2006 meeting - french alps provence
 

hello,

i discussed with grant and the french hubb communities about the opportunity to organize a travellers meeting in France : french alps provence would be the dream location !

alain arnaud is experienced : he has organised tours / hostings for touratech, bmw, etc ... : that s his job before he can realize his dream : ride round the world :-). he can host us and make us visit the french alps and provence :

http://www.provence-moto-rando.org/

feel free to visit his website and give any feedback about this eventual travellers meeting. ideas welcome, cheers.

If you could time it so people could

get to your meeting
get to the Isle of Man Tourist Trophy
and then get to the HU UK meeting ...

Alternative - have it after the UK meeting.. may not be so good as those that go to the UK meet may like to tour around the UK for a while?

Might see you in 2007? Thinking of travelling up through Africa to the IOM TT centaniary so hiting a few meetings and rallies on the way through would be good.



[This message has been edited by Frank Warner (edited 12 January 2006).]

frank,
you're right, the timing is important.
1- alain could host (food, rooms, tours etc ...) "à la carte", so i ll have to ask him his availabilities.
2- that's also grant's organisation and we need grant's approval.
i'm open to make the link, if necessary, if some people are interested in participating to a french meeting in this beautiful dream spot.
thanx.

yes... http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/ubb/smile.gif

we'll sort it out asap!

when? 2006 or 2007 ???

hello,
here s what i received today from alain :

"Pour ma part, il me reste encore 4 week ends de libres pour cet été, dont celui du 15 août.
Les salles (pour repas, réunions, projection de films et diaporama) sont maintenant toutes réservées pour cette année. C'est à dire que si nous voulons faire quelque chose de sérieux, il faut réserver maintenant pour 2007 !
Il y a une salle "idéale", où nous pouvons faire des projections, où il y a du son, où nous pouvons manger à environ 150 personnes (si d'aventure il fallait prévoir plus de monde, je peux avoir d'autres salles plus grandes) et avec un parking.
Hébergement et restauration : pas de problème. On peut improviser plus facilemnt que la salle.
Je pense qu'il faudrait qu'on se recontacte, verrons avec Grant pour avoir son feu vert, afin d'organiser sereinement quelque chose de bien pour 2007.
Je pense, vu la vitesse à laquelle passe le temps, que c'est plus sage.
Alain"

So, he's booked out for this year. I don't think the meeting will be that big this year, so give this one a try: http://www.relais-motard-fontgaillarde.com/ I think it would be ideal for a smallish meeting, but you have to ask about camping. Normally they have rooms only.

Beddhist, that link just gives me a blank blue page, in IE and Firefox. ??

Grant

Seems to be interest - so does anyone know a good spot?

Camping, meeting room, food and drink...

Grant & Vincent: their web page seems down, but the cached version in Google gives:

Relais Motard de Fontgaillarde
Chez JL et Pat Audibert
04170 THORAME Haute

Tél Fax : 04 92 83 51 34

I know the place, that's why I thought it would be a good location. Awesome food!

Vincent, may I suggest you ring them to find out whether they are still in business? Then you can discuss everything further.

If they have closed down I'd like to know, please.

hello,
i just talked with alain on the phone tonight.
he can organize everything :
- camping, host, find hotels in/around his village
- catering (food, drinks) with the help of people from his village
- road books and rides around provence and south alps
- book a big entertainment room for slide shows, talks around tables, interviews, bar, disco, vendors, etc ...
- ...
some bookings may depend on the delaies.
have a look at his website to see his "dream" location (SISTERON) :
http://www.provence-moto-rando.org/

he has organised before some meetings for touratech, bmw ...

he does this as a volunteer for an association "provence moto rando", in order
to finance, one day, his dream world tour.

just have to find an agreement/partnership with him

regards

nb : beddhist, the phone rings correctly when i called today.

hello, i reached Relais Motard de Fontgaillarde on the phone yesterday : they can welcome a meeting (they are able to host 40 people maxi.), are only open during the summer, it s a business or a private company, they ll send me their catalogue and quotations (their website is out of order, no email, no english, only reachable by phone and regular mail at the moment).

Oh La La and it is nice down there. Some Roquefort, Artisou and Chateau somewhere plonk, just be very careful you dont leave as two and come home as three! 2007 Please. Time to organise the pass out.

40 isn't big enough unfortunately. Keep trying elsewhere - come on you Europeans - surely there's SOMEWHERE!

What numbres are you thinking of Chris? The OZ meeting had around 100. The UK one is around what 200? I'd think the first one in France would be about the 100 mark? Takes time for people to learn about the meeting and then motivated to get along.

At the OZ meeting people were not that interested in going for rides - more in the talks.

Maybe an indication of who wants to go from the communities - to get an idea of numbers?

the 10th EAR (european airhead riders rendezvous) will be in southern france first week of september (4th-8th). the location has not been decided yet, but it will definitely be in southern france again.
for details you may subscribe to the euroheads list (www.euroheads.org) or follow the postings here.

regards...
-=airhead=-
(valence/france)

The UK Meeting was around 350 last year, easily over 400 this year. Registrations are already well up over last year and coming in fast.

I think a Euro meeting will easily be 100, maybe more, the first year. There's a possibility of it being larger than the UK Meeting in a few years.

We don't want it TOO big though, the whole feeling changes, so will split and add more as needed.

Grant

Eeegads ... 400!

Splitting sounds good. One in the north doing um routes, another in the south doing equipment? They could both cover the same ground; just each one has a different emphasis?

Anyways - for a first French one may be a place that can have upto ... well, a little over 100?

What do you mean by "come on you Europeans"? I always thought the UK was in Europe ;-)
Maybe you meant the "Continentals" :-)))

I'm deaf on that ear, because I'm leaving for Southern Africa & Oz in 4 weeks, where it's hopingly warmer than our -18°C here in Bavaria. But on return we might discuss this, 2008 or 2009 maybe.

What do you mean by "come on you Europeans"? I always thought the UK was in Europe ;-)
Maybe you meant the "Continentals" :-)))
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Yep - you're absolutely right! http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/ubb/frown.gif

so ok, "Continentals"! Surely someone knows SOMEWHERE!

Just cause you're leaving doesn't mean you don't know somewhere good! Hmm??

have a great trip anyway! If you want a free blog go to the Travellers Stories page.

Grant

airhead,
for your "european airhead riders rendezvous", you could contact alain arnaud, if he's free at this time of the year. he has already organised also a meeting for the french bmw yahoo grouplists.
let us know where you go :-)

Keep early September free... more news soon as we get it all confirmed! http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/ubb/biggrin.gif

who knows, might even be two central Euro meetings, plus Portugal!

grant
i let him know.
so, what s the travellers meeting schedule this summer and opportunities for a french one with alain ? there s also the stella alpina which is not too far from alain's place.

I'm waiting for a reply from Alain - perhaps you could prod him? He was heading off for a trip last I heard, so he may not be back yet.

Meeting schedule is posted, some changes to come - check back in 10 days for an updated list.

Grant

hello
you can get in touch with the french yahoo gs group, they have really enjoied their time with alain organising their trip in 2005 during 3 days and + around Sisteron (provence alps)
http://fr.groups.yahoo.com/group/GS_Fr/?yguid=145620204
have a good trip,
i told alain about you. he ll be around sisteron (his location in south esat of france) beginning of september

2007 FRANCE MEETING in SISTERON (Provence)
 

hello,

With Grant and Susan, we had to cancel the official 2007 Horizons Unlimited Motorcycle Travellers' Meetings. Sorry.

Alain ( http://www.provence-moto-rando.org/ ) and I (and a few friends) are still trying to do something UNOFFICIAL, no real organisation (people sleep and eat wherever they want in Sisteron - camping, hotels, restaurants, etc ... possible/available), NO registration/subscription, no money involved, so it's FREE.
Of course, we can provide full info to find some nice camping or hotel or similar in order to gather easily, instead of being spread all over the place ...

For those who know Sisteron, in the Provence / South Alps of France, it's wonderfull.

DATE :
weekend of august 24-25-26 2007. You can come some days before and after.

PLACE :
Sisteron, Provence (France)
http://www.sisteron.com/

WHAT TO DO ?
Riding in the French Alps Provence and around, on-road and off-road, firecamps, sleep in the mountain, etc ... in a friendly atmosphere ... we wish it travellers orientated.
Alain can be our guide (with friends if necessary, depending on the number of riders coming) during the weekend only (he has to work during the week).
He was for example proposing : saturday go to "gorges du verdon", sunday go to "col de la bonnette" (l2 very famous rides).
And can give us some kind of road books during the week to organise some rides by ourselves (without him) during the day.

We'll try to "advertise" around, like here on the HUBB, Advriders.com, etc ... don't hesitate to talk about it around also

cheers,

nb : any questions or suggestions or requests, pls just tell ...