MooN

yup, in theory. the only thing that will fuck it up will be Boris and his bloody stupid 14day quarantine clusterfuck. Actually, no, fuck it, keep 'em, we're picking up french bookings hand ove fist apparently. Still lost 40% of annual turnover though so this winter is going to be tough and we're going to be short staffed and underfunded for this season so it remains to be seen if I can hack it. I'm prepared to work hard and muck in and do extra, but not if I am forced to do shoddy work due to no parts and no staff, i'm not up for that, i'd rather go do something else. we'll see.

My presemce has been equested and required at work tomorrow, but I had to pick N01 up from the physio at 16h00 so the afternoon was pretty screwed by the time I could get out with the bike, but I squoze in a last ride before real life restarts. having not planned anything and not wanting to waste time doing so I just did one of my "box the compass" rides ie ride north for half an hour ( west of north in this case) then turn left and ride west for half an hour, then turn laft again to ride south for half an hour and left again for a half an hour... not being too particular about the time and only roughly the direction, I just take the next promising looking road the looks like it goes the right way, found some crackers today. I said the other day that I often come across these, this one was again in the middle of nowhere, down a dirt track somewhere out towards Aillant sur Tholon. " eternel souvenir of the resistant CHAPOTIN Henry of AUGY, chief warrant officer, shot by the gestapo *th August 1944 at the age of 19." up across the tops, dodging the rain clouds I really should have thrown that bloody orange sign in the ditch before taking this photo! Back in the sunshine and into the woods found a nice country retreat for my retirement it was starting to get late , gone 19h30 already so I headed for home with no more photo stops. did about 130k in all, just bimbling around.

never measured how big my bum is in those panniers, no wider than the tralp was though with 2 x 52L givi's on and stuck out each side the width of the exhaust, about 1m10 if I remember right

I have an update on the Marshmallows... one of the manufacturers of the polyfilm for silage bales over here gives a percentage of his profits to cancer research, the pink ones support research into breast cancer and the blue one for prostate cancer.

they do , but not for a price I'm willing to pay. I'd like one, sure, but I don't NEED one that badly... oh, and I ain't Dave...

I've got a phone holder rigged ( ultimate add ons don't seem to cater for poor people either cos their phone cases start from the I phone 6 ) my problem is fixing the bloody thing over the top of the clocks. It's currently at clock level to the left and is fine but I'd like it higher and more central which means installing some kind of bar behind the screen and above the clocks.

110km this afternoon, again almost all on minor roads except the last bit. For Info, the furthest point north "Soumaintrain" is where they make the smelly cheese of the same name. Difficult to get away from food here one way or another... Tiger food spotted running away then saw this cheeky bugger had turned to look and stood still see him? zoom in : they don't usually hang around long enough for me to stop and get the camera out, but I see loads on these runs. This was early afternoon, so in broard daylight. Nice country hunting lodge for someone open country again, between Chemilly and Flogny La Chapelle somewhere I found a marshmallow farm! obviously the farmed ones are bigger than wild marshmallows...

"pearls before swine..." ?

nope it's always like that here Pete, once you're off the beaten track. That's part of why I love it. population density is waaay lower than the uk aparrently Burgundy is currently less densly populated than it was in 1851...

having spent yesterday unblocking the bath I thought I deserved some R & R this afternoon so got kurviger to invent me a loop on small back roads about 150km northwards ride out north of Auxerre and the Foret D'othe opens out befor you cant remember which village this was I found where Christmas trees are born! It's rare that I don't see one or more of these along the roadside during a ride, often in the middle of nowhere. The inscriptions translates as " to the resistats of the Foret D'Othe In memory of those who sacrificed their lives against the barbarity of Nazism, in order that you who pass by might live free" Oh I can't remember where this one was either but it's a church There is a decidedly religious theme to this ride, I would love to know the story behind the reason for painting this roadside shrine all red Madame Moon rang me and despite having helmet comms I don't ride whilst on the phone. The helmet comms allow me to respond, pull over and talk without having to remove gloves, helmet and earplugs. I pulled over to talk. Another resistants memorial less prominent as on a very minor back road and about half way between " nowhere" and " Elsewhere" Again I'd like to hear the story behind it and why specifically in this spot. riding out of the woods I came across this dead tree and knew instantly what it reminded me of! Any LOTR fans will instantly recognise it... if you are wondering why the memorials refer to "Maquis" or "Maquisards" rather than "resistants" a short French history lesson is neccessary: "Maquis" is a Corsican word designating the uncultivated bush or scrub land covering much of the islands highlands. when someone wanted to dissappear ( usually to hide from the authorities) they would " prend le Maquis" or take to the woods ( going "Bush" the aussies would say) The term "prendre le Maquis" or taking to the woods, rapidly became synonymous with joining the resistance during the war, especially later on when the resistants were able to form organised groups, so the different groups of resistants would take code names such as "le Maquis de MERRY -VAUX" as on the stele in the photo and their members were referred to as "Maquisards". reading between the lines I think that they were largely ineffectuel and more of a morale boost to the local population than a real problem to the occupying Nazis but there is NO doubt that some of their operations did make a difference and many of them died trying. For that reason alone we owe them our gratitude. The Massacre of Ouradour sur Glane was a direct reprisal by the Das Reich Panzer division for the destruction of the bridges over the Glane by the local "Maquis" preventing them from joining their infantry batallion in the counter offensive.

nice pics pedro nearly all the ingredients of a top ride report. Only thing missing is Burgundy... ?

look it up in english ya twat, its called the same thing

I was expecting a pair of marigolds from you Pete

sorry, didn't realise you don't have google where you are... https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foie_gras

chicken gizzards, even you know what foie gras is and Poulet de Bresse is rather special chicken, local to the area. https://www.parisperfect.com/blog/2015/07/poulet-de-bresse/

well, let's just say that they're not in the habit of being generous ( or just, or moral come to that...)

Salade de gesiers, fois gras et poulet de Bresse. bloody good it was too, though a little pricey in my opinion.

naah, good on the surface only, I've looked into it when it came up on the french sites weeks ago. As far as I can make out from michelin it is effectively 3 months, so not exactly a career more a holiday job, you provide and pay for everything and are paid by michelin.... oh, wait a minuite, you will be paid by michelin ( futur tense) the authors rights to whatever of your writings does eventually get published. now I might be pissed off with my job sometimes but it does have certain benefits that i'm not able to forgo for some promise of possible futur payment if they use my material and if they publish and if the book sells etc etc. if their motorcycle guide bears any resemblance to their touring /food/ hotel guide then it will be overpriced, overhyped, self serving elitist drivel. I will freely admit that I heartily dislike ans despise the michelin food guide and their entire approach to the food and hotel industry. However, if someone is free for 3 months and can do a bit of travel prose then more power to their elbow if they want to try their hand It could start a vocation for someone.but from what i've read to Michelin wanting to throw money at riders" I would suggest that there is a liberal use of " creative jonalism"

Oi! it's MONSIEUR le cunt to you... the boat in that pic came back this year, for sale if anybody fancies it...

I thought I'd do something useful yesterday ( yes, me! Useful! ) adn reckons I could tie it in with some riding. Since mother in Law was hospitalised at short notice a couple of weeks ago there were some loose ends needing tying up at her place, car to put in the garage, house to shut up properly and not least her Tax declaration to figure out and send in ( it seems that the French tax office does not recognise " being rushed to hospital with terminal illness" as a valid reason for late submission of declaration and will incurr a 10% penalty... wankers!) I also needed to make sure her home help was paid and that all declared for last month too. So, off at 09h00 ish and had planned a back road route that i'd never done before taking me via Pouilly en Auxois, Beaune, Verdun sur le Doubs to Louhans. I had to stop in the centre of Beaune for some luxury goods from https://www.mulotpetitjean.com/en/ the best pain d'epice EVER! but with shops only in Dijon or Beaune we don't get it very often ( it's also bloody expensive!) parked illegally infornt of a posh cheese shop, can't not get some smelly cheese now can I? I didn't stop much after that cos I needed to get on and get food before a telephone meeting I had scheduled for 14h00. Lunch i did what I needed to do in Louhans and set off home, lateer than planned and riding into fast deteriorating weather. Louhans - Chalon - mercurey- Couches - Autun - Brazey en Morvan - Saulieu - Avallon and home. I had planned on a more roundabout route but with time getting on and a number of storm cells moving eastwards in front of me I simply aimed for a gap and managed to pass between to cells riding some drenched roads but not actually getting actively rained on, the strom cell coming up from the west which I needed to stay in front off was quite impressive but moving fast so I didn't stop for any photos on the way home, just snapping this one specially for @XTreme once I got in and just before the heavens opened... 430 kilometers, beautiful scenery and roads and acheived something useful to boot all in all a successful day, AND i got to stuff myself silly with Pain d'epice at the end of it

yeah, i'm due back to work again on the 22nd so the bosses are taking a gamble on the uk borders re opening to the EU cos it'd be pointless otherwise. It does unfortunately mean that a couple of serious multi day rides I sort of planned for this summer now wont happen.

well i'vr got " the same so I could always send you one of them... ?