| To attempt a weekend in France in mid-term requires advance planning, a fast exit at the end of school on Friday and over an hour spent lane-splitting on the motorways around Birmingham in the rush hour; and on this occasion, in the pouring rain, too. | |
| The occasion was, a meeting of members of the vx800-l mailing list for Suzuki VX800 owners, European division, with friends on other bikes, to visit Mont St Michel and the Normandy beaches, and meet in the flesh people we had got to know on the internet. | |
| When the rain still had not stopped at Oxford, I began to think the whole idea was crazy. But around Banbury, the rain stopped, I had a very welcome meal, the traffic mostly went home to bed and the whole expedition started to feel much more promising. | |
| My ferry left from Portsmouth, and I was fortunate to meet a fellow biker (a French lady on a sports 400, now living in the UK and going to La Rochelle on holiday). We helped each other with the embarking process, had a couple of pints and got a few hours sleep in what turned out to be a rather draughty corner, broken by that kind of English tourist who thinks it clever to get drunk and fall down stairs. | |
| Rendezvous at Cherbourg ferry terminal: | Once at Cherbourg, in the early sunshine of a day that promised well, I waited for the others: first Dominique, then the English party on the Poole ferry, then Alain, who organised the whole event, and friends of his. |
| Refuelling at Barneville-Carteret: | We rode to Barneville-Carteret, where Alain took us to a petrol station with automatic pumps. Unfortunately they didn't like the English credit cards, so Alain acted a banker and paid for petrol for everyone who needed it. |
| Breakfast and rendezvous at the Jersey Hotel: | Our next stop was to meet those who had arrived on Friday at the Jersey Hotel, and have breakfast together... |
| Final rendezvous at Barneville | ... before collecting the last additions to the party ... |
| Another | ...and setting off southwards along the coast. |
| Another | In all, we were 45 riders on 33 bikes, 12 of them VX800s. Unfortunately, one of the VXs developed a problem and had to be limped back... |
| Breather at the Pont de la Roque | ...and the rest of us got a break whilst its rider caught up riding pillion with a friend. |
| Next stop: Granville | We formed a pattern of riding for an hour or so, then stopping for a chat, breather, admire each other's bikes... |
| There was a lighthouse there | ...and see what there was to be seen. |
| Mont St Michel seen from across the bay | The next stop gave us our first view of Mont St Michel, always a stunning sight... |
| Mont St Michel seen from the car park... | |
| ...and a slightly closer one | ...especially from close to. |
| The defended entrance to the old town there | We walked through the old town... |
| A delightful and well-earned lunch on the ramparts | ...and ate lunch on the ramparts, sandwiches and beer provided by the generosity of Alain and Christine (I think). |
| At Utah Beach, various relicts of ordnance are on display: an AA gun... | After lunch, the threatening rain fortunately held off, and we took faster inland roads to Utah Beach... |
| ... and a Sherman tank ... | ...which played a major part in the D-day landings... |
| ... alongside the symbol of peace and international accord. | ...but now was a place of peace and tranquillity... |
| Resting in the evening sun | ...and a chance to sit down for those whose saddles are less than perfectly comfortable. |
| The church with the parachutist at St Mere L'Eglise, who is unfortunately on the shaded side of the tower | The next visit was to St Mere l'Eglise, where several riders tried Brian's VX with its custom-built wide-bore exhaust and agreed that it was faster and smoother than our standard versions... |
| Parking outside the Rendez-vous des Pecheurs... | ...before going to a restaurant for a meal together. |
| ...before a magnificent meal within. | The meal was excellent - a fish platter, then chicken, then cheese including, of course, Normandy Camembert, then a sweet (which caused consternation, because the English riders, asked how many wanted sweet, asked what it was, and neither Alain nor I could translate. Blackberry and apple pie, was the answer). |
| By the time we had eaten it was dark. Some went home; some went to the hotel to sleep; some went to the Greenbery Pub (we must get these Normadais over to England and show them a proper pub!) I asked where the pub was: two kilometres. Follow Dominique. So I did. It was a long two kilometres: I decided I must have been told "dix", not "deux". But it became a long, and fast, ten kilometres. I didn't dare lose Dominique because I had no idea where I was. Eventually he pulled over: he was going home to Cherbourg. So I rode the twenty miles back again, and with the help of local lads found the pub just in time to say goodnight to Alain before he went home. | |
| I could have got lost again - there were two of us left, and neither knew the way to the Jersey Hotel. But the comradeship of all bikers came to our rescue: a local rider led us home to a late and welcome bed. | |
| T-shirts were presented by Brian on Sunday morning at Alain's | On Sunday, after another splendid breakfast, we were led to Alain's home, where Brian presented every VX owner with a T-shirt, and group photos of the riders were taken |
| Splendid coastal view at Belvedere-du-Thot | This time, we set off north, along minor roads with splendid views... |
| ...and another | ...of the Normandy coastline, in brilliant sunshine. |
| The official VX photoshoot ... | At one of the bays we lined up all the VXs for theirportrait... |
| ... hi-res version ... | ...and a good chance for a look at them all together. From the front, two had different full fairings, two were naked as stock, and the rest had sports or bikini fairings, only two of them the same. |
| and from behind ... | From behind... |
| ... hi-res version. | ...there was similar variation, with every bike different - hard luggage, soft luggage, panniers, tail bags, throwovers, tank bags, you name it somebody had it. |
| Another fine restaurant ... | We had lunch in another splendid small restaurant... |
| ...and another magnificent meal. | ...pate, and fish, and cheese, and sweet, and small amounts of a particularly good chilled white wine. |
| What's the collective noun for helmets? or tank bags? | We marked our territory at the door of the building! |
| After lunch it was time for goodbyes. We stood around on a car park at a supermarket in Cherbourg: nobody wanted to go. Eventually those with furthest to drive dragged themselves away, and the rest came to the port to see the English contingent off; we had to part there, since we were sailing to two UK ports, and only John and I reached Plymouth. We set off north together, but at Banbury he went west and I went north - the group scattered to the four winds. | |
| By the time I got home, some of the riders already had photos and even accounts on the List. Clearly everyone had a wonderful weekend. We'll do it again before too long, so if you have a VX800, contact the mailing list (details here) and join us. |
26th May 1999