March 2011 - SW France - Day 1 : Home to La Turballe (470 miles)

The plan was to meet up with Dave in Brittany just north of La Baule and to tour south along the coast to stay at Dave's place and perhaps have a tour from there.

Thursday 24th March

Anyone who know me also knows that I have something that is close to paranoia when it comes to being on time. My Eurtotunnel train was booked for 6:20 am and I had planned to be there by 5:45 by leaving at 4:45am. However, I didn’t do that. I actually rolled out from Glebelands at 4am sharp and arrived at Folkestone shortly after 5am. Why so long you’re wondering? Well, although a reasonable temperature of 5C, it was very misty and I took it easy due to the poor visibility. I also had no reason to rush. At the Eurotunnel check-in, the helpful computer did not “say No” (!) but actually offered the 5:48 departure. So I accepted and gained the extra 32 mins.

I was on the Autoroute by 7:30am (French time) heading towards Rouen and the skies were clear in bright sunshine. However it was still only around 3.5-5C so I was glad that I had the heated grips and my thermal underwear !

The GT was eager to go and I set the cruise at 130kph; it then crept to 150 where I remained for some time and had the odd burst upwards to some exceedingly naughty numbers. “Of course the Autoroutes are relatively devoid of traffic, so such incidents are not dangerous per se; merely outside the legal limit, Ma,ludd” or the equivalent in the froggy vernacular.

I arrived at Rouen at 9:30am and was amazed to find that there were large potholes and serious road repairs required along much of the rat-run through the centre of Rouen to rejoin the A28 southwards. However, after what was probably only 15 minutes and a number of traffic lights, I was once again headed south towards Alençon on the boring (but fast) Autoroute.

I had planned this particular route for some time and was clear on the route I should take; so imagine my frustration when I was taken off the Autororoute north of Alençon only to have to turn round and re-join again. Very annoying; it may have been my fault when I set up the route, I’m not exactly sure.

South of Alençon I left the autoroute and headed for Château Gontier - east, south east of Rennes on a mixture of D roads. The roads were really good and the GT was in her element; now in Sports mode and giving me a great ride. I was actually grinning all the way because it was so enjoyable swooping from right to left at a respectable pace with no traffic to marr or impose upon the moment. Living in England, one gets so used to the sheer density of traffic that it’s almost shocking.

From Chateaubrillant (which, whilst famous for the beef steaks, appeared to be little more than an industrial complex) the roads were not as much fun because the volume of lorries on the D and N roads increased, requiring lots of overtakes manoeuvres. Not that this was a problem but it was less enjoyable than earlier.

I arrived at the small coastal resort of La Turballe at around 3:30pm and, to my surprise, Dave and his pal (on a BMW R1150RT) had already arrived. The owner of the Chant d’Ailles hotel helpfully stepped out to meet me and showed me where to park my bike in his garage.

The weather was glorious (summer temperatures) so it was a quick change into shorts, a walk along the sea front and a couple of beers. What wasn’t so geat was being unable to connect to the Internet; however, not a real issue!