I'm about to leave Le Mans behind after 3 weeks that flew by like the wind. This city marks a turning point in my trip. When I arrive here early July I was exactly 2 months on the road after 5500ish km, on a trip that is bound to last 4 months. Anything after it belongs to the second part of this journey. I totally luck out on the weather as the rain that was bound to fall today occurred last night so now it all looks much better than it could be. I "au revoir" my smiley hosts and their cat, and I hit the road on much better conditions than I expected:
Almost halfway between Paris and Le Mans I make a first fuel stop at this service station near Brou:
I fill with enough gas to make it to Belgium where fuel is more reasonably priced and then I park appropriately for a very short break as it's too early for a normal one:
I ride on with cloudy weather but as long as its dry its fine:
I told you about French fuel prices before so here's a chance to have a look at them at a next service station:
Weather get more indecisive about whether it's gonna rain or not but still dry:
I make it near Paris,
where even on the highway the traffic gets noticeably heavier:
I squeeze me my bike and my luggage between those countless trucks and after I leave Paris behind I make one stop at this station NE of Paris:
This time I also have a bite on some cereal bars I carry while I watch the stylish shed for the electric car charging spots:
As I get back on the road the first drops of rain land on my windscreen:
Almost an hour later I make one more stop but this time to do the thing a king does without escort, at this station near Remy:
Pretty convenient for such a job as you can see with all these trees around but it's so pathetic to see how people trash such places:
Time to hit the road again:
Dark cloud gathering ahead:
No surprise it rains again soon:
It stops for a little while,
but as soon as I enter Belgium it goes on again,
and even harder:
I skipped recording the real heavy rain later as there wasn't much to see anyway. I fill up my tank with the cheaper Belgian fuel (as in Netherlands it's even more expensive than France) which give me the chance for one more short but dry break:
Pity I can't approach these horses for a better picture:
After 6ish hours on the road I finally enter the Netherlands:
As soon as my tires step over Dutch tarmac the weather becomes instantly much better:
As if the weather's welcoming isn't enough, my next hosts bring it to another level with this local recipe:
And a nice casual beer:
Lovely, people, I took care of their house last year when they were away for holidays and we became good friends ever since. This year I am for the same reason so stay tuned for more Dutch stories.
Here's a video of the ride as usual with my music in 4K:
See you on the next one!