Here's a write-up of me and the gf's sojourn down to Mugello for the MotoGP... The plan was to take the scenic route down over the course of a week and return after the GP in a direct route over a few days. We skipped the twisties over the Alps this time (which was a good move looking at some of the weather Si and Alblade had on their trips!) to tackle some new areas of SW France and do Millau for the first time, and then hop across to the French Riviera and onto Italy that way, desperate for some sunny riding after the miserable spring we've had here. Setting Off As we were going down the west coast of France we decided to take the ferry across for the first time from the south coast, rather than the usual hop down to Folkestone for the Chunnel. As it was a last-minute planned trip we could only get a ferry from Portsmouth-Cherbourg on the Saturday of the Spring Bank Holiday weekend rather than leave on a Friday like we normally do. As it turned out this was a stroke of luck as the weather was sh-t here on the Friday and brightened nicely on the Saturday! We could only hope for similar good fortune as the trip went on... Fill-up in London Ferry from Portsmouth-Cherbourg
We docked at Cherbourg at 8pm so we planned a stop just down the coast for the first night. We had booked a lovely-looking little hotel with restaurant as we knew that by the time we'd get there, get changed, have a meal it'd be time to turn in, ready for the first day's touring proper on the Sunday.
The next day was a ride down to La Rochelle, a beautiful port on the west coast that they call "the Monaco of the West" which does it a disservice as it's nicer than Monaco, imo! We were heading near Mont St Michel, used in many a picture by French tourist bureaus to entice visitors to Brittany so we took a small detour to take a look. We didn't get that close though as it's on a promontory with a thin strip of land stretching out to it but I didn't realise you can actually ride right up to it. Mont St Michel (from afar) La Rochelle
After La Rochelle we wound our way down the coast and on to Bordeaux for a night and then over the hills across to Millau. We stopped overnight at Rodez so we could do Millau fresh the next morning. The plan was to take the backroads to go under the viaduct, have a look at Millau itself, go up and over the viaduct then come back off the autoroute and wind our way through the Tarn Gorge to Nimes to pick up the road to the Riviera. Bordeaux Rodez Well, that WAS the plan but we hit the dreaded rain going over the hills on the afternoon before Rodez, and which started again just as we set off the next morning towards Millau. The roads were very minor and the weather made it slow-going and not much fun. Thankfully the sun came out just as we came into Millau but it looked ominous in the direction we were heading and another 2 hours of the same conditions didn't appeal so we stopped for a quick supermarket lunch and a warm-up and then made the decision to hop onto the autoroute over the viaduct and keep going to our next stop, Cannes (which was still 300 miles away). Millau (least-glamorous shot ever of the viaduct!) After we got onto the autoroute it started to rain again but as we dropped down towards Montpelier the sun came out and the temperature rose as the elevation dropped. We didn't know it at the time but that was to be the last of the rain (woo-hoo!!), despite horror stories of torrential rain at Mugello on the Weds/Thurs and a dodgy forecast for the weekend!
Some pics of the French Riviera... Cannes Antibes Monaco (We didn't go in to Monaco this time as they were packing up from the F1 GP race and I didn't fancy another run-in with the narky Feds in Casino Square!)
Onto Italy and a return visit to Santa Margherita which is a cracking little resort just next to Portofino. Santa Margherita Pic of SM from previous trip:
Race Day Scott Redding on Top Step of Podium: Grid Mayhem: Cal Riding Into Position: VR46: Ready To Start: First Lap Leaders: Post-Race Track Invasion: MotoGP Podium:
The Journey Back After Mugello it was time to hotfoot it back to Blighty. We took all autostradas and autoroutes back so no decent biking roads but you get some cracking views as you come through the Alps between Italy and France. We stayed in Chambéry and Troyes and had great riding weather all the way back which helped with the monotony of holding it pinned at 130kph (or thereabouts) for hours on end. Troyes At one Services near Reims we bumped into a group of 8 or 9 Vespa riders and I noticed they had hi-vizs on with "Barnsley Vikings Scooter Club" on the back, so we had a chat with them as I grew up there. Turns out they were heading down to Avignon for a scooter rally and were overnighting at Lyon that night so they still had over 300 miles to go and were capped at 50mph so was going to be a long day for them! They were having a right laugh though and the weather was glorious so I don't think they were too bothered! We got to the Eurotunnel an hour ahead of our booking so managed to get on an earlier train. "Great!", we thought. Until we boarded, and waited.... and waited... and waited... Turns out the train had issues with its comms system so was being put out of service so we all had to get off and get on a replacement. We ended up leaving an hour late, so lost any advantage we had of getting there early which was mildly annoying. The Eurotunnel train did have the most bikes we'd ever seen on it though. Usually there's only 2 or 3 bikes max but this had 14 on - some who had been to Mugello and some Hell's Angels chapters that had been to a rally in Germany somewhere. I noticed that there were two Ducati 848s that weren't running and were being walked on - turns out both had broken regulators (go figure!) and they had managed to ride back to Calais on their batteries alone but had given up the ghost just as they got to the Eurotunnel terminal! They had arranged for recovery at Folkestone so just had to get onto the train. Felt for them when we found out we had to disembark the broken train and get on another one but the Loading personnel led all the bikes through the open sides of one train to get on the next, rather than go back up the ramp like the cars were having to - which I'm sure the Dead Ducs' riders were grateful for!! Finally, I've uploaded 5 or 6 vids to YouTube - check this thread for links: http://1000rr.co.uk/racing-bike-sport/11198-2.htm#post180067. The Picasa album with the larger versions of the pics can be found here. Roll on 2014 for the next Euro road trip! After this one, I can't wait...
It is worth going to mont st michel.... Maybe next time. It's very "Harry Potter" esque in there, loads of shops and quaint cafes and you can visit the old castle. Lovely. looks like you had an ace time!!
Blimey - that makes my 'adventure' all the more annoying that you had such good weather on your route down the same week as us but you turned right on arriving in France and avoided the mountains and the rain. Pictures are brilliant - what camera were they taken with? Like the photoshopping of the hotel flags - nice touch (one day I will learn the art of that program) The Cannes shot is brilliant too - really captures the colours well I know you did not stay at the track - its seriously worth buying a cheap tent etc. locally and just leaving it behind - its a whole party town just watch your valuables and pitch your tent well away from main tracks etc. or use one of the campsites just outside the circuit and walk in the for the 'Mugello Madness' when you want / need it.
Fantastic mate!! great pics and write up.... thanks for that mate. eniyed it.... really want to do mugello
@Si - cheers, will deffo go there again. I've seen this iconic image on one of my web widgets that cycles travel photos around for a good while now so really want to see it at night too! http://www.franca-turismo.com/imagens/st-michael.jpg @Al - yeah, although you'll notice I didn't take any pics whilst in the rain as we were just blatting through it to get out of it! About 2/3rds of the pics were taken with a Lumix GH2 and the rest with iPhones. Haven't workflowed any of the RAW pics other than export them to JPEG and I left the setting on 'iA' auto as it takes me so long to get the settings right for a decent shot that I used it more as a point-and-shoot than proper camera this time, much to my shame! Re: Photoshop - that's quite a complex app to get to grips with. I don't use it any more as I use Paint.NET which is free and a doddle to use, and covers most of features non-Pro's need out of a photoshop-type app. It's available from here.
@Jimbo - deffo do it! Better than Barcelona, Misano and Silverstone, imo. The beauty of it is that you can do it as a road trip or just as a weekender by flying into Florence or Pisa. Been looking at Autoslaap schedules too, as the Fri train from Den Bosch gets to Livorno on the Sat morning and it's 50 miles to the track from there so can get there in time for qualifying. Then can take the scenic route back or spend a week down there and get the train back the following Friday from Livorno, Alessandria or Koper (close to the Dolomites). Will cost a bit but useful if you're short of time or can't be arsed riding both ways.
Moily - that Lumix is a high spec camera - had a quick look and impressive. Fuji compact fan here but may have to swap to Panasonic for a TZ model Fly and hire car I think next time for me - book early and its not bad price at all
Good shout!! Always been put off by logistics and my refusal to do anymore than a morning of 1st day of tour on motorway... Therefore making this a two week trip which just isn't feasible. With the train it does allow you to watch the race then come home the scenic route, so makes it possible! Getting train back from Italy in a couple of weeks, £205 each, so I don't think too bad, considering you get a cabin and they transport a bike, good offset on fuel, hotels and tyres. Will let you know how We get on with it.
