Day 3 - Kedange to Eberbach

WHET? More like F****** WET!

 

Not too much to say about Day 3. Woke up to peeing rain. Set off in peeing rain. Arrived Eberbach, 8 hours later, in peeing rain. Not once during those 8 hours did it stop peeing down.

 

In addition to the poor weather, we had a 40km detour, due to a road closure, not including the 25km to find the road was closed, then get back to the main road or the 10km to find a fuel station so Grizzly could fuel up. Then, on arriving at the hotel, we find we have a double bed, so have to pay more for a room with two singles. Then to cap it all, the hotel had no draft beer, so we were forced to have a bottle of pils!

 

All in all, Day 3 was totally forgettable. Weather wise, Day 4 looks like being more of the same. Up side, the Germs are spanking Brazil. Pinch me! 

 

 

 

Day 2 - Waterloo to Kedange-sur-Canner

We awoke to the sound of the roadworks outside the hotel, not to mention Grizzly's feckin alarm, which had a 2 minute repeat. As if that wasn't enough, he dropped the change out of his trousers all over the laminate flooring! Eejit!

 

Last night, after failing to cop off with any middle aged Belgian crumpet ;-), we made our way back to the hotel. The bar wasn't doing any food and as the hotel's restaurant was out of commission, we had to go pizza, next door. Pizza and a fifth beer that is! Pizza was very nice and the beer too but soon it was time for bed. As I struggled to focus on the tablet to do Day 1 blog, Grizzly was snoring as soon as his head hit the pillow. Blog done, it was my turn to sleep.

 

Day 2 was bright and sunny. We got ready and went down for brekkie. Grizzly had been out seeing to his bike beforehand, so was a bit more advanced in his prep to leave. One of my main worries was transporting the beer glass without it showering shards into my entire collection of pants! That sorted and everything else packed we hit the road. Incidentally, the buffet brekkie was a long way short of the €12 we had paid, being the usual cold meet, cheese and bread offering. We had our fill though.

 

We set off, Tomtom indicating an eta at our fuel stop some three and a quarter hours away. Hmm. Our visit today was to be Hackenberg Fort, the largest fort on the Maginot line. At 14:30 there would be an English guided tour. I said to Grizzly we needed to arrive by 14:00. For some reason (donkey for Woody) I had thought the journey was only going to take two and a half hours, so we hadn't made a definite leaving time. On arrival at our fuel stop in Luxembourg, it became apparent that we wouldn't be at the fort in time for the tour. In fact, after a road closure forced us to detour, we didn't actually arrive till about 15:00. Ee-aaw! We could still get in though, for the next tour but that was in German! Not to worry, we were given an English translation card and the lady did try to explain the odd bit in English for us.

 

The weather had been glorious the whole way down but the fort was definitely the highlight of this day. It is an unbelievably massive complex, built into the hillside. The tour takes 2 hours, part walking through the tunnels and part train ride, on the original trains, to get you to one of the gun blocks, complete with working sunken turret, some 1.6km away! Well worth a visit.

 

 

As we prepared to leave, the lady guide stopped to talk to us, asking us where we were tavelling to. Turns out she was a child during the war and was evacuated to avoid the Russian offensive in 1944. She has two daughters who live in Munich, so was interested to learn that we were going there this week and of course, to Dacau.

 

On the main road up to the fort, there was an American tank. It seemed fitting that we give Dudley's bandana an airing at this point, so photos were taken, before we rode the 5 miles to our hotel.

 

Unfortunately, the lady in the hotel doesn't speak English, none of them do, so I'm doing my best with the schoolboy French I have to make myself understood and to understand them. Could do with my Elly with me I reckon. Grizzly can barely speak English, so he's got feck all chance of French! We freshened up and took a walk, very brief, to see what Kedange has to offer. Answer, nothing, outside of the hotel, so we have had our dinner here and partaken of beers 6 and 7. We'll have another brekkie here tomorrow, only €8 this time and then hit the road again. Today we hit our third country, Luxembourg, tomorrow it'll be number four, as we advance into Germany. Tomorrow is a pure riding day, along the Castle Road, with no pre-planned stops. The evening could prove entertaining though, as we shall be in Germany on the night of their world cup semi-final with Brazil. Come on you

Germs!

 

Time for bed I think. Grizzly is already driving them home, as I write. Until Day 3.

Day1 - Chatham to Waterloo.

Day 1 started with the rain coming down and pretty much ended the same way, To say this was the worst start to a tour is no exaggeration. We have been soaked through today.

 

We set off from Chatham at about 6.45. Once we had battled through the rain and fuelled up, we checked in at the tunnel and were lucky enough to board the earlier train. Just squeezed on the back we met  a couple called Chris and Dagmar who were biking out to Bratislava and back. They left us France side at the fuel station. They clearly hadn't fuelled up in Blighty. It was about another hour before we arrived in Kemmel. Here we bought tickets to the Bayenwald German trenches, before heading out to some British bunkers, Bit of a disappointment, truth be told but at least we got the waterproofs off. Then on to the Bayenwald  trenches, where it started to rain again. I was surprised at how low they were, you couldn't walk upright without getting you head shot off. It started to rain again at the trenches a small gap in the showers allowing us to get the waterproofs back on before we set off for the cemetery where my great, great, uncle Charles is buried, At this point the heavens opened. Deep joy!

 

 

 

We stopped off for a bite to eat and later to fuel up, finally reaching our hotel in Waterloo about 15:30. A quick wash and brush up and we walked the 200 metres to the Battle of Waterloo site. Here we had a couple of films, a visit to the Lion Mound and to the battle panorama. By the time we had done the films, it was peeing down again, so muggins here ended up going up the mound, all 228 steps in the rain. Grizzly, wisely, stayed down below.

 

 

 

Having done the sights, we hit the bar. It seemed as of there was some dating thing going on, a disco and lots of middle aged men and women dancing and generally eyeing each other up. There was one chap, we called Arnie, who had a ginger 50s teddy boy hairstyle, with a grey moustache, the tightest chinos you've ever seen and a short sleeved shirt that was way to big, looking like he'd stolen it from Arnold S, hence the name Arnie, He kept hanging around but never seemed to hit it off with any women. Effin funny.

 

In the meantime, the manager of the bar decided he wanted to buy Grizzly's braces, as they were in the Belgian colours. Grizzly agreed for  20 euros and 2 drinks. Deal done, we had our photos taken with him. Later on, we also managed to get a couple of glasses out of him too. Not sure how I shall transport them though.

 

We've opted for the  eat as much as you like buffet breakfast tomorrow, which should see us through till teatime at Kedange. Before we arrive in Kedange, we are paying a visit to the Hackenberg fort on the Maginot line.

 

Until then.

The Bald Eagle has landed

Bike all sorted, We await the arrival of grizzly.

 

Saturday, about 12:30 the old git arrives. After bedding his Honda down for the night, we take him on a trip of Chatham/Rochester, seeing the sights. Just hope he's got enough  memory on his SD cards for all the photos . After doing the sights of Medway, we head down to the Rendezvous Chinese restaurant for our pre tour welcome dinner. Bellies filled it's back to my place and bed, Early start tomorrow.

 

 

The Eagle has landed!

 

Fingers crossed it was worth it

Managed to get the bike cleaned yesterday afternoon, seeing as the weather was superb. Hoping that it wasn't a waste of time and that it won't be covered in muck by the time we cross the Belgian border on Sunday. Today I'll give it a polish, check the tyre pressures, oil, etc and also get the Tomtom mount and luggage fitted on.

Also managed to get some 'packing' sorted. When I say packing, I mean I got stuff out of the drawers and laid it on the bed. Looking at that pile and the size of my pannier bags, I'm not sure it'll all fit. I might have to turn my pants inside out at this rate ;-)

Watch this space.

Just as well

that I replaced my waterproofs. Relying on the weather to stay fine in the middle of summer would obviously be very foolhardy, even it seems, in Europe.

I've done a quick 10 day forecast to see what we can expect and it doesn't make very pleasant reading. Basically, we can expect rain at some point for the first 5 days. That's all the way through Belgium, France, Germany and Austria. The way it's looking, crossing the Alps through Austria, we'll probably hit snow. Needless to say, this info has put a dampener on the tour, literally, before we've even started out.

Plan all you like but you can't account for the weather. SIGH!



Sent from my ASUS

Let it rain, let it rain.....

Hell no, I'm only joking, though if it does, I shall, hopefully, remain dry downstairs now. A visit to Laguna on Sunday secured me a fully lined set of Richa waterproof trousers. They had a number to choose from, including Triumph branded ones but what swung it for Richa, was the fact that the legs velcro at the bottom and don't zip up. My previous pairs have all zipped up and have, as a result, all suffered the same problem. That being, that the expansion 'gusset' on the leg always gets caught in the zip. Not very helpful when you are hopping around on one leg by the side of the road, in the peeing rain. These should make things a lot quicker and easier. 

Despite being a lot thicker than the Triumph offering, they will still fold up nice and neatly into a mesh bag. And all this, for just twenty English coins of the realm. Bargain!

With only 3 sleeps to go till departure, I have yet to do any packing or even deciding what to take. I have though, polished my helmet (oooer!) and stuck on a new visor. Boots and gloves have also been cleaned with leather wipes. Later today, I'm hoping to get the bike itself cleaned and prepped, ready for the photoshoot when Grizzly arrives on Saturday.

That's all for now.