Predictably, the worst part of the journey was the M25 where we got stuck behind a very nasty accident for a long time. We are, however, home and safe. [View Full Entry]

---

---

Dinner was sensational. Ashley started with a duck foie gras which was very intense. Hilary had roasted goat cheese with honey which was amazing. The duck was medium, in the French sense of medium. It came with several vegetables, some of which worked better than others. The sauce was a bit sweet but well flavoured with orange, fennel and, I think, sage. We didn't photograph the cheese chariot though Hilary thought this was the best bit of the meal. The crème brulee was incredibly sweet but not so huge that the sweetness became a problem. All in all an incredibly good [View Full Entry]

---

---

We are further north now in St Omer, about 30 miles from Calais which makes getting across the channel and back to west London pretty easy, assuming the weather continues to hold. It has been warm again today. I really cannot complain, we left the UK at about 2.30pm on 5th June, since then we have not needed wet weather gear. This close to the channel, and on a Saturday, St Omer is rather unsurprisingly full of Brits. It also has a mix of French and UK bikers hanging around the town square. It is quite lively with in my view [View Full Entry]

---

---

Last night's dinner was, as predicted, pleasant enough but overpriced. The cheeseboard was, however, sensational. We did get four courses for the money though neither of us could finish the crème brulee. Today was the first cool and not very sunny ride since we left the UK back in early June. It was cool enough to wear gloves, the first time I have worn riding gloves since Italy on the way out. I have learnt that after almost 4 weeks of sweating into leathers that any clothes worn under them are no longer fit for wearing afterwards. I am going to [View Full Entry]

---

---

Last night was too hot to sleep. This is a paradox as we have been in places far hotter - it is probably the humidity that makes the heat unpleasant. We opened the windows at 4 a.m. and turned on the fan. This meant we could hear the trains as they ran by (including TGV's going very fast) but it was easier to sleep. We got a good breakfast with lots of coffee then set off for Forêt D'Orient. We were expecting to find more hotels but there were very few (quite a lot of camping places but we don't have [View Full Entry]

---

---

Today began with breakfast of croissants, bread, cheese, jam and coffee. We then attempted to leave the hotel but the bike got stuck in deep gravel in the car park. The hotel was unable to assist. Hilary and two passing frenchmen were unable to push it out of the hole. In the end, it got reversed back onto the pavement and then powered its way out. But, for a few moments, we thought we would be stuck until picked up by the recovery service. Well Hilary might have thought that, but I had other plans. There were quite a lot of [View Full Entry]

---

---

After a pretty decent French breakfast, coffee, croissants, cheese, jam, and more coffee, we decided to make more use of the cablecar passes to access some good walking. Not as high as yesterday, but yesterday we were well above the snow line and we do not have the gear for walking on ice. Equally neither of us have acclimatised to altitude so staying below 3,000 metres was probably a very good idea if we were going to be taking potentially tough exercise. Two connecting cable cars took us up to Brevent at just over 2,500 metres. A little below the snow [View Full Entry]

---

---

The hotel gave us coffee but was not set up for breakfast, so we drank coffee, tried to get online (failed as the hotel connection was down), packed up and left. We stopped at a motorway services where we had the breakfast deal (espresso, orange juice and a chocolate croissant each) then headed for Mont Blanc through a series of tunnels, culminating in the Mont Blanc tunnel itself. This tunnel is long and, unlike the tunnels on the way does not have separate bores for each carriageway. It is, however, really well lit and disciplined. Not really very exciting and none [View Full Entry]

---

---

Nothing much happened on the ferry. We chatted to people. Hilary read the other two books she bought for the reader (Fury and Interworld). Eventually we got to Ancona, left straight away and rode 80 km straight into the sun, ending up back at the Ferrara hotel in Cattolica. They seemed pleased to see us. Ashley demanded new eyes but settled for beer goggles - we found a place opposite the Ritter hotel where they sold beer in litre glasses. This was followed by a pizza and a salad at the Pirate restaurant with half a litre of house white (very [View Full Entry]

---

---

Sadly the time came to say our goodbyes and leave Selcuk, at least for a time. The first part of the journey along the coast road was pretty and very enjoyable. Soon though, the coast turned into resort after resort with very little way of telling where one ended and the next one started. When the road went up the mountains away from the coast it did get pretty again, and the air full of the scent of thyme and oregano. After a while we linked with the Izmir - Cesme motorway which is a good motorway although it was very, [View Full Entry]

---

---