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Went back to France again this year for what turned out to be a mini ‘Tour de France’ with a few days at the end in Holland to visit the Dutch TT at Assen. Again went by DFDS Ferries from Newcastle to Ijmudien near Amsterdam. DFDS have improved this year as they no longer provide lengths of oily rope to tie down your bike but this time there were freely available ratchet tie-downs. You still have to do it yourself but it is a lot less hassle than it has been in the past. Decided to have a few days in Normandy to take in the D Day celebrations so it meant a 480ml blast down to Dives-sur-Mur, near Caen, where we found a good campsite. Hadn’t booked but there are s o many campsites in France that I have never found it necessary to do so, although it might be advisable if you are going in the ‘Peak Season’ around July/August. Normandy was brilliant, with hundreds of WW2 military vehicles all over the place and with everyone dressed in period American/British uniforms it almost felt like it must have done in 1944 except that the weather was better and there was no shooting going on. There was even a guy with a DUKW driving in and out of the sea at Arromanches and a Sherman ‘Firefly’ tank in the main car park. In all we must have seen enough WW2 vehicles to have started WW3. For anyone interested in the D Day Landings if you take the D514 out of Oistreham it follows the coast and passes all of the beaches and landing points up to the Point du Hoc (site of the German gun battery). Arromanches is a must as the remains of the Mulberry Harbor are still there together with a good Museum and well worth a visit is the 360 degree cinema on the cliffs above the town. Just a few kms from Arromanches is the German gun battery at Longues-sur-Mer which still has the guns in position. Continuing on down the D514 is Omaha Beach and the American Military Cemetery near Colleville-sur-Mer. Take the D514 out of Oistreham towards Caen and it is just a few kms to the Pegasus bridge where there is also a museum and the original bridge which has been rebuilt next to the museum following the outcry that was raised when it was recently replaced with a new bridge. After Normandy we pushed on down to Les Sables-d’Olonne on the Atlantic coast which seems to be a favorite with British caravanners as we passed loads on the Autoroute. The area seems to be quite a popular haunt for the international sailing fraternity as does Les Sables. Following Les Sables we went to the Dordogne area to a Biker Only campsite near Domme at Saint-Aubin-de-Nabirat. Moto Camping Dordogne, (See link on Biker Friendly Accommodation page), is own ed by a Dutch couple and is a Biker Only campsite and the atmosphere was really free and friendly. (The only rule that was mentioned was ‘Don’t P**S in the Pool’ - so we didn’t).There were mainly British and Dutch bikers with the odd German and Belgian. We watched most of the Euro Championship football on the TV in the bar and the atmosphere was terrific. The site is in a wooded area and has a swimming pool, a really lively bar, a good amenity block and for those that can’t be bothered to put the tent up cabins are available to rent, (although must be pre-booked). Breakfast and evening meals are available at the bar. The Dordogne is a fantastic area to tour and I will definitely be going back. There are numerous medievil towns that are well worth visiting all within a few miles of the site. One such is Rocamadour which dates from the 12th centur y and is built into the side of a cliff. It is quoted as being the second most important tourist attraction in France, (I can only guess at which is the first). The town of Domme, which is only around 6mls from the site is also perched on top of a cliff above the Dordogne river and is well worth visiting. Also worth a visit is the village of Les-Eyzies which was where Cro-Magnon man was discovered, (everyone’s distant ancestor). There are limestone caves with pre-historic wall paintings and relics and a natural history museum. The best day we had was in fact when we hired a canoe and canoed down the river. It is cheap to do - you have a choice of 2hr, 3hr, half day etc. and they put the canoe and you onto a mini bus and drive up the valley to whichever start point you have chosen and it is all downstream from there. After the Dordogne we went to the Drome area of the Rhone Alpes to another Biker Only campsite at Mirabel-et-Blacons near Crest. Le Camping Moto, (see link on Biker Friendly Accommod ation page), is again Dutch owned and run and the facilities are superb. The swimming pool, bar and restaurant area would do justice to a 5 star hotel, as would the recently refurbished amenity block. The site is extremely well run and maintained and is very popular, particularly with Dutch and German bikers. The rules are slightly stricter regarding noise and returning to the site late at night etc but there is still a good atmosphere. Evening meals are available and are excellent, there is a good workshop with tools available for use and cabins are available but must be booked in advance. The area around the site is again brilliant for biking with many well surfaced and twisty mountai n roads and small villages with cafes/bars etc. On one trip out we were taking a circular trip around the Col-de-Rousset and passed some French bikers on BMW’s, (4 K1200LT’s and a K100), going in the opposite direction who we thought at the time were ‘not hanging around’ but as they appeared to be local’s we assumed they knew the roads. Around 2hrs later we stopped for a break at a crossroads up in the mountains and 3 of the French bikes appeared and stopped - obviously waiting for the other 2 to catch up. After around 10mins when their friends still hadn’t shown one of them set off back up the road, which was in the direction we were taking. After a steep and twisty climb we found the other 2 Lt’s - one of which had left the road on a tight downhill hairpin bend and had gone over the edge. Fortunately the rider had parted company with it before it went over and although he had some severe cuts a nd scrapes was pretty much OK. The bike was jammed against a tree some 15ft down a very steep scree covered slope. This in itself was lucky as it was the only mature tree between the bike and an approximate 175ft drop down into a gorge. A couple of French guys had stopped in a large Renault van and were trying to pull the bike back up with a nylon rope on the towbar of the van. We went down the slope to try and help to push the bike and bloody nearly continued down to the bottom, only managing to grab the bike to stop ourselves dissapearing. (The moral of this must surely be ‘Look Before You Leap’). Unfortunately despite all of our best efforts the rope snapped due to the steepness of the slope and the sheer weight of the bike and we left it still resting against the tree whilst the 2 French guys dissapeared to try to find a truck with a whinch. The bodywork on the bike was a mess, particularly the back end which had hit the tree but all in all the rider has to consider himself to be the luckiest guy in France on that particular day. It certainly slowed us down a bit on the ride back. After a great time at Le Camping Moto we were off again, this time to Lake Annecy, in the Haute-Savoie area of the Rhone-Alpes but only 60kms from Geneva. We had never been before but had heard a lot about it from several people we had met whilst travelling. On first impressions it looked to be a very busy area, rather like Windermere on a sunny Bank Holiday, plus the weather was a bit grey. Again we hadn’t booked anywhere but had no trouble finding a good campsite. This was Le Panaramique campsite, near the village of Sevrier, approx 4mls from the town of Annecy. Although not a biker site it turned out to be excellent, with a great swimming pool and bar/restaurant area and although a large site because it was not yet the main French holiday season it was quiet. The town of Annecy is magnificent. right on the shore of the lake it is an old town with narrow medievil streets and more bars and restaurants per sq ml than anywhere I’ve ever seen. Every year most French towns hold a music festival to celebrate the Summer Solstice on June 21st and Annecy was no exception. I’ve seen a few of these festivals and they are brilliant, totally free and all kinds of music is played by bands ranging from professional to students ‘jamming’, choirs and individual artists of all types. Every street corner and square in Annecy seemed to have something going on and you could wander around all night with no trouble of any kind and virtually no Police to be seen. Although the roads around the lake and Annecy itself are pretty busy 20mins or so can see you out and on the way to the Alpes with high passes and twisty roads. Mont Blanc and Chamonix are less than an hour away. A great run out we had was to take the D909 out of Annecy and follow it over the Col des Aravis. It passes through a number of ski resorts so theres plenty of cafes/bars/restaurants etc. and seemed a great favorite with bikers, particularly we found with organised tours of bikers from Britain. All in all we had a pretty good time in France but we always had the intention to go to Assen for the Dutch MotoGP so after a few days in Annecy it was off to Holland. (See Holland 2004 page). |
