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Travel StoriesUpt's Autumn Bimble 2024
From Coal To Dole
Days 1 to 4.
By Upt' North
Well, the time flew and it was time to fly, er ride.
The B was ready, maybe more than us, but day one was just that, a bimble down to North Shields and onto the ferry to Amsterdam. That's just a 50 mile ride south to the River Tyne and get ourselves aboard. This was September 12th. It went very well too, in one and quarter hours from leaving our back door we were in the cabin. They obviously put us in the wrong cabin, hot coffee and pastries were already awaiting our arrival and we had a butler! I kid you not. We said nowt, emptied the mini bar and stuffed ourselves with pastries.
Tomorrow would see us dock in Amsterdam and then onto Luxembourg for one night. Amsterdam was OK in an Autumnal sort of way and Er'Indoors had happy birthday sung to 'er by a group of German motorcyclists. She was chuffed. Yes, it was er birthday. 21! Again. The ride to Luxembourg would start with Autoroutes before venturing onto some pleasant Belgium and Luxembourg routes to our destination near the German border. They were nice digs and the fillet steak and wine were most agreeable. We'd probably only covered around 200 miles but it was the fourth country since home.
Once rested and eating way too much for breakfast we were heading in the general direction of Germany. Southern Germany was the destination of choice and after way too much autobahn nonsense we ended up in Freudenstadt, which from memory is just east of France and just north of Switzerland. The roads after the autobahn had been very nice as were the roads to begin with in Luxembourg. We'd never been to Freudenstadt before but had been close, it's near the Black Forest. There was only one thing for it, find a cafe and enjoy some Black Forest gateaux and coffee. There was a Mini event on in town which we had a mooch at.
It was time to check the weather forecast, we could go east or west from here, holy crap on a crap stick, who drowned Austria? We'll go to France, decision made. We checked the accommodation availability out and headed to Dole which is near Dijon. I remembered someone saying it was a nice town in a nice part of the world and they weren't wrong. The roads were a mix of normal and autoroute, twisty and straight, but dry and finally warming up. We had been at around 60 f's (15C) since leaving home but were now around 70 (21C). Nice. Once in Dole we decided we'd push on to Italy the next day.
Dole was as French as a Frenchman on a cycle with onions around his neck. That's pretty French. We had a good night but we had no appetite for dawdling through French Land and knew Italy was now in easy striking distance, the Alps waited our arrival.
What could go wrong?
Upt and Er'Indoors.
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From Coal To Dole
These notes from the road provide a concise review of Upt's first 4 days of his European excursion. He makes it all sound so easy!
Reader's Comments
nab301 said :-
Upt , looking good so far , maybe you should have a word with Bogger and his mates on bike preparation , I mean 4 days of a Euro trip and not a welder or spanner in sight!
Nigel
15/11/2024 14:43:23 UTC
Ren - The Ed¹ said :-
I believe it is good to hear of travel tales from all kinds. From the chaos of Bogger and pals, through the spiritual experiences of Rev. Mick!, and now the swanky grand tour of Upt'.
I've not got the rest of Upt's story yet, there remains plenty of time for chaos nab301. However I suspect Upt's far too sensible and grown up to allow anything to go wrong...
15/11/2024 21:59:13 UTC
Upt'North ¹ said :-
Hmmmmmm.
Sensible and grown up?
Meh.
15/11/2024 23:10:00 UTC
Ian Soady¹ said :-
Sounds like a potentially interesting trip. But I'm still not sure why you subject yourselves to sitting on autoroutes / autobahnen / autostrada. While I'm happy to use them in the car, I find them so tedious on the bike that they drive me mad. The only exception would be if it was absolutely chucking it down, in which case it might be worth it just to shorten the agony.
The only other time I weakened was in Italy. I'd come through the Mont Blanc runnel and stayed overnight near its southern exit. I planned to wend my way through the Italian Riviera but after pausing in Genoa to get some lire as they then were (not recommended) I found myself in the most horrific traffic jams in those pretty little towns. I hadn't realised it was a bank holiday. I had a deadline for getting to Rome to attend a work meeting so reluctantly took the autostrada as far as Pisa which saw me well on the way.
16/11/2024 15:25:03 UTC
Glyn said :-
Myself and the lovely Mrs Glyn are currently in Munich. I guess you’re home by now Up’t but it would have been interesting to have a meet up as you powered your way past us. Cafe and Kuchen is a very civilised way to spend a few hours. Have a great onward journey.
17/11/2024 19:12:08 UTC
Bogger said :-
Up't Im sure that last image was by the Cafe 'Chez Tina' that we visited last year on our jollies.
Ref Autoroutes/motorways. I don't mind them. they are a means to an end.
Bogger
20/11/2024 19:24:06 UTC
Upt'North ¹ said :-
Bogger, I was thinking it was you who recommended Dole.
Nice town, that picture was taken quite close to the River, on the north side, it was probably the town hall.
We weren't heading there until we found Austria was a snowy sodden mess.
Thanks bud.
Upt.
20/11/2024 20:50:53 UTC
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