;)
;)
;)
;)
;)
;)
It's 700 miles from Calais to Bandol and the only way to cover that sort of distance in a day is to use the motorways. Once out of Calais we settled down to a steady rythm, cruising at 110 to 120 mph. At that speed, the miles roll by pretty quickly, but you need to stop more often for petrol. After Riems, the heavens opened and didn't let up even after stopping for an hour for lunch near Dijon. Putting wet waterproofs and gloves back on, and heading back out into the rain, after a nice rest in a warm cafe is pretty unpleasant. But we had to keep going.
In the afternoon, we were getting tired and the stops were getting longer and longer. Near Valencia, the rain finally stopped and we were able to pick up the speed again. Soon, the sun was out and we could feel the temperature rising as we got further south, and we needed to go fast just to keep cool. We were hardly dropping below 120 mph by this time, but even at that speed, you still get overtaken by cars. The French just don't take any notice of speed limits!
Finally we left the motorway and did one of our favorite roads in the area; the road past the Paul Ricard circuit and down the mountain into Bandol. We finally arrived at our apartment at 8pm which coincidentally was exactly the time Ren had told the owner we would be arriving! So, 700 miles in 14 hours. Not bad going but we were both so knackered, we decided not to do it again ... until the next time ...
;)
After a couple of days rest, we went out for a good long ride, but
it was just too hot! So we spent the rest of the time drinking and
watching the boats in the harbour. Special mention must go to the
hero that managed a wheelie along the entire length of the
sea front (about half a mile) on a scooter!
We spent two days getting back, and as usual, got drenched in the middle third of France. Even back in Blighty there was a thunderstorm round the M25. And we call it summer?