Riding to Marlborough I left work early. I was owed the tie but it was a bit awkward as my manager wanted a phone conversation “after 4” which means “I will call you at five to five and talk for at least half an hour.” I mailed back that I “was not available at that time”. Got the train to Osterley and met up with Ashley and the bike. Our planned route was A4, M4, Hungerford. We were both pleasantly surprised by how clear the roads were. There was traffic - quite a lot - but it was fluid, not a carpark. Much better than expected for the start of a bank holiday weekend. I was glad that I had put the quilted lining back in my jacket but it was not very cold. Ashley was ... read more

Dinner in St Omer was 2 hours and four courses of gorgeousness. To be honest the food in Tournus was probably better but tonight's meal was carefully cooked and beautifully presented. The service was impeccable and all this for a 25 euro set menu. Ashley started with marinated salmon and I had goats cheese salad. Then Ashley had tornedos of duck with ginger and coriander and I had steak with a creamy sauce with local cheese. We shared a good selection of cheeses (including rebluchon which is not local to here and a chevre that might have been along with three local cheeses of varying strengths). Then Ashley had sorbets with fresh fruit and I had the crème brulee. We took photos... And for the record, the restaurant is called Le P'tit Montmartre.... read more

Arrived safely in St Omer. The trip was uneventful, it started pleasant enough, but slowly the weather got worse. Warm sweaters went on, then the winter bike gloves. Then waterproofs as the rain started, fortunately it was showers and we missed most. Looking forward to dinner later, for now a rest and to think about a beer. I have decided to let Hilary take me out for dinner. This is the problem with this kind of trip. UK weather creeps up on you on the way home. And people from the UK converge on the channel ports so we are hearing English being spoken again. ... read more

We set out after breakfast and the first bit of the journey was pretty, though many tunnels took us through the pretty mountains. Going round Lyon was not pretty at all. It was very full of traffic and graffiti. I don't care how often people try to tell me graffiti is art - too much of it is just plain ugly and blocked off my view of the river. We didn't do a lot of distance but this was due to traffic and the need to go around a mountain or two. Just past Macon Ashley started to worry that we had not made sufficient distance though we did Bourg en Bresse in two stops in the pouring rain on the way out and we have another two nights after tonight to make it to the ... read more

Not Alessandria but Alessandria is the closest place in the database. Today we rode around 350 Km from Rimini to Tortoni. This was all motorway and from my point of view on pillion, not very interesting. Conditions were good and after Bologna it was not all trucks. We stopped at a motorway stop off for lunch which was very good. Just cheese and ham sandwiches, but excellent cheese and excellent ham - better than any you can get in the UK for love or money (and being motorway food, very cheap). Tortoni is abut 100 Km from Torino. As far as we know it is not famous for anything, it was just where we were ready to stop. Finding a hotel was not easy. We fund a central hotel but it was shut. We looked around ... read more