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This is not the usual blog about a hike, but we did do a few small walks over in Normandy where we stayed. This is something out of the norm for us, so I thought I would share the experience of our journey to France by motorcycle. My better half has always been passionate about motorcycling, and we wanted to do something different for our holiday, so we decided to motorcycle to France via the Euro Tunnel.
Total Distance Covered on motorcycle: ~1200 Miles
The adventure begins:
The Journey using Google Earth:
HOTELS WHERE WE STAYED:
Premier Inn Folkestone (Channel Tunnel)
Traveled from Stockport to Folkestone about 6 hours on the motorway.
Gold Beach Hotel (Asnelles)
After we crossed into France on the Euro Tunnel in the morning, about 9 hours on scenic roads to the hotel.
Stayed in Asnelles for 3 nights.
Ibis Calais Car Ferry
Return journey, we traveled from Asnelles to Calais about 9 hours on scenic roads and stayed here for a night.
Premier Inn High Wycombe / Beaconsfield
After we crossed back into the UK on the Euro Tunnel in the morning, the premier inn is about 3 hours on the motorway.
We headed back to Stockport the following morning after breakfast, another 3 hours on the motorway.
A lot of riding, I organised a last minute stay at Premier Inn in High Wycombe / Beaconsfield from Folkestone Euro Tunnel to break up the riding and to get some rest after the long 9 hours ride the day before.
A DAY EXPLORING THE LOCAL AREA OF ASNELLES:
We had a day in Asnelles, we walked along Gold Beach to the nearest town Arromanches-les-Bains where we grabbed some food. Along the way we saw many world war memorials, it is very moving. So touching how the many who have lost their lives have been remembered here in Normandy.
DAY TRIP ON THE MOTORCYCLE WHILE WE STAYED AT ASNELLES:
1. American Cemetery
2. Pointe Du Hoc
3. Cafe Du Port in Grandcamp-Maisy (food stop)
Lovely port area, we were so hungry we did not take any other photos apart from the food. The food here at Cafe Du Port is exquisite.
Finally the video we made capturing different parts of our journey:
Apologies for the earlier part of the video, the camera was lower than we thought, later in the video we fixed this so you can see much clearer views we had.
Conclusion:
It was an amazing adventure, we both enjoyed it very much, the almost 360º views you get on a motorcycle was just so clear and you feel the experience, better than we thought.
We were very lucky with the weather that week, the journey from Manchester to Folkestone the sun was shining, great start to the adventure. The journey from Calais to our hotel in Asnelles, Normandy was very long about 9 hours on small scenic roads and then the last part we took the motorway as it was getting dark. We were in awe of the landscape, smooth roads, the colours, the buildings, the little traffic, we did not realise it was going to take us that long to get to our hotel. We also stopped off a few times for fuel and breaks that we did not realise the time.
Asnelles is a lovely quiet area, they have a small port nearby and Gold Beach is literally around the corner where we stayed.
What we saw was only a tiny fraction of Normandy, we wish we had more time there.
We under estimated in some parts how long the journey would take, we pre-booked the hotels we were going to stay as we have not done this kind of traveling before. Next time I think just booking the hotels as we were on the road would have been less stressful, so we did not have a time constraint to get to the hotel.
Apart from that, YESSS it is very much recommended by both of us, pillion rider and rider, also great for your mental health, it has helped me immensely.
Hope you enjoyed this different kind of activity.
GENERAL EQUIPMENT
- GoPro 8 using SuGru to mount onto helmet (for recording video)
- iPhone 7 Plus with Lifeproof waterproof case (for google maps to get us to our destinations)
- Garmin Zumo (came with the motorcycle for backup routing)
- Honda NC750X DCT (smooth comfy ride, even for pillion)