Brian's Travels

It seems an age ago already. Today is the 1st of October, and I’m trying to remember our travels to far off shores.

Day one: my niece, Karen, and I set off to Robin and Ella’s near Oxford. The next stop would be Plymouth, to catch the ferry to Santandere. On the way to Plymouth, Robin’s oil filler cap popped off and covered his back wheel and brake in oil. By the time we discovered this we were at the ferry – we’d have to sort Robin’s brakes once we landed in Santandere.

Once onboard, and with the tables booked for meals, we settled into our cabin. If you ever travel on this ferry you must try the A la Cart restaurant, the food is brilliant. Choose the buffet starter and pud, with a choice of main, and you can’t go wrong. Thankfully a fair portion of wine was consumed, as the crossing was a little choppy across the Bay of ‘Biscuit’.

On arrival we searched out a Harley shop to get Robin’s brakes checked out. The staff at Santandere Harley-Davidson were most helpful and with new pads fitted we set off for Biarritz. Bloody good job, or Robin’s emergency stop later that day would never have succeeded. Our arrival at the sea front outside the Plaza Hotel confirmed my suspicions of a rough crossing. The sea was massive. The crowds stood by watching the cascading waves braking across the rocks, what a magnificent sight.

We bedded down at the Plaza Hotel and headed off in search of beer and food. The next morning we met at breakfast to decide which direction to travel in. Carcassonne’s walled city was decided upon.

On arrival we pulled up at a little hotel just outside the wall with stunning views from the bedroom window.

We walked up into the city and wandered around the battlements taking in the atmosphere, finally stopping in the main square to eat a fine meal and drink some fine wine of course.

The next morning it was decided that a trip to the sun for a little worshipping was a good idea, so we set off for St. Tropaz as my niece Karen wanted to check out the rich folk to see if there were “any spare”. On arrival we drove along the coast till we found a suitable hotel in St. Maxime by the sea and with a pool. The place we found had safe parking for the bikes just outside our accommodation, with tables and chairs to sit and sup wine - perfeck.

The next day was spent on the beach swimming and just kicking back. Took a ride down to St Trop’s in the afternoon to check out the boats coming and going. The biggest beastie’s come in from the Camen Islands - how they park them I’ll never know.

We were torn between heading across to Switzerland to go up to the top of the world or staying with the sun. The sun won so another day by the sea. The next day we headed off to the Camarge as Ella wanted to go horse riding on the famous white horses. On arrival at St Miaries de la Mar - the home of Gypsies - we tried every hotel and guesthouse with no luck. So we drove round to the next bay, Aigues Mortes.

To our surprise, this was another walled city. We drove straight in and found a great hotel – with a suite available for 100 euros it seemed rude not to. We checked out the inner confines of the city deciding where to eat as the host of restaurants was amazing. After eating corker of a meal, we found a little bar that was rocking with a couple of Swiss Harley riders. We sank a fair portion of beer, then one of the Swiss guys insists on buying a triple distilled whisky for 300 euros a shot - “Well if you insist.” The danger of consuming Spanish measures (v.large) was confirmed by my head the next day!

A late start to the following day, we decided to head off in search of a stable in the heart of the Camarge. There was no problem finding a suitable establishment, and soon we were riding on real white horses. There was masses of wild life around - coypu’s, bulls, wild horses, egrets, and all manner of flying beasties. In our group of ten, one young lassie was kicking the horse to pieces. I turned to Robin and said “ If I were that horse I’d stand on her foot.” Two minutes later the horse had her off conveniently in the middle of an expanse of water - there’s justice for you. After a wonderful ride it was time to shower and find another nosebag.

We had decided to travel down to Spain the following day to a little place called Tamariu, a stunning little bay Robin and Ella had discovered on a previous trip. We managed to acquire an apartment again for 100 euros a night so we decided to stay for the last couple of days soaking up the sun.

The final leg of our journey was going to be a hard ride across Spain through the Zaragoza desert. We got our heads down and managed to get to Santandere around 6.30 pm. The hotel was very luxurious with one of the best restaurants in town. The ferry was delayed for three hours so we strolled around checking out the little zoo on the headland. Finally on the ferry we chilled, ate, drank, chilled, and ate till we arrived 5pm the next day. The drive home was uneventful - just a long drag after such a fine adventure.