tu parles français?
Crossing the channel to the continent!
Call to action! I started a YouTube channel to feature all the videos I shot during my European ride. I’d love it if you would check it out and subscribe. Follow along as I reveal all the amazing roads and experiences from my bike. Click here to subscribe.
My time was up in the UK. I’d spent a few days short of a month riding around Ireland, Scotland, and England. It was rain-free for all intents and purposes. The people I met on the road were surprised I had all but zero rain in that amount of time. I think the British just say it rains a lot so fewer people will visit that beautiful little Island where the driving quagmire that is London is found.
I left Jason and Helen-Jones Florio and made my way to the “Le Shuttle” AKA the Eurotunnel in Folkstone, England with a destination of Calais, France. This is a 35-minute underwater subway ride with your bike. You ride directly onto the train and then just stand around and wait till you arrive on the other side. Passport control is done before boarding so when you arrive in Calais you are free to go.
Once I arrived on the French side my destination was Normandy. I had wanted to see the beaches, and the famous Normandy American Cemetery of the fallen soldiers of WW2 specifically D-Day. After initially and erroneously going north out of the Euro-tunnel I managed to turn around and make my way to Dieppe which represented one of the most devastating losses to Canadian fighters in WW2. There is a Dieppe Canadian War Cemetery which I visited.
The town of Dieppe was very pretty. it’s a fishing town so it’s on the water with little bridges and walkways. It’s hard not to imagine these beautiful little villages overrun with soldiers.
It’s impossible to articulate the impact of seeing the staggering number of stones marking the graves of the soldiers killed in WW2. They are lined up so perfectly that regardless of what angle you view the stones from they appear to be perfectly in line. I’ve never felt so grateful for those who fought in the war before. If you meet a WW2 veteran consider thanking them for your freedom. There have been a lot of wars since but it’s hard to think that any of them have had such a direct effect on our collective lives today. Oh, and the ages of the soldiers alone would break your heart.
After the cemetery, I needed to find a place to sleep. To my surprise, there were a few campsites right on or by the beach. That seemed so odd to me, that a place where so many had died, was a campsite. But, it was there and I needed to sleep.
Most campsites in Europe offer electricity at an extra charge and generally, I don’t take it. However, this time I was running low, so I spent a few extra Euros. Unfortunately, the outlet was not actually near my tent pitch. So I had to walk and then plug in my assorted electronics including a computer, helmet communication system, airbag vest, Cameras, and finally my Garmin InReach GPS emergency calling device. The next day when I packed up I managed to get everything except my InReach. Of course, it was a few days before I even realized this. I was super bummed about it because I see this little device as an integral part of my safety plan. I can hit the button in an emergency and help will come and find me. Having that does a lot for one’s comfort in a foreign land.
For a few days, I had no idea where I had lost the device then I remembered that Google was tracking my every move thanks to Google Maps. At first, this kind of bugged me but then I realized it’s incredibly helpful for a trip like mine. I was able to figure out the name of the campsite and then found their email, I sent them a note and they told me they found the unit and would be happy to send it to an address I could provide without charging me. How cool is that? Well, the bottom line is that the InReach unit was trying to catch up with me for the next two months but we kept missing one another and now I have no idea where it is but I’m grateful I never needed it.
After Normandy, my next stop would be LeMans. I was excited to be there as I’m a big car racing fan and of course, the 24 hours of LeMans takes place in you guessed it… LeMans! Although not the most exciting ride I found myself pulling into town later in the day than I had hoped. When you roll in late camping sites can be hard to come by so with that in mind I decided to stay in a hotel. LePrince Hotel and Spa was pretty nice and probably a bit more than I had wanted to spend although all things considered not expensive but not a cheap camper rate either. I had wanted to visit the LeMans racing museum but sadly that week it was not open. I needed a bit of a break so figured I would hang for a couple of days, get a haircut, and maybe try to find some new tires for the bike. When I checked in to the toom I found cool chocolate bar on my pillow, felt like I just won the trophy!
My tires were getting old, the treads were running down to a dangerous point. I set my sights on some new bagels but I was having a hard time finding the adventure treaded Dunlops I’d become accustomed to. Eventually, I had to accept that as much as I’d like to imagine it, I was not going to be on the dirt much if at all this summer. I broke down and purchased a set of mostly road-biased tires. It was an ego-bruising moment but was one of the better purchases I made based on the number of miles I was going to be crushing.
With my new tires on and a few days rest, I started towards Bordeaux. Of course, everyone goes to drink the wine but since I’m riding solo on my bike and I’m not a big drinker to begin with I wasn’t looking for wine. Of course, it would have been nice to share a glass with someone but it was not in the cards. Besides, I got a message saying that Vincent Prat was in Toulouse and he would be open to meeting me but I had to get there the next day. So after a long ride to Bordeaux, I found a very strange campsite just on the outskirts of town that was HUGE. It was looking like they were full but in the end, they did find a place for me to set up the tent. Coming to campsites in Europe would be a lot more difficult if I were driving a car or camper as the spaces are limited. In truth, the camping in Europe is very different than N. America. I would say camping in Europe is like parking your vehicle in a very large parking lot with some grass and a pool. Your neighbor is so close, not much feels like camping to me and some of these places are not too inexpensive either.
The next morning I was up early and back on the highway which by now you know I’m not a fan of. I had to hustle to Toulouse to meet Vincent who as it turns out is one of the co-founders of the very famous “Wheels and Waves” festival in Biarritz although he is no longer involved.
I’ll tell you more about that later.
David
Keep reading with a 7-day free trial
Subscribe to Thedavidgoldmanphoto Substack to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.