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Tuesday, July 31, 2012

Day 1: Home to St Omer

The weather forecast was wet and so I committed to setting off to France in my new BMW Prorain 3 suit. This was bought on the basis of excellent reviews in Ride magazine and on the AdvRider forum. It's pretty dorkish but if it keeps me dry it;ll be worth it.

I decided to do the A1/A14/M11 route to the M25 as although it is boring, it is efficient. I managed the 400km  journey to the Folkestone terminal in around 4.5 hours including petrol stops. As usual there was no hassle and little security prior to boarding the EuroTunnel train and I had a pleasant chat to 3 other bikers during the crossing. One of them was on his 12mile old Triumph Tiger, fresh from the dealer. He liked it so far, but thought he'd have a better opinion once he'd reached home in Brussels.

In France I had a dry start but the drizzle soon set-in and so I only did a few detours on my way to St Omer, the area I had explored a little a few years ago. Nonetheless it was pleasant to be in the countryside; from the picture you'll see that the terrain is pretty straightforward. Note that the legislation affecting motor vehicle in the countryside has been clarified recently: Amendement de la circulaire Olin (décembre 2011) and the guidance in this document and from Codever underpinned my actions on the trip.
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On this trip I decided to stay in a minimum quality of Etap hotels so that I had ensuite facilities. They are quite basic but clean and usually with semi secure parking.


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