Heading offon a jolly

[Lewis McColl]

I will leave you good people in peace for 10days or so. I have loaded up my motorcycle and decided to head down to sunny Spain for a bit of decent weather. I will be heading down all the rural roads and avoid all the toll roads and motorways as much as I can. I will be entering Spain via the Col du Somport tunnel. This is an amazing piece of engineering. I have been through it a few times now on my travels. It is a hole knocked through the Pyrennes mountains it is about 8 kms long /5 miles. It is a strange feeling when you enter it the air temperature plummets especially at this time of the year. I have been through there and not seen a single car or lorry,it seems like an awful lot of money spent for the volume of traffic that actually uses it. The problem is on the French side as they were supposed to build the continuation of the E7 which they are very slowing doing. It is a shame though to put a motorway through such beautiful countryside.
I will be back to annoy you all again in about 10 days will get the old camera out and post a few photos of my trip if anyone is interested
Looking forward to a nice glass or two of Roja

[Brian Charles Williams]

Enjoy the trip & the Red at the end....drive with care............regards Brian W.

[gray_marian]

Safe journey Lewis, haste ye back.

[Doc Vernon]

Happy Holiday Lewis
Sounds like nice trip coming your way,just take it easy and no rough riding LOL
See you on your return!
Bring back a few Spanish Senoritas!
Chreers

[Keith at Tregenna]

Bon Voyage.

Keith.

[happy daze john in oz]

Enjoy Lewis and come back with some new threads to get our teeth into, well for some of us that is.

[cappy]

I will leave you good people in peace for 10days or so. I will be back to annoy you all again in about 10 days will get the old camera out and post a few photos of my trip if anyone is interested
Looking forward to a nice glass or two of Roja

gaarn canny lewis ...cappy

[Lewis McColl]

Well made it back again without incident and had a really enjoyable trip, covered 2586kms or 1616 miles. I avoided motorways and toll roads as much as possible. Had a good dry run all the way down through France and Spain. I crossed into Spain via the Col du Somport tunnel in the Pyrenees and this drops you in to the Spanish province of Aragon. I had pre-booked an overnight stay in a small town called Monreal de Campo. I use booking.com and got a deal for €25.00 in a 2** hostel. Nothing fancy but spotlessly clean nice room with bathroom and a lovely hot shower. The bar restaurant was again cheap and cheerful. Shall we say I had a wee bit of a thirst on me after all day in the saddle. So a few pints before dinner and foolishly a few more after dinner and a very large Irish whiskey as a night cap to help me sleep, as if I needed it lol. I went to pay my bill in the morning total including room €49.00, I queried the amount as I was sure they had forgotten to add on a few beers etc! No he showed me my bar bill , they used the old 5 bar gate !!! there it was 6 pints a double whiskey and menu del dia total €24.00. I set off and followed the N330 and various A roads which in Spain is like our B or C roads in the UK. Interior Spain is a beautiful rugged country with some amazing views. I arrived on the Northern Costa Blanca, Moraira not to far from Calpe at a friends villa about 7pm. Quick shower and out to a local Tapas bar I used to go to a lot when I lived down there until last year. I was great to be back and it was nice to be remembered by the owners. Hola, Senor McColl, Hace mucho que no nos vemos, long time no see. Lovely food , lovely people but a bad head next day lol. Monday was a complete washout 17 hours solid rain and I mean solid rain many areas flooded. The rest of the week glorious weather day time temperatures un-seasonally warm for March 25 degrees but certainly cooler at night down to 10 degrees. I even managed to get a game of bowls in at my old club Javea on the green but a year away the jack was safe enough but still good fun. Metup with my old friends wined and dined to much,what file size are we allowed so I can post a few pic's.

[Rodney Mills]

Lewis, The name Monreal seemed familiar to me so I looked in my photo album. My wife and I spent 4-5 months out of the year backpacking around Europe (1-2 months home in the States then 6 months in Oz) for 13 years. If it's the same Monreal. about 40klm outside Pamploma then we were there. Lovely little village.

We came down the center of France into the Midi across the Pyrenees via Andorra staying in Monreal on the way to Pamploma and the running of the bulls ( La Fiesta de San Fermin). Then two months cruising around Spain and a month around Portugal, back into France and over to England. We had bought a car in England and stored it there while we were home and/or in Oz. If it's the same Monreal at was truly lovely place.

I went into a restaurant there and asked the hostess if she rented rooms in Castillanos Spanish, and if she did could we look at it first. She was busy seating people and she snapped back (in Castillanos but with a very strong Catalonian accent) "Follow the girl on the bicycle."

My wife said "You must have misunderstood her, we'll try somewhere else."

We climbed back into our car, but a girl came by on a bicycle and waved. So we followed her all through the side streets to a charming little house. It was loaded with antiques (real ones not just old furniture), very clean and unbelievable cheap.

If it's not the same Monreal, thanks anyway for bringing back lovely memories. I loved Europe.

[Louis the fly]

I caught the motor bike bug later in life than most. After passing the bike test I bought a Yamaha 650cc which was about 20 years old but had just been imported from sunny California and looked as if it had come from the showroom , shining black and glistening chrome. On Sunday mornings if the weather was good I would get up very early and head for the Humber Bridge then follow the coast road to my first stop , Flamborough Head. A cup of coffee and a fag sitting on a bench in the viewing area on top of the cliffs. Off again passing all the holiday resorts of Filey , Scarborough , Bridlington etc. stopping occasionally to admire the views and stretch the legs. My last stop is my favourite town in the U.K , Whitby , this is where I should have settled when my roaming days were over but fate intervened. There is something about Whitby that makes you feel contented and at peace , many artists live there because of the light and scenery.
Dragging myself away I rode back taking a different route through the Yorkshire countryside arriving home at night tired but smiling , a great day out.