Day 1 - Let’s Begin With France

Wednesday 27th June 2018

It's that time of the year again, EuroBimble2018 is all set to go.

This time Mick and I are heading south to visit some old haunts and some new. We will ride down through the Alps before taking a ferry to northern Greece from Venice. Then back the long way round, looping through Bulgaria, Serbia, Romania and Hungary and back into the eastern Alps in Slovenia.

So it'a mixture of old and new routes. I am riding my trusty old BMW K1200rs and Mick is on his BMW R1150GS. Both bikes are now 16 years old from a time when BMW still made quality machines. 

At Mick's house, all ready to go

It’s a lovely morning, a little bit misty at first but as we head down the A1 the sun burns off the last of the cloud and the day starts to really heat up.

We are going via the Eurotunnel so the ride down from Yorkshire to Folkestone is the usual boring drag. But at least there are no holdups so we are in good time for the crossing and are allowed to select a train one hour earlier than our pre-booked departure time.

There are about a dozen bikes making the same crossing. The guys next to us are heading for the upcoming MotoGP race meeting in Assen, Netherlands.

On the eurotunnel train
 
Surprisingly it is quite chilly when we detrain and ride into France. There is a sea fret sweeping in from the channel and for the first time this week the sun is not blazing down. This morning’s weather forecast was predicting a high of 30C for Scotland of all places. They’ll be dropping like flies in the Highlands. But here in the Pas de Calais it is struggling to get above 16C.

Our camping spot at La Bien Assise
We are not going far tonight. Last year we discovered La Bien Assise camping ground at Guines just 15 km from the tunnel. 
It is a great site with spacious shady pitches and a good bar and takeaway cafe. Plus free WiFi when you buy a drink at the bar.
Two tents, two bikes, two adults for one night costs the princely sum of €18. Pretty good. In addition the skies clear as we move away from the coast and it is a lovely warm evening at Camping La Bien Assise.

Football and beer in the bar
We soon have the tents up and head over to the bar to see what’s going on.
In the bar the football is on the telly and an amazing match has just finished. Germany, who have not gone out in the first round of the World Cup since 1938, have just been beaten two-nil by South Korea and will take no further part in Russia 2018. This is an astonishing result I can’t wait to discuss it with my German friends when we arrive in the Fatherland.

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