availability, as it would be good to get a trip sorted and see some old faces as not been on a TS trip for years 
