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Champagne Charlies Tour 2010

Thursday
Home from work about 5:30pm and having already packed most things the previous evening, it was just a case of changing into the bike gear and adding a few things to the luggage. Off we set to the Folkestone Premier Inn at 7pm. The M25 flowed quite nicely apart from the average speed limits and we arrive just gone 9pm. We were supposed to be meeting Stumpyone in the bar at that time but he was nowhere to be seen. We go to our room to change and return to the bar for a nightcap but still no sign of Stumpyone.

Friday
Awake at 5:30am, got ready, leave by 6:20am to meet the others at the Chunnel cafe. As we park up I notice that stumpyone was already there. Turns out he was delayed in Manchester the day before and travelled direct in the morning. All the lads from “Up Norf” were there as well and soon after Chilled, Easyrider, mlf1v and Kontiki arrive. Train set off at 7:50am arrives in Calais about 35 minutes later and we’re on the motorway heading to our destination. After about 50 miles we come off the motorway and onto more interesting rural roads. This is much better, with us all cruising along nicely. We stop for our first taste of French cuisine, MacDonalds. Lovely, in fact, much the same as the English variety but it fills a hole, all the same. Quite an enjoyable and uneventful ride to our hotel and we arrive about 5ish. Quick shower and off to the bar for refreshments. Evening meal that Easyrider had previously arranged was very welcome.

Saturday
After breakfast we set off on our first of 2 round trips of the Champagne Region. Lovely quiet roads and beautiful scenery. I think this was the day when Dae got his problems with, what we thought, was a naff battery so every time we stopped he had to be bump started but the bike was running OK so no need to assume anything else. If only I could remember all the place names of where we stopped but they were great places with lakes/reservoirs, typical rural French villages. Lunch was provided by a small cafe which in broken French/English I thought we were getting ham and chips but what came out was a courgette salad, French bread and a selection of sliced meats. Lovely, we ate, enjoyed and were pleased. Our plates were cleared and out came another course of more Bread, cheese and chips as well. Great food and a brilliant place. Fed and watered we set off to continue our tour but because some of the sporty bikes with us had to fill up more frequently we had to find petrol stations sooner than we thought and as a result we spent quite a time finding them. Because of this we had to back track, find petrol and had to curtail the rest of the ride in favour of a more direct return to the hotel. As it happens this was excellent. Time was getting on and Easyrider set a course in his satnav and we whistled along at a fair pace which got us back at about 7:30pm. In for an excellent dinner and relax for the evening apart from Kontiki who got some unfortunate family news and had to set sail for home early the next morning.

Sunday
Today, the Troyes Romp. We set off for said town but due to closed roads we gave up and headed for the countryside. We came across a town which had a lovely cafe which served a lovely coffee. By this time we had heard from Kontiki that he’d reached the Chunnel safely. Unfortunately, due to the Garmin route getting confused at this point we ended up going on a magical mystery tour as lead by Easyrider. A cracking route which took us into some of the vineyards, including farms tracks. (now a great tradition of KTMTC) Lunch was provided by a small cafe in the form of Croc Monsieur all round. Our mastery of the French language was complete when Phil tried to thank the waitress by saying BonSoir which confused her completely. We got back to the hotel in good time for a leisurely drink in the sunshine before dinner.

Monday
Stumpyone had left early this morning as he had to be back in Manchester early the next day so that left us with 9 bikes and 10 people. Dae was still bump starting his bike but was still running ok and I was lumped with leading the return journey. We set off about 9am on the route as dictated by Garmin. Everything was going well apart from a detour, another fuel stop for the sporty bikes and a town that was closed which I’d decided to stop at for lunch. (Is France just closed on Mondays?) Fortunately, we found a bakers and a supermarket that was open. Then, suddenly, just as I wasn’t expecting it, I turned a corner and ended up at a toll both for the motorway. With no way of avoiding this we went for it and did the last 80 odd miles on motorway. Boring but it did get us to the Chunnel earlier and after Easyrider buying a shed load of booze, we got on an earlier train at no extra cost, which was good as the motorway cost us 10 Euro’s. Once back in Blighty we went our separate ways and headed home or to hotels.

Tuesday (for some)
We heard that the lads from “Up Norf” had headed on their way with Dae getting a new battery before the journey but half way up the M11 his bike failed. The breakdown bloke said his alternator was FUBAR but at least he and all of us got home safely.
Roll on the next tour.

Sherman - September 2010