The next day we headed over to St. Nazaire on the western coast of France a trip of about another 220 miles. We were to meet another friend, Simon who had just driven down from Montbray that day on his motorcycle. Simon shared my tent and Roy said that it was really loud from our snoring. Besides the great beaches, which we did not visit as we were anxious to get on the road, we stopped at the German fortified submarine pens in the harbor. 
We got there just as the main reception area opened for a restored WWII submarine housed there. Roy had already seen this so Simon and I bought tickets, picked up our listening devices and headed down the steps into the submarine.
You are not prepared for how small it is on the inside. When you see WWII movies with shots inside submarines, you get a feeling of it being much larger. Not so. Narrow halls, short doors, cramped spaces and dual purpose areas are everywhere. Even the bunks are designed for only 1/3 of the crew. Three shifts rotate through each bed, each day. While told not too, I snuck some pictures inside. Simon kept complaining I was going to get us in trouble but no one seemed to notice. With the exception of only 2 other people we had the entire submarine to ourselves.
After the sub visit, we got lunch at Mc Do and headed back to Montbray, another couple of hundred miles. We were eager to get home after being out so long. Simon quickly peeled off from both of us and our slow poke speeds and we did not see him till later that day back in Montbray. Roy and I observe speed limits and are not ones to scrape the pegs on the turns. Simon, who is 20 years younger than us, calls us two old farts and can’t stand our mundane riding skills. We like to take it easy and enjoy the countryside which is one of the main reasons for our trip.
Once again Roy and Sylvia let me crash in their spare bedroom for which I was very grateful. They have a fine bed to sleep on. If I spend any more time there I feel like I should pay rent. All in all, Roy and I traveled about 820 miles together. I can add to that about another 300 for my trip from Paris to Montbray and back to Paris plus the day trip to the coast we did on the 25th.
This is the first of several trips through France this year as I have said before the chief reason for my being here. Three months this year is too short a period for all the travel I want to do so it was necessary to go whole hog and get a Visa. In fact, I do not anticipate I will be able to get to all potential locations this year, hence my return to France next spring. Eventually, I would like to get to Switzerland, northern Italy, Austria, Germany, Spain, Portugal and Scotland. That will take some time if I do it at a leisurely pace so I am looking forward to many more years of motorcycle travel through European country.
That’s it for now. I am resting in Paris for a week. Next week too as weather looks iffy. Next Friday I will attend the Eagle Scouts award program at the Embassy with Scott Dunlap and his son. Will plan on another trip to the Loire Valley the following week.
No comments:
Post a Comment