Couple of weeks ago me and a mate tooka 5 day tour of SW France.

After a planned trip to Maroc had been postponed, Phil & myself decided to pop off for a little meander. The only proviso was to stick to "B" roads and avoid major routes where possible. The weather forecast looked good and, with no agenda or route we were off. The first day we ended up at what has become a "Dregs Favourite" , Camping Chon du Tarn near Florac.

DAY 01 Route


The story unfolds......

We waited until late morning but, the good weather hadn't arrived yet so, we set off in the dismal drizzle arriving at Rocadmadour for a roadside planning conflab.



Phil had'nt ridden the Gorge du Tarn so the obvious destination for the first day was Florac. On route we spotted one of those tourist signs for Conques so decided that would be a good place for coffee. It was

CONQUES HIGH STREET






It turned out that Conques is on the Pilgramige Route "Santiago de Compostela" so the next 20 kms was spent avoiding the christian masses amidst the lanes.

Phil and I were amazed to see water buffalo here.



I laughed so much I couldn't ride as Phil rapidly mounted his bike and sped off when the bull in the herd charged us [IMG]http://tourdregs.net/phpbb/images/smilies/nobull****.gif[/IMG]

I thought we had drifted onto the set of the "Prisoner" when we saw these at our next stop at Saint Laurent D'Olt on the Le Lot.





We had a coffee but, it was in need of restoration just like the the exterior of the coffee shop.



We arrived at the top of the Gorge du Tarn - Point Sublime. Phil could hardly contain his excitement.



We had another coffee. The proprietor there was the rudest, grumpiest and most ignorant f*$% I had come across in a while. I took a dump (in his toilet) and didn't flush

By now the sun was starting its descent. We set off down into the Gorge. The traffic was the lightest had had seen in the Gorge and the roads were in excellent condition. We had a real BLAST to Florac

We arrived at the campsite to find Max Wall had arrived before us.




We set up camp anyway.



Out came the maps to see what tomorrow might bring.

__________________
"I'm here for a good time, not a long time"

The second day of the trip and, woke up to excellent riding weather sunny and not too hot . Packed up and off we went. No route to speak of so the one shown below is retrospective.

DAY 02 Route


Five minutes later a view stop...



..and to be honest straight into those twisty roads before an adequate coffee intake was not good news for me so deep breathing exercises had to do for now.



Phew ! 15 kms from the camp-site a stop at Pont De Montvert for coffee.








Refreshed we set off across the Lozere on the empty roads. I'd been on the same road with Dave earlier this year in the 38C heat, melting gravelly roads and riding my R1200RT and, it was some of the worst riding I've ever had. Today on the Dakar in different conditions it was sublime

From the Lozere we entered the Gard and stopped on bridge for a pee break. It must have been quite high as my string of urine formed a sine wave as it wound its way into the water below.



We were proud.



Before we knew it we were into the Ardeche and heading for its famous Gorge but not before a coffee and water break. It was getting hot.

Coffee at Saint Paul le Jeune


Some clever routing and we were back in the Gard! My avoidance settings on the sat nav didn't include unpaved roads



Not to worry before we knew it the Ardeche Gorge had arrived.

"Its Over There"


Phil Ponders (or perhaps is taking a drag) the Gorges de L'Ardeche

__________________
"I'm here for a good time, not a long time"

Obligatory photos done we heade d off across what was left of the Ardeche and into the Drome. I hate the Drome. Its flat and every time I ride across it it so f*$% windy The wind had really taken its toll on us and after a quick coffee stop (some guy from Marseilles try to sell Phil hash - well in Phils head he did) we decided to have an early day and set off to Buis les Baronnieswhere Phil knew a good B & B owned by a "mate".

A quick meander through the town and we found the place. Phil knocked on the door to no avail . He had stayed there before so I just thought the guy was hiding but no, a neighbour informed us "he was in England".

No problem, there was a Municipal camp-site in the town.

[NOTE:- This place may be a good base for a future tour as it is close to amenities, reasonable site and in the middle of some excellent roads.]

Camp set we set off for dinner. The restaurant Phil wanted was'nt open yet so we waited.



and became pretend Winos -



When the restaurant opened the food was great and I can recommend the "Cafe Gourmand" to finish



.................................................. ..............END OF DAY 02



Sorry no pics of campsite. Hopefully Phil has some......and sort out posting them

__________________
"I'm here for a good time, not a long time"

Yep here you go......

Gadget man at work


_________________
"I'M HERE FOR A GOOD TIME,NOT A LONG TIME"


Here's some of the orrible route we had to put up with that morning






With odd folk on the road side



then found a big hole in the world !!! Andy'll give it a name





A local troglodite with a camera


Just after this a certain person ram raided a German car ......................but i didn't have the camera ready

Ohhh forgot to mention i had a little accident [IMG]http://tourdregs.net/phpbb/images/smilies/bull****.gif[/IMG] Andy will fill you in

Blimey my heads heavy



Another gorge !!!


OK over to you Andy to fill in the gaps ...................;cause i don't know nuffin

Phil

__________________
"I'm here for a good time, not a long time"

OK - To recap, its the third of our trip. We are in Buis les Baronnies in the Drome (Yes I know I said I hated it earlier but there's no wind now) and its 8:30am Sunday morning and we are sat having a coffee waiting for the shop to open so that we can pick up food for later. 9:00am Phils pops across to the shop....its closed for inventory!

Today's route hatched over dinner the previous would take us through the Verdon Gorge and if all goes to plan over the Col de le Bonette well before sunset.

DAY 03 ROUTE


A short while later Phil pops into Vival for Vitals St. Auban Sur L'Ouveze as we did'nt want to be short of milk for Phils tea and my branflakes the following morning.



I waited outside while the "adult" shopped.


What seems like hours later as, there was a group of hikers before Phil, he leaves Vidal Triumphant !



and leaves me!



D946 nr. Les Omergues - Alpes de Haute Provence




Just outside Sisteron there was another toilet break on the D8 to Bras d'Asse. This was one the narrowest roads I've come across and I'm sure it was designed for Moto Gymkhana. In fact there was a notice at the beginning of the road warning that it was not suitable for anything bigger than a Robin Reliant.





The roads were getting busier now;Sunday and excellent weather brought out the French riders. I will say nothing of their group riding policies other than . I though Phil had joined in their mania as he sped past me and started up the hairpin section VERY quickly but no, he had another agenda

....I'll leave it to Phil to tell the tale of this pic.


Phil's "hidden" agenda sorted, we plodded on towards the Verdon Gorges. We fuelled up up before we reached it as, past experience has shown that in these areas fuel stops can be few and far between.

Moustiers Sainte Marie



---------DAY 03 To be continued.

__________________
"I'm here for a good time, not a long time"

.I'll leave it to Phil to tell the tale of this pic.
Image

Alright i'll come clean.............................that fart wasn't just gas ended up cutting me trollies of and slinging em !!!!! mind you some good came out of it

Running comando sure is comfy

_________________
"I'M HERE FOR A GOOD TIME,NOT A LONG TIME"

__________________
"I'm here for a good time, not a long time"

DAY 03 - Sunday Lunchtime at Moustiers Sainte Marie

Bikes fuelled up we decided to hit the Gorge whilst most people were eating and the road should be quieter. The road climbed steeply out of Moustiers and before we knew it we riding above Lac de Sainte Croix.

LAC DE SAINTE CROIX (D952)




We followed the D952 for a while and then turned off onto the D23 as it looked interesting. It was and, we had quite a few photo stops.

Phil's day had been tough so far and, the shame of his "incident" played heavy on his mind.

PHIL WRESTLES WITH HIS DARK THOUGHTS


The views from this road were excellent.







But there were a few duff ones!



It was getting hot now and time to head back and rejoin the main road. I ask Phil to lead back down to the main road. The barely compensable reply " �$%^ing, Bo)(*&ks - you &^%$ing Do it !" so, I turned my bike to face downhill and led off around this corner.



As I took the bend I was faced with a German VW in my path about 30 metres away. "Not to worry - he's just cutting the corner, now that he's seen me he will over to his side of the road" - I thought. The f*$% didn't . I braked heavily in straight line towards him. The road was gravely and any evasive action would have me under the car......hours later I gently nudged his front bumper and toppled into the road. I was really f*$% angry and ready to have a go at the driver. Luckily Phil came over and started to apologise to him. My first thought was "Why is Phil do that, the ****** nearly killed me". Then as I, the driver and his missus picked up my bike a slow realisation came over me.......

I WAS THE ****** ON THE WRONG SIDE OF THE ROAD

Luckily the only damage was my pride and off we bimbled down the hill with Phil in the lead.

__________________
"I'm here for a good time, not a long time"

Phil commented that he preferred the Tarn Gorge as you were travelling in it not on top of it. However, a little while later he did change his mind as the nature of the road changed.

WATCHING THE RUBBER RAFTS GO DOWN THE RIVER (Missed the rafts by the time the camera was out).


We plodded on through Castellane (D952) and turned off onto the D955 which goes around Lake de Castillon. This road was was "racetrack " like, in that it was well surfaced, twisty, wide and fun and the locals thought so too ... we let them pass

Track day over we followed the D4202 " Routes Des Alpes" to - Entrevaux and it was coffee time.







We continued, opting for the route less travelled when possible.

D26 - Near Massoins


Arriving in Saint Sauveur sur Tinee around 4:30 - 5 pm we reckoned there was ample time to get over Col de le Bonette and set up camp before sunset.

Camp de Fourches on the way up time for a fag break

PHILS SPEAKS TO AN ITALIEN RIDER IN FRANGLAIS - Bizzare !


while I take a few pics.



Eight minutes later we are at the top...

Cime de la Bonette 2802m - Europe's Highest Paved Road


..along with a few other German and French riders.



Phil has a fag to celebrate.


We were the first to leave. I'm sure everyone was playing a waiting game because as soon as we left the rest followed. The pressure was on but as soon as it was safe to do so a few of the quicker riders went past us.

We arrived in the main square of Barcellonette. There was a hotel. Phil wanted a hotel so we stopped. 70 euros for the night ! We left and cruised the town looking for a cheaper option. There wasn't any and, I wasn't going to pay 35 euro for a nights stay when I had a perfectly good set of camping gear. However, there were no campsites here(that we could find). I knew there were some at Savines le Lac around 25 minutes away so we headed off in that direction.

Luckily around 10 minutes outside town we came across a site and set up camp.

Camping Domaine Loisirs De L'ubaye - D900 nr. Les Thuiles



By the time we had set up camp(and Phil had a shower ) it was starting to get dark. We ventured into the coffee shop on site but, that's all they did coffee. We had a coffee, sorted out the following days destination and ate the provision we were carrying.


Night Night !

__________________
"I'm here for a good time, not a long time"

A few more pics of the same day


















_________________
"I'M HERE FOR A GOOD TIME,NOT A LONG TIME"

__________________
"I'm here for a good time, not a long time"

more pics










_________________
"I'M HERE FOR A GOOD TIME,NOT A LONG TIME"

__________________
"I'm here for a good time, not a long time"