London at last. '!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!'!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
And this can surely only be London -
But again lets go back a bit to San Sebastián. Here is a sign on San Sebastian beach that had me amused. . I spent 15 minutes memorising what I was allowed to do and not do. Them - oh dear - I suddenly farted ! I quickly looked at the sign again to see if that was allowed or not allowed. And it was not even covered by the list of permitted or non permitted activities !
. We then have a nice short100km ride from San Sebastián to Le Mont St Michel - the iconic abbey that is almost immortalised as a symbol of la belle France. And it is breathtaking
And inside is fascination to see all the layers of development over about 1000 years
Glad I don’t have to ride a motorcycle up these streets
In the castle they have giant wooden wheels near the top. They used to put prisoners inside the big wooden wheels ( the island was a prison for about 60 years ) to make the wheels turn and thus lift loads up into the castle. If you think your current work is a bit of a drudge spare a thought for the prisoners inside the tread mill!
Then it is on to Boulogne Sur La Mer - 50 km short of Calais and “ Le tunnel”. We cross the Seine on a spectacular bridge
The wind is blowing off the English channel. Iswear I could smell the smell of “Mooshy Peas, Roast Beef and Yorkshire Pudding” in the air as we rode along , speeding a bit faster than normal to beat the on coming rain. We beat it by about 2 minutes after 480 km of riding. The heavy rain arrived at our hotel just 2 minutes after us!
Being the last night in France and the last night before London we shout ourselves dinner in a Michelin Star ( only one!) restaurant
Next day it is a quick flick up to the tunnel. Getting on the train is easier than getting on the Interislander ferry in New Zealand. You buy your tickets without even getting off the bike. We have a dedicated carriage to ourselves - rightfully so !
Then it becomes patently obvious that we must be in England
Diana asks the man behind the counter what is going to happen with Brexit. He hasn’t a clue! But he is getting paid well to man the enquiry desk so he is happy. Can’t say the same for most British however. !
We arrive at the BMW service centre at Battersea in Central London to drop the bike off for servicing . “ We have just ridden our bike from Tokyo” we say as casually as you do when you have just ridden a bike from Tokyo to London. “Really” says the parking attendant. “ Now can you park over there please”! Not an emotional race! Tokyo must be a suburb of London I think to myself !
So the trip is over ? Not quite.! On Monday 7 both of us and the bike are on the Air Canada flight to Montreal. From there we track fairly quickly down into the central USA and across to San Fransisco or Los Angeles. We will move reasonably quickly to beat the cold weather ( we hope ) and should be home in Queenstown by early November.
And that will then have us officially right round the world in one season - in about 180 days in fact ! Now there is a title for a book. Or has it already been taken?
Comments
After arriving home on Thursday I had to take the car in to the garage on the Friday for its annual roadworthiness test (which it did pass). With no time for preparation it was, like yours, a case of "Sorry about the state it's in. I just got back from Russia". "Oh yes?" was the only response.
You two have been a real inspiration for my travels. Thank you. "If they can do it at my age then so can I". But not on a bike ...