See some pictures from the two rallies
A group of us decided to make a rally a bit more interesting by incorporating two rallies on the continent. Luckily the club received an invitation to a French Rally from previous members Niki and Dave who now live in St George Le Gaultier; this was put on to raise the profile of the village. The following weekend was the Dutch Rally so it seemed a good idea to make a touring holiday of both events.
Plans were made and routes discussed and the usual gatherings accompanied by drink took place and before we all new it the time had come. There was myself and Gary on one bike (to keep costs down) Ian and Julie, Colin and Maggs, Andy and Lee and Kevin and Jan on their own bikes going for the full trip. However Graham and Paul were going to the French rally with us, Dave Clarke joining us later. Chris Biggs arranged to meet us in between the two rallies in Liege and Dave Jackson was to join us at the Dutch Rally.
We all met up at the usual place at blue star roundabout, all packed and ready to go. We were waiting for Ian when he arrived a bit concerned about the stability of his bike. After a few adjustments and a check that we all had our passports we all set off for the ferry at Portsmouth. We were catching the Thursday overnight ferry so we could have a few beers and a relaxing start to the holiday. On arrival there was a long queue due to extra security checks. As we get into line Paul has some disturbing news and his face had gone to an ashen white - he had bought his partner Teri's passport. Although they were doing extra security checks they failed to check his passport and Paul was now known as Teri. We all assured him that they would let him back in and Terry started to relax.
We all bunked up together and we were sharing with Lee and Andy. I slept well and all agreed it was a good way to go. The weather was fine and we had a good ride down; we stopped at lunchtime and Mags the interpreter made sure we were watered and fed.
We arrived at the rally site late afternoon it was a campsite next to the village lake, where Niki and Dave and friends were putting the last touches to the stage and they were all pleased to see us so the drinking started. Food was included in the ticket price and on Friday night we had a beef stew and Saturday night we had four-course meal. It also included breakfast Saturday and Sunday and a BBQ Sunday lunchtime.
Dave Clarke arrived later - he had a story to tell that concerned forgotten passport as well, only he had to go all the way back to London as he left his at work, however although a bit tired he arrived safely later in the evening. There was music both nights and a bar to keep us in drink; we all agreed it was a good rally.
Sunday had arrived, the weather had turned and it was heavy rain, we had arranged to stay at Malcolm and Edward's for a couple of nights so we all put our waterproofs on and we set off. Paul and Graham were heading back home so we all said our goodbyes and went our separate ways, Dave deciding to join us to visit Malcolm and Edward.
The riding conditions were terrible and not enjoyable but we had to move on, while going around a roundabout Jan's bike just slipped from under her and Kev, riding behind, went into her bike. Thankfully Jan and Kev were not too badly hurt, they both suffered bruises and were little shaken, the bikes were quickly sorted out and we continued on our way.
We arrived at Malcolm and Edward's all feeling exhausted and wet. It was good to have the warm welcome from them both, food and drink waiting and a bonus of hot showers. I left Gary to erect the tent and slipped off to have a shower - there's nothing like a nice hot shower and a change of clothing when you have been camping for the weekend and ridden a distance in the rain. Having two showers was a bonus as well, as us girls were beginning to clog them up.
Malcolm and Edward had a guest staying called Christopher who was very excited at having a lot of people to chat with. We all settled down for a beer and grub and conversation, catching up with all the news, Christopher was in his element and chatted away as if we had known him for years.
We all retired and the next morning the boys began to gather around Jan and Kev's bike to see what they can do to repair the damage. Andy and Gary decided to help Edward with his allotment and did their farmer Joe bit and dug up the weeds and planted the sweet corn. Next door they had killed a couple of chickens the old fashion way (this mainly consisted of slitting their throats and leaving them to dangle by their feet and bleed to death). This put a damper on the country life, although I don't see that being cruel to any living thing is necessary.
Maggs, Julie and myself decided to go for a walk, and Malcolm asked us to take the dog so we all set off. Christopher decided to visit some people nearby and borrowed Malcolm's scooter. Watching Malcolm show him how to ride was quite entertaining, we just hoped he stayed on - it would make a mess of his legs. Repairing of the bikes continued.
We started to drink in the afternoon, when most had returned and were relaxing in the garden; this is where I think Gary went wrong! Another error on Gary's part was drinking champagne, the drink he vowed he would never drink again (lost all sense of being and control last time). I managed to get him to have a lay down at about 5 but he returned at about 6.30 just as drunk. Christopher took a shine to Gary and insisted he sit next to him, I was the scowling witch and Christopher entertained us for the rest of the evening and kept plying Gary with champagne. Oh dear, Gary's going to regret this. Hasten to say you had to be there to fully appreciate the banter and great evening that unfolded.
Tuesday morning arrived some with headaches but it was time to move on. Maggs and Colin had bad news, Colin's mum had been taken into hospital so they had to part company, returning home with Dave Clarke who was meeting Tom at the D-day landings. We all said our farewells and departed for Troyes. The weather was fair so we had a good run and managed to keep together. We had to keep on the move as we needed to reach Troyes late afternoon, we stopped for lunch on the Loire river. It was beautiful and we could have stayed longer but we needed to press on so we departed and arrived in Troyes late afternoon. We stayed at the Formula 1 hotel, these chain of hotels are basic but adequate for one night; they are all designed the same and the showers and toilets are all plastic and not in your room, however as an option to under canvas they were slightly better as you had a comfy bed. We went to have our nightly meal in a restaurant that was advertised in the foyer, this turned out to be an excellent choice, it was a local French café that truckers used. The food was excellent and good value and plenty to eat, we were able to get though the language barrier even though we spoke hardly any French (we had lost our interpreter Maggs) and the waitress spoke hardly any English but we ended up with a good meal and wine. All feeling a little weary we retired back to the hotel and sat outside discussing the next day's route.
Wednesday morning arrived and we are due to meet Chris Biggs at Liege. We had already arranged to meet at the Formula 1 hotel so we texted to inform him we were on our way. This was going to be a long run but the weather was holding up so we set off. We stopped for a quick lunch and had some toasted sandwiches then set off again to Liege. The countryside was beautiful and we passed memorials to the war dead. The roads were clear and good biking roads and although it was a long ride Gary enjoyed the run. We arrived to the hustle and bustle of a large industrial town and we now had to find the hotel. After a few missed turns and having the good fortune of having a scout who had already found the hotel (Chris Biggs) we discovered it was situated on a industrial estate. We all booked in and unpacked the bikes and settled down, having our showers. We walked down the road and found an Italian restaurant where we all had a good meal; although a little expensive it was very good.
The next day Thursday we were bound for Arnhem and we had planned to arrive by lunch time and stay until the next day in the afternoon so we could spend some time looking around the town. We also needed to find a hotel, as there was not a Formula 1 hotel in Arnhem. We only had eighty miles to travel so compared to the day before it was easy riding. The plan was to go to the centre of Arnhem, find the tourist information office and find accommodation with their help. This plan worked - they are very good in helping tourists and they soon found a bike-friendly hotel in the centre on the town. The owner was a biker himself and although we had to share, it was good value. Kev and Jan had their own room, as did Lee and Andy but Gary and myself, Ian, Julie and Chris had the family room. It was good fun that evening, we went out and explored the town, we had a good meal and found a bar that had a lot of war memorabilia with interesting pictures of the time when the town was under Germany occupation and the efforts of the British to take the Bridge.
The next day Friday I wanted to take myself off and have my hair done, I know its not a rally thing to do but I needed some pampering so I went off for a couple of hours while the others went and looked around the town. Kev and Jan went in search of some cigarettes then we all met up back at the hotel to check out and do our final ride to the Dutch rally. The ride up to Joure was interesting in that the weather changed dramatically - we drove through a weather front and I have not experienced this so drastically: one moment we were travelling in fair warm weather and then it became very blustery and the temperature just dropped and it became cold. We managed to get to the rally site and put our tents up when the heavens opened and the rain poured down.
Overall we left on the Thursday and returned the following Sunday from the Hook, travelling over 2000 miles in ten days. The trip did not take a lot of planning just a night around our house deciding where we were going to start and finish. Anyone wishing to travel on the continent and make a holiday of the many rallies that are on over there would I am sure would thoroughly enjoy themselves.
The continuing story of the Trumpettreffen can be read here