28.03.2013

The crossing from Ireland to France was quiet and we arrived in Cherbourg in the evening and spent the night in a hotel outside the town.

The dinner in the Creperie just down the road from the hotel was deliciously fine and put us into travel mood 29.03.2013 Good Friday started off sunny but very cold. It was about 5ºC when we left Cherbourg towards LeMans.
So all so we looked a bit like the Michelin Man in all the thermals ,winter gloves, Sealskin socks and rain gear.

It was too cold to stop anywhere for pictures in the towns along the way but we found a nice Brasserie for the lunch break and had enough enegy to get to

Le Mans for the nigh and it started raining just as we got there.Lucky as we are we got the last room in the Premier Class Hotel

We had bought some food on the way and a nice bottle of wine for a picknick in thr room and fell asleep while writing a few notes about the day

29.03.2013
Good Friday started off sunny but very cold. It was about 5ºC when we left Cherbourg towards LeMans. So all so we looked a bit like the Michelin Man in all the thermals ,winter gloves, Sealskin socks and rain gear.

It was too cold to stop anywhere for pictures in the towns along the way but we found a nice Brasserie for the lunch break and had enough enegy to get to Le Mans for the nigh and it started raining just as we got there.

Lucky as we are we got the last room in the Premier Class Hotel We had bought some food on the way and a nice bottle of wine for a picknick in thr room and fell asleep while writing a few notes about the day

30.03.2012

And once again when we thought we had escaped the snow it started again as we left Le Mans . We stopped at the 24 Hour Race circuit and made our way towards Bordeaux.
We kept going as long as we could and it took us an hour to thaw out when we stopped for food. The snow had turned into sleet and rain after a while and the lowest temerature was about 1.5ºC ,once we were south of the Loire we decided to get on to the Motorway and once it stoped raining the it got less cold.

We arrived late in Bordeaux but lucky again got the last room in an Ibis budget Hotel. This used to be Etap Hotel but they changed that recently to Ibis budget.So the Sat Nav still shows them as Etap in case you want to find one.
They are good value for money,clean and mostly have secure parking and are close to shops and restaurants and not away from any town as the Fomule1,where you feel like packed up like a sardine in a plastic box...... The night was not so great as it turned out that the burger I had for dinner was not fresh and Montezuma's revenge hit me in the middle of the night

31.032013

It finally cleared up in the morning and we had the bikes parked right outside the room. So all luggage went out the window and was loaded on the bike in record time.

What a difference the sun makes, We made our way thought the pine forests and along vegetable farms that all seemed to be a result of the clear cuts made over the last couple of years.
The new motorway from Bordeaux to San Sebastian will be finished soon and it will be all "peage We headed for St.Jean de Luz for the night, a small but lively town in the Pyrenees on the Atlantic coast

The place is full of little restaurants where they serve seafood and local specialities. A charming place with old buildings typical for Basque Region in white with red shutters and red painted wooden planks that reminded me of the buildings in Chester or some areas in Switzerland

After a strolbl along the pier it was time for some sleep