For I'm the type of boy who is always on the roam, Wherever I lay my helmet
that's my home. One lad, one motorcycle, one wild boar, no Euros and a lot of France
Ah Bonnie, how very true this was for our Wemoto Sam as he set off on a hazardous journey from Wemoto Southwick on the UK south coast to the headquarters of Wemoto France in Bedarieux near Montpelier in the south of France. His mission – which – after the tape had self destructed he had chosen to accept, was to deliver a nice shiny red VFR 750 from Wemoto UK to Wemoto France – tough job but somebody had to do it...
So near and yet so far...
Looks like perfect weather for rough sleeping
You snooze you lose...
So Sam set merrily off at 9pm one Wednesday evening in October and zoomed along the coast road to Newhaven to board the ferry to Dieppe. Once the precious bike was efficiently secured on board, Sam fell into a deep sleep, missing some very rough seas and missing the chance to get any Euros ... you snooze you lose. You can probably already guess what was going to happen down the road apiece...meanwhile
...In the fields the birds were singing...
Never having been to France before Sam rode merrily off the ferry at 4am wondering what he was going to find in the sunny fields of France. He started well finding the whole wrong side of the road thing easy peasy and enjoying the long, different and relatively (compared to England) traffic-free roads, a pleasure to ride on. He also appreciated the way the French actually like motorcyclists, waving and nodding in a friendly way as he passed.
However by 5am Sam had reached the town of Evreux and unfortunately all but run out of petrol, 'zut alors'! His cards didn't work in the French petrol stations and...oops no Euros... it was now a 'Merde alors' situation!
...I was lost in France...
Anyway then Sam thought of a brilliant plan, phone the boss back in the UK (bear in mind it's 5am – this was probably the most hazardous part of the whole trip – more dangerous that the wild boar but that comes later...)
No flies on him!
Anyway, the long and short of it was that he ended up snuggled up on a French park bench in full leathers and - interesting mental image coming up here - with his helmet still on, using a wemoto bag as a pillow aaaah. Apparently he woke up with the inside of his visor completely misted up – probably with oxygen starvation but hey the dreams were worth it...
...and the day was just beginning
He waited until the shops opened and he could change some Euros and then it was game on - hit the road Jack! The kind French folk in the tourist office helped him as much as they could and he limped to a petrol station round a tricky one way system and - phew - Euros and petrol on board off he went again...
Ah Shangri La!
Ah the joy of the open road and not having a sat nav – the getting lost was all part of the adventure! Also the not having a phone charger so not being able to call anyone – yes that too – until he arrived at Nick's and noticed the one on the bike – oops – still like a good boy scout he had used his wits instead!
Getting Boared
Once he hit the main motorway heading south to Bedarieux it was a mere: 6 hours, many very nice service station sandwiches, the Milau bridge and doom to many insects before he reached his destination. And as often happens – after a ride of about 600 odd miles and only 5 miles out from Nick's at Wemoto France he nearly stacked the bike on a wild boar the size of a small planet which was wandering about on the outskirts of Bedarieux looking for motorcyclists to eat - Sam rode away very fast. Near miss!
Nirvana
Wherever I lay my helmet that's my home
Fiinally arriving a day or so late but largely unscathed and with a lot more information about riding in France than when he started, Sam handed over the bike and had a rest - in a bed this time and probably without his helmet although we are not sure about that.
Where's that boar, I'm gonna give him one!
The return journey was less eventful involving a mere plane. And you may be surprised to hear that Sam had a great time and is looking forward to going again - he might take a frying pan and some slices of bread next time in case he meets that Boar again:0)
If you have any comments or interesting adventures to tell us about: ferries, boars, motorcycles, sleeping on park benches or anything else cool then we'd really like to hear it - email us on:
[email protected]
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