Let's start with an apology. This is at Warwick services and € are not, and will never be, accepted here. The Tomtom is playing up and I have almost burnt the clutch out in a 2 hour crawl through roadworks at Birmingham with lanes too narrow to allow filtering, there is a freezing cold Force 6 cross wind blowing and I'm really enjoying myself on the way to meet Mrs N.
This is at a Travelodge "Hotel" in beautiful rural West Sussex, overlooking the runway at Gatwick Airport. I did not pay for parking as the receptionist said there is nowhere to stick my ticket...
Here we are outside the cavernous and vacuously staffed service area in delightful Kent, the garden of England where the last expensive coffee before the Channel tunnel may be consumed at leisure because there is a 3 hour delay on The Shuttle.
I did say there was a 3 hour delay.
This could be a tea room anywhere in England judging by the 2 coach loads of English kids who have just departed but we are near the Somme at the Ena Sharples Tea Rooms and this place has renovated child friendly WW1 trenches in the back garden.
In a town in France near the Somme.
Extremely cheap beer in a very expensive side case.
One of the cats at Les Ballastieres. (You cannot see my motorcycle in this picture)
Les Ballastieres - motorcycle friendly lodgings.
A pit stop on the way to Spa: Some horrid little dump just before a really nice town with a splendid weir and fantastic cafes that we did not stop at because we stopped here instead. I blame Mrs N's bladder capacity.
Dinant - a picturesque Belgium river side town spoilt only by hoards of enthusiastic motorcyclists roaring through on a Sunday afternoon.
A little gem of a B&B at Trooz found on biker friendly places to stay dot com I parked overnight in the garage and petrol leaked all over the previously pristine floor.
Here we are outside an amusement park somewhere in the volcanic Eifel mountains.
Wiesbaden - end of part 1.
