Very wise words. The locals are nothing like us brits have been taught to imagine, they're just sound, friendly people. You'll only get a taste of France if you shift away from the usual tourist routes. We rented a gite in a place called St. Benoist-Sur-Mer, a proper 2-horse town where the local bar was also the grocery shop and funeral parlour. On the first night the landlord cooked up a treat and spent the rest of the evening getting pissed with us. The following night we said we were going into the next town, so he shut up shop and came with us...
Good call, the Tour is in the RouteNapoleon/RdGA (as I now call it :wink area from the 14[SUP]th[/SUP] to the 20[SUP]th[/SUP] July 2013 so I will be sure to be there earlier. My plan is to leave Hampshire (southern England) and expect to arrive at northern end of RdGA sometime on the 2[SUP]nd[/SUP] day (stopover in Troyes), then travel to Monaco via RdGA taking some days, maybe 3?, do a lap of Monaco, then head back via Route Napoleon detouring to the Gorge de Verdon and Lac de Castellaine. The majority seem to think I should not expect any difficulty in finding a bed for the night if I aim to sort things out starting at 17:30, with ETAPS Formule1 (aka Ibis) or Campanile being a good fallback (I assume these are like Travelodges). TripAdviser should be helpful too. I am relieved as this means I don't need to carry camping gear which may have cramped my style on the twisty roads. When I originally asked about "biker friendly" hotels, I only meant somewhere safe to park the bike, I have only a disc lock and no tracker or chain, and I think some people may want to steal Ducatis. Never expected any anti biker sentiment per se, its just the safety of bike. Found this awesome guide to riding the RdGA in 7 parts with files for a GPS and Google Earth/Maps and places to stay Route Des Grande Alpes – Stage 1 – Thonon to Grand Bornand « GPS Republic – Routes for Bikers he takes 7 days which I think is because of all the photography he is doing. I am thinking maybe 3 days, or even 2. On the subject of luggage, I have now been through most of the Euro mcycle tour videos I could find on youtube and there are some groups that have a car following them with all there gear in which seems fantastic. I've no idea how they managed to arrange that because none of the tour companies I have found do that. PS I have now started to worry about running out of Petrol in the mountains :biggrin:
Glad your plan is coming together, Chainsaw. I stayed in Troyes, at the Ibis there, on my first night in France on the way down. That particular hotel had an underground car park (although you did have to pay extra to use it - I think it was around 9 Euros) if you're particularly worried about leaving the bike parked on the street, although there was plenty of above ground parking. Troyes is a pretty town with lots of half timbered buildings and a good choice of restaurants. Luggage wise I had a Kriega US20 and 2 US10s as a tailpack on my 696 Monster, plus a Kriega waistpack, and that was fine for a fortnight (although I did have to wash socks, undies and t-shirts in hotel washbasins in the 2nd half of my trip). I didn't think I could travel light, although compared with some of my friends (who put stuff in a mate's van, or had a Streetfighter laden like a pack mule with doubledecker panniers, tailpacks and a rucksack) I was fairly minimalist (although still took waterproofs, small talismanic toolkit, sewing kit as well as clothes, washbag etc).
Luggage space is tight but not impossible for a trip to the south of france, Italy. My wife and i did 9 days and the rule for her was , if it fits in "your" pannier you can take it, simples.
Get yerself on the chunnel/ferry, and enjoy - that's about as much planning as you need. If you're travelling in a group you may need to book ahead, but if it's just you and the missus you won't have any problems at all. Don't rely on the motel chains too much - you'll always get a room there and they are dead cheap, but they're also mostly on industrial estates well outside of town - ride into the heart of town and ask a barman/restauranteur where to stay. And don't worry about parking on the street - if you go to a big bike meeting (motogp, endurance race, etc) there's a chance of a bit of theft or parts going missing, but away from that it's highly unlikely your bike will be touched.
Chainsaw you will have a great time! Far less traffic, much better roads,food,beer and weather etc. We stayed at Menton on the coast, east of Nice on the Italian border. The route de napoleon can be busy at times but you will no doubt find some excellent quiet roads in the mountains. Good luck and have a great time!
I've been to France a few times with the bike and, whilst the roads are superb the trips are becoming increasingly let down by the absolutely ridiculous prices for drink and food! It seems the further south you travel in France, prices go through the roof! 10 Euros for a 500ml glass of beer and 15 Euros for burger and chips is not unheard of and just leaves a very sour taste! I've even heard some rumors that bike tour companies are leaving France off their itinerary for 2013 due to ridiculous prices for just average eating out options. Me and a bunch of mates are off to Croatia this Europe via Belgium, Luxembourg and Austria - not a sign of France at all!
Well I have not biked the Alps for years and simply HAVE to go this summer, I might pack the top box with sarnies and duty free and survive on that.
Plenty of supermarkets out of town to save you some dough, but it's the fuel that will be your major spend. Keep your speed sensible and it'll go a bit further, but if you think it's worth getting to France before filling up you'd be very wrong. fill up before you leave England.
Mr R 10 euros is £9 something 15 is more than 14 quid. You are like me remembering the days you got ten Francs to the pound. I would ask what the F**k you eating Burgers for in a place like France. You don't have to look hard to find prices a lot cheaper than that
No, his figures (10 EUR for 500ml) equate to about £10 for a pint. I hope alcohol is not really that price at the sort of places I'm likely to visit.
Do you understand currency exchange rates? Or are you still using beads and trinkets to buy things in Kernow?
Another thing worth looking at is the Logis de France group of hotels, a confederation of locally owned hotels and B&B's, largely inexpensive and well located, often with a restaurant/bar attached, and way nicer than a Formule 1 or the like!
Hell its not that bloody expensive (this from folks that ride Ducati! lol) Though it may be worse this year looking at the sliding Pound... Last year we were paying about 3.5 -4 Euro for a good pint in Switzerland and France. This was in tourist areas such as Bourge St Maurice and Interlaken, to me that compares with the UK for major towns, hotels etc. I am sure we could have found cheaper and also a damned lot dearer. Petrol also is not that much different, but there are big differences from outlet to outlet, as ever Supermarkets tend to have best deals. Autoroute services are a rip off...just like UK motorway services. Obviously if you head for the 'top; resorts' such as St Tropez you can expect to pay 5 eye watering Euro for a small Coke at a waterside Cafe...but that would surely not be the destination on a motorcycle tour?
For what it's worth, Bordeaux is a really good city - or at least it used to be. And there are endless sandy beaches for mile after mile. And loads of wine to drink. Far fewer people than the heaving Côte d'Azur. Beaches are so close you can hang out in Bordeaux and spend days at the beach. Good biking across the Massif Central too.
Thats on my list...maybe next year. Doing Dolomites this time. So many places so little time (and I need to save up again)..
