Nurburgring

Woke up to a wigwam competition.

Had no choice as the church bells kick in incessantly at 7am

What horse??

We got lost on our way to the Nurburgring which caused the only major difference of opinion of the trip. I'll leave it as - 'there's no i in team'

We paid 15 euros which got us into the paddock area - excellent value.

Various pics.

The 'ring' is a great place to visit, recommended.

All that was left was a 350km sprint up to Rotterdam for the ferry.

Trip over :-)

The end :-(

Death by Calzone

We set off (late???) in the Black Forest on back roads which we had to ourselves :-)

Even with diversions we were grinning like the old cheshire cats.

Exiting at Baden Baden we still had 350km to do :-(

Time for unlimited autobahns.

We arrived OK at Adenau to witness a real biker-fest. Bikes of all shapes and sizes and nationalities. Superb and not a problem witnessed.

I don't know how but we had managed to get in at the Blaue Ecke which seemed to be a big biker haunt (the next day we discovered they are a partner with Nurburgring).

After a wander we found Pinocchio's Italiano.

The folded calzone pizza is a bit of a Cooper favourite. We only found the biggest and best in the world!!!

Adopted Chuckle Brother

We left the hotel (which was a challange as a nice smell of curry was coming from the restaurant) and caught up with the Swabian in Titisee. the town did not live up to it's name so we retired to a bar.

CB1,2 +3

We never moved from the bar stools but were royally fed and watered.

Swabians have flat heads?

The recollections of the night are a bit fuzzy, but not half as fuzzy as the morning after. One problem making a dash for it out of the hotel having arrived is not knowing where you are staying. So we had a fraught taxi ride around the various hotels of Titisee with a taxi driver who did not speak English...... until we found one we recognised.

The hotel is

http://www.neubierhaeusle.de/neubier-en.php

The lady owner has a great sense of humour. For breakfast you have a personal name card. This was ours.

On leaving she gave us an unforgettable quote:

'So some times 12 hours is not enough - but some times it can be too long!!'

At 50 euros for the room and breakfast we can highly recommend this hotel and owner.

Now the Black Forest and onto the Nurburgring staying in Adenau.

Passes, Lakes and Forests

The hotel in Chamonix.

Great spot just on the outskirts but very basic breakfast. Bearing in mind you can always spot a froggie in France because they all carry sticks of bread around the hotel ran out of bread!!

Today's route is out of France, up and over into Switzerland, up the Furka pass to 2,500m, drop into Andermatt, past lake Lucerne and then up into Germany to Titisee (no giggles please) in the Black Forest. Total distance? 450km.

To make sure we recorded this day, experiments were underway with riding and taking photo's. The camera around the wrist idea was scrapped when it got caught up in the clutch lever and caused a stall!!

So when all else fails - get some sticky tape :-)

Can't see anything on the sat nav, but got some good photos......

Views from the top of the Furka Pass.

Having passed a few lakes on the trip, the northern road along Lucerne is the best we encountered. Scenic road, quiet, lots of places to stop and a backdrop of the Alps.

Over the border and into the Black Forest. Brilliant biking roads. Sorry no pics.

Arrived at the hotel and did the 3 S's in record time (*, shower and shave).

Time to meet the Swabian.

Chamonix

We got there - now the title of the blog. Up to the top on the Aguille du Midi.

45 minute queue!! Feck that, so went on the lash for the day instead......

Only kidding :-)

We are both shit scared of heights so this was going to be some experience.

Going up.

Looking down.

Mont Blanc is the one on the right.

Other views

The effect of altitude is unbelievable. As two super-fit specimens even we got out of breath between beers.

If you get the chance for 41 euros it's a bargain.

The best riding day so far

We woke up to reasonably clear weather.

Now you see Kruth in the valley.

Now you don't.

We left the Vosges in great weather over the Route de Ballons.

Then into the Jura mountains between France and Switzerland. An absolute biker's playground :-)

Forget too many hairpin bends, the roads just flowed to produce great bends at good speeds with fantastic villages/towns inbetween.

In Switzerland we stopped for a look.

 We met some Swiss friends who accused us of being Danish.

I thought this was due to our resemblence to Dolph Lungren........or a pack of bacon??

She said it was due to the flag on the front of the bike (St George's!!!!)

So we dropped on down to lake Geneva......absolutely beautiful.

I have always had a soft spot for the lake district, but this takes it to another level. 225 square miles of lake making it the largest lake in Western Europe.

Followed the road around the lake, which led us into Montreaux. Very busy, loads of nice shops hotels and casinos, much like Bowness.

After here we headed towards Martigny and then up and down another mountain ending up in Chamonix. Wonderful ride with again nice climbs and twisty's.

This was our first view of the mountain range, with the great Mont Blanc outside our room window.

Time for a shower and to sample the fine French Cuisine on offer, and the Red Wine!!

I don’t like Monday’s

After being caught out by France being closed on Sundays, they go and do it again on Monday! We roll across open plains into nice towns – which are ghost towns. What happened to the cafe culture?

Nice Swiss Jag.

The weather is so-so, however when we get to the Vosges mountains it starts raining heavily. We now ascend up to 1200m onto the Route des Cretes – route of the crests, into dense cloud and visibility is a problem.

It reminds me of Star Wars when Luke is on his run in his Xfighter to bomb the death star.

R2D2 = sat nav

Defence shields = heated grips.

We were using the sat navs to see where and how severe the next bend would be!!

Then we heard the whispering tones of Obi-Wan

‘CB’s – use the force’

We aint no Jedi Knights as the only force on hand was as a result of too many boiled eggs at breakfast.

We limped into the 4 Season Hotel near Kruth.

It seemed there was some love fest going on with heart symbols everywhere – even on our door handle!’ Which CB’s the giver and which is the taker’ they were all thinking.

If you ever go to this hotel avoid room 3. It’s unique space saving design means it’s the only toilet where you can sit on the throne, clean your teeth and have a shower at the same time.

A somber start to the day

The Meuse-Argonne American war cemetery and memorial.

14,000 dead, 130 acres.

First accommodation stop (apart from the ferry!!)

Two Wheel Mooring - Dun sur Meuse.

http://www.bikersbedsfrance.co.uk/

Arrived after a long day on the bikes....was met by Carol waving to us from the street. She had a nice dry garage waiting for our trusty steads......very impressive especially as it had just started to rain.

Carol too is a biker (Suzuki SV650) and she helped us with our luggage and took our jackets etc from us and put them in her dry room for the night. Nice touch!!

Carol's Bike.

Ian her husband (too a biker)  loves his V Max, a special build that he has done himself very impressive!! Poured us a nice beer to welcome us into their house.

What more could you asked for!!

Met a couple staying there who both had bikes, a Yamaha Phaser, and a Benelli.......
We ended up in a smokey French Bar taking about 70's 80's music. We offered up Sandau Ballet and Genesis keeping Rick Ashley up our sleeve, but to be completely trumped by Megadeath and other thrash metal.....so we left it there......

Went back to the digs, and Ian had MotoGP recorded... Top Man. Completed the day....