This is part of the sixteenth section of our around the world trip.
Complete Trip Overview & Map

Coming from the United Kingdom or read our previous visit to France   

15/1/10 We had pre-booked our hotel, not knowing what the weather would bring this side of the channel and settled in to plan our route to Morocco.

16/1/10 It hadn't long been daylight when we left the Formula 1 Hotel in Boulogne, taking the freeway south, not worrying too much about the highway tolls as it was 2 degrees and we just wanted to get to warmer temperatures. Snow lay alongside the road, sometimes covering whole fields, other times just lying in melting drifts. By mid morning light drizzle had started and as we passed through Rouen it became heavy drizzle, the worst, worse than snow which is at least dry. Wet and cold is bad riding and as it was stinging my open face we rested for a while at a petrol station trying to warm up. After 400 km's we stopped mid afternoon, the day never having been above 3 degrees, stopping in Le Mans, still with patchy rain storms but not as consistent. Took a "Fast Hotel", another one in the French format of cheap roadside hotels in industrial areas.

17/1/10 9.00am start as we watched the sunrise from the motorcycle, the first sun we have seen in a while. The day improved to 10 degrees heading further south. Slowly the snow disappeared, the grass was greener, and cows were even seen out grazing. Our heated jackets and gloves keeping us warm, along with track suits we bought from a second hand shop, which we can donate to someone further south probably into Morocco. Another in the chain of cheap French hotels, "Premier Class", with internet access. All these hotels have a 6.00pm day of arrival cancellation policy so should our ride get washed out or if we ride further we can always late cancel, but it's good to have a target booking, particularly on a long cold day.

18/1/10 Leaving France today, after leaving our hotel on a frost covered motorcycle, which thankfully meant a sunny day and great riding weather.

Move with us to Spain or go to our next visit to France

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