fog & mist in the Vosges

MooN

Tour Pro
No pics.

the run as far as belfort was by autoroute so "sans interet". from belfort, up the ballon d'Alsace & to the gite was rain & fog, so nothing to see & the same could be said of the ride home on the sunday so, No pics.

In the absence of pics, I shall endeavour to do what I can with mere prose.Posted Image

The route on saturday: http://goo.gl/maps/CHgML (I still can't make the Gmap tags work, I just get "wrong url" message. i've tried all the other URLS & just get blank page...)

I was trying out a new system for carrying my bags this time. I have hard cases for the tralp, a pair of Honda (Givi monolock) 45L things but they're too much for just an overnighter & make the bike so fat-arsed that at autoroute speeds fuel stops impose themselves with alarming frequency, around 180km! This time I used my smaller topcase (the red & white one you've all seen & criticised so often before...) with a small back pack sat on the pillion seat & bungied to the top box. It worked very well & did improve consumption, though due to the weather we weren't doing silly speeds either, running at +/- 140km/h (85mph) most of the way.
It wasn't raining when I left home at 07:30 but there was 10/10ths cloud cover & it was only 13°c (55°F) so jacket had rain liner & polar liner in & rain trousers went over leathers. I left home at 07:30 & got to the first rendez vous at Vallan, just 5 minutes away with time for a quick ciggy before the real set off. At Vallan, I hooked up with Thierry (fjr1300), J.C. (fjr1300), Patrick (BMW R 1100s i think); Bruneau (fjr1300) Pierre (VTR1000) & Manu (another FJR1300). We rode sensibly (for once) south down the N6 (now the D606) as far as the autoroute péage (entrance/ exit) just south of avallon where we were joined by Carlos (HD road king 1200 thing) Jacky (intruder 1300 (?)) & François (X11). We then hit the autoroute which despite fairly heavy traffic (for france) & rain or drizzle most of the way, was very smooth & efficient, not least because JC leading & Thierry bringing up the rear communicate with helmet bluetooth equipt which is actually quite a boon in traffic when trying to keep our motly crew more or less together ( I liken it to herding cats...).

With the usual coffee, pee & fuel stops we got to the "Buffalo grill" south of Belfort, just before midday. We sometimes resort to these restaurants which are only really one step up the ladder from Mc D's because they're cheap, rapid & the foods usually ok. This one was SHIT! dirty, inefficient, rude staff providing undercooked chips & overcooked meat, the whole overflown by a complete fighter wing of flies in dive bomber mode. Needless to say there was trouble when it came to requiring the manager to reduce the bill by a significant amount. The chain has also recieved a number of written complaints from our group over the last 24 hours.
After the lunch disaster, we headed for the hills. sat pm http://goo.gl/maps/Qh3DT

had the roads been dry it would have been a brilliant route with lots of silly overtaking & desperate late braking & all the usual shennanigans, but it was wet, & the fog (low cloud) precluded much of anything except trying to second guess the next hairpin. At times the visibility was down to about 30metres. needless to say the panorimic restaurant at the top of the Ballon d'alsace was something of an anticlimax!

Despite the damp & zero visibility we eventually found our way to the gite La Chaume du grand ventron. The rooms (dormitories) are erm... summary... bunk beds... erm & that's all...BUT (yes it's a big but) the food was to die for. A mate of JC's who lives in the area had recommended this place & joined us for the evening meal so we were 12 sat down to eat. the waitress, when we suggested that we were hungry, said that she'd go into holy orders if anyone left the table still hungry... This sounds like my kinda place!

we ate;
salade des vosges (green salad with lardons & morteau sausage & croutons)
Braised smoked pork, with mashed potatoes (sort of) & salad
Tarte aux myrtilles (home baked)
we drank; aperitifs (numerous & various), 5 bottles local red wine, a couple of cokes, some fizzy water, coffee & a certain number of "pousse café" (digestif local alcahol) Posted Image consumed in front of a huge roaring log fire

much laughter & pisstaking was involved as ever with this sort of gathering. We eventually stumbled to the dorms around midnight.

Up at 07:00 sunday morning to more rain & fog.

breakfast was consumed: Croissant, bread, jam, coffee, & smoked ham & cheese for those who so desired

having packed up & got more or less ready to roll I was a little aprehensive about the outstanding bill, judging by the previous evenings excess of food & drink but we paid a mere 58€50 per head! that's 49£ or 84$ Aus! having picked my jaw off the floor, we settled the bill & rode out.

sun am http://goo.gl/maps/HNZhn


we rode off the mountain down a forest road with moss growing down the middle which I enjoyed but the others didn't really like& then called in on JC's mate in Gerardmer for a coffee. We then headed home under ever threatening skies & hit some heavy rain just before stopping for lunch around Remiremont.

Lunch in a "la pataterie" baked potato restaurant was a simple refuelling excercise & soon done so we headed out into the rain & drizzle again.

sun pm http://goo.gl/maps/Yf2me

on the ride home we dropped off jacky at Rouvray, Carlos & François at avallon & then dropped in on Jean Michel who'd not been able to join us due to a knee op. He provided aperetifs & the day ended on a high note. Got home wet, tired & happy around 19h30. 'bout 850 km in all (530miles ish)
 
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johnnyrep

Getting the hang of it
great little write up thanks.

it seems to me that French rides out [well all French life really] revolves around food, thinking about food, eating food then planning for more food lol

whereas in England we stop for a cuppa and maybe a bacon butty.

I like the Vosges area and if I go again I will look for the Gite you mention.
 
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