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EuroTrip
CADAM Weekend to Bourgogne – A Pillions Perspective
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After rising early we left home with the bike loaded to meet the rest of the group at services before the Euro Tunnel. As we hit the M25 the traffic became very heavy over the Dartford Bridge and we filtered our way into Kent. We arrived at the services a few minutes late to heads shaking and people getting ready to go, whoops, after a smile and wave from one of the other WAGs I felt better and we topped up with petrol and were on our way to the Euro Tunnel. We got on a train earlier and went straight round to the lanes to board and after a few minutes got on the train. We had to squeeze on and park bikes close together to get the roller door to shut. we were on our way!
The train journey went quickly with time for a quick chat and toilet break. We got off the train straight on to the bright autoroute south and kept going until the first petrol stopped. It was a welcome stop to stretch legs and get the feeling back into the lower half of my body! We had time to grab a coffee and a pastry and look over the onwards route.
Back on to the autoroute we continued south-east towards our lunch stop the weather getting sunnier the further we went. We reached Peronne for lunch and sat outside a cafe enjoying a break and good food. We looked over where we were in a road map and a projection of the rest of the journey. As we got back on the bikes anticipation of riding the local roads, no longer on the autoroute, and finding the hotel set the scene for a good afternoons ride.
The scenery was spectacular, beautiful villages, fields of sunflowers and then we travelled through the Champagne region and saw the lines of vines on the hillsides. At this point, tired from a long day on the bike, sleep took hold and I had a snooze. I awoke as the bike came to a halt and found out there had not been a marker for a quite a while – we had lost the rest of the group in front, just two bikes and four of us remained. We located where we were and how to get to the hotel, about an hour away, let the lead bike know, and set off for the hotel.
We arrived at Hotel Sylvie in Chatillion-sur seine about 7pm and were shown first to the garage and then to our rooms. The hotel was very pleasant with beautiful gardens and simple but comfortable rooms. After a quick shower and change we awaited the rest of the group in the garden with a glass of wine. We had a table booked at a close by restaurant and went as a group to get our dinner. This was a rustic looking building by the river self described as a grill house. Unfortunately they had no mixed grills left, nor did they do crepes, we were too late for these apparently! Regardless we enjoyed copious food and drink and returned to the hotel to meet again at 8am for breakfast.
Breakfast was a continental feast of fruit, yoghurt, breads, jams, teas and coffee, held upstairs in a now closed in veranda. Discussing the days plan ahead and where rides were going to, I had no plans to whizz around France – but instead had looked up the local markets and intended to a bit of shopping and reading, see how the day took me! After breakfast I saw off the bikes, had my handbag ready and walked into town with another WAG. Walking into town the weather was warm but cloudy, we made our way into town having a look in shops on our way, buying things as they took our fancy. We found the market and got a couple of bits. As were we looking around a clothes stall laughing at the lurid clothes an English women came over and agreed, but saying they were all a bit Essex?! Outraged we did not disclose where we had travelled from but rather laughed and walked on by.
Tiring of walking around we went and got a coffee in the main square and chatted as the day brightened up. Starting to feel hungry we went back towards the hotel and popped into the local supermarket on the way to get lunch. We returned to the bright sunny gardens of the hotel and ate lunch before ordering several bottles of the local sparkling wine, Cremant de Bourgogne and enjoying the sun.
We heard the roar as the bikes returned back, their riders looking rather warm and ready for a drink. We caught up with where they had been and what they had all seen before getting ready to go out for dinner, to a restaurant in the town square. We made our way in smaller groups to the restaurant this time meeting there and enjoyed another good meal together.
The following morning we got up for another 8am breakfast on the veranda and enjoyed the same feast of food and drink to help us all wake up. Several smaller groups planned to go out for varying ride distances, but a few did not go out at all, preferring to explore the local area and enjoy a day of rest. Visiting a picturesque local river and walking through the towns narrow streets we stopped again for lunch at the main square before heading back to the hotel for a lazy afternoon.
That evening we waited for the group to congregate in the beautiful gardens enjoying a drink together before once again returning to the town for dinner. Enjoying another good meal we chatted about the journey home the following morning. We made our way back to the hotel agreeing to meet earlier for breakfast the next day to head off in good time.
We woke to another good breakfast before packing up the bikes. Noticing some bikes not quite ready a couple of us dashed over to the nearby supermarket for supplies (of Cremant de Bourgogne) to take home. We set off through the beautiful roads back through Champagne and we stopped in Troyes for lunch, but it had already shut so we ended up at a funny little Turkish cafe serving shish kebabs and paninis. Continuing our way we headed north to stop at Vimy Ridge the Canadian war memorial before heading for the train. The day was very hot, sunny and clear. We walked up to the giant structure and looked over the view ahead, feeling the anguish of souls lost far from home. Returning to the bikes we got on to the autoroute to take us back to Calais all with hopefully enough petrol to get us there.
As we got close by to Calais all the roads were blocked off, luckily for us the lead of our group knew an alternative route to the Euro Tunnel. Another alarming issue was lack of petrol and we spent a few miles hunting for a petrol station. Finally finding one our bike rolled in and we all filled up. Continuing our way to the train it seemed our bike had had enough and kept cutting out, stalling if the revs got too low. Revving our way through Calais town we eventually made it to the tunnel entrance and gratefully booked on to the next train. Though this was in an hour we knew we would head for the next train regardless. We passed through passport control rolling and revving our way. We then rode on to the next train check in and the lady in the box waved us through, not noticing we were not booked for another hour. Almost at the train we waited in line pleased with a good days riding. The green light came on so we made our way down to the train, sat in the hot sunshine for sometime until we boarded last. This time there was no chance of squeezing us on to the train until the roller door shut, we travelled with the roller door up and a train man came round with water for us. Half an hour later we agreed this was an excellent trip, said our goodbyes, and rode our separate ways home.
Euro Trip 2010 – The Video
0Trip to Italy by motorcycle, across France, Switzerland, the Alps, North Italy, a week spent at Lake Garda enjoying walks, a bike ride, lots of ice cream and day on the lake before returning through Austria, Germany, Belgium and back to Calais, France, to get home.
Eurotrip day 10 4th Oct 2010 – Germany
0We woke to a warm sunny morning and got up to start getting ourselves ready. I got the bike prepped on the road outside the chalet and then we sat together and had our last breakfast in Italy. We closed the panniers and I put them on the bike and we had a last look around before shutting the door and going.
I rode round the East side of the lake re-tracing our steps from our day on the lake on Saturday, going past Bardolino and Garda once again before continuing to head north. The lake got visibly narrower as we moved further up until we reached the very top where we stopped for a last look at the lake with a caffe latte. We filled up with petrol and hit the road again going into north Italy and watching the mountains grow taller with a greater presence. There are lots of fruit trees especially apple in the north and there was boxes of them on the side of the land as they were being harvested, all sorts of colours from dark reds, blush, and through to all the shades of green.
I rode past another lake called Toblino which was quite beautiful with a castle in the middle of it. It is hard to describe the colour of the water as it an almost picturebook turquoise and not quite real, yet it is clean and clear. Past we went; with over 300 miles to get through we didn’t have the time to stop everywhere. We stopped for lunch outside Baldova only about 10 miles from the Italy – Austria border. The café we stopped at only spoke German and their menus and signs were also in German though we were still in Italy! Quite confusing! We got back on the road to find a petrol station to buy the Austrian Vignette and after one false start bought it and stuck it on the bike.
We entered Austria after we paid the last toll for the Italian Auto Strada. There was no border crossing as such, there was another toll booth and we had to pay 8 euros to get on the Autobahn – on top of the vignette! We got going and by this point the mountains were again spectacular with snow caps. We didn’t travel to any height so the temperature remained a warmish 15 degrees. We stopped at about 5pm to get more petrol and a cup of tea and slice of strudel. Alexa was less than impressed with the Austrian’s warmth and hospitality and branded them odd and scary! We got back on the bike and continued for another 45 mins until we reached Germany. The mountains once again began to shrink and we felt much closer to home all of a sudden! There was no border crossing here either we just passed a sign with a big D on it surrounded by the EU stars, glad to be out the other side of Austria.
We watched the sunset at about 6.45pm, over the hills from the autobahn. While we were travelling at a respectable 80mph we were being passed as though we were going backwards by many cars! We knew our hotel was close and we’re still on holiday after all so we kept moseying along and enjoyed the scenery. We saw our hotel, in Ulm (where Albert Einstein was from), and checked in at 7.15 and went to find some dinner…
Eurotrip day 9 3rd Oct 2010 – Italy
0We woke up late, the church bells no disturbing us and had a leisurely breakfast with the door open to let in the fresh air. We got up and just hung out in the morning, me writing blogs and Alexa reading her book.
Today is our last fully day in Italy as tomorrow we head to Ulm in Germany before moving on to the Nurburg Ring. We plan to use up our bread feeding the ducks and swans down at the lake and then go to the free wifi bar for lunch and to enjoy the view, before going back to our chalet and packing up.
It is cloudy and dry today, and I noticed the leaves have not yet fallen from the trees here, it is like autumn has not quite set in here, when we get home we know it will be chilly and most of the leaves will have dropped, so we are enjoying what is left of our time in Italy.
Eurotrip day 8 2nd Oct 2010 – Italy
0The church bells, which ring out like a long novelty doorbell for about a minute every day, woke us at 7.30am. We slowly got up and got ready for the day ahead enjoying a breakfast of cereal and toast before leaving the chalet. We walked down to Peschiera where the ferry port is and I found an up to date timetable for us to plan our day. The next ferry left at 9.35am and was a rapido service so aimed to get on that and whizz straight up to Salo’ for 11.14am. Alexa bought our tickets – 2 bigleitti di libera circolazione for the basso lago (2 all day passes for the base of the lake from Peschiera up to Gargnano) though we would only go as far as Salo’.
At 9.30 2 boats pulled in, one was a catamaran and the other a much larger car carrying ferry. Alexa spoke to the officer on the catamaran boat and this was the rapido service so we got on board and upgraded our ticket to allow us to travel on this fast service. The ferry called at Desenzano first, to the west of Peschiera and a large town, and then we called at Sirmione, where we rode to on our cycle ride. It really was quite a distance, the narrow headland sticking up into the lake. Where there were gaps in the buildings you could see right through to the lake the other side!
After this stop the ferry continued crossing back to the east if the lake and stopping at Bardolino, where you could see market stalls and lots of people toing and froing. We nearly got off the boat to have a look, but the boat doesn’t stop for long and was soon going north to Garda. We would stop at Garda for a while on our return from Salo’ so we remained on the boat enjoying the views. Finally the boat stopped at Salo’ and we disembarked. This town had a long pretty waterfront and we started to walk along it. It was hot in the sunshine so walked into the roads behind the lake front for some shade and had a look at the shops.
Here there are mostly town shops and hardly any tat tourist shops. Alexa disappeared into a clothes shop and I waited a while before going in to find her. She was at the till buying an expensive cardigan at least this would squash down and fit in the panniers unlike shoes I thought…. The shops started to close up as siesta time approached and we wandered back to the lakeside to find a caffe for lunch. We each had a glass of Prosecco with orange and ice in which was served with crisps, mini gurkins, olives and these strange things that looked like mini olives on a cherry stem! They were interesting vaguely like gurkin but stronger in flavour and quite tangy! This was a nice place to stop and watch the world go by so we stayed a while longer and orders a panini each. I ham mozzarella and tomato and Alexa tune with tuna sauce.
We paid and moved on for walk through the town but I started to feel tired and odd. We returned to ferry port part of the waterfront and sat quietly for a while. Then we moved in to a close by caffe for some water, I didn’t feel any better and I went to the loo to be sick. I felt better after this and we sat quietly again until our ferry came in.
We got on the boat and after 20 minutes we got off at Garda. We couldn’t stay on this boat as it did not go back to Peschiera; the next boat home was from Garda in an hour. Garda was a quaint historical town, first habited in the 10th century, we walked a short way and sat in a gelateria in the shade. I fancied some ice cream so I ordered a spaghetti gelaro, ice cream that is like fine spaghetti thin Mr. Whippy which was delicious while Alexa had a tiramisu which she enjoyed. I sat in the shade a while longer while Alexa had a look in the shops up the narrow streets. She found a dress, handbag and shoes that she really wanted but came back empty handed as it’s just not possible to get everything back home.
We walked together up some of these little streets before heading back to the ferry port and catching the ferry home. We again stopped at Bardolino where they appeared to be having some sort of festival. Perhaps we should have gone there for the day, had we known, but feeling as I was tired and washed out we were glad to be on the boat and not in the hustle bustle on the shore. We arrived back in Peschiera at 6pm and walked back to our chalet. We stopped on the way for some breakfast things for Sunday and got some juice and croissants.
After we got in the chalet we had a quick freshen up before heading to the closest ristorante for some dinner. I had hamburger and chips and Alexa Spaghetti Ragu. Then we headed back home and went to bed early.
Eurotrip day 7 1st Oct 2010 – Italy
0We woke up and had a bit of a lay in as we could hear the rain. Alexa got up and prepared breakfast of chocolate croissants, pineapple juice and tea and I got out of bed to eat. The rain had stopped and the clouds seemed to be less grey and just white now.
We took a walk down to the lakeside to see what it looked like and you couldn’t see very far with the low clouds but it was dry. We walked up the jetty and hung our legs over the side for a while. The water was crystal clear and so still. We could see to the bottom and watch the fish swimming around. We walked up to the shops and got a couple of souvenirs to take home – Alexa likes to pick up a tea towel from the different places we go so she was pleased.
We returned to our chalet and got some lunch. Alexa happily read for a couple of hours whilst I wrote some blogs. Then we got ready to go out to the bar with free wifi so Alexa could plan our following day out, going across the lake by ferries, and I could update my blog pages. We stayed a while enjoying the view. The weather seemed to have cleared off and there was some sun as we sat by the lake. When we finished we walked along the lake before making our way back to our chalet.
Back at the chalet it was a nice evening so we made Bellini’s and drank them on our veranda with some pistachio nuts while we looked at the ferry times and places we would like to visit. We decided we would like to see Garda and Salo’ and would visit other places if time permitted. We noticed that the timetable we had ran out 30th September, there was a new timetable so we were unsure what would have changed so decided to get up early and head to the ferry port for 8.30am. We knew that Salo’ took about 1 and a half hours to get to by rapido service so the slow boat would be too long! Salo’ is only half way up the lake it would take much longer to get to the top so we would go as far as Salo’. On our journey home I plan to ride up the length of the lake so we shall see the top and upper parts then.
After our discussions we went indoors as the sun had set and it was chilly. We had picky bits for dinner and watched a film before getting our things ready for Saturday.
Eurotrip day 6 30th Sep 2010 – Italy
0We woke early and walked down to the deserted lakeside. As we got close to the lake we could hear birds in the reeds very loudly before we saw them all take off as one and fly in formation swooping across the sky before going on their way. That was a sight worth getting up for! We had heard about this happening a few particular times in the year at a point in Norfolk somewhere but we had been unable to make any of the dates this year so to suddenly see this over Lake Garda was quite a sight! We were unsure if the birds live here and do this every day, or if they were about to start their migration somewhere similar to this occurrence in Norfolk.
We walked along the jetty to get a good view of the sun rise and watched the sky change colour. The sky was pinky shades reminding me of the saying ‘red sky in the morning shepherds warning’ we thought bad weather must be fairly imminent and we must treat today as our last day of summer! As the sun rose it was a spectacular shade of pink and we saw the colour reflected in the water as the ducks swam around. We were glad we had made the effort to get up and see this as it wouldn’t be the same in the rain! We watched the sun climb higher in the sky before we left the jetty after taking photos. On our walk back to our chalet we found a restaurant serving a breakfast buffet so we stopped and sat down enjoying fresh fruit, cereal, breads, ham, cheese, jams and honey, cake and biscuits, many different types of coffee, juices and hot and cold ciocolatta.
Full up we then returned to our chalet, by this time it was 8.30am so we quickly did our washing to get it dry in the last of the sunshine before sitting outside in the gorgeous warmth of the sun’s rays on our veranda. After a while we decided to hire bicycles to enjoy what could be the last of the sunshine. I got an orange mountain bike and Alexa got a black ladies cycle with a basket on it to put her bag in, and my netbook, just in case.
Initially we just cycled round the edge of the lake, but then the path ran out so we headed up to the road. Then we cycled to the end of town. Then we decided to cycle to the next town which was 4km away but up a narrow piece of land sticking up into the lake called Sirmone. It took us about 40 mins and was about 6 miles from our chalet. We enjoyed seeing the sights of this town, including an impressive castle type building. We looked in a few shops before buying an enormous ice cream each and sitting in the sun on a wall to eat it. We then went on to a caffe for a drink before the cycle home. It only seemed to take 30 minutes to get back although it was the same distance – so we rode a total of about 12 miles!
We got back to the chalet rather weary and had a shower and got ready to go out. Then we went to a bar overlooking the lake watching the lights twinkle from the other lakeside towns over the water, as it was now dark, before heading to a restaurant to try lasagne and carbonara. Delicious!
Eurotrip day 5 29th Sep 2010 – Italy
0We woke up late and had a relaxed breakfast before getting ready to walk along the lakeside to the actual town of Peschiera del Garda. It took about 20 minutes to walk there which was lovely in the good weather. We arrive in the town about 12pm and had a quick whizz around the shops before they shut for their siesta. We had a wander around the town before we chose a sunny café overlooking the lake for lunch. We sat here a while enjoying the scenery.
After lunch we went for a walk to the old town fort which was influenced by both Austrians and Venetians and took some pictures, the town was quiet now. Then we walked some more and bought some postcards and got an ice cream. I had fragola (strawberry) in an edible wafer tub while Alexa had her favourite pistachio in a cornet. We walked down to the water’s edge in the town and ate our ice creams and wrote our post cards by some ducks.
Then we took the lakeside walk back to our chalet stopping on the way to buy a disposable BBQ and some food to cook, including some salad and fruit. We sat outside on the veranda in the late afternoon sun having dinner and enjoying each other’s company. As the sun got lower the temperature also dipped so we went inside and watched a film and ate some profiteroles. We decide we would get up early the next morning and set our alarm so that we could see the sun rise as we heard the weather was about to change and the next day could be our last day of sunshine.
Eurotrip day 4 28th Sep 2010 – Italy
1We had a lovely breakfast of cereal and toast while looking through the guidebook of things we would like to do while in Italy. The weather was hot and sunny, though chilly out of the sun, but it is almost October and autumn now. We took a walk out down to the lake and had a look in the little shops before stopping at the jetty and hanging our legs over the side. We made our way back to our chalet to get some lunch sitting outside in the sun appreciating the warmth that we wouldn’t get like this at home.
We relaxed on the veranda outside our chalet Alexa reading and I catching up on my news bits. We then went back out and had a stroll down along the lake and went to café for a pleasant drink looking for free wifi. We then walked in the other direction along the lake and found a bar offering free wifi and stopped for a while to enjoy a drink and catch up online.
By this time the sun had set and we went to the pizzeria for a nice pizza for dinner. I had patatas (a pizza with chips on) while Alexa had calzone. We finished with a large noisette ice cream sundae to share. Then we returned to our chalet and relaxed after a lovely first day on holiday!
Eurotrip day 3 27th Sep 2010 – Italy
0We woke up about 8.30am warm and cosy in our little apartment. We opened the window blinds to reveal the views, which we were unable to see in the darkness of the previous night. It was quite a view! Mountains rising up beyond the other houses and the town, and we noted a steep looking road up the side of a mountain and watched a lorry going up it which looked like a toy! What a road to travel up – not good if you don’t like heights!
We had breakfast from the food left in the kitchen for us of yoghurts, cheese, ham, rye bread, regular bread, honey, jam and cereal washed down with lots of tea. We ate at a table by the window looking at the view and the sunshine across the valley. After breakfast we had a walk around the town and found that many shops in Switzerland do not open Monday mornings but open after lunch, that seems like a nice idea! We found a supermarket open and went in for some lunch bits and a swiss roll. Though it is called roulade disappointingly rather than swiss roll!
We hit the road again at about 11am after handing in the key to our room and paying. Salzmann asked where we were going and we said to Lake Garda. He asked what our route was to Italy and if we were planning on crossing the mountains as many of the passes are now shut. He said Simplon Pass was just about open still but would be very slippery with splits in the road from the freezing weather. I wasn’t entirely sure with Tom Tom if that’s where we were going, but the roads seemed to be main roads so I thought we would be ok. We said goodbye to Salzmann and went to the nearest petrol station to get a full tank to leave Switzerland for Italy.
We left Naters and joined the motorway out towards Simplon. The motorway was then downgraded to a main road whilst we were on it and started to climb. The road got steeper and we realised we had joined the steep road we could see from our room window! The road went up and up and we stopped to get some pictures. There was a large bridge across the valley and it dawned on me that this was the road we were actually on and you could see it wind round the mountainside and over the valley floor up high on to the next mountain! We set off again and followed the road round to this bridge and I rode across it with jelly legs while Alexa checked out the views over either side. The road then went round a sharp bend and up and up still higher stating the Simplon Pass was 4km away. Perhaps we were doing this mountain pass then!
The cloud level and snow was getting closer as we got higher up and water running across the road was starting to stop and sparkle, ice with only a barrier between us and sheer drop was rather daunting! Parts of the mountain pass were undercover as the road wound up round the mountain until we were in a fog in the bottom of the cloud base before the road started to wind back down again. At 2000 meters high and about 12.30pm we stopped to get a hot chocolate and a slice of apple pie and some pictures of the snowy mountains within touching distance!
We got back on the road, all downhill now, and came across the Swiss-Italian border crossing. Nobody paid us much attention and we carried on down. There were another couple of check points, and unsure of what we were meant to do we proceeded slowly but we weren’t stopped. So we were now in Italy! We carried on down the mountains getting warmer as we got lower. We joined the Auto Strada to Milan passing Lakes Lugano and Como and I rode until about 2pm when we stopped for some lunch and petrol. The weather was hot and sunny and it was good to be warm.
After lunch we continued towards Lake Garda and had another 100 miles to go. We cruised down the road and finally saw signs counting down the kms to Peschiera del Garda, where we were travelling to. Finally we reached the junction and came off. I rode through part of the town and Tom Tom took us directly to our accommodation. We were grateful to arrive about 6pm and we unpacked the bike before we rushed to the supermarket before it shut at 7pm. We found some bruschetta bread which we bought amongst many other things for breakfast before heading back to our chalet. Alexa made some bruschetta and we found ourselves warm and comfortable in Italy to start our holiday!