France Tour 2016 - Day 9 - Berck-sur-Mer to Home

This is the last day's diary for the France Tour, in case you missed it: click here for Day 1 and here for Days 7 & 8.

I hope you've enjoyed my tour diary - please feel free to get in touch or leave any comments :)

Sunday 4th September
Today was always going to be a long day but we got going at 9:30 to head to Calais and the Eurotunnel. We arrived at the tunnel much earlier than the train we were booked on but as they do at the Eurotunnel, they just put us both on an earlier train at 11:50 which was great news for us because it meant we'd get to England two hours earlier than expected which meant we could get home earlier too.

Let's go home!

Bikes all packed up and ready to go, skies were threatening showers

There was a group of 7 bikers on the same train as us who had been up to Belgium too but they stayed there for the week and rode around the Ardenne Forest rather than doing what we did and heading to France. They were all on Suzuki's so my bike blended in nicely but mum's BMW didn't!

My trusty SV650 on the Eurotunnel

Due to the bridge collapse on the M20 near Kent (which we missed by about half an hour on the way down!), we had to take a slightly diverted route home using the A229 before getting back on track and through the Dartford Tunnel.

We got to the Birchanger Green services off the M11 at around 1pm and filled up and had some food and a break with 115 miles left to go.

Diverting slightly from the route we took down to the tunnel, we rode around the edge of Rutland Water to get home and stopped for a drink at Oakham at the Grainstore Brewery where we've been for breakfast a couple of times in the past.

Knowing that we were so close to home, the last leg home passed without incident (apart from a momentary lapse in concentration which meant we rode on the wrong side of the road for about a minute...) and we made it back at 4:30, 3 hours earlier than we expected to.

After unpacking the bikes and putting them away, it was finally time just to relax and try and tell my dad a full week of stories in as short an amount of time as was humanly possible.

Daily miles: 230;
Total miles: 1150.

The whole trip was great fun and although I was, and still am, gutted that we couldn't go to Germany to do the Fairytale Route there, I know that because I'm still recovering even now from my illness at the start of July, we never would've been able to have done it and enjoyed it at the same time. It's still on my list to do though, I'll just have to hope that next time I plan to do it that I'm not ill for at least 2 months beforehand!

Until the next time then guys, ride safe
TFB

France Tour 2016 - Days 7 & 8 - Berck-sur-Mer

Click here for Day 6 if you missed it, if you didn't, read on for a quick summary of our two days off on the beach!

Friday 2nd September
After a bit of a lie-in this morning after the long ride yesterday, we got up thinking we'll have a wander and then sit on the beach and soak up the sun we've been riding through all week, but, it was miserable weather outside with clouds threatening rain as far as the eye could see. Great.

It brightened up slightly giving us some hope...

We headed out in the morning anyway and walked around the town, looking in some of the chocolate shops and clothes shops and the like before heading back to a pancake stall we'd spotted for some brunch. After ordering in pretty decent French (if I do say so myself) considering I haven't really spoken masses since GCSEs, we sat down to enjoy our delicious pancakes.

They were so lovely, I couldn't wait to eat some!

Post-pancakes, it was starting to spit the tiniest bit so we swung by the supermarket to pick up snacks and drinks to get us through an afternoon in a hotel room. It rained pretty steadily all afternoon and then tipped it down in the evening so we walked very speedily to the restaurant with our bike jackets on for protection as they were all we had.

As it's the end of the holiday, you've got to have a dessert

It was a shame we spent the majority of one of our rest days inside when we were hoping to be on the beach but we have been blessed with fantastic weather all week and it's supposed to be brighter tomorrow so I suppose you can't have it all.

Saturday 3rd September
Today was much nicer and we actually woke up to sunshine and clear skies! It wasn't boiling hot so we just went for shorts and t-shirts for our day on the beach.

Shining sunshine on the beach

The town was much busier today but as it's the weekend and a nice day, I suppose that's what's expected. In the morning we walked along the beach and the sea front before returning to the pancake store - they were just too good to resist!

The stone separators to help with tide levels

On the beach enjoying the sunshine

A walk down the rock pier at the end of the beach

...and a selfie at the end!

Pancake anyone?

We sat and read all afternoon outside in the sunshine, turning a tad red in the process. After returning to the hotel, we packed up everything ready for the morning and the long ride home.

In the evening we headed out to eat by the sea front to enjoy our final night of the holiday. Home tomorrow so a long ride! Hoping to get an earlier train so we're not getting back at 8pm

France Tour 2016 - Day 6 - Saint-Pierre to Berck-sur-Mer

If you missed Day 5 and are wondering how we ended up in Saint-Pierre-la-Garenne, click here to catch up!

Thursday 1st September 

Today was the day we actually got going at 9 like we said we would (only took us 6 days) but that was partly because we had a fair few miles to cover and we wanted a decent lunch break. 

The start of the ride was pretty standard stuff with no particularly spectacular riding but some pretty countryside as we skirted around the bottom of Rouen on route to Honfleur. We arrived in Honfleur, around 70 something miles later, at around 12 o'clock because it was actually further away than we realised but it wasn't a massive problem.

Riding through some forest around the bottom of Rouen

After a quick walk around some of the shops, we found a restaurant for lunch next to the harbour in the sunshine. As we were headed to the seaside, we figured it would be rude not out have seafood so mussels and prawns were on the order for us. We had some debate about how cheeky we could get away with being with our parking and when we got back to the bikes, it all looked good so clearly, we got away with it!

Beautiful sunny day sat having seafood in Honfleur

The boats in the harbour

Out of Honfleur over the Pont de Normandy and then it was time for the scenic route through all the "on-Sea" towns and villages up to Berck which was the aim for the day's ride so we got to practice our cornering skills around some sweeping bends followed by hairpins. However, we did get some fab views of the sea when the road brought us around that way. 

Petrol and wine gum stop

We hit a couple of more major-type roads around Dieppe to cut out a couple of the towns and knock off some miles before carrying on with our planned route. 

Around 35 miles away from our final destination, it was time for a break so we pulled up at a roadside cafe for a drink and 10 minutes off the bike. Whilst we were stopped, a few other people pulled up clearly there for their post-work drink including one guy who looked about 80 who decided he was going to try and talk to us despite the fact it was pretty obvious we didn't speak much French. 

Two separate people went and checked the plates on the bikes, verifying we had English plates on and clearly weren't French but this did not deter the old man who I told that we spoke very little French. He then started telling stories that I think, from what I could work out with my limited French skills, were about his father, Germany, England, America and potentially something else. I tried to just nod, smile and laugh along a bit to be honest..

We arrived in Berck around 6:30 and checked into our room before grabbing some food and hitting the hay after a long days riding. The next two days are days off for us before heading home in Sunday and I'm looking forward to lying on the beach after being so warm in all my kit for the last 6 days. 

Our view for the next 2 days

Daily miles: 229;

Total miles done: 920.