26th July 2016
Not sure where the BBC gets its news from but what was all this about mega queues at the Channel ports? There was not one car in front of us when we checked in at Eurotunnel! Why 14 hours wait at Dover and nothing at Folkestone - not complaining. It was the enhanced security according to the news but our passports weren't required by the Brits on leaving or the French on entering. Just a thought; will Eurostar and Eurotunnel keep their names in this new, post-Brexit world we will have to become accustomed to?
Clearly we are off travelling again. London to St. Petersburg via the Baltic States and then - because it is easier for us to get the bike back from an EU country (for the moment at least), a little jaunt into Finland. Leave work at three, go home, get changed, load the bike, leave at four, have a coffee at Folkestone, check in at the B&B in France and be sat in the restaurant eating before nine French time.
Not sure how many times we have done this crossing but only recently did it occur to us that we could gain a morning if we set off the night before - a tad obvious one would have thought...
No need either to stay encamped at the Port - Chateau de la Garenne set amidst fields of cereal and root vegetables was a different world. If only sterling hadn't wobbled somewhat it would have been near perfect.
"Route Barrée" as a road sign took us back to China as we ignored the sign and trundled through roadworks the following morning - well that's what one did over there. Dubiously coloured waterways were also reminiscent of other trips.
A short ride to Brugge along the Belgian coast - view nearly completely destroyed by hideous blocks of flats but if you are on the beach and looking out to sea then you probably don't care. World's most expensive asparagus in a gallery design museum café restaurant in Ostende - Francoise HAD to have them and the place showed off its credentials via a two page spread in a Dutch language 'design' magazine that we couldn't read and wouldn't have heard of anyway.
And then Brugge in the drizzle along with possibly as many as a million others. still, sheltering from the damp was a half decent excuse for beer and coffee stops. But Brugge is not cheap and sterling kept adding its little bonus. Smile and think of the days when you got 1.5€ to the £. Smile or grit your teeth.
Noting the Belgian national treasures we did manage chocolate, chips, beer, shrimp croquettes, Dame Blanche and of course, the white asparagus in a very short amount of time. Time to leave and we headed North to what was sign-posted as a small ferry. Small. When we got nearer we found 'small' meant foot passengers and bikes without motors. 35km detour and 2.5€ toll.
A bit of a blast through Holland. Yes, its flat and pretty boring but we followed the sea and crossed the sluice bridges waiting for a charming vista. Road side cafés, with or without views , don't seem to exist. However when we crossed the Zuider Zee there was rather a nice little cafe at the monument half way along. Lots of old engineering photographs and films of the construction. Suitably invigorated and motivated and egged on by the very straight road and protection from the wind we hit 160km/h - it was very straight indeed and there wasn't much to think about. So two days in and fourth country - c'est l'Europe!
Northern Germany is just as flat as Holland. The three countries, Belgium, Holland and Germany were all very agricultural with some very agricultural smells too - you get that on a motorbike. Belgium was definitely 'pig'; Germany was a sweeter, Winter Warmer dark beer smell whereas Holland was somewhere between the two of them and no better for being so.
Not sure where the BBC gets its news from but what was all this about mega queues at the Channel ports? There was not one car in front of us when we checked in at Eurotunnel! Why 14 hours wait at Dover and nothing at Folkestone - not complaining. It was the enhanced security according to the news but our passports weren't required by the Brits on leaving or the French on entering. Just a thought; will Eurostar and Eurotunnel keep their names in this new, post-Brexit world we will have to become accustomed to?
Clearly we are off travelling again. London to St. Petersburg via the Baltic States and then - because it is easier for us to get the bike back from an EU country (for the moment at least), a little jaunt into Finland. Leave work at three, go home, get changed, load the bike, leave at four, have a coffee at Folkestone, check in at the B&B in France and be sat in the restaurant eating before nine French time.
Not sure how many times we have done this crossing but only recently did it occur to us that we could gain a morning if we set off the night before - a tad obvious one would have thought...
No need either to stay encamped at the Port - Chateau de la Garenne set amidst fields of cereal and root vegetables was a different world. If only sterling hadn't wobbled somewhat it would have been near perfect.
"Route Barrée" as a road sign took us back to China as we ignored the sign and trundled through roadworks the following morning - well that's what one did over there. Dubiously coloured waterways were also reminiscent of other trips.
A short ride to Brugge along the Belgian coast - view nearly completely destroyed by hideous blocks of flats but if you are on the beach and looking out to sea then you probably don't care. World's most expensive asparagus in a gallery design museum café restaurant in Ostende - Francoise HAD to have them and the place showed off its credentials via a two page spread in a Dutch language 'design' magazine that we couldn't read and wouldn't have heard of anyway.
And then Brugge in the drizzle along with possibly as many as a million others. still, sheltering from the damp was a half decent excuse for beer and coffee stops. But Brugge is not cheap and sterling kept adding its little bonus. Smile and think of the days when you got 1.5€ to the £. Smile or grit your teeth.
Noting the Belgian national treasures we did manage chocolate, chips, beer, shrimp croquettes, Dame Blanche and of course, the white asparagus in a very short amount of time. Time to leave and we headed North to what was sign-posted as a small ferry. Small. When we got nearer we found 'small' meant foot passengers and bikes without motors. 35km detour and 2.5€ toll.
A bit of a blast through Holland. Yes, its flat and pretty boring but we followed the sea and crossed the sluice bridges waiting for a charming vista. Road side cafés, with or without views , don't seem to exist. However when we crossed the Zuider Zee there was rather a nice little cafe at the monument half way along. Lots of old engineering photographs and films of the construction. Suitably invigorated and motivated and egged on by the very straight road and protection from the wind we hit 160km/h - it was very straight indeed and there wasn't much to think about. So two days in and fourth country - c'est l'Europe!
Northern Germany is just as flat as Holland. The three countries, Belgium, Holland and Germany were all very agricultural with some very agricultural smells too - you get that on a motorbike. Belgium was definitely 'pig'; Germany was a sweeter, Winter Warmer dark beer smell whereas Holland was somewhere between the two of them and no better for being so.
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