Motorcycle trip to France 2003

This was our first trip abroad on our motorcycles.

Having done the minimum of planning (get to the south of France) we set off on a bright sunny Saturday morning.

Three stops 6 hours and 270 miles later we arrived at Portsmouth and booked into our hotel.

At 5 the next morning we awoke to light rain (luckily we had packed our over suits) which had by the time we  set off to the ferry port  turned into a thunder storm.

On boarding we were ushered to the starboard side of the ferry where the crew tied down our bikes. time to relax we were on our way.

After a calm 5 hour trip we landed at La Havre.

On leaving the ferry the weather in France glorious hot warm & sunny. We made our way to a nearby petrol station and filled up our bikes,  we had been told that  very little is open in France on a Sunday, and this proved to be true.

We set off for the Pont de Normandy. On arriving at the toll station we were waved through, motorcycles cross free.

This is a truly magnificent bridge, with a very steep incline making it feel like you are riding up the side of a mountain.

On the other side of the bridge we decided to start looking for a camp site as we were tired from the early morning rise and the ferry crossing.

We found a site at Equaville, off the D22 Camping Du Domaine Catiniere a lovely site with an English speaking proprietor and motorcycle friendly (as all the sites we stayed at proved to be).

We set about putting up our tent, by this time the sun was high in the sky and we were melting in the heat which must have shown as a fellow French camper took pity on us and came across with a bucket of ice water for which we were very grateful of.

The next day we set off towards Orleans with no real plan but to get as far south as we could. Passing through  a series of beautiful quiet & friendly villages, wherever we stopped people were friendly & helpful with none of the attitude we had been lead to believe we would encounter.

On arriving at Orleans a busy town bustling with traffic we had intended to leave on the N20 however we took a wrong turn  & ended up on the N60 heading east on realising our mistake we left the N60 and found a campsite along the banks of the Loire Valley Camping de l'Isle aux moulins this is a municipal campsite off the beaten track very clean & friendly site with no English visitors that we could tell. This is where we learned our second fact about France they do not have corner shops, nowhere could we find a shop open after 6pm apart from bars and restaurants.