European Motorcycle Trip

On a Thursday in early August 2008 I left the midlands of Ireland to go on a bike trip. My steed was a 2004 Honda Deauville, a 650 cc shaft driven V twin. This is not a very fancy motorcycle but is ultra reliable with lots of packing spaces and is comfortable over long distances. I would suggest using the higher fairing windscreen though as there can be constant wind pressure on the head area.

Got to Dublin ferry port in plenty of time for the 2:30 pm  sailing to Hollyhead in west Wales. It had been a very wet summer in Ireland so I thought I would keep heading south until it got warmer.

On arrival in Wales I drove to Liverpool in the pouring rain. Most of Britain was suffering from the same climate as Ireland. There is a diagonal line that crosses Western Europe the position of which varies from year to year. Above this line the weather is mostly unsettled and colder while below in is settled and warmer. This year it has stayed near the south east coast of Britain.

I decided to keep going and got a little bit towards Birmingham on the M6 and camped in the services area off the motorway with trucks pulling in and out all night. Next morning got up at dawn and got a gross breakfast in McDonald’s and headed south. By 9 am I am circa 75 miles from London and it is still lashing rain. Got on to the M25 around London and later crossed the Thames Bridge up into the sky. By lunchtime I am at a services area near Maidstone in Kent and the first bit of sun I’ve seen. At 4 pm I am waiting to get on the channel tunnel train. There is a British couple with an immaculate Honda Goldwing with every possible accessory and all sorts of exotic machinery here. It is warm now and I am for the first time in a T shirt. I travelled across to Calais on the train lashing rain again, soaked again, lost count of the number of times that this has happened on this trip.

70 miles down the A 16 motorway to the Baie de Somme motorway service area, the site of the battle of the Somme where my granddad fought in the trenches in World War 1. This innovative, environmentally friendly area has some pleasant surprises in store for you, duck and fish ponds surround its elegant wood and glass buildings, overlooking vistas typical of the Baie de Somme. I camped there and explored this site the next morning. I had forgotten how beautiful France can be and how civilized.

It is dry and sunny for the first time since leaving Ireland so I travelled into the centre of Amiens to experience a new French city. Nice easy going town with river fishing, street markets and classic architecture. Amiens cathedral a world heritage site is the tallest of the large classic gothic churches of the 13th century and is the largest in France of its kind. The detail all over this building left me awestruck.

I travelled onwards across northern France towards the West and then crossed an impressive bridge The Pont de Normandy, over the Seine estuary.

France is well served with motorways some of which are tolled. This makes it possible to maintain a high average speed. So it was onwards towards Rouen across Normandy towards Rennes. My family name is Reynolds and we originally came to Ireland in the Norman invasions in the twelfth century, so in a way it was like coming home. However mistakenly, the Normans were believed to be of French origin but, more correctly, they were Vikings. These Vikings landed in the Orkneys and Northern Scotland about the year 870 A.D. and they invaded France about 911 A.D.

I travelled onwards down the West coast of France Nantes, La Rochelle and Bordeaux 150 – 170 miles (up to 300 km) between petrol refills. I covered a lot of miles quickly because I was on a mission to try and come to terms with events that had occurred more than 40 years earlier. I was heading for the Pyrenees on a voyage of self discovery. Relentlessly onwards towards the city of Pau off motorways for the first time passing lots of foie gras specialists and beautiful French forested countryside. From here through narrow urban streets towoards the Catholic shrine of Lourdes at the foot of the Pyrenees. Following the claims that there were apparitions Our Lady of Lourdes to Bernadette Soubirous in 1858, Lourdes has developed into a major place of Christian pilgrimage.

My reason for going there was to visit my mother. In 1964 she was 39 years old and suffering from Leukemia a cancer of the blood or bone marrow. Being a devout catholic she travelled to Lourdes with my dad in the hope of being cured. She did not make it and was laid to rest in the Irish section of the cemetry in Lourdes. My dad boarded the plane to return home to Ireland alone. An American guy felt sorry for him and gave him a bottle of whiskey, half of which he consumed on the journey back. He returned home alone to raise five young children and our lives were never quite the same again.

I did the shrine thing, the grotto and marveled at the large trout in the river. In the afternoon I made it to the grave and was completely overcome with emotion and a total mess for about twenty minutes. I talked to my mom, told her about my life, wished for something (that subsequently happened) and forgave her for one bad early memory I had. She couldn’t have chosen a more beautiful spot to be laid to rest underneath the beautiful Pyrenees.

I travelled onwards towards Beziers where my son was working as a chef at a holiday resort near Valras Plage spent some time with him and then headed up through the mountain range towards Clermont Ferrand through beautiful sweeping bends and wonderful scenery.

Then I travelled onwards to Brittany to visit my sister who was holidaying there. Next day I got the ferry from Cherburg to Rosslare overnight and drove home.

There is something about travelling alone on a motorcycle. Its just you and the open road and if you are camping you don’t have a lot of human interaction. There are no distractions like radio, TV or internet so you have loads of time to think and review your life, something spiritual happens in the most unlikely places. In the modern world many holidays are planned in great detail and packaged up so that there are no surprises. Many people like to have all of their ducks in line. This approach is anathema to me. I believe a holiday should be and adventure, a voyage of self discovery, you interacting with the environment to take you somewhere you are only dimly aware of. Whatever does this for you be it motorcycling, skiing, hang gliding…have an adventure that is yours alone and don’t be paraded around on a tour bus like livestock. The planet is our playground, our educator, our responsibility and our life.