Motorbike Diaries (Harley Davidson Forty Eight)

Manchester To France ..... and back!
Day 4 - 6th Sept 2016
Destination - St Malo

6:30am alarm call.

We've arrived in France! Awoken by the gentle yet heavily annoying pan flutes provided by the boats' morning 'wake up call'.

We managed to get a cabin in the end - THANK YOU RECEPTIONIST! So at least we had a bed to sleep in. Bunk beds that is. Ahhh how romantic. 

Unfortunately the romance of the bunk beds did not help my hangover at all. 

Surprisingly, I felt rather tender after the wine, whiskey and Gin combo from the night before. Must of got a little carried away watching the fabulous magician that was provided as the ferry's entertainment for the evening. He was so great in fact, he was giving out DVD's of himself as prizes and had a phone case with his own picture on it in his full magician outfit. FAN - Tastic. 

We packed up our bags and loaded the bike so we were ready for when we got off the boat. 

Once we were off the boat we headed straight for the campsite. Camping Des Chevrets 

The campsite was ace, great facilities (although there was a large family of small birds nesting in the shower area - I almost got hit with a bird shit one morning which Ryan found absolutely hilarious - all I heard was OOOOHHHHHH) Haha 

It was actually quite nice hearing the birds overhead in the morning - but would have been slightly gutted if I got shat on.

So, upon arrival to the campsite we hunted high and low to find the best pitch - i think we found it! 

Our lovely neighbours for the next 3 days who were staying in their Caravan (Bruce and Joke - actually pronounced Yoka) came out straight away to greet us. Bruce kindly helped us pitch our tent in the rock hard ground and provided us with a hammer, while I supervised and had a 'hangover cup of tea' with Bruces' lovely wife Joke (I will call her Yoka in the blog) The Dutch couple who actually lived in Germany have travelled so much over the years so had plenty of stories to tell us. They were brilliant with us. Maybe they felt sorry for us as we literally had nothing! Haha. 

Tent pitched and bags unloaded, we got straight back on the bike and drove to St Malo. Only a 15 minute drive...if that from our campsite. 

St Malo was stunning. It was like a little walled city packed with plenty of history and amazing buildings and architecture.

In World War II, during fighting in late August, early September 1944, the historic walled city of St Malo was almost totally destroyed by American shelling and bombing as well as British naval gunfire. St Malo was then rebuilt over a 12 year period between 1948-1960

We had a stroll through, looking at what the shops and restaurants had to offer whilst admiring the old - yet meticulously maintained buildings. I really started to feel like i was in France now. The shuttered windows, all the fresh sea food, the weather was amazing. We love it here! 

Every single menu board had Mussels as the speciality of the day. Mussels in a blue cheese sauce, Mussels in a white wine sauce, Mussels in a creamy sauce - the list was endless! It didn't take long to figure out what the local delicacy was. And, of course, served with a side of chips. 

As the weather was so bloody glorious, we went down to the beach and walked over to 'The Islands', took some lovely pics and got burnt on our way. Typical English skin. We haven't seen the sun for years so the slightest bit of sun and we blended in with the lobsters at the local fishmongers. 

The city itself was quite windy so didn't actually realise we were burning. Haha. 

Hungry, once again! we stopped at the Lion D'or within the 'walled city' for a giant portion of Mussels (we couldn't resist) and chips - each :-) The waiter couldn't quite believe we wanted to eat at 5pm which is quite a tradition in England however in France they must eat quite late from the shock in his voice. He was even more disgusted that Ryan asked for Red wine with fish, which apparently to a Frenchman is absolute blasphemy - White wine with fish you stupid english man. Despite the expertise of the very annoyed waiter, Ryan chose to stick with the Red wine. I was too frightened to challenge the waiter so told him he could pick my wine for me.....surprise surprise I got a class of Chardonnay. 

Feeling rather burnt, sweaty and full (nice) we headed back to our campsite. Grabbed a bottle of red wine on the way home and sat playing cards for a few hours in the tent. We admired the views for a while before we jumped into our lovely sleeping bags. haha 

Not a lot of mileage done today as only went locally. My ass was very grateful. 

All pictures taken by Ryan - Another hidden talent of his - Thanks my love. 

Day 5 to follow...

K

xxx

Motorbike Diaries (Harley Davidson Forty Eight)

Manchester to France ..... and back!

Day 3 - 5th Sept 2016
Destination - The Jurassic Coast and Portsmouth Harbour for the Ferry 

8am alarm call.

I must admit. Sleeping on the ground isn't the best nights sleep I've ever had but it wasn't as bad as the last time we went camping. Fair enough, this time it felt like we had pitched our tent on a 45 degree drop but it was comfy enough when we weren't slipping down to the bottom of the tent. HAHA

To provide some extra cushion while sleeping (don't forget - no pillow or mattress!)  I slept on my bike jacket that I had for the week, this actually worked really well!

Ryan was off course extremely uncomfortable. 

I woke up around 1am to find someone shining their torch on our tent. Someone lost? Someone trying to find their tent? Someone trying to mess with the motorbike? SOMEONE TRYING TO KILL ME!!!! Just some of the thoughts that went through my head. 

At this point I was a little concerned so I woke Ryan up to make sure Michael Myers wasn't standing outside the tent. By the time I had woke him the 'offender' had gone. Bike in tact and head still attached to my body - i went back to sleep - with one eye open. 

Around 2:30 am Ryan was then awoken by the gale force winds and downpour in rain that was bouncing off the tent. Concerned that the back end of the tent was about to be blown to the other side of the campsite, he did his perimeter patrol and came back inside. The tent was going no where. 

You know, just some of things you come across when sleeping in a tent!

We used the Vango Omega 350. Brilliant tent under the weather conditions we had that night. Would highly recommend for all you adventure seekers. 

(was rather foggy the next day) 

Once we woke up and had a laugh about the night before (see above) we made our way to the campsite facilities for showers and to get ready. They were very basic, but clean and when camping...the most important thing - toilet roll! They reminded me of the showers you got in school after P.E. lesson. The womens showers were joined to the mens so first thing in the morning all I heard was farts from the mens showers. I laughed so hard I'm sure they heard me! 

(school showers)

Anyway, we packed up our humble abode and made our way over to Durdle Door

Wow....pictures will never quite grasp what the eye can actually see. The Jurassic coast didn't fail to impress. The sights were breath taking. 

(Durdle Door)

(Man Of Way Bay)

(Durdle Door)

We took plenty of touristy piccies of the monumental door and on our way back a lovely couple took a picture of Ryan and I at the Man Of War Bay. Again, the view was one that i will remember forever. The weather was great while we were at Durdle Door. Maybe a bit too warm, especially with all our bike gear on. The rain held off so we could appreciate the sights fully. 

If we were staying in Weymouth a little longer we would have definitely re-visited. There were plenty of walks we wanted to do but as we had a strict agenda, we only had an hour or 2 here. So, we set off again. 

We were absolutely ravenous at this point so we stopped off for a pub dinner 5 minutes away from Durdle Door at a pub called 'The Red Lion' next to the River Win for some well needed scran. 

(I drink to make other people interesting hahahaha)

(The giant steak and kidney pudding)

Weighing around 2 stone heavier after demolishing the biggest steak and kidney pudding I have ever seen. I rolled back onto the bike and we headed straight to Portsmouth. 

Next stop ..... the ferry! 

We made it! 

(arriving at the ferry)

We are on the ferry and I'm so excited. Iv never been on a ferry before and as sad as this may seem - i was actually buzzing. 

I had no idea what to expect but it was actually great. Unfortunately we hadn't booked a cabin to sleep in for the night as they had sold out by the time we booked, so as it stands, we are sleeping in a chair for the night! We requested that reception call us if a cabin became available. We could really do with one. We were absolutely shattered. I had no idea how much it takes it out of you! Early starts, lots of riding, plenty of sightseeing, fresh air and not forgetting all the food! Maybe its to be expected that we were shattered. Working 5 days a weeks a graft alone and with us renovating the house it can often be a 7 day working week - especially for Ryan. So, the minute we get any down time - we are wiped! However, I'm sure it will all be worth it.....or so we keep hearing anyway. 

It feels great to put our feet up on the boat now and to just sit back and relax. No heavy bike gear, no helmet, no boots and most importantly, an extra large glass of red wine.......ahhhhhhh bliss. 

(Ryas face hahahaha)

(view from the Ferry - bye bye Portsmouth)

Lets see what France will bring. 

K 

xxx

Motorbike Diaries (Harley Davidson Forty Eight)

Manchester To France ..... and back!

Day 2 - 4th Sept 2016

Destination : Rosewall Campsite, Weymouth

First thoughts:

Last night in a hotel 

Last night in a bed

Last night with a hair dryer

LAST NIGHT WITH CENTRAL HEATING! 

Im sure I will grow to miss these things I take for granted verrrry quickly over the next few days! Had a great nights sleep at 'The Moonraker', maybe due to the fact I knew we would be sleeping on the cold hard floor soon!

Alarm at 7am (FFS I'm sure this is meant to be a holiday)

Showered, and off to the hotel dining room where Ryan enjoyed his 5 course breakfast (standard) said our goodbyes to our gorgeous hotel, packed up the bike and off we go. 

(Dining room at The Moonraker)

We decided to revisit Bath before we headed off to Weymouth as we didn't get the opportunity to visit the Roman Baths there. Im so glad we went back! The Baths were amazing! So much history there and surprisingly, the Baths were warm! Not what I expected. There are so many original artefacts that still remain standing - the rest were preserved inside with plenty of historical noting. You could really imagine what this place looked like all them years ago.

History lesson over. Destination Weymouth to the Rosewall Campsite. http://weymouthcamping.com

The weather had forecast rain, we didn't want to drive in the rain let alone pitch a tent. So we made our way to Weymouth sooner rather than later. 

The campsite had great views and great facilities. Iv only ever been camping once before and that was with Ryan in Wales in May this year. It was only for the night but I loved it - hence the adventure holiday this year. 

We bought a new tent for the trip as we didn't own one ourselves. We bought the Vango Omega 350. A 3 man tent so we had plenty of room. However despite the instructions stating 12 minutes to construct - we actually spent the best part of an hour putting the bloody thing together hahaha. Obviously a real test in our relationship hahaha.

(Me posing like I had done it all on my own)

(View from the top of the campsite - see the huge ship on the horizon?)

Once the tent was, you know, kinda pitched, we drove over to Weymouth Old Harbour where they had a festival on with plenty of food stands and lots of 'knick knack' stalls to look over. There was a real sense of community spirit here with live bands, freshly cooked seafood on the front and free flowing alcohol. It definitely didn't feel like a Sunday! 

We couldn't visit the harbour with out going to the Northe Fort where we must have climbed a gazillion steps before we could relax at the top and enjoy the scenery. The weather wasn't fantastic but you wouldn't get to see this in Manchester. So, we made the most of it and was just a great excuse to lie down for a while!

To finish off our visit to Weymouth Old Harbour, we stopped at 'The Old Ship' for some tea and fed our coastline appetites with nothing other than Fish and Chips.

Back at the campsite we dropped off our bags and headed over to the local pub - 'The Smugglers Inn'. This pub was fantastic and would be even better in the summer with the glorious views from the other side of the harbour. 

(The Smugglers Inn)

(Couldn't agree more)

The pub had a great atmosphere and was very 'oldy worldy'. Over exceeded our expectations for a 'campsite local pub' Definitely a must visit if you are in the local area. 

The Gin and tonics were going down a lot better than expected also. 

(Ryan beat me at the drinking game - oopsy)

Circa 100 miles done today 

New blog to follow for day 3

K

xxx