MooN

I actually managed to get out for a couple of hours on the bike this afternoon. about 6 deg c out and cloudy but dry. There's a new southern bypass coming through here this year ( they've only been planning it fro the last 25 years...) so this view is abouut to dissapear, as is, I expect, the road i'm on. That wee yellow narker, just below the front wheel, is one of the boundary markers of the planned route. a little bit furter towards Auxerre on another very minr roadm paralell to the other. No yellow markers here yet, but this is pretty much where it's planned to pass.

Isn't that what freedom of choice is about though? people have the same freedom to consider it offensive as Pete has to consider it unoffensive. or do some people have more freedom than others? you are free to come and go as you please, If I find myself in a place i'm not comfortabe with, I leave. I also strongly believe in the phrase attributed to Voltaire ( but I think t was actually written by somebody else) " I may not agree with what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it" . nobody should have the power to shut down somebody else's views simply because they don't agreethem, be they green , blue, red, black, left, right, straight, L,B, G,T Q, you, me, the Pope or Mullah Omar. if you don't like it, you are free to voice your dislike, or just go somewhere else but don't try to impose your view. One man's freedom ends where another's starts, imposing your views, whover you may be is encroaching on someone elses freedom which is what boils my piss when people rave on about their "freedom" or "Right" to be this or do that which involves riding roughshod or the freedom or rights of others to think, live and be who THEY want.

welcome in

good job I don't do that then

Looks like a wooden currach but they weren't often double ended or as beamy as that. Trad boats have so many very local variants.

I think you'll find that all traditional boatbuilders are clever, massively talented, inately well bred and hugely good looking...

that's one of the things the frogs can't get over, the size of plates on brit registered bikes, Talk about air brakes some of them!

Shit day today. One of my colleagues, who worked with mw for 6 years on the boats and who I now work with again, buried his daughter this morning. She was born malformed ( massively handicapped) but leved to 28. Died last thursday, I didn't ask what of, and the funeral was today. about 10 of us went from work, including the company owner.

well I ain't going to call you nurse, but I'm glad to hear she's home and it not as seriousas it might have been. Hospital in the UK is probably not the best place to be just now.

cack! hpe she's better soon mate.

I'm voting for busabeast just cos it makes a change.

plenty countries where bike trailers are not legal though.

I have Triumph OE hard luggage on my xc cos it came with the bike, I like them, they work well and are well built though not ally. I had plastic givi's on the transalp for 15 years and never found fault ( till I hit a gatepost with one and broke it. Thy're not repairable. I have certainly heard good things about the metal mule kit but not used them. Not heard of either of the makes you mention @Scrambler steve. most of the chinese stuff is acceptable if it's bought for a one off or very rare usage, they're cheap, and that's for a reason.

and they are still allowed to advertise electric vehicles as "0 emissions".... fucktards! all of 'em!

they should have to wear the red cards pinned to their uniform.... better yet sew it to their lapels... hold on it would look better yellow than red, and it would stand out better if it was sort of star shaped.... OH...

if you see this sign you are on a "route prioritaire" and there will be no "priority to the right" junctions untill you pass this sign marking the end of the "route prioritaire" . They are often on top of the town or village limit signs. The Priority to the right is actually quite simple. it is the default setting. In the absence of other instructions ( road markings or signposts) then "priorité a droite" outside of a town or village, a "priorité a droite" is usually marked by this sign If in doubt, give way to the right it was dying out but is now coming back in force in rural areas as the state decentralised the roads, it's up to the local mairies to pay for their local road maintenance and the signs and normalized reflective paint are f,kin expensive so the cheap and easy option is just to make everything "priority a droite"

Further... you DO NOT NEED f'in breathalysers, the rule was never ever applied to motorcycles and was rapidly "abrogée" ( rendered nul) for all vehicles as inapplicable) You are supposed to have a UK sticker ( no Longer GB) and you must effectively have a hi vis vest on the bike which must be worn in an emergency situation ( break down on the road, accident etc) The speed limit Outside a town or village is now 80km/h and NOT 90... EXCEPT for certain main roads in and out of a departement which have gone back up to 90... read the sign posts! ( this has been left to the discretion of the prefects so there are no hard and fast rules about this) I've never heard of being required to carry a 2nd pair of glasses in the vehicle and I have one daughter with glasses who passed her test a couple of years ago and 2 others who both passed their theory test last month. You are NOT required to carry spare bulbs FFS! again this was never applicable to motorcycles and is ignored for cars now as most modern cars need to have the front bumper removed to replace a bulb. If someone at the ferry port tries to sell you beam benders, or breathalysers ( and they will) tell then to fuck off, they're NOT a legal requirement despite what the AA would have you believe and beam benders are not valid for motorcucle headlight beams ( they tried this on me last time I took the ferry) The french police are not morons ( mostly) and if a group of ladies on bikes might draw more attention, the Frenchs are still a little old fashioned in their attitude towards ladies, which I guess has it's upsides as well as its downs... That second updated link to "drive France is much better and up to date. I just read that you are planning on dipping into switzerland. Just a word of warning, whilst in France radar detectors are illegal and radar site warnings based on coordonates or cooperative signalling ( waze, coyote, etc) via sat nav or phone app, these apps are very illegal in switzerland, to the point that the "Coyote" app ( a community based app) issued an advisory warning to actually uninstall the app form your phone before entering switzerland as their uses and even possession is illegal.

This is an ongoinggrey legal grey area so us it to your advantage. In france, you are required to have a certain area of reflective surface on your helmet ie the stickers, BUT some helmet manufacturers have incorporated reflective panels on their lids so no stickers... AND your according to european law, your vehicle must conform to the regulations stipulated in it's country of registration ( otherwise, for example, I couldn't ride in the UK cos my numberplate is too small and my helmet doesnt have a kitemark and you're all going to have to buy new gloves with the euro norm label in them...) SO, the argument is that your veihicule and equipement complies to the legislation within its country of registration and your country of residence. The cops know that it's a legislative nightmareand will steer clear of it unless you give them reason to throw the book at you. I don't have stickers on my lid ( though everything else in in compliance) and in 30 years of riding here i've never had then checked despite having papers and insurance spot checks a couple or 3 times.

autoroutes you'll be able to pay in cash, at least till 21h00, after that you may need to pay up front, but should still be able to do cash. Fuel will be 10 (ish) percent more expensive than elsewhere.

I haven't had an English card for over 25 years, so I'm not going to be much help on this one, I really don't know, sorry. worth noting that there are fewer and fewer pumps available where you can pay cash. On the autoroutes sure, but elsewhere... not easy, doubly so if you're travelling on a weekend. I have previously come across a number of foreign drivers stuck at a pump cos their card won't work and there's no way to pay in cash. have you a planned route yet?

so often the case, my parents told me i was adopted from a very early age, I've just always known it and it's never bothered me, but I remember a couple of people at school who discovered suddenly at the age of 16 they were adopted and it ate them up

Side case all fixed. Swapped the lid off the 2 nd hand one and then fitted the retaining strap from my original to the “new” lid. Job jobbed! i also started rebuilding the damaged bits of the broken lid with some 2part epoxy sausage.