riding in paradise..

[albertaduke]

I apologize for being myself single minded never thinking in a broader attitude and because of that I made assumptions on people perceptions of natural wonders such as differences in beach sand between french sandy beaches and US beaches I will track down and take pictures of sand in various places for your study and if I come across some sand flies I will try to bait and capture some using my trusted bait ,recently worn women floss bikini string and fedex them to you should you wish to examine the differences between the US and french sand flies (bikini included since flies are trapped inside ) . I aim to please always
PS first observation ,the size is similar but the bite is different

we are getting for the first time this summer on the riviera ,some rain so I will stay put for a few days and resume riding when sunny weather return for good . I tell you paradise is sometime a drag!! but somebody 's got to be here to do the reporting .
PFR

 

[albertaduke]

I have gone riding nearly for a week and I did not post any pictures simply because I backtracked many roads I already rode on and did not want to post the same pictures again ,
however the summer is drawing to a close I have talked to the german cargo manager in frankfurt in order to ship my R3 back to calgary on the sixth of october all things come to an end after all. what I found out from the man in frankfurt is that they will XRAY my bike since I am not a recognized shipper I just wonder how they are going to do this anyway I will get there a day ahead of the paper work and hope things will click.
but before that I will leave antibes on the 26th and ride to my sister 's place near angers in france that's 700 miles and I will have pictures for the site then on the 30th I go to the WFMC annual meet in bernieres sur mer near normandy juno beach 200 miles away and the 2nd I will depart for frankfurt another 700 miles with pictures
and that will wrap up the riding in paradise thread

 

[albertaduke]

sigh.....the summer is drawing to an end and the plans to return to north america is now in full swing . my lovely wife decided a week ago that she wanted to be part of the experience in southern france seeing the thread and the pictures , so she popped overhere one fine day a week ago to surprise me she also rememinded me of the fact that our 37 years wedding anniversary was around the corner and we should celebrate that in sunny french riviera style which we did after my initial surprise. but I planned the return to frankfurt differently now that we ride two up .

we left antibes for my sister's place two days ago (24 th of september ) travelling 200 miles to valence through some fine countryside roads including castellane, digne ,and sisteron the sky opened up in digne and we rode the last 100 miles in the rain , fog, and wind some of the asphalt on the roads was rather old ,shiny, and oily, and I really felt the front and rear sometime sliding a bit , two up and nearly 70lbs of luggage makes for uneasy rides particularly in hairpins up and down we arrived nearly two hours late at the hotel near valence and we did not get all the pictures we wanted as the rain was relentless.
yesterday since my wife did not have a full rain gear we searched for some rain gear, ,only found a sport fishing store that sold us rain pants so we left valence n the rain AGAIN with a mixed bag of rain gear hiking kway jacket, sportfishing pants and the old garbage bags for shoe covers. we travelled again t hrough rain and much wind all day
from valence directly to le puy en velay, clermont-ferrand the geographic center of France where the michelin tires originate and pushes to montlucon. total 200 miles and enough in those dastardly weather conditions yet we saw quite a few riders on the roads. I guess the price to pay for the privilege to ride is to suffer sometime with rain and wind. beside I should not complain I had 90 days of uninterrupted sunny days.
the pictures are shot from my wife's camera when we rode around the back country of antibes . then we left for valence after a day


.

 

[albertaduke]

from valance to montlucon more rain and wind and colder unseasonal weather I guess we are paying for the great summer we had .

so we sleep in montlucon and tomorrow we ride another 300 miles to chappe.

 

[albertaduke]

we have departed this morning montlucon via the hwy to tours city and chappe 300 miles away .
still overcast and cold weather and we have stopped for lunch in tours next to the city hall a rather ornate building by 3 PM we arrived in chappe where my sister anxiously awaited us she has trouble understanding the bike travelling business but she is a very sweet girl .

I will skip the WFMC annual meet in bernieres sur mer unfortunately, because the meet end on the second of october and I must be in the air canada cargo office in Frankfurt airport on the 04th rather tight sinnce there is 750 miles between the two places
I think I will check the boys during a day's ride before (all Harley's) and say good bye then .

 

[albertaduke]

thursday I meet up around 10 am with 30 or 40 WFMC riders all on harleys near mayenne , north of angers the plan is to spend the day at a private bike museum nearby in montflour . by 5 pm they ride up to bernieres sur mer in normandy for the annual meet taking place on saturday
I, on the other hand will travel back to chappe and get ready to go to frankfurt airport where I must be on the 4th no later in order to ship my trusted steed to calgary.
expect some interesting pictures from thursday with emphasis on Harley since I will be the only non harley rider !!


by the way when the original inventor of the harley motorcycle died (mister Davidson I presume) he was informed by saint Peter that GOD wanted to see him personally. a meeting was arranged and Mister Davidson found himself seating across a table facing GOD.
who said I quote "Mister Davidson your contraption called H-D motorcycle is a poor design let's face it it is noisy , it burns oil, does not accelerate worth a ****, brakes poorly and can't keep up with any other two wheels with a motor and cost a fortune what do you think of that.end of quote
mister Davidson was taken aback from GOD negative comments but being a smart man
replied and I quote " God you are not much better than me after all you created something called WOMAN , lets look at it .. noisy for sure, expensive to maintain,short life span , quick degradation of design , intake too close to exhaust. what do you think of that GOD.end of quote

God being truthfull to all he acknowledged the remarks but said give me a second and turned toward his computer tapped on a few key strokes turned around and faced H-D inventor and said quote "you have a point mister davidson but the computer says three time as many men are riding my contraption over yours. case closed."

 

[baadactor]

That would be Mssrs. William S Harley and Arthur Davidson. So, there's at least two gentlemen? on which to lay the blame

Whew, almost ended that sentence a preposition with.

 

[albertaduke]

That would be Mssrs. William S Harley and Arthur Davidson. So, there's at least two gentlemen? on which to lay the blame

Whew, almost ended that sentence a preposition with.

I stand corrected.....

 

[baadactor]

Love your pics and report. Someday I hope to pull off a smaller version of your summer in paradise.

 

[albertaduke]

Love your pics and report. Someday I hope to pull off a smaller version of your summer in paradise.

anytime you need some euro advice to pull off such endaviour call on me I will gladly provide info .
another fellow who knows stuff as well is HARDY from germany.
glad you enjoy the pictures , this summer adrenaline is going to be in my blood for the next six months at least . five more days of riding and it is over sigh>>>>