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Europe
2004
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When we left l' Atmosphere Restaurant, Dez , Wesley and me got separated from Jack and Pete, we don't
know where they went but us 3 could hear music. The town was exceptionally quiet and we
were wondering where everyone was. Then we heard the faint sound of music and
followed it to this great little bar. I think the entire population of
Chamonix were in there because it was heaving & the only place open in the whole
town. We wondered in & drank beer for
an hour or so before heading back to the hotel for some well earned sleep.
The Auberge
du Manoir, in Chamonix was our home for the night. it needed a
little bit of a renovation as it was obviously suffering from the ravages of too many winter ski
holidaymakers. It was clean enough though and the staff were pleasant and helpful. The beds were comfy, and that's all that
really mattered to us that night. Before we left we had a
bit of time to shoot a few photos:.........
The Auberge du Manoir at
Chamonix
(Photo Dez)
One
of the nicer bedrooms
The following day
we had to be up handy for breakfast because we had another long ride ahead, up to
the town of Colmar on the French / German border near Strasbourg. Wesley had gone
into the garage first to sort his bike and as he brushed past mine, over
it went. The floor was clay which had softened in the damp caused by the torrential rain
and the bike had been slowly sinking overnight. If he hadn't knocked it, it would have fallen by itself before too much longer anyway. The biggest disaster was
that it started a domino effect and all the bikes except Pete's ended up on the
floor, causing a fair bit of damge.
Dez's bike came off worst with a lovely big
dent in the tank. Wesley was mortified but it really wasn't his fault, if it hadn't been him it
would have happened to one of us. Thing to do was put it it
behind us and carry on, sort it when we get home.
The clouds cleared
just long enough for Dez to take this shot of one of the slopes on Mont Blanc
from their balcony
(Photo Dez)
How to pack a bike for touring. Preparing to
leave Chamonix
This French
guy had his Harley parked in the garage along with our bikes overnight. Believe
it or not,
his bike was only a few years
old. Apparently when he got it he painted it mat black for some
reason
- it was a dog, sounded good though
(Photo Dez)
The ride back north up to Colmar was quite a subdued affair because we were all still knackered from the previous days ride. Once again we were blighted by more rain, not torrential as the previous day but a fine drizzle which we kept running in and out of. We arrived late evening in the damp and yet again had trouble finding the hotel, it was getting to be a habit. To get to it we had to ride through a series of wet & slippery cobbled streets, my confidence had been shot by a low speed spill earlier in the day so I wasn't really a happy bunny. That was twice in the same day my bike had ended up on it's side and suffered no damage, not even a scratch. We did find the Hotel St Martin in the old town centre in the end though, with no further mishaps thankfully - it had been one hell of a day. We deserved every mouthful of the meal we ate at one of the many superb restaurants not far from the hotel.
Colmar is a lovely place - here are a few shots around the Hotel and the town ................
The little courtyard in the hotel
Some of the
buildings and cobbled streets
(Photo Dez)
Packing up to leave Colmar
(Photo Dez)
We all really liked Colmar and the Hotel St Martin so much, we were sorry we hadn't booked for more than one night there. The above photos were taken early in the morning, in the half hour we had after breakfast before leaving for Charleville Meziere, hence the lack of people walking about. One thing was certain, we hadn't even scratched the surface of this magnificent little Alsace town. Wesley and I said we'd return before too long and bring our wives. Which we eventually did in summer 2005.
Charleville
Mezieres from our bedroom window - lovely it ain't
Our run north to Charleville Meziere was ok, the weather had cleared up so we had a good dry run.
We found our hotel "Le Pelican" ok this time, but it wasn't that brilliant, although we did
have secure(ish) parking for the bikes. The town itself is a bit odd, it's very
old but not really attractive in the usual sense. In reality it's a very uninspiring and austere place,
everything is built from a grey stone which gives it a bit of a depressive air. Although in all fairness it was a dull day so we never saw it at it's best. The
centre though, is made up of an impressive square with covered arched
walkways around the edges which
houses shops and bars etc.
We chose to eat in a small restaurant just off the
main square. Here we discovered the delights of entrecote steak. It wasn't entirely palatable
- being as usual for France
undercooked,
full of gristle and snot and was generally crap. I don't know if
this place's offering was typical but the guy who owns the restaurant is missing
out on a superb business opportunity. He should be selling it to cobblers to
resole shoes with. Or maybe he could sell resoles in his restaurant -
.....................resoles and chips.
