The Dordogne – Last Stop in Europe 2017

The Dordogne Riders had lured me to the Vezere Valley

St Leon sur Vezere a beautiful Village in the Dordogne Region of Southern France

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA — St Leon sur Vezere

Camped on the edge of the river

Amongst significant historic and prehistoric sites

The Grote de Rouffignac

Maison Forte de Reignac

and Chateau de Losse

But southern France is also about the beautiful villages

The continuation of the wonderful biker culture that exists in Europe. *

And of course in France food

And

* I was amazed that after 3 months covering 16,000km in 9 countries I was not pulled over once by the police. Three weeks back in Australia I was pulled over for a licence check while not breaking any law. It was motorcycle awareness (HARASSMENT) month.

Catalonia and the Pyrenees – part 3 the Midi Pyrenees

After the drama of the Pyrenees the Midi Pyrenees of southern France more rolling hills. With:

Tree lined canals

With elegant locks

And deep gorges formed by the Alzou river

And as if hanging from the face of the mighty gorges,

The village of Rocamadour

Rocamadour has its origins in the 4th century, and developed through the medieval times. It is a place of miracles, shrine of the Black Madonna and survived the Cathar Wars which may be a miracle in itself.

The Midi Pyrenees opened the door to northern France, the beautiful Loire Valley, and the bountiful fields running up to the Belgian border.

Rocamadour, has an amazing goat cheese, some say the best goat cheeze

Catalonia and the Pyrenees – part 1

The roads here are made for riding

Coastal roads along the Cote Vermeille and the Costa Breva

Tight turns windswept by the katabatic winds rushing down from the mountains testing the riders skill

It’s about twisty mountain roads in the Pirineos Orientals on the rooftop of Spanish Catalonia

Across the Spanish rooftop from La Molina

In about the winding deep gorges Pyrenees Catalanes

Leafy gorges

Tight rocky gorges

Roads for riding

In Catalonia

Why Sete

Tucked down in the south west corner of France

A working port

A living fishing village

A city of grand canals

A city of art

A link.to Africa with car ferries to Morocco

And of course the stepping of from Europe in the Paris to Dakar motorcycle race.

Then the taste of Sete

Sweet muscat wine

Calamari stuffed with minced pork served on a bed of white beans

Fresh mussels, oysters and sea bass

Reflections on the trip south from Nijmegen to Sete

I’m sitting at balcony of my room in Sete looking down over the town

But before I write on Sete it’s time reflect on the 1100km run south from Nijmegen to Sete.

The side trip through the Swiss Alps into Italy is covered earlier.

A dominant feature in the Rhine

The river of castles

Running south beside it crossing it through Germany

Staying of the main roads

Lots of small villages

Travelling further south at the top of the Black Forest the German high country spread out to see

The there was the taste of Germany epitomised by thick slabs of smoked pork, strong vinegary salad and scalloped potatoes at the Hausbraurei Feierling in Freiburg.

Washed down by the brewery’s beautiful beer

Across the Rhine

Across the border to southern France

The taste and river different

At Nueville Sur Ain

The river was the Ain

The village French in style