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A Bikers Guide to Europe

     We had two trips to France this year - back to the Dordogne in June and to Normandy in July. Iniatially four of us were going to the Dordogne and five to Normandy, all members of Yarm Motorcycle Club. Sadly, just before we were due to set off to the Dordogne, one of the guys, Eddie Arnott, died suddenly. Although Eddie was greatly missed we like to think that he was ‘with us all the way’ so the memories we have of both these trips will be tinged with a little sadness.

Normandy

Although I have been to Normandy several times over the years, including the 60th Anniversary Celebrations, I still enjoy the area, This years trip was with a couple of members of Yarm Motorcycle Club who had never toured abroad by motorcycle before and also Glyn Jones, who also knows Normandy as well as I do. We again used the Newcastle/Ijmudien DFDS ferry so had to travel down through Holland and Belgium. This time however, following the horrendous traffic problems around Antwerp, (see Belgium page), we used the HGV diversion through the Liefkenshoek Tunnel so the journey wasn’t too bad. Although I have done the trip from Ijmudien to Normandy in one go before we decided to stopover for a night in Boulogne rather than get to Normandy tired. Once you get past Abbeville I find the Autoroutes from there almost to Caen are so quiet and almost empty in places that it is as good a place as any to really open the bikes up and have a bit of fun. I know it’s not done these days to encourage speeding etc. but the smiles on four faces when we did eventually stop for fuel were worth the trip alone. We again used a Municipal campsite at Dives sur Mer that we had stayed at before as it was both handy for a Supermarket and more importantly, only a short walk from the local bars, (well it would be a shame not to sample local life).