TEverything went swimmingly, using the tried and tested "park, pick and ride" technique - pick a town situated on some small roads about 50 miles away, stick it in the GPS, ride to it, park, pick another [optional fag break], ride to it. Last leg, pick the hotel and go there. Maybe we should have known when Jimmy's GPS didn't have the hotel in it...
On the way we bumped into the finale of the Paris-Camembert 2016 road race - 205km of crazed pelotonic action, occasioning the closing of roads around Vimoutiers, one of our way points and the location of the final circuits. We seemed to be on the course for quite a long way, with people gathered at strategic points ready to wave and looking slightly confused by these "deux motos" with UK plates and no cameramen on board!
Anyway, arrived in Chartres, and Jim's GPS led us a merry dance, requiring multiple U-turns, as we got hotter (temperature had gone up considerably) and sweatier (see last bit) and crankier (see last two bits), and still seemed to be no closer. The Hotellerie St. Yves is situated in the old town, and thus protected by a very complex one-way system and some tiny cobbled roads, none of which we seemed to be getting anywhere with. After a fruitless anti-lingual discussion with a middle-aged French biker couple, resulting in Madame getting a bit impatient with us, I broke out Google Maps, which charted a wide swing round the outside, coming back in from the far side. Finally, delirious with concrete jungle fever, we swung into the impressive courtyard of the former monastery. Excellent!
Showers, dinner opposite La Cathedrale, a glass of vino, back to a comfy bed, a quiet room and here it is - Day 2 already. See you later...
On the way we bumped into the finale of the Paris-Camembert 2016 road race - 205km of crazed pelotonic action, occasioning the closing of roads around Vimoutiers, one of our way points and the location of the final circuits. We seemed to be on the course for quite a long way, with people gathered at strategic points ready to wave and looking slightly confused by these "deux motos" with UK plates and no cameramen on board!
Anyway, arrived in Chartres, and Jim's GPS led us a merry dance, requiring multiple U-turns, as we got hotter (temperature had gone up considerably) and sweatier (see last bit) and crankier (see last two bits), and still seemed to be no closer. The Hotellerie St. Yves is situated in the old town, and thus protected by a very complex one-way system and some tiny cobbled roads, none of which we seemed to be getting anywhere with. After a fruitless anti-lingual discussion with a middle-aged French biker couple, resulting in Madame getting a bit impatient with us, I broke out Google Maps, which charted a wide swing round the outside, coming back in from the far side. Finally, delirious with concrete jungle fever, we swung into the impressive courtyard of the former monastery. Excellent!
Showers, dinner opposite La Cathedrale, a glass of vino, back to a comfy bed, a quiet room and here it is - Day 2 already. See you later...
No comments:
Post a Comment