Weekend in France

Arrived home about 3am this morning after a great weekend on the bike to watch the Wales versus Fiji game in France. Haven’t got the first clue about rugby (shameful, being Welsh and all that but still…) but I do like bikes and alcohol so 2 out of 3’s not too bad.

Left the house in Wrexham on Friday morning to meet a mate in Chieveley services just south of Oxford, before heading down to Portsmouth for the ferry to Cherbourg. Stopped overnight in a town called Saint Lo that’s about an hour (in the dark and rain!) from Cherbourg then on to Nantes the following morning for the main event.

Arrived at the hotel in Nantes around 3 hours later after riding through the most random, thick and slightly scary fog patches I’ve ever encountered, not to mention the odd speed camera and radar trap. I’d heard the French police aren’t too fond of us Brits so we stuck to the speed limits for most of the time

The atmosphere in the town and at the ground was fantastic (more than can be said for the beer!) and there was fantastic support for Wales with red shirts everywhere you looked. Wales lost but everyone was still in great spirits with no sign of tension bad feeling and good camaraderie between all the supporters. After the game everyone poured into Nantes to watch the Scotland-Italy game on one of the many screens set up in the towns’ squares.

Sunday promised to be a long day with a ride from Nantes to Cherbourg, the 3 hour crossing and then riding from Portsmouth to Wrexham. It was dark, raining and cold when we arrived back in the UK but the ride home was one of the most exhilarating I’ve had, despite it being mainly motorway! The rain soon cleared and so did the roads and with a couple of fuel stops we made it home in about 4 hours.

Like I said, I’ve never ridden a long distance on a bike before but this 1,000-mile weekend has given me a real flavour for it. We’re already planning a weeklong trip to France next year and I can’t bloody wait.

A few months back I thought about changing the SV for something like a Street Triple but now that’s all changed – Pan European here we come!

[Biker Biggles]

Good stuff.Lucky for you the Fijians didnt want a fight or there would have been a repeat performance off the field of what happened on it.

good stuff i did a total south coast run of the uk over this august bank holiday and the weather was bliss... i think it was the whole summer in 4days but was a great 1400 miles in 4days

Originally Posted by glsuk1970

not to mention the odd speed camera and radar trap. I’d heard the French police aren’t too fond of us Brits so we stuck to the speed limits for most of the time

They are not too bad, speak very little French but be gracious and try to speak a few words, carry no money in your wallet to pay the fine (ok to have it in your pocket, just make sure theres only ten euros in the wallet then produce the open wallet when asked for money) and often you'll get a "cadeau" (present) because they usually just can't be arsed with taking you to a cash machine.

As for speed cameras don't worry about them unless you are using a French or Luxembourg registered vehicle.

We got stopped once by a patrol car and flashed 4 times on our last trip (my wife is French) and got away with it all.

You can't use the same kind of silly speeds you used to get away with though and if you are in a French vehicle stick to the limits rgidly, there is no 10% plus 2mph like there is here. I was setting cameras off at 10 kph above the limit and my speedo overreads.

This link is really useful

http://english.controleradar.org/