One of the first world problems of such a long trip is finding places to stay. While I'm not gonna imply it's not a 1st world one, trust me it's a time and nerve consuming pain in the ass if you don't want to see your budget going out of control. So as long as I remain a self financed HIVE powered traveller (hence this trip is aptly baptised) I have to check myriads of listings trying to find the most value for money ones, the most conveniently located, cancel unresponsive hosts etc.
I've made the mistake to spend less time in Croatia where things are beautiful but not necessarily overpriced if you stay away from the hot places so I arrived in the expensive North earlier than I had to. And while Germany while not being an exception still offers attractive slots of accommodation, France, Belgium and Holland do not.
After browsing places to rent for ages instead of working on my pictures and videos to deliver the best content possible I finally find a place near Dortmund from a lovely lady which is affordable as it is her new listing. Not the most convenient as I should drive all the way to Eindhoven after that but I can't waste more time on this instead of what I have to do which is publishing my content here.
The gods of travelling do their magic on the same night and as I wake up next morning I get an offer to sit a house in Le Mans (yep, the French Acropolis of racing) for the EXACT same dates. The pros of being a handy and trusty guy. First I'm like "YES!" and then I'm like "if only I had slept without booking first". However, even more luckily, the host has a very elastic cancellation policy so this won't cost me anything except the extra fuel to make it all the way to Le Mans (650ish km). I write a super polite letter to the lovely lady host, I get those 830 euros pending to come back to my account and get ready for a huge change of plans. From 200km NE going 650km SW instead.
It's a lovely morning here in Bad Münstereifel and... tell you what? Among the things I will miss is this amazing "sodastream". For those who might not know, it's a device allowing you to make your own soda at home. The quality depends on the quality of your water of course and this place in Germany has one of the best I have ever tried. (If only I knew what I'd face on that matter in Le Mans but more on it later). Busy loading the bike I forgot to picture it but you can look it up.
My view as I start rolling my bike out of the garage to make it all the way from Germany to France:
France was my last pre COVID19 destination and now it's my first time that I'll be there post COVID19, completely last minute out of the blue. The route is nice as this part of Germany is sweet:
And the villages are not bad either - here I cross Schönau:
I can ride such routes all day on a weather like this:
With lovely bends like this one:
And just when you might feel a little claustrophobic the view opens up:
Those log trucks are impressive:
Especially when you overtake them and get a full idea about their length, dictated by the height of the trees they carry:
Here I am entering Belgium for my first time ever:
The mother of great beers and top chocolates treats me nicely as I drive through:
Near Vaux-sur-Sûre on the A26 I make my first stop at this parking lot:
By parking lot standards this place is really sweet:
And generously equipped with benches - good job Belgium!
Even better, there's a toilet here too which I really need (you don't mind me not picturing it right?). Time for a snack break:
Despite the sun it's a pretty chilly morning so I keep my jacket on while I consume the above, watching how my helmet matches the guy in the background:
Some more riding later brings me into France at this point where its sign is not so graceful but my shot is not better either:
The weather tends to get more cloudy as I move on SW:
Gotta make a fuel stop now. See how the next picture can give the illusion that it consists of two shots:
And that's mainly because the two different parts of tarmac align with that pole in the background. Once I saw it like this I cannot unsee it now :)
I take a rest here before I move on:
Minutes later I'm ready to hit A4:
Two and a half hours later, one more pit stop:
In the absence of a bench I use my hard top case as a seat:
At the next tolls I get my share of "Murphy's law":
The machine decides to stop working as soon as I arrive. In front of me there's policemen who check the cars with mirrors (for explosives I guess due to the latest riots) so I try to warn one of them in my zero French about the problem while cars queue behind me. Fortunately the guy behind me understands the issue (also sees my Greek number I guess) so comes out to help, super kindly as French can be. He calls the toll help and tells them that the machine is blocked. A relief that this means it's not my fault but wish it could just work and not have to deal with it. The lady on the helpdesk probably restarted it remotely and though no one came after a minute it works again.
I'm already 10 hours on the road when I have one more break, mainly because I have to delay my arrival as my host finishes work late. This parking lot on the A11 around Illiers-Combray is not bad actually:
Foot rest:
Eye rest:
I finally make it at Le Mans after 650km in 3 countries (second time I do so in this trip) where my host treat me nicely from the first second:
The above beer is a beauty and I can't wait to explore the other ones around.
Here's the ride in 4K with my music:
See you on the next one!
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