France - Day one - Honfleur

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The ferry arrived in Le Havre on time at 7:30-am French time and soon I was on my way down the ramp out of the ferry and exiting the ferry terminal. I had already programmed the Sat Nav to the French map and set the time zone and my first destination, Honfleur. The road out of the terminal was quiet busy as a set of traffic lights near the terminal kept holding up the queue. After filtering through the traffic and getting a little closer to the front of the queue, I chatted to a couple of the bikers that I’d met on the ferry before getting a green light and turning right heading for Honfleur. My route once again kept me away from the French motorway system and I soon found myself heading through an industrial area that was so quiet because the French trucks don’t run on a Sunday.

Before long I came to a series of road junctions which seemed a little confusing because the roads junctions were new and differed to the instructions given by the Sat Nav and it wasn't long before I had gone wrong. Realising my error, I continued along and the Sat Nav re-directed me back along a duel carriageway. My next problem came as I left the duel carriageway, preoccupied with the traffic I ignored the instructions to find myself on a toll road and heading in the wrong direction again. My next exit was seven kilometers away and with no chance of turning around, all I could do was to continue. As it happened once I paid the 50-cent toll, I was then routed around some of the most beautiful French countryside, I’ve ever seen.

As I rode down the countryside lanes I seemed to relax more into the riding in a foreign country and started to enjoy the scenery. It was at this point I realised I had made the right decision to bring the Pan on the trip rather than the VFR because with the VFR I would have enjoyed the country roads more than the fantastic scenery. Soon I came to the Pont de Tancarville toll bridge where I headed towards a manned toll booth. As I pulled up the light changed to green and I was unsure whether the light had been changed because I was stopping, on the assumption I was going to pay or because I was toll free. As I lifted my visor the attendance blurted something at me in French, which made no sense to me so I replied "Bonjour, English", an abrupt reply came back "free, go". I put the bike in first gear and replied "Merci" and went on my way.

Before long I arrived in Honfleur and had a little tour around the town before finally parking up for a couple of hours and doing some sightseeing. I walked around the inner harbour before finally deciding which café I would call at for my breakfast. I finally sat down at a café overlooking the inner harbour and chilled before heading back to the bike and onwards to my next destination.

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