Post by Phil on Aug 18, 2014 13:27:48 GMT
JUNE 2014
The Plan
Well there wasn't really a plan, my only constraints was the ferry crossing from Roscoff back to Ireland, so I decided to head south east from Roscoff towards the French - Italian Alps using campsites or if the weather was really shitty or I couldn't find a campsite then it would be a cheap hotel.
Day 1
Left home around 10am, the weather forecast was for scattered showers, so followed some back roads until I got as far as Newry and used the M1 to Dublin, then on to Rosslare.
The rain stayed off until I was about 15 miles away from Rosslare then it lashed down but I had made it to the port with plenty of time to spare, so had a meal in the cafe next door to the Supervalu supermarket ( a lot cheaper than buying a meal on the ferry )and bought some munchies for the trip.
I was surprised to see that the ferry was almost full to capacity with lots of families going on holiday at the beginning of June.
Had a very heated discussion with one of the crew who was trying to cram as many motorbikes as possible into a small space, I couldn't get off the bike because of bikes either side of me, then a few others started ranting about how their bikes were being loaded so they moved some bikes to make a bit more room.
The ferry departed on time and the crossing was quite smooth.
Day 2
The ship docked at 11am in Roscoff.
But didn't get off until almost 12 because some dozy car driver didn't bother to return to their car and it was parked at the top of the ramp down to the lower deck so no one could get off.
Made my way through Brittany on some lovely back roads and stopped at Veigne, south east of Tours at around 7pm.
Found a nice little campsite on the banks of the Indre river, with a bar and restaurant for €8 a night and not very many campers on the site. laplage.onlycamp.fr/en/
After pitching the tent and having something to eat I had a wander around the little village of Veigne, quite pretty.
Day 3
Early start today, on the road for 8am, really hot today, traveled along some cracking twisty roads.
Stopped at 7pm in the municipal campsite in St Jean en Royan for €8 a night. www.camping-saintjeanenroyans.com/
The showers and washing cubicles were clean and modern but the toilets were a bit antiquated.
You would need to be a good shot to get a jobbie into that wee hole.
Had a walk around the village, another very pretty place.
A music festival was warming up in the field next to the campsite, this was going to be a long night, the first act was total crap but the bands got better towards the end of the night, or it may have just been the beer that made them sound better.
Day 4
Left St Jean en Royans at 8am and already it was very hot, filled the Camelbac with water and got another 2 litre bottle incase I was a bit dehydrated today.
Followed the D76 from St Jean en Royans over the Col de la Machine, lovely twisty road with stunning scenery.
For some reason all the video clips after this no sound was recorded, so put on your own background music.
Somewhere along the route to Die I came across a WW2 French Resistance Fighters cemetery, something I hadn't seen before in all the trips I've had through France.
Made my way through Die and on towards Briancon on some cracking roads.
Along the shore of Lac de Serre-Poncon.
As soon as I crossed the border into Italy the road surface deteriorated with lots of potholes and lots of lunatic impatient car drivers who would overtake a line of traffic on blind bends.
Made my way through Pinerolo and on to Pavia, south of Milan, where I stopped on a nice little campsite on the outskirts of town, Camping Ticino www.camping-ticino.it/web/index.php/the-camping for €17 a night.
Some of the local wildlife.
Day 5
Checked my map and seen that I wasn't very far from Venice, so I decided to go there. So made my way towards Verona and got onto the A4 motorway. When I got close to Venice I checked the satnav for campsites and decided to make my way to the spit of land across the bay from Venice and stopped on Camping Miramare www.camping-miramare.it/index-gb.htm for €19 a night.
The campsite was busy, with lots of kayakers staying, I later found out that for the past 25 years the campsite organizes a boating regatta in early June every year where kayaks, gondolas, rowing boats and dragon boats all gather at the shore close to the campsite and paddle across the bay into Venice and then around all the canals.
As I was pitching the tent I met a couple, Brin and Anna from Apeldoorn in Holland, who showed me maps and advised me where to go around Venice and the surrounding islands and also that the campsite reception would sell me a 12hr ticket for the boat service which goes all around Venice and the islands for €18 and they supply a free shuttle bus ticket to get from the campsite to the boat jetty in Punta Sabbioni, which is only about 500m from the campsite entrance.
Day 6
Day off the bike and doing the tourist thing around Venice and the islands.
Early start to try to miss the crowds, but it was crowded at 9am and got worse as the day went on.
Caught the ferry to Venice at 8-30am, the ferry was packed with tourists and long queues outside the churches and museums.
Coming into Venice.
The jetty at San Marco.
Lots of people about, there are a few cruise ships in town.
San Marco Square
Some nice church artwork.
The canals, I was surprised at how clean the water in the canals was, years ago someone told me it was like an open sewer, but that is most certainly not the case.
And they seem to drive their motorboats the same way they drive their cars, this guy wasn't stopping for any gondolas.
This made me laugh.
Next hopped onto a boat to the island of Murano, where the local industry seems to be solely the production and selling of very expensive coloured glass ornaments. You can go into the studios and watch the glass being blown.
Next it was a trip to the small island of Burano, where similar to Murano the local industry was the production and sale of expensive lace.
Back at the campsite I check my map and realised that I was close to Croatia and a number of people had recommended in the past that riding the D8 coast road was a must do, so I decided to go there the next day.
Day 7
Left the campsite at 7am and had intended to follow the coast road through SS14 towards Trieste but the traffic was horrendous so got onto the A4 motorway to get to the Slovenia border.
Then followed the E61 across Slovenia to the Croatian border.
Followed the D8 towards Rijeka but got onto the A7 motorway just before the city to bypass it and rejoined the D8 at Bakar.
Have to say I wasn't disappointed riding the D8, lovely road with sweeping bends and outstanding scenery.
Lots of Harley riders on the road.
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Crossed on the ferry from Prizna to Zigljen on the island of Pag.
Time to find a campsite, I checked the satnav and the first campsite I stopped at was a nudist campsite, hmmmm not for me, as was the next campsite, so I decided to look for a campsite close to a town which would be a "normal" campsite and stopped at Nin on this campsite.
The campsite was basic but the facilities were clean if a bit dated with the shower cubicles outside with no roof.
The owner of this site speaks no English but I was able to get booked in using some very basic German.
There was only myself and a German couple in a campervan on the site.
The owner got me to pitch the tent between some static caravans for shelter from the sun and wind.
Day 8
A day off the bike so had a walk around the village of Nin.
A bit of history from Wiki
A small town near Zadar, Nin has a very rich and tumultuous history. Its location is intriguing; the heart of Nin is its historical center on an islet only 500 meters in diameter.
Nin is situated in a lagoon on the eastern shore of the Adriatic Sea, surrounded by natural sandy beaches and linked with the mainland by two stone bridges from the 16th century. According to historians the area of Nin appears to have been settled 10,000 years ago. The present-day town on the islet developed 3,000 years ago and is one of the older towns on the eastern Adriatic. The area of Nin was first colonized by immemorial people of the Mediterranean.
Since the 9th century B.C. the civilization of the Illyrian tribe of Liburnians[1] was present before the Romans came, who had a strong sea and trade center called Aenona (this morphed in the Middle Ages into Nona). The rich archeological finds prove strong sea links with Greece and the Hellenistic world: recent explorations revealed a rarity, a very well preserved Byzantine mosaic on the floor of a Roman villa.
The Croats colonized Nin at the beginning of the 7th century. The first Croatian state community was formed at the end of the 8th and beginning of the 9th century. Nin was the first Croatian royal town, with its period of glory being from the 7th to the 13th centuries. In the 9th century Nin became the seat of the first Croatian bishop. Bishops from Nin played a great role in the country's religious, a cultural and a political sense. Significant rulers connected with the history of Nin include Prince Višeslav, Prince Branimir, King Tomislav, King Petar Krešimir IV, King Zvonimir.
At the time of the Turkish wars, Nin found itself on the battle-field. After the selling of Dalmatia to Venice (1409), the city came under the control of Venice. Its destruction then began; it was economically exploited but not protected militarily. The town was destroyed twice. The first destruction was in 1571 and the second on 28 April 1646. The Venice government gave an order to burn the town and destroy it systematically. According to historians, the Venice government sacrificed Nin and left the burnt town to the Turks to save the town of Zadar. Monument, churches, and the king's and bishop's palaces in Nin were destroyed and have never been replaced.
A lovely little town.
These concrete structures had me intrigued.
A tomb with a view.
Time for a coffee and some people watching.
Went into the cafe to pay for the coffee and seen the waitress ( who had been cleaning the toilets earlier ) lifting ice from the ice bucket with her hands and putting it into someones drink ( shit I shouldn't have drank that water ),paid and said goodbye.
As I was getting close to the campsite I began to get severe stomach cramps, oh bugger, I just got to the toilet in time. Afterwards a dose of Imodium sorted the problem out.
A few hours later I went for a stroll along the beach, nice.
And seen some people covered from head to toe in a black mud from the marsh behind the beach which I later found out that the mud was supposed to have some sort of medicinal properties which cured "coughs, colds and sore arseholes"
Later in the evening I walked into town again and seen a lot of shiney Harley's parked up.
I was getting a bit hungry so decided to find a restaurant for something to eat, now, my Croatian is non existent but I found a German restaurant, Peter's Hof, my German's far better than my Croatian and I was able to sort of translate the menu.
I can recommend the seafood platter, lovely.
Back at the campsite it was a browse at the map again and I seen that a ferry sailed from Zadar to Ancona in Italy, a plan was starting to form, if I could get a ferry from Zadar to Italy then from Italy to Corsica then to mainland France for the trip north again to Roscoff. Hmmmmm.
Day 9
Left the campsite at 8-30am and made my way to the harbour area of Zadar and found the Jadrolinija ferry office, inquired when the next ferry to Ancona was and found out it will sail at 12 noon, so €50 lighter I had a boarding card.
I asked where the ferry was berthed and was told "Just down the street"
This must be one of the prettiest ferry ports I've ever seen.
With really tight security.
Got onto the ship at 11am and was scheduled to dock in Ancona at 8pm, very few people travelling on it, fewer than 150. I was looking for something to eat on the ferry but because of so few passengers none of the restaurants onboard were open but the barman made me a cheese and ham sandwich any roughy toughy builder would have been proud off, each slice of bread was about 2cm thick, it took some chewing to get through it.
On my way to Italy again.
A few wealthy people about here.
Heading out to sea
Arrived in Ancona at 7pm
It was a bit late to search for a campsite so decided to search www.booking.com for a reasonably priced hotel and found the Touring Hotel a few miles away for €50 B&B www.touringhotel.it/en/ . A nice hotel in the center of Falconara Marittima.
I got a room with a sea view
Got showered and changed and decided to try out the hotel restaurant, a nice cosy little place, so had some lovely spaghetti.
Had a walk after dinner around the area and what struck me was the strong stench of oil, I assume coming from the oil refinery close by.
Day 10
The hotels breakfast selection was a surprise, a large varied selection of food, filled myself up and made a few sandwiches for later.
Checked the map and made my way through Tuscany on some lovely roads towards Livorno.
At Livorno I went to the harbour area and found the Corsica ferries office and inquired what time the next ferry was, it will sail at 8am the next morning, so instead of finding a campsite and having to get up really early in the morning to pack away all the camping kit, I had a browse on Booking.com and found a hotel for €45 not very far away in Tirrenia.
The Hotel Riviera Blu www.rivierablu.it/en/ is a lovely little hotel close to the beach with really friendly and helpful staff.
The receptionist told me if I wanted to go to Pisa a bus stopped outside the hotel every hour, so a quick shower and I caught the next bus.
Torre Guelfa
Santa Maria
How to turn an engineering ballox into a tourist trap.
Looks straight enough
Well maybe not
Piazza dei Miracoli
Piazza dei Cavalieri
The center of Pisa was a lovely place.
Got the last bus to Tirrenia at 8pm and decided to have a meal in the beach side restaurant across from the hotel "The Bagno Mistral". A nice place with its own private beach, it was quiet tonight with only myself and 5 other people dining. The food was good, the sea bass yum as was the pasta carbonara.
There was a thunder storm out at sea in the direction of Corsica which turned the evening light into a strange blue colour with some very impressive lighting flashes.
Day 11
Early start today to catch the 8am ferry from Livorno to Bastia in Corsica.
Not many passengers traveling on this ferry.
The Corsica ferry coming into dock.
The crossing was uneventful but as we neared Corsica there was a thunder storm with very heavy rain, but thankfully the rain stopped as I got off the ship.
I made my way out of Bastia on some minor roads into the mountains intending to stop in Corte for a few days .
Followed the D81 from Bastia over the mountains some stunning scenery.
Along the D5 north of the village of Murato I came across this beautiful little church, "San Michele de Murato".
Perched on a high terrace at the head of the Nebbio, this 13th century church features chequered bands of green schist and creamy yellow marble.
A view of the surrounding countryside.
Further along the D5 the road got narrower, single track, and the road seems to be part of a local bus route because I met a bus coming up the hill on a bend.
Arrived in Corte and checked the satnav for a campsite and decided to stop at Camping Restonica.
A small campsite on the banks of the Restonica river, close to the town center, hospital, petrol station and supermarket, with a small bar for €15 per night.
Facilities were basic but very clean.
CORTE
With its mildewing 18th century buildings and spectacular mountain setting, Corte presents a very different aspect of the island from the Mediterranean chic prevailing on the coast. As the seat of Pascal Paoli's independent parliament , this was the crucible of Corsican nationalism. A strong sense of the islands cultural distinctiveness still pervades the streets here.
An evening view of Corte's citadel.
Day 12
Heavy rain during the night and still a lot of dark cloud on the mountain tops. Today I had planned a route using D roads to Bonifacio in the south of the island but quickly realised that it would take too long to complete and it would be a ball breaker because of the narrow twisty roads where you could only average around 25mph because of all the likely hazards that could be around the next bend ( cars coming around a bend on your side of the road, fallen rocks, buses, cows, goats, pigs and pot holes ).
So the revised route was Corte - Ajaccio - Porto - Corte.
"Les Calanche" A stunning rock formation on the D81 between Piana and Porto.
Some of the locals.
Day 13
Decided to take a stroll around Corte, lots of bars / cafe's, with a walk along the streets of the citadel and a browse in the museum.
A daytime view of the citadel.
And the tourist train.
While out riding today I became aware that most road signs outside of towns / villages were riddled with bullet holes, must be bit of a gun culture on this island.
And some of the bullet holes seem to be a large calibre.
Some more road hazards
Day 14
Intermittent heavy rain during the night and today so didn't go far, just had a ride along the D84 from Corte to Porto, a very nice road.
Day 15
Time to leave Corte and the island of Corsica ( I must return again ), I was booked onto the 8pm overnight sailing from L'lle-Rousse to Nice, time to head north through France to catch the ferry home from Roscoff.
Today is a lovely sunny day and as I'm in no hurry a nice leisurely ride along the D80 coast road north of Bastia was the plan.
Riding through Bastia was a nightmare, with very slow moving traffic but once about 5 miles beyond Bastia the traffic became very sparse and the D80 coast road was a treat to ride, with stunning scenery and a brilliant road surface, except for a short stretch of about 3 miles from the village of Centuri to the village Pino where the road was very bumpy and potholed.
I arrive at L'lle-Rousse at 6pm and find yet another lovely little port.
And loading starts at 6-30pm, not many passengers on this sailing.
Nice views of the island in the setting sun.
Day 16
A very calm and uneventful sailing. The ferry docked in Nice at 7am and shortly after I was on my way.
The plan today was a short blast on the motorway from Nice to Le Muy and then make my way to the D71 and the Gorges du Verdon.
Travelling through the center of Nice the traffic wasn't too bad but when I got onto the A8 motorway it was really busy as far as the Antibes junction with a lot of filtering required.
Turning off the motorway towards Le Muy and the D995 to Comps-Sur-Artuby to the D71 I was surpised at how little traffic was on these roads but I have to say it was a very enjoyable ride.
Even around the gorge there was minimal traffic but what an awesome sight in the early morning sunlight.
I then made my way along the Gorge du Tarn, again lovely scenery and roads.
Passed acres of Lavender fields, a magical sight.
It's getting late so have a look around Mende for a campsite, the satnav showed 3 sites but they were all closed, so decided to head north to see if I could find a campsite along the way, tried another 2 but they were closed also,2 hours wasted, so decided to go to a motorway junction because there are usually cheap hotels nearby and sure enough at junction 29 of the A75 motorway I found the Hotel "Cantal Cottages" near St. Flour www.hotel-cantal-cottages.com I got a twin room for €40 and breakfast was another €6-50.
The hotel is new and the rooms are designed like little terraced cottages, very nice.
Close by there is a 24hr truck stop where you can get a reasonably priced meal and also a Logis hotel with a restaurant.
Day 17
Breakfast was the usual fare for budget hotels, not a big selection but I got my monies worth including my lunch.
Another lovely sunny morning, I left the hotel on a meandering route through the Cantal region and followed the Circuit des Monts du Cantal over the Col du Mary, very nice.
This was a narrow road with signs banning buses every few kilometers, but at the top of the col was a coach blocking the road with only room enough for a bike to get past, unloading it's tourist passengers, I wondered how the driver got the bus turned because there wasn't enough space along the road to turn a bus and to continue down the other side of the col the road turned into a narrow single track with narrow bridges over streams with tight bends and of course there would be traffic coming towards it.
Some time later I arrived at a junction and seen a sign pointing to the President Jacques Chirac Museum, www.museepresidentjchirac.fr/ intrigued I just had to have a look at this.
It is in the very small village of Sarran ( which is only a few streets ) and it was a display of some of the gifts presented to the president when he was on state visits, lots of very nice items but also some tat.
What puzzled me was why a modern stylish building was erected in a very small village in rural France.
Anyway went in to have a look around, very helpful staff and lots of stuff on display although not many photos because most of the display was in a dimly lit basement.
Later I was sitting beside the bike outside the museum looking at my map to decide on where to go next, when a French registered car stopped beside me and the owner got out and came over for a chat ( he had recognised the reg plate on the bike )and introduced himself as John Gallagher from Manchester, we chatted for a while then he invited me for some lunch at his house, so I followed him to his place, found out that he had left the UK in 1990 and settled in Sarran.
So I asked why such a modern building was erected in the village and he told me that Chirac had a small chateau close by and that his wife was fed up with all the stuff around the house that she had the museum built to display it all.
After some 3 hours of chatting I had to be on my way, heading north towards Roscoff, I continued along the winding back roads and some time later found a municipal campsite in the small village of Lussac-Les-Chateaux which was closed but decided to stay the night, so I found a spot out of view amongst some trees and put the tent up and had a very quiet night on the campsite by myself.
Day 18
Left the campsite around 8am to head to Roscoff, a 350 mile journey on mostly dual carriageway / motorway and got to Roscoff at around 3pm, had a meal in a cafe in the town centre and the ferry sailed at 6-30pm which was another very smooth crossing.
Day 19
By the time I got home I had traveled 3666 very enjoyable miles, I had met some very nice, fascinating people on the way and have lots of very happy memories of this trip.
Here's a link to a Google map I've made with the locations of some of the places I visited.
CLICK ME FOR MAP