HU France 9-11 September 2016
 

Following a recent discussion with Camping les Hirondelles, I am pleased to say they have invited us back for the weekend of 9-11th September.

No details yet, but put a note in your diary/calendar to come to this meeting. Already discussing some great ideas for this now popular event.

I would be delighted to hear from French speaking/bilingual volunteers to help with admin re the meeting, and especially volunteers who can do stand up concurrent translations ( French /English) for the presentations at the meeting.

Those who have already put their hand up to help after this years event are on my list to contact in the New Year.

In the meantime bier

Hi Jean-Luc,

Great to see your post, and I will put you on my list of people to contact in the New Year. I'm hoping we have some presentations next year from travellers who have been to those areas who may be able to help you with good knowledge. In the meantime there is plenty of information on the HUBB from people who are very experienced on Russia and the far east.

Meeting
 

Hello Mr P might actually get round to making it this time if there is room

:thumbup1: Keep an eye on the thread Martin, and as soon as registration is open, book your pitch!

That timing may be good for us, we fly out of UK beginning of Oct. So we will try and make this.

available to help
 

I'll be available to help in september and I live in that area as well. French is not my mothertongue (=Dutch), so translations will no be so good, but assisting is always possible.

Hoping having a nice event

Hi everyone,

The announcement and registration for this years meeting will be appearing soon, so we're looking forward to receiving your bookings. This year I'm being helped with the administration and setting up the meeting by my French friend and HU colleague Roger ( OTRA).

We're now on the hunt for travellers who would like to tell us about their trips/ideas etc, so we would like to hear from anyone who would like to make a presentation;do a workshop;show a video etc.

Following suggestions after last years packed meeting, we will have concurrent bi lingual translators to assist where necessary with all the presentations etc, so your participation in French or English is not a problem for the mixed audience.

We look forward to hearing from those wishing to participate and to all who want to come and enjoy this meeting. ( The campsite and the food's great!).

bier

Where will this be held?

Hi, the event will be held at Camping les Hirondelles, la Pech ( Al'pech), Loupiac, 46350, LOT France. The registration details should be going up shortly, I know Grant & Susan are working on them as I write.

The campsite web addy is:- Camping Lot - Camping LES HIRONDELLES *** emplacements camping et Mobil-home

Hope you come along-, it was a great meeting last year, so we're going for a repeat!

bier

HU France 2016 Overland Adventure Travellers Meeting is open for registration now!
 

We're very pleased to announce that HU France 2016 Travellers Meeting is open for registration!

All the details and sign up here!

Hi everyone,

Thanks to Grant and Susan for putting up the details and registration. Keen people already signing up, so make sure you get registered as soon as possible to ensure your place, and to take advantage of the discounted event pass. We're keen to hear from presenters with interesting stories to tell, and likewise anyone who would like to present a workshop on any related topic like first aid; tyre changing; how to pack for a long journey, etc etc!. Presentation/workshops in English or French. We have some bi-lingual volunteers already, but more would be appreciated to help at the presentations, so please sign up.

In the meantime,hope you enjoy some excellent travelling wherever you are, and hope to see you in September. bier

Great event last year, just booked my slot for this year! Looking forward to seeing you all again.....and some new faces!

Hi all
 

i'll be there too, please to see you all again :clap:.

Ride safe and cool
Roger

Hi all,

The date seems suitable for us to join this meeting. I will follow this thread. We will be on the way to Hamburg to ship our bikes to south america.

Hello everyone, registrations are now coming in for our event, and I know there are a lot of you out there who have said in other places that you will be coming. Please make sure you register as soon as possible, ( even if you pay later), so that you can be sure of a place.

Roger ( OTRA) and I are keen to get the presenters signed up as soon as possible, so don't hesitate to register, or contact us if you want to discuss your idea or need more information about the meeting.

:thumbup1:

Ted Simon and book launch at HU France 2016
 

I am delighted to announce that I have recently been contacted by Interfolio, the publishers of Ted's books.

Jupiter's Travels is being reprinted in French following Ted's return to live in France, and it will be launched at our meeting in September.

Ted will be coming to the meeting with the publishers, and he has agreed to give a 40 minute talk.

This is great news, and an ideal opportunity to come and listen to one of the greatest inspirations of personal adventure travel. Get registered quickly to ensure your place.

The announcement will be going up on the webpage very shortly.:D

Can you tell me how many of the presentors are talking in english?
i am not speaking french, but im thinking about visiting....

didnt managed it to the german meeting due to work.

We will have some bilingual translators French/English who will work with the presenters, so there shouldn't be too much of a problem. There will be more French speaking presenters than English. It all worked out O.K. last year.

Hi all
 

!!!!!! Language is not a border, it's a link, not a wall but a bridge bier

Ride safe and cool
Roger

Hi Everyone,

Just thought I'd update you with where we are with presentations/workshops this year. as there has been a slight delay in updating the main page, but this will resolve itself soon.

1. Thierry Floreck will be showing us his latest video of his current trip to Mongolia and return via the BAM road.

2. Marie-Hélène and Jo Camblong, will be showing us a photographic diaporama of their trip to Laos and Cambodia. If the photos are as good as last years presentation on Iran, we're in for a real treat!!

3. Gerard Saouter will be telling us what he went through in the run up to retirement with his short but essential preparatory trip to Turkey.

4. There will be a really interesting presentation of a retro trip to Africa in the 1970's. Just waiting for the registration and full detail on this.

5. We have a couple of workshops planned. A paramedic/pharmacist about putting together first aid kits, and by popular demand after last years meeting, a repeat performance of how to lift up a fallen bike.

The main event this year is an hour long film narrated by Ted Simon about the first part of his first round the world trip ( 1973-1977). For all of us who have read and have been inspired by ''Jupiter's Travels'' this will be a unique opportunity. Ted will be with us in person, and the meeting will also be the launch pad for ''Les Voyages de Jupiter'', re-edited and reprinted in French.


This promises to be a really good meeting, and registrations are coming in steadily. The facilities are excellent and the food and ambience can't be faulted.bier There is a numbers limit we can accept to comply with the campsite licence, so please register NOW to make sure you have your place reserved.

We look forward to seeing you there.:thumbup1::thumbup1:

Hi everyone, things are warming up here, literally. It was 32c yesterday and it's already 24C at 8.30am local time today.

The meeting is coming together now, and i'm putting out a request for an experienced volunteer photographer for the meeting, and here's why.

As you will have read, Ted Simon is coming to the meeting, not only to talk to us, but also to re-launch Jupiter's Travels, which has been re-edited and translated into French. This is actually a big deal in France, as not many of the travel books we know have been translated for the French market.

In conjunction with Ted's publishers we have created significant interest with the adventure travel magazines, and editors of the major publications will be coming for the launch and interviews.

We need to record this years event with quality photos and hopefully a video, so if anyone who has the skills and the equipment, is planning on coming to the meeting and would be interested in doing this, please could they contact me or Roger Primout by PM, or get signed up straight away as a volunteer.

:thumbup1:

This an administration type plea from me.!!!!:helpsmilie:

I know there are many of you out there who are planning to come to the meeting, and those who have said they will be coming. It's an administrative nightmare if everyone leaves it to the last minute to register. There is a huge amount of work to do preparing badges and printing registration summaries for the campsite, allocating resources and generally getting things prepared so everyone ( including me ) can have a good time.

It's not long now till the meeting and I would really appreciate it if you could please register. If you find you can't come it's O.K. to cancel, but it's damn difficult finding extra food and camping facilities if you just turn up on spec and everything has been allocated

The venue is not a big camp site, but it is very well run and super clean and friendly. We are restricted to numbers to comply with the campsite licence,(120) so it's not open ended. Please register now to book your place.


We still have an opening for a presentation, and don't worry about language. We have bilingual volunteers helping with presentations.

Look forward to welcoming you, help us make it an even better event than last year!

Hi John

I'm travelling up from Spain around that time so I've just registered and can do a presentation if you need to fill a spot, either on Morocco or Orkney/Outer Hebrides.

Thanks Tim, have sent you an e.mail. Scotland would be Great!

Hi Mr P
I am trying to book/register a cabin & food for the Saturday night (10th) at the French HUBB event. But unfortunately it is saying that there is an error on the online form.
Is there any other way of registering?
Kind regards
Mike

Hi Mike,

I've forwarded your message to Grant and Susan. Not sure what the issue is, as i 've not had any other queries. Can you tell me exactly where it all goes wrong? I'll wait for a few days to get a reply from them, and see if there is a problem with the registration form. I will also run a test registration to see If I get the same response. I'll get back to you as soon as possible.

P.

Update- just run a test and it registered O.K., If you want to send me your details by PM I'll do it for you and get the registration sent on to you for payment.

My good lady and I are likely going to sign up, work will make it hard to be there early on the Friday so we'll miss some talks but don't want to miss Ted's talk. I hope I'm not wrong in assuming that it'll be the Saturday night?

Hi,

France meeting usually kicks off around 5.00pm on friday night with one or two talks, then buffet dinner. Ted will be there on Friday night and Saturday, and I am planning his talk ( he's actually showing a film) and launching a new edition of Jupiter's Travels on Saturday afternoon.

Please register as soon as you can. Thanks.

john.

Hi Mike, I sent you another message after you sent me your details. I need your e.mail addy to get the copies of the registrations sent to you. Please send either by PM or visitor message. You will also find my e.mail addy on the France announcement pagen if you prefer to do that.

Booked
 

Missed out last year, as I was away travelling. This year I will be on my way to Portugal and maybe Morocco so I'm back. Just booked and paid and looking forward to seeing y'all again. Guy

We've got some cracking new presentations including a retro look at an amazing trip in Africa in the 1980's on three BMW's with a Citroen 2 CV support vehicle!! details going up very soon. Got a good mix to suit everyone, and I've ordered the same weather as last year:innocent:. The foods being ordered as I write, and I can smell the BBq already. Don't forget this is a unique event this year with the relaunch of ''Les Voyages de Jupiter'' with Ted Simon showing a film of the first part of his journey with an English commentary. There is a numbered limited edition of the new book only available at the meeting.

Get registered now if you've decided to come, - it's a really friendly event in a great setting.

bier

Facilities
 

Hi Pongo,

Will the pool be in use? - It might sound slightly trivial but, in my mind, Cold Beer + Pool + HUBB = Paradise bier


All the best,

Rich

You bet the pool will be in use! It's fab, and if the weather is anything like it is today ( 36C) here where I am, about 100kms north of the meeting site, then we'll all probably be using it!. There is also a shaded area by the bar. It's a great place, and everyone loved it last year. We are not a big meeting, ( about 75 people this year) but it's very relaxed and everyone is into it despite any misgivings you might have about language. It's very French, laid back with lots of coffee breaks and 2 hrs for lunch:rofl: and the food is excellent. The Sat BBq smells has people salivating during the last presentation of the day, and this year it's Ted Simon's film about the first part of Jupiter's Travels in 1973.

You gotta come!

Tomorrow at 3pm I will know whether i can get there.

Hopefully by 3:10pm I'll be booked in :clap:

Be a nice intro for my first overseas trip

Rich

And we are booked... See you all there! :D

Rich

Hello everyone,

Delighted to say we have exceeded last years registrations, and also delighted we have a last minute presenter in the form of Hervé Guillon, who is going to tell us all about his very clever pocket size travellers first aid kit on Sunday morning.

It's a full meeting this year with lots of good things going on, and the weather forecast is looking great even for a dip in the pool, so don't forget your swimming costume:Beach:

Don't forget it's the last day for the discounted registration, and we will be closing the doors quite soon, as we are near capacity for the campsite. Don't be disappointed- get registered!

:D

Well we've done it, but sadness for those just waking up. We're fully booked for this meeting now and have closed registration. It's going to be a tight squeeze in the presentation room, so we'll probably be floating around in the pool with binoculars.

Looking forward to seeing everyone next weekend.:D

One place still available ....
 

I'm very said about it but I won't be able to make it. Please cancel my registration.

Je laisse ma place
 

Bonjour,
Impossible de venir, j'en suis désolé ; j'offre donc ma place.
Je vous souhaite un très bon rassemblement.
Marc

Great meeting, just the right size to meet and make friends with people. Lovely venue, so well done to John and his team of volunteers for pulling it off!

Thanks Tim, glad you enjoyed it, the attendees certainly enjoyed your presentation.

If Tim's camera had reverse lens, you would have seen the other 40 ( we had 100 on site for the meeting) or so playing in and around the pool or having a cold one at the bar. We had just finished the days work. You can tell by the warm shadow on the building and all the shorts a T shirts, that we had great weather. 25-35c during the day, and mercifully cool at night with no wind.

I must single out several people for some excellent support for this meeting, which we started planning late last year. Roger (OTRA), has helped me with the presenters and a lot of translation work of the summaries, and was great in helping solve a few issues we had with some very late arrivals. Pierre Bettembourg ( Gabacho) must get the campaign medal for volunteering. He spent the whole day in the meeting shed with all the presenters, doing simultaneous translations from both French and English, and was rewarded with not only a large beer but public thanks from Tim and a huge round of applause from the assembled diners. Thanks to Krum;François & Wayne for doing all that was needed without any encouragement, and Mick Harley; James Carter and Mark Clitherow for on the spot volunteering with boxes, tarpaulins and the sound equipment. Everyone asked if there was help needed, so typical amongst travellers, and I thank everyone who did, even those buying me a beer or a cuppa T in the thick of it.

Lastly and by no mens least, a huge thanks to Ted Simon for showing all of us how we should live at the age of 85, staying with it all through the day in some very warm conditions and outlasting a lot of people up till midnight, with anecdotes and tales, and consistantly good humour. The latest printing of Jupiter's Travels in French was launched at the meeting, with his editors Angel Sanz and Teresa Garcia presenting the limited edition of 100 copies. (Thanks for the signed copy!) It's beautiful with great colour photos.

I didn't get any time to take photo's, but a lot of others did, and they will hopefully appear here soon.

HU Fr 2017 will take place at the beginning of September next, and there will be some changes. Mainly to ease registration issues which have arisen this year. The venue and meeting has become so popular we don't even think to go anywhere else. Thankyou Denis and Sandra from everyone for your outstanding patience, super food and help in making our meeting go off perfectly!

More later........................bier

It was a great event, great work from everyone involved in organising and presenting and I had a great time taking to all the attendees. A really top notch weekend all around, I'm looking forward to a return visit next year.

What a weekend!
 

A superb event, thanks everyone who organised and presented - I had a great time.

Great weekend !!!
 

It was GREAT John !!! and it was because you spent so much time to build this success, great because everything was perfect, from the quality of the presentations, the variety of the subjects (Middle to Fare East, Orkney to Cape Town, solo to family trips and even including a forgotten expedition and of course Jupiter's travels presentation by Ted himself) without forgetting the different workshops (first aid to bike lifting, *thanks again Laurent), great because the place and the landscape are fantastic (thanks to Sandra and Denis smiling hospitality) great because the sun didn't stop working hard as well, and then, great because everyone have contributed to that friendship atmosphere.
I'm heading south tomorrow to Spain and Portugal for few days (or weeks) :scooter: thanks to Teresa and Angel (and Betty) for their indicates. See you all soon somewhere, sometime but I'm sure it will be on a sunny day......
Roger

Ride safe and cool!

I must not forget to mention all who gave their time to present their stories, and despite the fact the presention room wasn't ideal, it worked out O.K.

I am also hugely grateful to Samuel Fremy of Baroudmotoshop ( the Klim distributor) for bringing their display top quality merchandise and of course to Yvon and Dominique Bodelot of Touratech for coming up all the way from Orange with a super huge van and equipment and the latest Africa twin and GS LC for everyone to get envious about. :mchappy: The "punch party" he gave after the final presentation on Saturday for everyone was very much appreciated.

I have already started the process for next years meeting, in discussing a date with Denis & Sandra. So keep looking at the HU website for updates.:thumbup1:
:Beach:

Hi EveryOne,
My first HU meeting but, for sure, not the last. Wonderful meetings.
Everything was great.
Thanks for organization, volunteers...
bier

T-shirt of meeting 2016
 

Hello,
Is there any possibilities to have a XL T-shirt of France 2016 meeting.
There wasn't any left on place :(

Thanks.

You can order a Travellers meeting T shirt through our store:- Store | Horizons Unlimited

I am very sorry we didn't have any left at the meeting. Very happy that you enjoyed yourself and that you come back next year!

The First photos I have received of the meeting
 

Attachment 18244

Here we are again! HU France 2016. C'est partie!

Attachment 18245

Some of the HU crowd surrounding our VIP's of the weekend! Ted Simon with Bety, the chief mascot at Interfolio Books

Attachment 18246

Instructed by Laurent Dozias, a volunteer showing the assembled crowd how to lift a 1200GS

Attachment 18247

Ted Simon and Yvon Bodelot at the Touratech ''punch'' party after the Saturday meeting.

Attachment 18248

Pierre Bettembourg - concurrent translator extraordinary with Vincent ''Hug'' Vidal just before his presentation of his family trip to Morocco with BMW side car outfit.

Thanks for the photos Vincent.

¡Buen viaje Roger! (OTRA) :-) and enjoy "jamón pata negra" in Spain and "pasteis de Belem" and "bacalhao" in Portugal. Thanks for all your kindness :-)

HU 2017 France
 

Un grand bravo à toute l’organisation pour ce weekend réussi, j’ai beaucoup apprécié les présentation des divers intervenants et la richesse des informations reçues.

Seule ombre au tableau, l’impression que nous nous sommes fait « arnaqués » tout au long du weekend par les prestations du camping des Hirondelles.
Emplacements pour tentes plein de cailloux, 2 à 3 tentes par emplacements (soit un même emplacement facturé plusieurs fois…), un tarif de restauration qui ne correspond pas à un buffet avec crudités et viande froide (sauf cuisse de canard le samedi soir), pas de boisson. Un minuscule sandwich pour le dimanche midi sans bouteille d’eau, fruit…

Bref, malgré un accueil de façade plutôt sympathique, un niveau de prestation et d’honnêteté des tarifs qui ne correspond à ce que l’on pouvait attendre.

Bonne continuation !

JJ

Well im back in Portugal now. I had a fantastic week leading up to the France meeting doing the Trans Pyrenees trails for 6 days with great company and then the Hub weekend was the cherry on top.
Like last year, great people, great stories and fantastic organisation. Well done to everyone for making it another top class meeting.

Some pictures
 

Hi everyone!!
here some pics from the meeting. Great weekend with great people :-)
Next days more pictures :D

Bonnes rencontres, bonne ambiance. Comme toujours avec HU, ce sont les rencontres qui sont le coeur...

Mais taulier cher et mesquin. Il ne devrait pas s'acharner dans ce métier...

More pics, plus photos, más fotos :biggrin3:
 

Voici plus photos du week-end avec les amis de HU
Here more pics from the week-end with the HU friends
Más fotos del fin de semana con los amigos de HU

Great event.
 

Well done John and your band of helpers for putting on a fantastic HU France event.

The campsite owners help make the event such a pleasure.

The presentations were very varied and a huge thanks to Pierre for his exceptional translations.

Meeting Ted Simon was truly inspirational.

i look forward to meeting up with a lot of great people in 2017.

Mooie dagen, beautiful days
 

It was our first Hu event, apart from a small one a few years back in Chiang Mai and I must say 100% organisation. We enjoyed it very much, both the event and the camp hosts. We do'nt know(never know) were we are in the future, but if we can we will be present
Menno and Tine Stammes, this time with our Landrover

More photos, this time thanks to OTRA ( Roger) who sent me his SD card. He's sunning himself in the Algarve at the moment!

Attachment 18291

The travellers arrive. Philippe & Laurence Lousteau

Attachment 18292

Signing in ( Blue tent)

Attachment 18293

A fully Touratech'd Africa twin

Attachment 18294

Klim distributor France Baroudmotoshop

Attachment 18295

Angel Sanz & Teresa Garcia. Ted Simon's Publishers at Interfolio Livres.

More to come.....................

So..... what did we do when we weren't listening to all the presentations ?:-

Attachment 18296

We party'd with Tourtech

Attachment 18297

We tried the latest wet weather gear from the far east. Note the clear plastic front for the headlight

Attachment 18298

Ted & Peter Bettembourg discuss translations

Attachment 18299

Carole Sabarly and Laurent Dozias relaxing after all that motorcylce lifting

Attachment 18300

After a splendid barbq of duck leg with all the trimmings, Fellow Traveller and young Vigneron ( wine grower) François Hublot (standing), gave us a tasting of his own sparkling vintage- excellent

Hello... Thanks...
Even If I make a mistake there's left only "holy borders" TShirt... :(

I will sort something out Arnaud. I have your e.mail address so will contact you directly.

I am devastated to pass on Lorraine's message in ''Gone but not forgotten'', that our eccentric friend and regular attendant at our meetings, Wayne Thompson, aka Gypsy, has died as the result of a heart attack in the U.K.

Thanks for posting the message Lorraine, we will miss him.

http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hub...741#post551952

:( RIP.

RIP Gypsy. I met him last year at the HUMM in France. He was an incredible character.


He will be missed.