Italy Part 8 - the final few days....

                           Overlooking the French plain from the edges of the Black Forest.

Todtmoos to Miesenthal - total miles 155 - 12 July

Not a great deal to say apart from we were sad to be leaving the Black Forest, and heading down onto the plain. I took one last photo of Jeff standing out on a rock looking towards France, and then we descended onto the plain, and it just got rather hot again. The traffic was intense, fiddly, and bloody annoying, and at one stage we were both dehydrated I am sure. Finally we managed to enter the Vosges National Park and the riding got a little more fun and we chilled out a bit. Not before me getting stuck in an irrigation ditch just after an al fresco lunch after crossing a river, possibly the Rhine (again). It just sort of symbolised the day up to that point so far. We eventually found a hotel, rather posh really in Miesenthal and got cleaned up and came down for dinner. To a dining room that was a touch more posh than most we had been in, just to make us feel out of place! The meal was pretty good, but maybe the bar had been so high where we had been before, that the motorcycling gourmets were jaded. Things were just a general bit of a let down for some reason.

                                      Posh hotel in Miesenthal - balcony was a bit ropey!!!


Miesenthal to Malmedy - total miles 187 miles - 13 July

After a decent breakfast following a good nights sleep, we set off towards Belgium with an idea of staying somewhere near Spa. The riding actually was quite good, the South Eifel mountains/hills being particularly good to ride in with great road surfaces hardly any traffic, great rolling scenery that sort of reminded me of South Devon - really prosperous looking farms. Enormous wind turbines the like I which I have never seen so close up. The whole area was a mash up of French and German feeling villages. A slight low point was me coming off the Breva at about 2mph in black oozing mud at the side of he road - no harm done except to pride. Off to the right in most of the ride were ominous looking clouds - we could see it was raining but it was miles away. Or so we thought!!! On the phone we found a youth hostel in Malmedy and headed towards that. Five miles away we thought we were going to make it without a soaking, no such luck just approaching Malmedy the rain came down so hard instant rivers were created across the road, the rain bounced up into the air for 12 inches, and debris was being washed onto the road. We got 100% soaked through in a matter of minutes, as we had not been wearing waterproofs, having had good luck up until then. Both in not the best mood, we got showered, warmed up and changed and headed into town for dinner. Now at this stage we were watching the pounds a bit more, and were happy to have a take away from a well liked (from the queue) greasy spoon. Who knew frickadelles were a sausage type thing? We didn’t so we ended up with them, have actually wanted something else…..However it was hot and the chips were good, and so was the beer. And it didn’t rain..much. Malmedy looks an interesting place, it would be good to go back. All I know was it was the end of the German advance in the Battle of the Bulge - they ran out of fuel and that was that. Hit the sack after a few beers at the hostel….sleep.

Malmedy to Valenciennes - 171 miles  - July 14^th

Now the trip was really winding down, we headed across Belgium then France all day via the back roads as usual, small villages quite a few looking like not a lot changed in 50 years. In a really nice pastissierie we had lunch and I had a custard tart that was called something else, and Jeff had some sort of quiche thing. Might have been near Dinant (or Phillipeville) - not sure, though Dinant itself looked spectacular and I would love to go back and really explore the town - what a great setting. Awesome Citadel and we have seen a few! Most of the roads we were on were flat, straight, and pretty quiet so the thrill factor was low. We approached Valenciennes quite late in the afternoon and visited the Commonwealth War Cemetary at Aulnoy. Such places are sombre thoughtful places of contemplation, none more so than here, where many of those who died were killed in the last month, week or even days of the Great War. Makes you think.

                                                       The middle of woop woop

We checked into our room at Le Grand Hotel (Marschall Foch stayed there but he probably didn’t arrive by motorcycle, and probably didn’t have to share a double bed!). We wandered into town for a meal which out of all these great feasts we had been having, turned out to be overpriced and mediocre. Valenciennes was really not our style at all…..Back at the bar the night was adversely affected by a pair of drunken aggressive English football fans…swearing in a most uncivil way. I think we were glad to be leaving in the morning.

Valenciennes to Wembury - 70 + 286 miles - July 15^th 

We really tucked into the breakfast at Le Grand, and it was pretty good, then we recovered the bikes from the very good secure parking, and hit the road. Blasted up the motorway to Dunkerque ferry port and no sooner had we arrived than we were on the ferry back to Dover. Tiredness had set in a bit, and the conversation was muted and reflective. It had been a great trip, the best ever. The bikes had not let us down. There was a lot of  laughing and smiling, feasting and drinking, we met great people and had a great desire to go back.

Back at the ferry port I was through immigration in no time at all, and then it was good bye to my closest friend for these last 19 and 3/4 years and now all remained was to hack over to the M25, M3, A303, A30, A38 and home. That all passed in a contemplative blur, trying to make sense of it all. I’m still trying to take it all in, more than 10 weeks later.