July 20th - Boltana, Spain - Leisure Day

Today was a relaxing day for me.  A number of people booked the rafting trip today and were gone first thing to enjoy their adventure.  Some took their bikes into a town for shopping or for lunch.  I decided to take off by myself and travel for part of the day exploring.

The weather was beautiful as I headed out sightseeing on the bike.  I traveled probably 50 km one way going through the tunnels into a small village where I was able to find a bite for lunch.  I filled up the bike before returning and gave the bike a good wash at the car wash.  All the marks that I thought might not come off came off and the bike was sparkling clean.  So nice to see after so many days of dust and grime.  That is not what my bike is used to on the road as usually it gets cleaned off most days.

I then return to the hotel for a nice relaxing swim.  Well not too relaxing as I played with Anton in the pool which I thoroughly enjoyed.  The two of us at one time had about four or five people trying to keep the ball up in the air and also played monkey in the middle.

Tonight I just had supper at the hotel with a few of the group and then headed for an early to bed after so much sun.  We head off to our last stop Bilbao, Spain.  Hard to believe it is coming to an end.

July 19th - Boltana, Spain

Today was a leisure day or organized rides to enjoy the sights of Spain.

However I decided to go on the ride out today and boy what a ride it was.  Davey was our fearlous leader and we all started out great following Davey no matter where he took us.  Through some nice little villages in the mountains and then one wrong turn took us down a cow path through gravel.  Did I say gravel - what I meant was small boulders.  LOL - not quite but it seemed like it.



Some of the riders just kept going and going well
I decided at the top of this hill I was going to wait it out to see if they would head back up and so did a few others.  Marc was the sweeper in the group who turns out was a motocross biker at one time.  I told them I was going to try the hill and started out but quickly decided it was just a little too much for me - too short LOL.  So Marc came along and took my bike and did he drive it - wow!!  Then he runs back up the hill and takes two or three more down the hill and runs back up again.  It was probably close to 100 degrees out.  I had a hard time walking down the damn hill in biker boots as it was so rough.  Three of us girls helped guide Joe down with his bike as he was taking it slow as we walked beside him hoping he didn't tip it over.  Once we were all together again we had a good laugh and away we went again - memories are the best.  I won't soon forget that trek.  Davey did an amazing job guiding us back to the hotel where most of us went and changed and jumped in the pool for a relaxing swim.



Everyone had quite the adventure to tell each other that night at the party.  We took our group photo here as well.  There was free beer at supper and music playing on the rooftop of this monastery.  WOW we had fun and then we had to shut down around 10:00 as there were families staying there and we were getting rather loud.  So we played our favourite as the last song - "Alice - who the fuck is Alice".

July 18th - Carcassonne, France to Boltana, Spain - 338 km

I have decided I am going to try to finish my blog!!  Not sure if I remember everything as this is one of the reasons why I try to do it on the road each night so I don't forget.  I have my 2018 EPR Tour Book and my pictures to try to remember everything.






Interesting route as we headed out as we passed through a place called Montreal!!  Yes you saw correctly.  On the road we could see the medieval Castle of Foix that dominates the roofs of the old town.





We travelled through the middle of the Pyrenees mountains criss-crossing the French and Spanish border.  The roads were amazing as we drove the tree lined roads in the middle of sunflower fields.  The shade was much appreciated as it was starting to get hot as the day went on.  I also really appreciated riding in front of Corina as her bike was so loud.  Such an awesome bike but really loud.  We passed a sign for a golf course and I thought of Paul back home probably enjoying all the golfing he was doing while I am away.





Some of the small towns that we travelled through had nice colourful window boxes and vines growing on the sides of their homes.  Very old and quaint.  On the way to Boltana one of the bikes broke down and we waited on the side of the road for quite awhile and had to find some shade as it was starting to get very hot.

Once back on the road we headed into the mountains and travelled through a number of tunnels.  It was so amazing at how cool the tunnels were - almost too cold but very refreshing for sure.





We arrived to our beautiful hotel which used to be a monastery.  WOW is all I can say!  It was called Monasterio de Boltana and if you ever even get a chance to stop and see it please do so.  It is worth the look.  Our meal was as usual amazing.  Once our bellies were full it did not take long to head to bed for to await another amazing day tomorrow of more riding around the area and perhaps some down time by the pool.

July 17th - Marseille, France to Carcassonne, France - 346 km

I checked in with the front desk to see if my key has arrived yet and sadly no it hasn’t.  However I left all my information at the front desk and asked them to forward it on to Bilbao, Spain.  I hope it gets there when I arrive in a few days.

Today I ride with the minions, otherwise known as Mich and Eddy!  The ride was very scenic and lots of great roads.  A lot of the roads were through flat areas that were rice fields but then we road through areas that are famous for their oysters.

Our first break was at a very quaint cafe in a square where we were able to ride our bikes right into the square and ordered something to drink on a very hot day.  Along the way there was some issues with a bike that needed some attention but then everyone caught up and we continued on.

There were many vineyards that we passed along the way as well as beautiful beach areas.  Upon arrival at the hotel in Carcassonne we were treated with a spectacular view of the fortified city of Carcassonne.  It looks like something out of a storybook and I was lucky enough to have the view of the castle as I called it.  WOW.

Our dinner was served out on the terrace which overlooked this beautiful site.  The fortified city was lit up at night and just became more beautiful with each minute as we were eating our delicious meal.

The city of Carcassonne is one of the oldest cities in France dating back to 600BC.

Geert informed me that he had received a phone call from the hotel in Marseille to let me know the key had arrived the day we left around 10:00 am and that they were going to forward it on to Bilbao, Spain the following day.  Let us see when we arrive if it has arrived too!!  I hope so.

July 16th - Marseille, France - Leisure Day

Today I decided to tour around Marseille to see all the beautiful sights.  Some of the other Posse Riders took a boat tour but the weather doesn’t look promising.

Fellow Posse Rider Mike and I toured the city by walking along the shore until the weather started to get bad and then hopped on a bus and went into the city of Marseille.  Very busy downtown even though it was raining pretty hard.  We got off the bus when we spotted a nice cafe for lunch and enjoyed our lunch overlooking the yacht club.  Thankfully Mike had his cell phone with him and he was able to look up the directions to the Harley Davidson dealer and which bus to get on to get there.

We headed out up hill to catch the next bus and then once we got to our stop it was up hill again to the Harley Dealer.  At first we thought it was closed as there was no lights on.  I stood in front of the doors to peak in and they automatically opened. Yeah!!  Looking around the store there wasn’t a lot of ladies wear clothes and no dealer shirts for ladies but Mike was able to get one for himself.

Our next mode of transportation was a taxi drive directly back to the hotel which was a lot less confusing than trying to figure out the transportation system.  Getting back to the hotel the weather had cleared and checked in with all the other Posse Riders to see what was happening for supper.

The boat ride was beautiful to start and then on the way back the weather was quite bad and a few of them were sick on the boat.  Apparently there was even a marriage proposal on the boat but all in good fun and was not serious - or was it!!!

Tonight supper was on our own and we all headed down to the beach area again to go to some of the restaurants.  As we were trying to see what was on the menu I came across a restaurant that was serving lobster.  I was sold and that is what I had for supper - delicious!!

The sunset at the beach was nice but not as nice as the ones we get at home!   Tomorrow is another day riding so off to bed early and up early on the road again.  

July 15th - Nice, France to Marseille, France - 260 km

This morning my cousin Rod met me at the parking garage to wish all the Posse Riders a continued success in our riding adventure.  I hate parking garages and usually ask for assistance to have the bike moved in or out.  Well this morning I handed over the keys to Rod and he graciously moved the bike. It turns out the ride out was not that difficult but I had no way of knowing that.  As we said our good byes and I headed out to the gas station only to realize he still had my keys!! Damn!!

Thankfully by fluke, Joe from California, was in my group today and was able to help - not only with opening my gas cap with his key - but to come up with a solution to the key code in order to continue to start the bike.  I don’t know what I would have done without his help and his very calm nature to my problem.  I was able to contact Rod who said he would forward the keys on to Marseille as we were going to be two nights there.

The ride was very nice and we were able to arrive in Marseille early in order for anyone that wanted to watch the World Cup Final between France and Croatia.  While the game was on a number of Posse Riders enjoyed the pool and bar services.  The floating toys served as entertainment for us.

And as most of you know France won!!  Well everyone was out in full force celebrating on the streets.  Cars honking, bikes revving (not ours) and people screaming and hanging out of cars.  Our supper and party was down near the beach and we were on a balcony with full viewing access of a roundabout that turned into a speeding circle of small cars racing around and dodging other cars and bikes.  I have never seen such insanity.

Our DJ Spanky had great music to dance to and the drinks were all included - needless to say there were a lot of people that over indulged.  A few of us went up on the huge Ferris wheel where we could see the whole boulevard and saw the cars backed-up both ways along the beach.  I was so surprised that no one was badly injured as the drivers were more than a little out of control with people hanging out windows and sunroofs.

Tomorrow is a leisure day and hopefully all will be cleaned up in the morning.  I am having a problem uploading the pictures from my GoPro so hopefully tomorrow I will be able to attach more pictures.

July 14th - Leisure Day - Nice, France

This morning I slept in.  After two days of long rides it was well needed.  I could not decide what to do this morning as I knew Rod would also be sleeping in.  So I went for a walk with Mike McCormick down the board walk all the way to the #I love Nice sign.

We then decided to head up to the lookout to see what kind of a view we would have.  WOW is all that can be said - it was worth the number of stairs up to see that view of the famous Nice beach.

On the way back we stopped for a well deserved drink and enjoyed people watching and trying to figure out how long the para-sail ride was.  It took us several times to time it as we were distracted easily.  LOL. The ride was about 7 minutes and Mike found out later that it was 50 euros for one person!!  He decided not to go after all.

My cousin Rod joined us at the hotel and we had a beer there before heading down to the beach for a quick swim in the Mediterranean Sea.  Okay so the beach really isn’t a beach like we are used to - no sand!!!  All round stones!!  I had to use my running shoes to go the water as it was very difficult to walk on as Dickey found out.  Water was very warm but was well appreciated.

After taking a quick shower Rod and I joined some of the Posse Riders for the Football (Soccer) game between Belgium and England with Belgium winning 2 - 0.  I tried for the first time a very delicious dish of cantaloupe and ham.  Sweet and salty.  After the game Rod took me to his favourite pizza place for supper.  Thin crust pepperoni pizza - another WOW.

We continued our walk through the restaurant and shopping area and came back to the hotel where we said good bye until tomorrow.  Rod plans on meeting us at the bikes to wish us off.