Trip to
St-Vaast-la-Hougue
2007
On Thursday 27th September 2007 15 bikes left
Bridport for the clubs first adventure abroad, 2 bikes had left earlier on the
Sea-cat from Weymouth, but we were going to Portsmouth to catch the
L & D Ferry
for the 2300hrs sailing,
this ferry caters for around 130 motorcycles and is recommended.
We disembarked at about 8am and proceeded to Honfleur over the Pont Du Normandy
bridge which is simply quite awesome. Honfleur is an ideal stopping place to
have a coffee and collect everyone together to plan the rest of the route to
where ever you are going.
The coast road hugs the beaches of Normandy for most of way to St-Vaast and is
well worth the ride/drive. The majority of the towns/villages were involved in
the Normandy landings and although most people have read or seen films about it,
to see the actual places and the shear logistics involved in the operation is
incredible, whereas the shear number of allied troops that were lost is
humbling.
St-Vaast-la-Hougue is a lovely coastal town and well worth a visit, with a
working and tourist harbour, walks and places of interest in abundance.
However, if going
as a group as our club did (22 members) a word of caution, when booking a hotel
ensure you have a member who is fluent in French as mis-understandings can
occur. If booking evening meals be aware that some hotels have a very limited
choice of set menus only.
We stayed
at the Hotel de France
and although
the rooms were very adequate and the staff pleasant we did have problems with
the actual booking of the rooms, and 3 weeks prior to our arrival they threatened
us with cancellation of the booking if we did not have dinner at the hotel, even
though we had booked room and breakfast only. This
is where having someone who speaks fluent French is priceless.
The return journey
was more direct due to the ferry departure time of 1700hrs, however we did
manage to visit St Marie-Eglise where the American parachutist was caught up in
the church steeple (see photo) and is still hanging there.
The return trip was
not without incident, with 3 bikes at the tail end loosing the pack but riding
the correct route back, the main pack decided to "deviate" from the route and
had to get a "shift on" which resulted in Jim running out of petrol 10km from Le
Havre. Not expecting to see him or John, who stayed him, at the ferry, it was
with great delight to see them roll up with about 20 mins to cast off.
On returning to Portsmouth three of
us stayed overnight and visited the Spinnaker Tower which is a must if you are
in Portsmouth, at 100M high the view is quite spectacular.
Caution!
Petrol stations
are few and far between in France so fill up where you can even though you may
only be half empty!
If certificates were to be awarded these may be some of them:
I believe in GPS - George
Most acrobatic dismount - Jim
O Bugger! I thought you had them! - Simon
lover of mussels - Shelly
1st to breakdown in France (10ft off of ferry) - John
Of course I know the way - Chris
French doesn't worry me - Nick
If any club member has suggestions for certificates, more photos or comments on the French trip please send them to me.