11th anniversary of Europe and Morocco trip - Review

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BurningGiraffe
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11th anniversary of Europe and Morocco trip - Review

Post by BurningGiraffe »

Yesterday was the 11th anniversary of my first significant motorcycle trip from my Home in the UK down to Morocco.

Given that I am currently unable to undertake similar trips due to health reasons I just thought I would revisit this trip that was for me a real 'eureka!' experience and genuinely life changing. I Kept a daily diary which I later made into a personal photobook so as I have never shred this publicly I thought it might entertain some of you folks as well as being a nice chance for me to revisit the experience.
Image
(Just want to apologise in advance for any typos as I have deteriorating eyesight that requires regular intravitreal injections and the next one is scheduled for next week so it will get rapidly worse until I receive that treatment.)


The bike was a 1989 Kawasaki Tengai 650 which is basically a dakar styled KLR that I had bought for £1000 if i remember rightly and had 38K km on the clock. It was a bit of a nail tbh but I was working on the basis that if it misbehaved I could just abandon it without any great financial loss. Not very environmentally conscious but that was my thought process at the time. I'd had it for a couple of years and it had successfully taken me down to Switzerland and around the battlefieldds of France and Belgium on previous trips so I had some degree of confidence in it.

Anyway, these are the first couple of diary entries from that trip, with a few images too, I was clearly finding my feet on these first couple of days but, as always, It gets better. I was very nervous initially and these nerves led me to some strange decisions all through the trip. However, it was such a seminal experience that subsequent to this I got in the habit of taking a yearly trip of at least a couple of weeks with an absolute minimum of preparation knowing that it would all turn out okay.

Day 1 - 03/05/10

Start - Bournemouth, UK
End - Noussant de Gruyere, France
204km for the day
Overloaded donkey
Overloaded donkey
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My overloaded 1989 Kawasaki KLR650 Tengai and I were ushered onto the ferry at Weymouth by my good friends Dot and Roger. I had experienced a great deal of trepidation about setting off into the 'wilds' of France, relying on nothing more than my feeble wits and grade 4 schoolboy francais. Not my first trip but scheduled to be my longest - three months!!
Initially headed for Morocco, I would then return through Europe via the Alps, and down to Turkey. It didn't pan out that way as it happened. . .
Leaving Port at Weymouth
Leaving Port at Weymouth
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Straight out of St Malo, a near miss with a French motorist insisting on 'Priorite a Droite' when the sign clearly stated 'Cedez le Passage' and having the satnav bracket fall off on the dual carriageway were enough to fray my already dodgy nerves. A quick stop for food and then flaking out in an empty campsite was as much as I could manage.
Praying!
Praying!
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Last edited by BurningGiraffe on Tue May 04, 2021 11:26 am, edited 2 times in total.
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http://BearingsUnlimited.blogspot.co.uk
BurningGiraffe
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Re: 11th anniversary of Europe and Morocco trip - Review

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Day 2 - 04/05/10
End - Boussiere Poitevine, France
291km / 495km (Day / Total)

A grumpy campsite owner chastised me for not paying last night so after striking camp I shuffled meekly to the 'Grande Maison' to settle up. Damn your slur on my honest character!!
Chateau 1
Chateau 1
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Chateau 2
Chateau 2
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Bright and breezy weather as I checked out a couple of chateaux on route, becoming increasingly blowy as I neared Limoges. My goal was to get close enough to Oradour-sur-Glane to visit tomorrow but the conditions were getting worse. I called it a day when I saw a campsite sign directing me into the small village of Boussiere Poitevine but had to ask a bemused looking local teen for directions - embarrassing as it transpired we were stood literally 50 metres from the obvious campsite entrance. A much nicer campsite patron than last night and after admiringly checking out my bike (!!) he charged me €4! Bargain!
Dog tired so it was another early night. Tomorrow the first of my 'Destinations' - The martyrs village of Oradour-sur-Glane.
Bike
Bike
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http://BearingsUnlimited.blogspot.co.uk
BurningGiraffe
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Re: 11th anniversary of Europe and Morocco trip - Review

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Day 3 - 05/05/10
End - Boussiere Poitevine (again!)
100km / 595km (Day / Total)

Heavy downpour and leaden skies brought my grand adventure to a very early halt. I cowered in my tent for most of the day reading as the skies emptied themselves around me. This would become a familiar pattern as it turned out (the rain rather than the cowering!). A recce yesterday had revealed no food shop in the village so when the deluge eased I donned my waterproofs and gingerly rode into the next town for fuel and supplies.
Bike
Bike
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Oradour
Oradour
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A fortuitous signpost meant I took an exploratory trip to Oradour but just missed last entry so it was back to the tent on some lovely country lanes - very green and lush - and wet! I was tempted to relocate and rough camp at a clearing with a huge menhir but the hot showers at the campsite won out.
Menhir
Menhir
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BurningGiraffe
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Re: 11th anniversary of Europe and Morocco trip - Review

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Day 4 - 06/05/10
End - Rocamadour, France
243km / 838km (Day / Total)

An early start in weather that could best be described as 'not quite raining' and I finally made it to Oradour. This village has been left in a state of arrested decay as a memorial to the 636 villagers herded into the church and burned alive by the SS as retribution for resistance activity. The sombre conditions suited this moving and eerie place.
Oradour
Oradour
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Church
Church
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A lovely run down through Sarlat de Caneda on some super roads winding below cliff top chateaux and on to the awesome spectacle of Rocamadour. A fortuitously late arrival meant it was almost deserted and I enjoyed the precipitous drop from the Castle battlement walk and the precarious cliff face church and chapel. A real medieval feel to this maze of stairways and passages. Two great places in one day - very pleased with my choices so far, apart from maybe deciding to camp, given the rain! As I climbed out of the valley to find a place to stay the sun finally returned, bathing everything in a beautiful golden evening light. Another deserted farm campsite and I retired feeling very contented.
Bike
Bike
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Re: 11th anniversary of Europe and Morocco trip - Review

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dibbs
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Re: 11th anniversary of Europe and Morocco trip - Review

Post by dibbs »

A very nice story with some great pictures. I am looking forward to your next instalment, keep up the good work :D
BurningGiraffe
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Re: 11th anniversary of Europe and Morocco trip - Review

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Day 5 - 07/05/10
End - Samatan, France
277km / 1115km (Day / Total)

The weather picked up as I packed away my camp, hitting a heady 20°C; fully 8°C better than yesterday's high! I even got to ride in sunshine!!
Bike
Bike
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Set off to see some ruined castles at Najac, Penne and Bruniquel, getting some superb deserted back roads using the direct option on the satnav.  Had my first conversations in English today after locals took pity as I mangled their beautiful language.
Najac
Najac
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Penne in particular was a fabulously rustic and ramshackle little place where everyone was very friendly and relaxed and I was tempted to stay for a while. The road was calling though and after a panic in a seemingly campsite free area I rocked up during a festival in Samatan and hit the municipal campsite.
Penne
Penne
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The thumping call of what sounded like a hillbilly hoedown lured me into town where they had a bizarre indoor circus in the cattle market, complete with chained circus animals looming out of the dark in the car park outside.

The call of company and beer led me to an encounter in a bar with some incredibly condescending English girls working in the nearby Chateau which pissed me off - if you are so superior why are you just a fucking waitress? I'll stick to the locals - far more polite.
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BurningGiraffe
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Re: 11th anniversary of Europe and Morocco trip - Review

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Day 6 - 08/05/10
End - Luz St Saveur, France
256km / 1371km (Day / Total)

Dropped my overloaded beast of burden as I packed! The sidestand dug into the soft turf but the disc lock was on and trapped beneath the bike so I could neither roll it nor stand it up to undo it. Felt like such an idiot! No damage though.

Failed to notice that the 8th of May is V.E. day and rode through several villages getting dirty looks from folks gathered at memorials! History huh!!

Finally arrived at the Pyrenees to a find them looking much whiter than anticipated. The information boards showed snow closures at various passes and the tunnel?; closed for repairs. Bugger!
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My first pass at the Col d'Aspin took me up numerous switchbacks above the snowline where I was able to weave around the snowy patches of tarmac, but utterly white and bleak coming down! Didn't even stop for a photo due to the cold.
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The closed passes meant a detour through Lourdes which the guidebook had told me to avoid - the only miracle here was finding the right road out after the satnav had a tantrum and tried repeatedly to send me up one way streets and dead ends. So much for loading the most up to date European maps from TomTom!

Changeable weather ushered me up fabulous roads to Gavarnie where I abandoned the bike and walked in growing gloom to the awesome Cirque, where stormy clouds were cascading over the mile high cliffs above me. Possibly the most awesome natural spectacle I have seen anywhere in Europe; So breathtakingly huge that none of my photographs even begin to convey it's scale.

A nice campsite was found after a cracking ride back down deserted roads to the valley below -a great day marred only by the unseasonably snowy conditions and closed roads and cols.
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http://BearingsUnlimited.blogspot.co.uk
BurningGiraffe
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Re: 11th anniversary of Europe and Morocco trip - Review

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BurningGiraffe
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Re: 11th anniversary of Europe and Morocco trip - Review

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Day 7 - 09/05/10
End - Sabananigo, Spain
189km / 1560km (Day / Total)
Road
Road
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Another downpour delayed my departure until midday and another closure at the Col d'Souloir into the Col d'Aubisque necessitated a change of route, just as it started to rain again. At this altitude there was a chance of freezing so I headed back down rapidly; tetchy and frustrated.
Route Barree
Route Barree
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As a closet twitcher I was impressed with the birds though. Kites, eagles and vultures circled as I stopped at one of the cols, talking to  a fellow Englishman who lived locally and who expressed envy at my trip -  just go, it's not rocket science!
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Eventually I found my way round to the Col du Portalet which appeared to be open!! Hurrah; Spain at last. The ride up was so drear and bleak though that I began to wonder just what the fuck was I doing alone  on a twenty year old bike, 1794m up a mountain pass. Just after I crossed the border the heavens opened (again!)and on mercifully excellent Spanish tarmac I powered down to the lowlands in a fearful downpour with lightning and thunder crashing around me.

A police roadblock right next to a campsite was my cue and I took shelter on the porch of one of their cabins as the storm came and went with ridiculous suddenness and violence, making me laugh manically at the madness of the Pyrenean weather. My pitch had gained 6 inches of water in less than ten minutes!! And then almost by magic it cleared, the sun appeared, and within seconds steam was rising everywhere!!
Launderette, cafe, bar and bed. Tomorrow the Ordesa National Park!

Just a shade off 1000 miles since I set off a week ago - way behind my 200 miles a day schedule though. Damn that weather!
Link to my travels webpage:



http://BearingsUnlimited.blogspot.co.uk
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