A Froggie Xmas tale. (tedious)

St off on Friday night, fighting London traffic to get to the A3.
Tower Bridge was solid, so Southwark Bridge had to do.

Arrived @ Pompey in plenty of time, and were ushered aboard almost
immediately.

A very passable meal, courtesy of P&O and a couple of pints, and it
was back to the superheated shoebox they call a "cabin".

Awoke to "will all motorists please rejoin their vehicles" on the
tannoy; at 06:45.

Out at Le Havre, and it's quite mild - 8deg C according to the readout
on the Pont De Normandie. The view from up there is quite spectacular
in the dark, innit?

Along the Autoroute to Caen, then down the N138 through Argentan, Le
Mans, to Tours. Picked up the A10, and headed to Bordeaux. Just near
the final toll booth, saw a little Lada Estate, bedecked with
Plymouth-Dakar Rally stickers, and loaded to the gunwhales. Was this
Bee? [1]

South of the Bordeaux ring-road - the "Rocade" - which is always fun;
everyone seems to drive about 20mph faster than seems safe, and it was
onto the drudge of the N10 through the Foret des Landes. What with
Spanish artics, and a few more P-D rallyists, progress was slow,
though I did get flashed by the speed camera at Labouheyre. [2]

Arrived at the outlaws early evening, having had a mainly pleasant
trip: it was cold, obviously, but other than a couple of hours of
light drizzle, no rain to speak of. The "Hot Hands" certainly did
their job, but I think they're a touch too efficient, an the series of
blisters on my throttle hand will testify. Still - 500 miles in
December in unlined gloves is pretty good, imo.

Xmas was as Xmas is: food, booze, family drama.

Had a trip up the Spanish border to replenish the fag stock, sensibly
accepted Linda's sis's offer of a lift in the world's grottiest
Renault 5.[3]

Said sis got flashed by the same camera as me on Friday, on the way
back from Bordeaux. She's not the sharpest tool in the box, it must be
said. She knew it was the same camera, cos it was "exactly where you
said it was". Women.

Set off for home on Saturday, around eleven. Uneventful ride up to
Bordeaux, the a ten minute downpour north of the Dordogne. Then
another, as we passed Futuroscope at Poitiers. Lovely after that,
making good time, and looking like arriving at Le Havre inconveniently
early.

Back onto the N138 at Tours, then picked up the A28 south of Le Mans.
Whereupon the heavens opened. Driving, horizontal rain reduced
motorway speeds to 50, and when we got on the unlit parts of the N138,
and lesser roads, the roadside markings were practically invisible[4].
My unlined gloves were soaked, but the Pathans are too bulky to use
over the grip warmers, so they stayed in the pannier. At least my
hands were warm and wet. Linda is nearly frozen solid at this point.

240km later, we stop in a little village for petrol, and the rain
stops. Three hours, effectively being jetwashed, and even my poor old
Daytonas have given up the struggle, and some water has leaked in
through the zips.

From Bernay to the Pont de Normandie, we're overtaken three times by
the same British registered Volvo.

Over the Bridge, into L-H, and a nice little meal in a harbour side
restaurant helps restore some feeling. Fed and watered, we arrive at
the check in at exactly the start of check-in, and get ushered aboard
straight away, once more.

Another shoe-box, a couple of pints, and some well-earned kip sees us
fit for the 05:50 arrival at Portsmouth.

It was *freezing* in Portsmouth this morning.

Still, an uneventful run up the A3 saw us home before 8, whereupon I
fell asleep in the bath. Then stumbled in here to find 400 unread
posts, and 825 unread emails (two of which were genuine)

Hope you all enjoyed it as much as I did. Herself is already convinced
we're doing it again next year.

Oh, and the poor old Wing is now showing 101,325 on the odometer.

[1] I now know it wasn't.
[2] Limit comes down from 110kph to 90 for a bend; we went through @
around 140.
[3] It's around ten years old, has been rolled at least once, parked
in a ditch at "eek" mph, and it just keeps going.
[4] Panting a white line down the side of the road, then driving
trucks over it for 20 years is insufficient, imo. What's up with cat's
eyes, ffs? At least put a bit of reflective stuff in the paint. Or
something. It wasn't just me, either, most of the traffic was dawdling
along this bit. Visibility did improve when I pushed my specs further
up my nose, mind. Oops.

 

On Sun, 28 Dec 2003 14:56:19 +0000, Salad Dodger

I did - I was in your topbox the entire journey; blimey, those socks
don't half pong a bit.

She can share the topbox with me - lovely and dry it was.

A mere bagatelle. I wonder who's got the highest mileage Wing (4 or 6
pot)?

--

Dave

GS 850 x2 / SE 6a
SbS#6 DIAABTCOD#16 APOSTLE#16? FUB#3
FUB KotL OSOS#12? UKRMMA#19

 

I thought that bag was a bit heavy. BTW, that wasn't the socks, that
was the sausage, the garlic, and the cheese.

I must confess, those are cheapo European type miles.

There's a chappy on the Wing Mailing list, who, when I last looked,
had 491,000 full fat Imperial miles on his 1500. That was about a year
ago.

 

<burns>
Excellent.
</b>

 

I did, ta.

She's not quite right, really, is she.

 

So, did you get laid laid or what?

 

This is me we're talking about. Get sensible for a minute.

 

Double Whammy?