October 2nd to 10th 8 nights
Countries: England and France
On our final tour of the season, we head straight for the warmer and brighter climate of the Mediterranean coast. Although more direct than our usual fare, we stick to our moto that 'a motorcycle tour is more than the destination.' We have planned a route which is good to ride and contains a lot of other interests to break up the day.
The tour convenes near to Dover on a Saturday morning, followed by a short ferry crossing to Calais. In the afternoon we take advantage of the motorway to ride deep into France, before settling into our first hotel. The next day we will ride country roads, through scenic often hilly terrain as far South as Bourg en Bresse. Close to the Alps, our hotel here is on the road known locally as the Route du ski.
The roads through the Alps reach altitudes greater than the summits of any mountain in Britain. The October weather may influence the route to our next hotel at Gap, in the central Alps. We have planned use of roads with better views in clear weather and wider roads with fewer bends in poor weather. From Gap we ride through the valleys on the famous Route Napoleon. After Digne Les Bains this same road climbs steeply and we remain on it until Castellane, where we detour to ride the heights of the Grand Canyon of Verdon. A first time 2009 visitor who had also seen the American Grand Canyon commented, "although the proportions are smaller, this is visually better."
Our accommodation for the next two nights is only a few miles from the beaches of the Mediterranean coast and there is a full day to explore this region or relax before the return leg of the tour.
The next day, we are never far away from the coast as we ride West. After crossing the salt marshes of the Camargue, we will see the Mediterranean again from the ramparts of the medieval walled town of Aigues-Mortes. The Course a la cocarde season here does not close until the end of the month. We may not get to see one of these sporting events, where the agile players score by snatching cockades from between the horns of charging bulls and spectators try to scatter the bulls as they are herded by riders on horseback to an open air arena. But we should still get the decent seasonal weather, which is indicated by the shirt sleeved spectators who frequent them. Our hotel for the night is only a few minutes ride from the outstanding Roman Ampitheatre, at nearby Nimes.
From Nimes we turn North, crossing the Millau Viaduct which we stop to admire from several vantage points. We then ride through the spectacular Tarn Gorges and across the mountains of the Massif Central. Away from the mountains on the next day we ride a twisting scenic route through rolling hills and forests. Our main stop this day, is to visit a Himalayan Buddhist Temple in the grounds of a Chateau.
On the last morning, it is a little over three hours motorway ride to the ferry port at Calais. If the weather is kind, we will make a short mid way visit to a WW1 battlefield site and return to Dover on the Sunday afternoon, by which time we will have covered a little over 2,000 miles.