After our time in London, we set off South towards the English Channel and France.

I looked at Eurotunnel and ferry options, and decided on a 32 pound P&O ferry crossing. I decided this would be more of an interesting experience - and it was indeed great to watch the cliffs of Dover receding behind us and the harbour in Calais approaching. The ferry takes about an hour longer than the tunnel, but has lots of food options and lots of places to lounge around during the journey.

The ferry requires you to strap down your own bike using a ratchet straps. Straight forward enough. There were 4 other bikes on the boat with us - a real mixture of nationalities and bike types. We were the only US bike needless to say.

We had decided on a few relaxing days in Normandy before heading south, and that brought us to the seaside town of Mers Les Bains. Lots of sea food, croissants, cheap wine and Leffe followed..

Mers Les Bains has an excellent seafront of gaily painted villas. 1km down the coast is Treport, which has an interesting fishing harbor and some great restaurants.

Mers Les Bains was a great base for riding along the Normandy coast to explore the many small towns. We drive to Dieppe on our second day, and it is certainly worth visiting for its architecture, cathedrals, castle and harbour.

Attached Thumbnails

 

 

 

 

 

Good start to your journey, enjoy the ride

After a great time in Normandy, it was time for my wife Jill to end her vacation and fly back to the States. She was a lot more adept getting on and off the GS pillion perch after two weeks, and I was MUCH better handling the weight and balance of the bike. She will certainly be back for more. Maybe Greece next year.

We found a really nice hotel next to CDG - a converted farm - with a pretty good restaurant for her final meal. She took a 10 minute cab ride the following morning, which was a lot easier than gearing up for the short trip.

And so, with a MUCH lighter GS I headed south to Orleans to meet my long lost friend, Mireille.

I thought traffic in the Bay Area was bad, then I hit Paris ..

Attached Thumbnails

 

 

I was lucky enough to have a great hostess to help me explore in and around Orleans. Mireille runs a successful language school and chauffeured me for several days in her (stick shift) Renault Clio. She lives in the countryside outside Orleans and I felt extremely spoiled by her cooking and her tour guide skills.

Orelans is on the Loire an hour and a half south of Paris. It is probably most famous as the city besieged by Jean d’Arc...

Attached Thumbnails

 

 

 

My push south saw what should have been a 4 or 5 hour ride from Orleans to Lyon, take much MUCH longer due to a GPS issue. Somehow I entered a massively incorrect end point in my Garmin, and as the road was so fantastic … I just lost track. No pun intended. A dinner party in Lyons was waiting for me.

Every cloud has a silver lining. DEFINITELY take the time to ride through the Livradois-Forez Natural Regional Park. The twisting roads, rolling hills and small towns were fantastic. I would ride them again.. and again. I saw a LOT of bikes.

To digress .. after a month on the road in Europe, I have seen a lot of Dutch and French bikers. A couple of Swiss and a handful of British. None from the US of course. There have been a surprising number of Harleys - all have been Dutch - and cruisers. There have also been a large number of GS and GSAs.

My windshield is still held together with zip ties. My speedo still works intermittently. My heated grips now have the same (wiring) issue.

I rode for an hour in a torrential downpoor. This showed the strengths and weaknesses of my gear. Watch this space for more detail ….

Here is a summary and review of the riding gear I am using on the journey. I bought it over a period of years and tested it both on an off road. I needed it to be capable of handling hot and cold weather. I prefer to buy excellent condition used gear where possible as I can use the money I save for other things - wine and competitive shooting mainly ..

Forma Adventure boots
I love them as they are incredibly comfortable and - so far - waterproof. That said, they do not offer great ankle protection. The GS fell on me during a Rawhyde class and I certainly felt it. So far, for my riding which is 80% on road, I would give them a thumbs up. They are certainly great value.

Shark Vision-R helmet
After many years of ownership, I love it and will buy another. Fit is excellent for my medium oval head. The flip down visor just works - and I wear glasses for riding. The helmet is quiet for long distance highway riding (I always wear ear plugs). It is cut for headphones, which I have. Great quality overall. I wish they had better import support in the US.

Klim Induction Gloves
My mos5 recent purchase, I bought these for the trip about a week before leaving. $129. They are my only impulse luxury purchase. So far, I love them. Good ventilation. Super comfortable. They are not meant to be waterproof, but I bought them for hot weather riding. I have small-ish hands and have the medium size. They ooze quality.

Alpinestars Gore-tex gloves
I bought them so long ago, I cannot remember the model name. They are comfortable and totally waterproof. Quality and durability is excellent. I wish the cuffs were wider to fit more easily over my jacket cuffs. They could be a little warmer too. They still look new. Through northern and central Europe I have worn them 75% of the time.

Rev’it Sand 2 Pants
I bought these as new from Ebay for $50. They are comfortable and rugged. They came with a waterproof lining which works well enough to keep torrential rain at bay for 3 hours (the longest downpour I have been in so far). They also have a thermal liner which works really well, but I did not bring on the current trip. I have been down in them a handful of times off road with no damage. More venting would be nice, and when the weather heats up, the waterproof liner makes them sweaty. They also have lots of nice pockets. Anyway, a big thumbs up.

Dainese Jacket
Pretty much everything I said about the Rev’it pants can be send about this jacket. Used from Ebay, it cost me under $100. I can’t find what model it is. The same effective and sweaty waterproof liner, but with lots of venting options. The same durability. Lots of inner and outer pockets. The jacket gets heavy from rain but dries out quickly in the wind or within 3 to 4 hours after riding. One pocket button fell off, and I cannot find a factory replacement, but that is my only gripe. I left the quilted liner at home. This is a great jacket.

Attached Thumbnails

 

 

 

 

 

 

I was able to spend a couple of days with friends in and around the city of Lyon. The highlights were staying in a fantastic old farmhouse, and once again enjoying great meals cooked by French friends.

I spent an afternoon in Lyon working on my street photography with Stephane, toured his vegetable garden and met his horses. Butternut squash and a chard dish from his garden. I still have no idea what chard is …

I drove Raphaelle around the small country towns in her Peugeot 3008 (she has a bad back).

This is the last part of my trip with friends, so I made the most of it. It was time to head for Italy ...

Attached Thumbnails

 

 

 

To get back on my original journey schedule, which had been thrown out by me basically having too good a time in France, I had to do big miles from Lyon to Budapest.

So with a heavy heart I decided to use the peage and ride 900 miles in two days, with a break (recommended by Steph) in Verona. Riding motorways is, of course, to be avoided at all costs.

The first day went smoothly, despite occasional spells of rain.

My peage technique is now pretty good - credit card and peage ticket stored in my map pocket, usable even with gloves on. I have not been listening to audio books or music while riding, so I can think about “stuff”. I take a break every 2 or 3 hours - which coincides with fuel stops on the GS.

Riding through the Alps, Mont Blanc is breaktaking. I took the Mont Blanc tunnel, reminding me of a similar journey about 30 years ago on my DR750 when I rode from Milan to Birmingham in one day. The GS is more comfortable and my gear is better (this time I did not need to stuff old newspapers inside my riding suit for warmth), but I inexplicably yearn to get another DR .. and a 600 Tenere .. and an original Africa Twin. They are over 25 years old now meaning they can be imported into the US - and with the help of a French friend, this may actually happen.

I stayed in a decent, cheapish Italian hotel that offered secure parking and a free breakfast.

I had about 4 hours to wander around the city. I grabbed a great pizza (of course) washed down with house red (cheap and great) and wandered around in the gathering dark. The Roman amphitheatre was the star amongst a lot of incredible buildings. There was a lot of cafe life, and a lot of “Romeo and Juliet” tourists.

With 500 miles to ride the next day, I wanted to make an early start..

Attached Thumbnails

 

This will be a three part post covering what I have learned in my first five weeks on the road. Or to put it another way, what I will do differently “next time”. It’s a bit of a mixed bag, but hopefully you will find it useful. I was actually surprised at just how many things I ended up writing down.

Let’s start with clothes - for on and off the bike.

I would avoid waterproof liners in jacket and pants. They work but have two disadvantages. First, the outer layer becomes heavy with water and takes time to dry out. Second, the waterproof layer traps sweat, and can be uncomfortable if worn next to the skin. Are waterproof liners even an option on the latest gear? I don’t know, and mine was bought used from Ebay. I left non-liner gore-tex gear at home because it was not sufficiently vented for hot weather riding,

Next, I suggest you bring a thin waterproof jacket for leisure wear. I didn’t, choosing a thin insulated jacket instead. That would have been fine, if it had never rained on the trip…. So, I’ll be looking for something light, waterproof AND insulated.

Finally on the clothing front, bring sandals or flip flops. They are a must after a hard day of riding - or walking. I went back and forth on this one during my planning, but DID bring some flip flops, and it was a totally good call. Oh, and they are good for the shower too..

If you pack light and are on a long trip, you WILL need travel wash for your clothes - unless you use the dishwasher. Don’t ask me how I know. I have not figured out how to dry clothes fast in the absence of a dryer. I thought about the over, but it sounds risky. Of course, if you choose your clothing fabrics correctly, you will really alleviate this problem. I have convertible pants/shorts and they dry SUPER fast even in coolish temperatures.

Next up, tips for eating …

When it comes to eating, I prefer to eat in local restaurants 80% of the time, and cook 20%. Once I reached and headed south from Budapest, it became cheaper in general to eat out, with a prix fixe meal coming in at around $4.

Order whatever food the locals are eating, or choose the dish of the day from the menu. You can’t go wrong with either approach. Even if it looks like something you would not normally eat, go for it - you will probably be pleasantly surprised.

Make sure that you are eating enough fruit and vegetables, whether cooking for yourself, or choosing options on the menu. The occasional salad is a good idea!

Drink wine instead of if you want to keep your gut in check. Anyway, a couple of glasses of wine a day is actually good for you.

And on a somewhat related note ...

… think about your exercise routine. I go to the gym several times a week when not travelling and wanted to avoid becoming a tub of lard on the road. I will typically walk about 6 hours a day after I reach a destination - looking for good pictures primarily. This certainly helps burn off the calories. But I also brought a jump rope and do push ups, sit ups etc. Riding the bike is also good exercise (really - research it).

Attached Thumbnails

 

A wonderful trip report. Thank you for the hard work in telling us about your great adventure. Fantastic!

Looking forward to hearing about your further travels.

Travel well!

So here is part 3 of my learnings to date. This is a mixed bag of everything else I could think of.

Let’s start with electronics:

Phone based GPS is better for finding specific street addresses. At least compared to the open source maps I have been using on my Garmin.

I have been using an unlocked Huawei Honor 10 Lite that I bought in France, and an O2 “big bundle” SIM card I picked up in the UK. So far it has been great as a phone and uses very little data while acting as a GPS.

The O2 card has worked in all countries so far, but it will be interesting if it stops providing coverage in the Ukraine and Turkey. Topping the card up en route to keep it functioning after an initial 30 days requires a UK credit card which I don't have (my wife does), but 02 customer provided my first top up via a free voucher.

Next let’s talk about pre trip bike and rider prep:

Give your bike a 1000 mile shake down before leaving. It will show you anything that needs attention. Also, if you thought something “might” break - it will. This was the case with my intermittent speedo (it is back on for the moment). Now all that said, two of my Givi windshield retaining bolts broke, and I had that on the bike for years - but what I had NOT done, was sustained high speed freeway riding.

I recommend you practise two up if you will be doing any. The bike will handle differently (worse) and the suspension will need adjustment. Work out the technique for how the pillion gets on and off the bike with luggage in place - this caused a static drop of the bike the first time my wife got on, but with practise became straightforward.

Cash?

Change your credit card PINs to 4 digits before you leave home. Get a small stash of local currency in each place you visit. You will feel a lot better knowing you can pay for that if your card doesnt work..

How about electronics?

I will certainly minimize my camera gear next time. I brought too many additional lenses for my Sony A6000, but use the 16-50 for 90% of my shots.

Just one other note on photography - avoid the tourist traps, unless you really like crowds or want to take the same picture of the Eiffel tower that everyone else did. If I am in a touristy location, I look for articles from travellers who went off the beaten track. I also choose to walk away from crowds. Now, that said, I realize this is a VERY personal decision.

Finally, a couple of points on trip planning ..

Somewhat plan your tire and oil changes. Know where you can buy tires and get them fitted. Sometimes this will mean removing tires with a LOT of tread left.

DON’T book all your accommodation in advance (like I kinda did). Two reasons - one, if you have an issue your schedule of bookings will be really messed up. Second, it is good to be spontaneous. Leaving a place early or later than you planned can be a really good idea.

Attached Thumbnails

 

With your phone you may want to switch to Vodafone - Turkey is included in your basic EU contract so the calls are a reasnoable price and when you are in the Ukraine they are cheaper than most of the competition.

O2 charge £2 per minute for calls to America & £7.20 per MB of data from the Ukraine and Turkey.

Vodafone costs in the Ukraine are £0.60 per minute to call America & £0.12 per MB - calls and data in Turkey are included in the bundle you bought.

Three are £3 per minute &£6 per MB in Ukraine and £1.40 per minute & £3 per MB

EE are £1.80 per minute & £5 per day for 20MB in Ukraine and £1.80 per minute & £6 per day for 500MB in turkey.

There may be local SIMs that you can pick up that are a great deal cheaper - but they may require proof of a local address.

I am really enjoying the reports - thank you.

Good info. Thanks! I will definitely check out Vodafone and local SIMS while I am traveling.

All of the ones that I have listed will work across the EU as the EU has made the phone companies stop ripping the public off - it used to be the prices for Ukraine everywhere in the EU until a few years ago. Oddly, the phone companies didn’t collapse as they said they would. The Vodafone brand is pretty big in Turkey and their prices are OK generally. I’m not with them myself but would run away from them if their offering met my needs when changing contracts.

If you use social media much then they have an associate brand that uses their network called Voxi that can give you stunning deals with unlimited social media access illustrated reasonably priced normal data. Guess who has a daughter that wants to change phone company?