BootsnAll Travel Blogs

Tucker and I left home on the bikes – in rain – and headed down Oxford way, to meet up with Big (sic) Al. From there it was an uneventful (but now dry) onward journey to Portsmouth and a bar meal before heading on the overnighter to Le Havre.
Being one of the first on board, we managed to get great reclining seats and sleeping space, so all tucked into sleeping bags (and Al in his very ghey blindfold) to sleep.

Next Morning, we set off on the wrong side of the road thru some lovely picturesque villages and towns until we reached Pegasus Bridge where we stopped at the very famous cafe for breakfast of coffee and croissants 🙂
After a little sightseeing, we headed onwards until we reaached our new base of Bayeux – which turned into a lovely old town with fab cathedral and narrow streets.
The campsite (municipal) was also great – nice sites with good ablutions and an Aldi and MacD across the street.

After pitching camp, we headed to the seaside and Arromanche where we found a lovely little town with enormous concrete relics of the Mulberry Harbour, littering the beach and which had such a pivotal role in the D-Day invasion

The next few days were spent visiting so many of the D-Dy beaches, memorials and cemeteries – very atmospheric, interesting AND fun!
Our last full day together was spent at the fabulous island of Mont St. Michel, with its amazing cathedral, shops and winding streets – and of course coffee shops 😉
On the way there we had stopped at William the Conqueror’s home town – and discovered that until he changed his name, he was known as William the Bastard!!
That night we had a great meal in yet another great little restaurant in Bayeux (we ate sooo well for the whole trip -including snails and Creme Brulee …tho not at the same time)
Next day we headed to Utah beach and memorial before saying farewell to Al who had to return home for the W word. Tucker and I returned to Bayeux via some more fortifications that had only recently been rediscovered (I also let Tuck ride my bike as I knew he would be bored on the Panzer by now)
Next day and I had done some research and found a real Panzer to go and visit (all we had seen so far were US or GB tanks) so we headed south by 100km or so and eventually found it 🙂 got a nice photo of Tuck on his Panzer in front of a very similar (in terms of looks and performance) 1940’s version. We then headed back to Bayeux and visited the Tapestry museum and the British War Cemetery (not as grand as the US Omaha site, but also very atmospheric)
We packed and took our leave from Bayeux next day and headed south on some very non-touristy route roads down to Le Mans
MOTOGP!!! we arrived at Le Mans Bleu camping on Thursday afternoon – thinking we were going to be early …apparently not! …the campsite was already a scene from Armageddon with bikes banging ff the rev limiter, wheelies everywhere and general mayhem and carnage ensuing! We got in and made camp in a patch of grass, completely shocked by the noise and goings on ….some nice new bikes arrived next to us and Tuck spoke the immortal line ” well, they’ll not be revving the bikes” ….just after dark that night, they too stood chatting amogst themselves while holding the bikes on the rev limiter and flicking the kill switch to get flames out of the zorst!!….absolutely crazy!
speaking of which there was a group of bikers on site wh were VERY professional in their set up: one guy (at least) would sit burning up a tyre till it popped at which point someone would give him another bike while the previous one had a new tyre fitted to start all over again! ….and these bikes had home made exhaust cans of various designs, but mainly megaphone type with the open end being a foot wide, no silencer, but with a little funnel attched to the top of the ‘phone …. this was to allow oil to be dripped in, while the engine sits on teh rev limiter, producing 10ft long flames out the back!!
sheer unadulterated carnage!!!!! and with bikes wheelying around and accidents requiring a constant stream of ambulances into the place!


We had a great time walking around and taking in the atmosphere – tho Tuck was a little worried about his bike disappearing. I got up on the first morning at about 6 and walked off to find a coffee stall …there was no queue there, but the BEER stall next door had a HUGE queue – one guy actually tipped over and fell unconscious in it!
We had a night in Le Mans, taking the Metro there and back (and getting in some trouble for not using the tickets properly 😉 ) nice cathedral and streets andd a beer in the town square
By now the rain had appeared so the racing was a bit of a damp affair, though we had found a good viewing point, so sat there for race day along with some french guys we had met up with in the campsite. All the races were great, but the best part was Rossi overtaking Stoner on the bend in front of us to the delight of the fans too 🙂

We left straight after the race and headed north on the peage – which were free to bikers for the day!!! and eventually arrived at Boulogne where we fell exhausted into a cheap hotel /tuck new and then had a burger and beer before hitting the sack
Unfortunately the next morning – the ONLY morning we had to be up early as we had the Chunnel booked – we slept in! … A dash along the coast got us there in time for the next one, with no penalties, so that was ok. Safely on board, Tuck changed his number plate back to a proper sized version, then we disembarked, stopped for brekkie at a services then headed north and home.
A very fabulous trip 🙂

had some good rides thru August – mainly with Tucker on his panzer and joined by a few of the scots lot:
We headed up to Selkirk where we met up with Grumpy, Alzo and Macfazer. The ride continued on the well worn path thru St. Marys loch (not literally) to Moffat for lunch and then after some deliberation on which road was being shown as closed on the signposts (we all read the same first line and no-one actually got to the 2nd line that had the road number written on it!) up the A7 (and a passed Selkirk a gazillion times) to Leith, where we joined Chyrel and Macfazers wife
We had a night on the tiles starting with a good meal at a local bar, before heading to a gay bar (I kid you not…. well OK its not normally a gay bar…..oh hang on, that doesnt sound right either…) was a good night anyhoo
next morning, Chyrel produced the usual fabulous breakfast (was it 2 or 3 types of ‘black’ pudding this time!?)
then we chilled for a while and watched the motogp, before saying our goodbyes and heading back down thru the borders
Tucker and I hd a few good runs round the usual MiT/alston loop including a really nice run one evning with a stop for fish & chips in MiT (and meeting his aunt and her friend) …sadly I found I had a flat tyre on the way back..tho that didnt stop me getting my knee down on the roundabout in Shields
……what it did mean was that I needed a new set of tyres, seeing as the flatty was due to 3!!!!!! punctures in the rear!….. a trip to Hunters relieved me of £169 and left me with a set of Maxxis new Diamond tyres on my bike
…within a week I had just about 1300 miles on those tyres….. LIKING them too! ..for a budget priced tyre, they grip and seem to have low wear too
Another trip up to Selkirk ensued thru the borders…stopping for coffee at NCL airport, then the buddhist monastery in Jockland, at Selkirk and then St. Marys loch! ..all before lunchtime too! when we eventually arrived at Moffat, we met up with Grumpy, Chyrel and Rhino on his Trumpet.
lunch kindly paid for by grumpy and after they all swapped bikes and congratulated themselves on having great taste 😉 and we were off again for a very quick ride thru the usual culprits including a trip thru Kelso which was new to me. With time getting short (I had a night out planned, Tucker and I set off south and had a very quick ride down from Carter Bar, after cching a gixxer and R1 who were a bit ponderous thru th bends….I passed them only for them to tag on behind me…not wanting them in front I went faster and fater till we were averaging 110…GREAT ride, very exhilerating.

Finally, Tucker and I headed down to Brough to meet up with Kenny and then scoot down to Cadwell Park for the BSB meeting. A good day out, if a little cold.
Back in Brough for a few drinks that night (and a nice meal from Pam) WE kipped in the conservatory that night, then headed down to Cadwell again for Race Day. a lovely day weather wise and a good tun out to watch some great racing. Gordy was there and so were Chez and Dougie.
Very sadly a young rider was killed on the Mountain as he fell and was hit by other bikes. quite annoyingly, the death wasnt broadcast till the end of the day, despite it being announced on TV (and therefore everyone knowing from friends who were watching at home texting)
Tuxkr and I set off home in the dark that night….which was nice using the HID lights on both bikes, but not so great for Tucker with his tinted visor!