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Got out for a couple of ours on the tiger this afternoon, overcast and dampish but pleasantly positive temperatures. I rode Northwards into the Forét D'Othe and had a troll round just following my nose. I only stopped a couple of times cos I'm using my phone for pics and it's a palaver with winter gloves etc. I found some nice, not too wet, gravel tracksnorth of Esnon and followed it round in a loop bringing me back alomost to it's starting point about 8 or 10 km later Having been northish for about 45 minutes, I turned east and rode towards what would have been a nice sunset had the clouds not been quite so thick Light was failing so I turned southwards and left a bit back towards Home along some nice open back roads Got home just as dusk started setting in.

My day today was good, not only did I manage to get out on the bike for a couple of hours, but whilst out I saw a couple of things that really made me smile. The first was as I rode slowly through a very small village, I saw, almost out of the corner of my eye, a girl ( about 15 i'd guess) pusing a scooter out of her yard onto the street. It was obviously a very new scooter and she had a grin from ear to ear, which would clearly have been even bigger had her ears only been further apart. My imagination decided that she'd got the scooter for Christmas and apart from a quick whizz round the yard, this was her first time out alone on it andd she was off to see her mates in the next village. I remembered the first few miles on my first scooter and the joy at the sudden freedom and autonomy it brought at 16 years old. That made me smile. 2nd thing was ridng through Auxerre, nearly home, light failing fast into dusk, that time of day they call "Entre Chien et Loup" ( between dog and wolf) here. I heard him before I saw him, that bane of the French towns and cities, the Breeeeeeeeeeet, Breeeeeet, breet, breeeeeeeeeeeet, of a home tuned baffle-less 50cc 2-stroke moped, mostly black and dressed in black he was not easy to see as he had no headlight on either. The speed limit along the quays in auxerre is 20kph and he undertook me doing about 50 I guess. I caught him up as we left the town limits and the speed indicated increased to 70kph, which he could just about manage though God knows what rpm he was pulling to do so ( they're only legally allowed to do 50kph max,). I saw he had a number plate, but no rear light on. I overtook him and pointed to the front of his bike and to my eyes to tell him to switch his lights on ( easy mistake to make under street lights when your headlight is only about 6watts. I slowed to give way ath the roundabout and he pulled up alongside me asking mw what I meant, but I had a closer look at his machine I just laughed and said " I was trying to tell you to switch your lights on, but I now see you don'e even have any..." "Naah" he said " spoils the look, no lights no indicators, no mirrors" and off he went "Breeeeeeeeeeet, breet,Breeeeeeeeeet..." in a cloud of 2 stroke fumes and into the rapidly falling night, up the road towards Chablis. That made me smile.

new years day in the Forét D'Othe.

This photo typifies the back roads of France for me and why I love to ride in France

Excellent Chris......and our first ride report of the year!

wife's boss ( pharmacist) does testing regularly at the pharmacy, cos the number of people needing testing is growing and there are no testing centres anymore, says that the autotests are not very reliable either way and can give false negatives and false positives simply because of the parameters of the test. With the best will in the world, most people doing home tests don't or can't respect all of the parameters exactly, the depth of specimen in the sinus + the transfer to the test + temperature and humidity conditions + sterile workspace + time critical results etc etc etc. The tests are designed to be as acurate as possible and as supple as possible with the base parameters but any parameter adjustment will reduce the accuracy of the test results a little, add them all together and add into the mix the inherent inaccuracy percentage and you have a load of false results. If you test a number of times with the same result it's probably ok, if not get a PCR to be sure. Then again, he sells the bloody things and gets paid for testing so how reliable is his opinion...?

It’s like Broke Back Mountain meet’s Deliverance full on hillbilly shit there.

Our flying visit to the UK earlier last week actually went without a hitch! Well, apart from having to get out of bed at 03:30 on boxing day! But it was a bit hectic! But..........when did beer go over £5 a pint?! A pint of bitter in Cambridge was £5.35 and a bottle of Sharpe's Atlantic was £5.65 in the Premier Inn at Stansted! Then we had friends from the village over for dinner yesterday evening, which went pretty well, but they didn't leave until a bit after 2am. So, after tidying up and loading the dishwasher, we didn't get to bed until 3am! Consequently nothing much got done today! Looking forward to a rest next week!

Well 2022 is history....nice little get together..good food and drinks...not to hung over..so that's a plus..

He's my missus brother...what a character...the boys started drinking around 10 am..he passed out around around 8 pm..that was his second wineup ..woke up again and you see the results...lol.

Happy New Year everyone. I hope 2023 is a good year for you, well balanced with a healthy amount of smiles and adventures.

In the middle of a Province that spoke a different language, Quebec. It was different, I did ok with the language, but accidentally ordered too many apple pies.... Not the worst thing that could have happen....

Yep......make a thread with some predictions for 2023 and let's review them at the end of the year! This is your Nostradamus moment!

Camping in marcels cottage

Anyone else hearing a banjo soundtrack with this?

Are those two just about to 'entertain' the rest of you ? She looks like she's hoiking her pants up a bit quick

Still going but having a nightcap now …,,

Took @Sofia’s bike for a post wash bimble yesterday. It is a cool bike! And did me good after a very sad morning in which I helped with putting a big dog to sleep. He was a big 45kg Serra da Estrela shepherd, they’re shepherds but more dedicated to protecting lifestock from wolfs in the mountains than actually herding sheep. He was a fierce dog and an absolute killer of a guard dog, he looked like a wild thing yet had the most amazing relationship with his human. Having visited their farm a few times he never even pretended to like me and was the reason I never got out of the car without checking for him. He also gave you proper eye contact while growling instead of acting cowardly. He died a proper dog, almost completely paralized but still giving me a serious growl in the distance, only distracted by his owner lovingly giving him steak pieces. I appreciated his spirit, that he kept to the last second.

Hey, remember we talked about this, play nice

Hoping to get the bike out on Friday for a run. Weather finally seems to be on the turn.

What you talking about thats them happy and partying hard

My day today has mainly consisted of hanging a new rear door, started at 11 or so finished at 3 ish. Got to say those electric planers are worth their money I ended up needing to take 4mm off the lock side and 0.7mm off the hinge side and that was done in 3 passes of the plane. All I need to do now is fit the catflap and paint it so it's sealed and it's finished, here's to hoping it doesn't rain over the next couple of days otherwise the door will be fucked

Finished watching "Treason" on Netflix.......well worth watching!

I didn't get any pics of our Christmas day feed but My Sister dis us proud. We we're expecting a cold buffet and we'd brought cheese ( French , smelly) and wine ( White, St Bris, sauvignon and Red, St Bris, Cesar) but she surprised us with a massive tradional Christmas dinner. Ham in place of turkey but otherwise the full monty, sprouts, stuffing balls, bread sauce, pigs in blankets etc etc etc. I hadn't had a "Proper" Christmas dinner in 20 years so Best Christmas Present Ever! This was our new years trough, just the 4 of us ( No1 being still in Liverpool) we'd visited Bicester Village luxury designer outlet hell-hole on the 28th cos the twins wanted Vivienne Westwood Jewlery, which they got. On arriving home on the 29th we learned of Westwood's death. the twins wanted to do a Vivienne Westwood themed table : Then came the food. The "entrée" ( which I skipped and just had another drink) forgetting to take a pic till after the battle... A dozen "Escargots de Bourgone aux beurre d'ail" ( Snails in garlic butter sauce). Followed by Honey braised beef in a cider sauce with Gratin Dauphinoise, All washed down with a nice bottle of Chablis. Yule log from the local patisserie to finish but I was too pissed and busy eating to take a pic

Breakfast this morning ..................

More vaccinations, that’s the answer.

they put some time and effort in with the christmas lights...

@Sofia’s meatballs and mashed potatoes with spicy garlicky baby spinach. The meatballs had my moroccan spice mix, and love, which made them delicious. It was amazing, and I’m typing this with a happy belly as I finish the second portion. The red wine is a Castelares Reserva, which is currently my favourite red wine, bought for special occasions

15 Minute City? I'd be happy to have any needed goods within 45 minutes of here. Guess we'll see if any of it comes true.

I’ve a feeling that’s the last place @Grasshopper would want to spend New Years Eve or any other night

Things looked pretty grey and grubby, Pete!

Was there much room to move around there......what with all that Sovereignty they've got?

Probably better if I make a new thread.

I did make it through and so glad to get out of Quebec, didn't like it very much at all..... But on the other hand, I have only been in New Brunswick a few hours and I love it. I have heard music a few times already, met some nice people, seen some lovely scenery, enjoyed the highways.....love it here!

Why does everybody look miserable as fuck?

Any strawberry ice-cream

Did anyone get zero votes

The Poll is closed and we have a winner! @Pedro.......Come on down!

that's what I would do naturally, but would have no way of knowing without asking, wether I was adressing a Huron or an Alonquin. Also, if you follow the logoque fully then "Cheyenne" ( for example) would also be incorrect as it was the French trappers who referred to them as Dog indiens or "Chiens" which was rapidly mispronounced by the English or Americain traders as "Cheyenne". is that a derogatory term? is it impossible to have a collective noun for a race that is not sooner or later ill percieved by either those directly concerned or by someone not concerned but sufficiently "WOKE" to feel they have the right to be offended by it. I doubt it.

Sunny and cold in the 'hood today. Bright as fook out there ...

Meanwhile in Canada, this is how our moose deal with people who get in their way….

I went for @Tango......but I may have to do a bit of tactical voting near the end to put the kybosh on Sir Photoshop's chances!

Next I headed towards a track I had seen on the map , when I arrived there was a gate but it was easy enough to ride around. I climbed up the hill and it started to get a bit slippery on the wet exposed chalk, then through another gate and across a field I came to another gate and on inspection there was no way I was getting around this as it had a chain around it and they had welded the chain together . To make matters worse it was now chucking down with rain , I had no option but to backtrack down the hill and find another way up onto the Plain I found another track a couple of miles down the road and set off up the hill, it was really slippery and not helped by the fact that the rain was coming at straight at me. After a while I saw a barn on the side of the track and turned up there to take shelter But as I walked down to the entrance I did a quick turnaround, the inside was about 6 inches deep in cow piss ............ But about a mile up the track I came to a empty hay barn and rode straight in . There is a god after all , thank you @Buckster ................... So while I waited for the rain storm to pass I got my sandwiches and coffee out and sat on some hay bales to have lunch ............. I decided to cut short my intended route now as I was already soaked and you see bad weather all around so I just decided to try and dodge the showers. I rode down towards Westdown camp on the tank tracks , some of the surfaces were good for 50 mph and some was as slippery as an Otters pocket ............ Now I decided to head towards home as there seemed to be a break in the showers, Oooooooh pretty There was only one more dodgy part as I came to this .................... There was no telling how deep that was so I skirted around the edge and took another route ......... I got home about 16.30 and hung up all the wet gear in the garage, it can stay there until Xmas is over ..................