Post by anon on Feb 2, 2007 20:27:15 GMT
From: TJ63◘ Sent: 5/12/2006 8:48 PM
Late 2005, and Sue tells me that seeing as how our 30th wedding anniversary is coming up in 2006, she wants a honeymoon. Well overdue, I'd say. So we got her first ever passport, decided where and when to go, then made the arrangements to do our first ever trip abroad on the bike, having decided on Normandy for this first "dipping the toe in the water".
We decided on late April, early May to avoid the really hot weather and all the French taking their holidays, so 26th April dawns bright and dry. The bike's fully loaded with panniers, top box and tank bag. Sue packed the panniers (we usually have a "his" and "hers" panniers) and made sure they both weighed the same. "That's strange, I thought - she's only taking the same amount of clothes as me?"
We took an easy ride down to Dover and got an afternoon ferry, arriving in Calais about 5:30, thanks to Sea France and the "Cezanne". We met up with another biker in Dover, so he showed us the ropes. We also found that he was planning to take the same coastal route as us for the first part of his trip (he'd eventually end up in Majorca). He had ridden in France many times and knew the way through Calais, and we decided to follow him on his Deauville. So our introduction to riding on the wrong side of the road in a strange country (with the bike seeming as wide as a bus with the panniers on), was to follow this guy through rush-hour traffic in Calais. Aaaarrggghhh!! We fell behind after a while, but then resorted to the sat nav which got us to our hotel without any problem.
We booked a hotel near to Calais at Cap Blanc Nez overnight. This place (Hotel L'Escales) has a brilliant restaurant and we really enjoyed the brief stay. We even got a garage to put the bike in. The pannier mystery was solved when it turned out that Sue's clothes took up one and a half panniers, mine being in the other half a one! We met up with some bikers from Belgium at breakfast - they were from a company which makes an electonic roadbook (see www.tripy.be). They were filming from on board one of the bikes, and from the tailgate of a car. One of them was riding a Triumph Scrambler, the first one I'd seen.
Next day it was on to Arromanches. We started off going down the coast road, stopping in Boulogne (for petrol), and Fecamp. After going over the spectacular Pont Normandie, time was getting on so we decided to hit the Autoroutes for the rest of the way, unfortunately hitting Caen during rush hour. I soon learned to stay in the left lane, as those joining don't give way - they just signal and expect you to move over!
Anyway, we found the Hotel Normandie easily enough, but were not overimpressed by the welcome - not as good as at the first hotel. It's not even got a reception! We were just handed a key and told "deuxieme etage". So much for the website saying "English spoken". His English was about as good as my French (which I did use as much as I could for the whole week). A bunch of about 10 bikes turned up in the car park outside the hotel later, and it turned out they were from South Wales. We had a chat with some of them before they went off to find their hotel in nearby Caen.
We had gone half-board, as they would not let us book just for bed and breakfast. Don't know why. This turned out to be a mistake on two counts. Firstly, we had to have dinner at the hotel's restaurant every night, whether we wanted to or not. Strictly speaking, I suppose we didn't have to, but we'd already paid for it, and I'm too tight to pay for 4 meals! Secondly, we were on a fixed menu. Don't get me wrong, there were several choices of starter and main course, but we didn't have a free choice from the entire menu on offer. After a couple of nights, we had tried most of what we fancied off that set menu already. Nevertheless, it was good food, although not as good as the first hotel we stayed at, and as it turns out, not as good as one of the brasseries down the street where we had lunch a couple of days. I suppose that was mainly down to the restricted choice - the Normandie probably has a lot better dishes than those we were stuck with. I can recommend the house red, and half a litre is just enough with dinner!
We both liked Arromanches very much, but if we go again, we will get the ferry to LeHavre or Caen instead - the 230 mile ride after doing the same mileage the previous day to Dover was a bit too much for us, especially on the way back when it rained. We don't like the idea of having to do a certain number of miles each day, preferring to do as much as we feel like.
Other than that day, we had fine dry weather every day, although it took until late afternoon to brighten up a couple of days. I must say we both love riding the French roads. Some of the "D" roads are better than our "A"s. Brilliant. It was our first time in France, so the visits were fairly predictable. After visiting the museum and cinema in Arromanches the first day (both excellent), we went to Bayeux and the tapestry museum on day two, together with some more riding around locally. The following day we took the trip to Mont St Michel, via St Lo, Coutances and Granville. The Welsh bunch were there again! We came back the quick way so that we were back at base in time for dinner.
On our last day in Arromanches, we took the short trip and visited the Memorial in Caen, which for me was the highlight of the visit. What an incredible place. When I first saw the entry fees, I thought it was very expensive, but it turned out to be worth every penny (or should that be cent?). Highly recommended, but take your hankies! It takes you on a trip through time, from 1918 to the present day. One WWII image from that place will stay with me forever.
Next day the trip back to Cap Blanc Nez on D roads as far as Pont Normandie, then the Autoroutes the rest of the way. The weather varied between light drizzle and heavy rain with fog! Another overnight stay in L'Escales and another meal in their excellent restaurant, then the 10am ferry back to Dover, followed by the long ride home, arriving about 4pm.
We both really enjoyed our first ever foreign holiday together, and we really like the tiny bit of France we've seen so far. The next trip is already being planned. Brittany here we come! If any of you are thinking of trying a first trip abroad on the bike, all we can say is "just do it". It's great fun!
Trev & Sue