Chimay...

The brewery tour ending up being more of a museum of the history of Chimay beer, how it's made, the involvement of the Monks, etc.  Pretty cool but not exactly what I had expected.  Chimay also produces excellent cheeses.  Everything they do is organic and sustainable - plus the profits from operations go to charity.  Pretty impressive business model

We stayed for lunch after the tour and started with a cheese sampler plate - delicious!  Also had another Croque Monsieur sandwich  - this time Belgium style.  No Béchamel sauce but filled with delicious creamy Chimay cheese.

After lunch we rode the 300 km to Amsterdam.  We are camping about 10 km outside the city center - with a subway stop just down the street.  Tomorrow we will explore Amsterdam as we are staying here two nights.  There is a restaurant here at the campground that served me the best mushroom soup of my life - I wanted to cancel my entree order and just have two more soups.  The campgrounds here in Europe seem to all have really good restaurants on site.  Maybe I can order the mushroom soup for dessert?

Only 45 EUR - don't think it will fit on the bike.

Chimay the town.

More Chimay.

The Trappist brewery.

Chimay!

Paris to Chimay...

Today we rode into Paris and visited the Eiffel Tower and the Arc de Triomphe.  The traffic in Paris is pretty crazy.  My bike was overheating once again.  We spent about an hour off the bikes and were in traffic for probabably three hours.  We did see some very cool buildings, sights, etc. - but most from the seat of the motorcycles.  I think Paris would be a good city to visit again by foot and public transport.  Too much traffic to get around by motorbike or car.

The ride from Paris to Chimay, Belgium was very good - backroads through small villages and farmlands.  We are camping in the town of Chimay - home of the world famous Trappist monk brewery.  We will be doing the tour tomorrow - we are enjoying the beer on tap tonight at the Queen Mary bar in the town of Chimay.

The tower.

Close up.

Paris streets.

A random pic I got off while rolling through Paris.

Chimay - delicious!!!

Burgundy and Champagne...

We left camp early to get a jump on Paris.  We we wanted to camp around 100 km outside so we could go in and explore the city after morning rush hour.  Today's ride took us through the Burgundy and Champagne regions of France.  We stopped in Dijon for lunch and ordered the blue plate special - cheese Quiche starter and main of beef cheeks with potatoes, carrots and cabbage in a burgundy broth.  It was quite good.  We also shared a Croque Monsieur side car which was also good.  A bit of an upgrade from my Royale w/ Cheese at McDonalds last week when we were in France for a few hours on our way to Switzerland.

The roads in France are really good and we saw very little traffic.  We set the GPS to avoid tolls and expressways so the rid was through small towns, farms and vineyards.  The weather also turned out to be great even though the forecast called for rain.

We did find a campground almost exactly 100 km from Paris.  We won't stay too long as air cooled motorcycles and big cities don't mix too well.  We will head to Belgium after Paris - might even find a good beer there.

Near champagne.

Dijon.

Need to come back for a tasting tour.

Lunch.

Across the Alps to Chamonix...

We camped in a Swiss town called Chur. It was dark when we rolled in and didn't really believe the GPS was leading us to a campground as we were basically in the town. But it was a campground right on the edge near the river. Fairly expensive at 32 EUR for two tents, but Switzerland in general is pretty expensive. It was mostly RV's and permanent mobile homes - and one other tent besides our two. It rained just a bit in the early morning - just enough to wet the fly so it had to be packed away wet.

We were on the east side of Switzerland and our route was to ride across several Swiss alps passes and into the French alps down to Chamonix. The forecast was for rain and some if the passes topped out at 8500 ft. So we were hoping it would not snow and they would stay open. They did stay open. It did rain. And it did snow a bit at the top of one pass. It was chilly all day - but not nearly the coldest we have been. We have heated jackets - thanks to Marybeth bringing them to Milan for us - but didn't quite need them yet. I'm sure we will use them at some point as we head north.

Switzerland is definitely the big winner for best roads to ride. The scenery is beautiful and the roads are smooth with awesome curves - except when they are wet we have to take it easy. Missing a turn would be a fatal error. Some of the drops on the passes went down several thousand feet.

We are camping tonight at an abandoned ski area outside Gex, France. We can call this one a Dutchman as we probably aren't supposed to be here - but free is good. Germany, Italy, Switzerland and France are crazy expensive so we have to conserve when we can. We tried to go to a legitimate campground but it was closed. Tomorrow we will go through The Burgundy region and hopefully stop in Dijon for some sight seeing and lunch - then on towards Paris. Our days left are getting numbered and we need to see as much as we can in the time left.

Swiss countryside.

More countryside.

Down the pass.

Chamonix.

Stelvio and the Alps...

I arrived back in Milan Sunday afternoon after a 500 km ride back from Croatia.  I took the scenic route from Venice to Milan to avoid the high tolls on the A4 Autostrade.  It was a good choice as the route took me through dozens of vineyards and small towns.  I stopped for lunch and had one of the best pizzas of my life.  It was a prosciutto and mushroom with a perfectly baked crust.  I easily ate the whole pizza - it was delicious.  Since I had skipped breakfast and it was 2:30 in the afternoon I was good and hungry.

I was staying the night with Cristiano and Sabrina who we had met in Mongolia.  Ken and Marybeth came over for dinner and Sabrina cooked up a delicious meal. It was zucchini with a tomato basil sauce, Parmesan and a mozzarella like cheese that isn't mozzarella - but the name escapes me.  I hope I can find that cheese in the US as it really made the dish.  We also had some sparkling red wine that Cristiano and Sabrina happen to have 100 liters of - they are Italian after all.  You can never have too much wine!

On Monday morning Marybeth got on a plane back to the U.S. and Ken and I headed for the Italian Alps - Stelvio and Gavia passes to be exact.  They are both famous passes not to be missed on a motorcycle.  In fact when Ken and I were debating on going that route, Cristiano said we would be STUPID not to go.  The weather was forecasted to be ideal and he said we just need to DO IT - so we did and Cristiano was right.  We would have been stupid to miss these mountian passes.  They were spectacular.  We hit Gavia first and then Stelvio. At the bottom of Stelvio we were just a short distance from Switzerland where we ran some more incredible roads and passes. The Italian passes of Gavia and Stelvio were technical switchbacks where you couldn't get much speed - but the scenery was amazing.  In Switzerland the roads have sweeping turns and are perfectly smooth - lots of fun running at speed.  We got to a camp after dark after a 10 hour day behind the bars.  Tomorrow will be more Swiss alps and then into the French alps.  I hope the weather holds!

Top of Gavia.

Top of Stelvio looking down.

Snowy peak overlooking Stelvio.

Rijeka, Croatia...

I rode all afternoon across eastern Italy and then down through Slovania to Croatia.  It was long way to go to just have a few hours of daylight and stay overnight but I had it in my head that I wanted to see Croatia.  The ride was very nice - except for the Italian Autostrada tolls.  I don't know how anyone can afford to drive here - between the tolls and gas prices it's a small fortune.  It's going to be a total of $150 USD in tolls by the time I get back to Milan.  If I had more time I would just take the back roads which are more enjoyable anyway - but I didn't have the time.  

Rijeka is right on the coast and has beaches and Marinas with the city built up the hillside.  It's pretty but I didn't want to stay in the city - I found a campground about 25 km in the outskirts.  I met a guy from Turkey at the campground that flew fighter planes for the military.  He had a 20 day leave so was riding to Italy and back.  We shared a few stories and beers together at the camp restaurant/bar.  The campgrounds in Europe seem to have much more amenities than I'm used to from US campgrounds.  The food is like you at dining in an upscale restaurant - but the prices are also.  Camping in Europe is pretty expensive.  I paid over $20 per night plus all the add ons.  Internet is extra, laundry facilities extra, pool access extra and in some cases hot water for a showers extra.  It adds up pretty quick.

Today I will ride back to Milan and meet back up with Ken an Marybeth.  It will be about 450 km so hence the early start.  Looking forward to also visiting with Cristiano again and Sabrina who I haven't seen since Mongolia.

Rijeka.

Rijeka from up in the hills.

Rijeka marina.

The beach - about 75 degrees today.

Somewhere in town.

 

Outside Rijeka near my camp.