I did it! Over 650 miles in 10 hours.

I got on Le Shuttle fine this morning and got grouped with a bunch of other bikers going to a rally on the east of Paris. They were surprised and commended my plan to get to Madrid. 

I boarded at 9.40am and hadn't realised France was an hour in front so when we got off in Calais it was 11.30am.

Again I was really grateful it was dry and sunny which made everything easier and more enjoyable.

I programmed in Marseille into the SatNav, not thinking I'd make it today and expecting to stop half way somewhere.

655 miles, I think it said, and an ETA of 8.45pm.

I headed out onto the French motorway network. The roads were really quiet, smooth and straight. I tucked into 'the bubble' (a racing crouch position behind the fairing screen) and began counting down the miles.

The speed limit was mainly 130kph which is about 80mph. My SatNav kept me well informed and I stayed between 80-85mph.

I decided to try and make Marseille today, it would buy me another day’s riding in Spain, it might even mean that I could get to Valencia. The ETA went back 5-10 mins with every fuel and toilet stop.

Thinking I would get a hotel once I stopped in Marseille, I pressed on. The sun set as I travelled south through Valence so I changed to my clear visor. Riding in the dusk was great and made it feel really special. 

I finally arrived in Marseille at 9.30pm. It looked so posh, big yachts and grand hotels lit up around the harbour. I started to worry I wouldn't get a cheap hotel. I parked up and got my phone out, it wasn't connected to a network, I tried my work phone, the same. I'd seen a Burger King on the way in so rode a few streets back to it, to get my first meal of the day and some free wifi.

So I went in and connected to the wifi which worked and my emails and WhatsApp updated but my hotel apps just wouldn't load. I started to panic a bit thinking I might have to WhatsApp someone to book me a hotel.

The smell of fast food couldn't be resisted any longer though, so I got a large double whopper with bacon meal which tasted so good after such a long ride. I sat outside looking at my bike parked on the pavement at the side of the harbour.

That cheered me up, and after checking my phone again and adjusting the settings it finally connected to France’s mobile network. Result. I searched for a hotel that I could check into late, it was approaching 10pm by now. I found 'ApartCity' only a mile from where I was and it was €58 euro. Not the cheapest but it looked nice and said it had parking which almost no others did.

I programmed the address into my SatNav and rode through the backstreets of Marseille to the hotel. I paid an extra €15 euro for secure parking (if the guy on the desk had said it was €100 I would have still paid it) so after checking in I went back to my bike on the street and with my hotel card got it into an underground multi storey like carpark under the hotel. This was perfect and would mean I could sleep soundly tonight with my bike safe and out of sight.

I went to my room which was great, big, clean, my own shower/toilet, even a little kitchenette. And a balcony!

I finally got out of my leathers into my jeans and t-shirt and went for a late night wander around. I managed to find a strawberry milkshake and an ice cream which I ate and I wandered back to my hotel.

I sat on my balcony drinking my milkshake looking out on the twinkling lights of Marseille, content with the second day of my adventure and excited at the prospect of riding the south coast of France possibly into Spain and to Barcelona tomorrow.