On friday, July 20 we leave home at 9 in the morning, to the "sunny south". The evening before we have loaded all of our things on the motorbikes, so after breakfast and some coffee, we can move immediatly. It is sunny, but quite windy. We drive by the polders, Utrecht, Eindhoven and Maastricht. As soon as we cross the Belgian border, it starts drizzling and in Luik, where we need to get some fuel at the service station, we find cover for the thunderstorm. But the more we move south, the brighter the sky.

Just over the French border, in the village of Montmédy we find signs that lead us to a camping. It is not a very large camping and you can just put up your tent, in the evening someone will drop by to collect the money. They do have a reasonable rate here on camping "la Citadelle": 1 car (2 bikes), 1 tent and 2 persons, only €8 per night.

We have our dinner in a pizza-shop in the village itself. Montmédy has very steep roads and later in the evening we walk to the "Citadel", a small village on top of the mountain, with a very thick wall all around it. In this village there are actually people living. They bought such a house and restaured it completely. The church is fully restaured too. One of the buildings reminds me of a war-movie. It could be a good location for it.

It is 25 degrees and really a lovely evening for a stroll. Near 10 we crawl into our sleepingbags. Tomorrow the second half of our trip to the French Jura mountains. The first 543 kms we've traveled so far.

On saturday, July 21st it is quite foggy in the morning, but soon the sun is coming through and the tent is dry in no time at all. By 8.30 we are back on our bikes again fully loaded again. We do follow the notorious "Route du Soleil". When we need to get some fuel, there are only Dutch lisenceplates at the service-station, with or without caravans or motorhomes.

We decide to take another road and follow the N57, which is parrallel to the Route du Soleil. This morning it is only 17 degrees and comfortable to drive. About 60 kms before Besançon it starts drizzling. We keep driving, because we don't really get wet, we blow dry by the wind as we drive. But eventually we have a stop and decide to put on our rain-overalls. Of course immediatly it becomes sunny and dry. That is how we enter the Parc Naturel Régional du Haute Jura.

Around 4 we reach the camping Jurabik near Choux and Jeannot offers us a complimentary drink. We chat a little and get a guided tour among the place. Then we load our stuff off the bikes. In one of the buildings there is a fridge and a cooker for the guests. There are only 2 other guests, Jaques and Caty from Paris. That evening we can join in with dinner and with the 9 of us we are in the room.

On sunday, July 22 we are up at 8 in the morning. For a gentle price we can get breakfast on the camping, so no running around with food and shopping every day. We really had a resting day planned, but we are full of energy, so we are going to attack some corners. I lead and Roel will follow. When we are fed up with those corners, Roel will lead the way with his GPS and we will be back on the camping quick enough.

I choose little mountainroads, but the only problem is that they all end in gravel after the last village. I hate gravel and so we drive back the same way all the time. Until Roel tells me that on the other side of the mountain there is a road of tarmac again. So I take a deep breath, kick my bike into first gear and let the leaver of the clutch slowly go. I start driving up the mountain and later drive down again. I need to drive at least 2 kms through gravel. I have sweat on my forehead and even more in my gloves, but I succeed to get back on tarmac again. First thing I do now is stop and take a portion of nicotine. I really need it now.

To be on the safe side, I follow the "route du lac" and that way we arrive at the viewpoint over the "barre de Vouglans". A reservoir with nice clear water. That evening there are guests on the camping, that use one of the tipi's and so the barbeque is started for the hamburgers.

On monday, July 23rd it is windy but dry. We have plans to visit the city of Geneva and the lake of course. We drive by Viry into the direction of St. Claude. Beautiful winding roads with a few harpins in them. From St. Claude we also try to find mountainroads to get to Geneva. By the side of the roads there are beautiful rockformations. On a certain moment I stop to make some pictures.

Roel will notice at some point if I'm no longer driving behind him. I don't want to take the risk to regret it later that I didn't take the opportunity to make pictures. When we come to a fuellstation in Gex, there are 2 bikes. One with a UK-license-plate and an American one. The American couple is touring Europe for 2 months on their own bike. They have problems with the GPS and are standing over a laptop in their top-suitcase. When they notice Roel had one of the same brand, they ask him for advice. Then we move on, up to Geneva. By the border of Switserland there are still the cabins of customs by the side of the road. We drive about 30 kms along the lake and stop on a road next to it.

Back in town, I should get a picture of the enormous fountain of course. In Geneva itself we see a lot of scooters passing over left and right. Not only youngsters, but also grandmothers and men in suits go on these scooters. We try to find an other way back, but we end up before a private road, so we go back as we came. We have a late lunch in the village of Mijoux. The first droplets are falling and in our rain-gear we come back on the camping at about 4pm. A thunderstorm is expected. We make a phonecall home to the boys and ask them to check the weatherforcast for this area. When it stays like this the next few days, we want to move home. We don't like this weather at all. Driving with a steamed up visor it is not nice to drive the highways, but what about the narrow mountainroads with the dangerous verges.

These verges are about 30 cm wide and then you look straight in the precipice. The sign "Bords dangereux" means as much as "keep your eyes on the tarmac", because these verges are not worth the attention. Besides that, where you look is where your bike goes. But the boys tell us that the weather will improve, so we stay. Jaques and Caty have left, so we are the only guests on the camping. I love the tranquility.

On tuesday, July 24 we take a day off. This morning I got spoiled by Jeannot. He made me a "gratin" of local cheese on my bread. In the morning it is still raining and I decide to wash my hair. By noon it is dry, both my hair and the weather. I decide to go to the village of Choux on foot, to take some pictures there. Roel is enjoying himself in the kitchen.

On my way back it starts raining and my hair gets wet again. Later in the afternoon the sun comes out and Roel decides to swop his headlights, as his dimmed headlight is not working anymore. But the other light is broken too, so we have to get some new ones in Dortan. It is only 37 kms, but by lovely roads, so I go with him. He drives by his GPS by Choux, Viry, Arbent and Point B to Dortan. When we are at the garage the rain starts pooring again and so we put on our rainoveralls before we move back. The third time today that my hair gets wet.

On the way back I will lead, without the GPS. Near the exit to Choux I know I only have to keep this road and drive straigt into a yeard of some factory. I should have kept left a bit. In front of us on the roads we see small canals of water runing down the mountain. We adjust our speed, 50 km/h is fast enough now. We get back safe on base. After dinner we have a stroll in the area of the camping.

Both tankbags are soaked too. But soon the sun is back again and the temperature rising. Everything is dried in the sun and I go lay next to it in the grass to get a bit of a tan. My white legs have not seen much sun the past few years. When the weather was fine they were hidden in leather pants.

On wednesday, July 25 we leave shortly after breakfast to the caves of Baum les Messieurs. They really are worth while. They are in a dead-end valley. After visiting those, we want to follow the wine-route. In Poligny we fuel up at a service-station. But if you have seen one vineyard, you've seen them all. On the way back the police stop us as they check every vehicle this day. After showing them our registration of the bike and our driver's license, we can move on again. We choose for mountainroads to get back to the camping.

I have a text-message from Genu and Dana, they will be in Choux tonight. I'll tell you what happened before:

On wednesday, July 18 I recieve a mail from Genu and Dana, telling that they will leave on friday to have a 2 week vacation in France. So I mail back, that we also leave on friday and will be staying on a camping in the area of Geneva. I get a mail back asking for details about the camping and I send him the link of camping Jurabik, because their plane is landing in Geneva and they will be staying in the area. So the next mail we exchange mobile phone-numbers, so we can get in touch by text-messages. They know we will be on our bikes during the day, but in the evenings we are available.

Around 8 pm they do arrive at the only restaurant in Choux and we have a wonderful hour together. After they have left Roel and I have our dinner in this same restaurant. We have their speciality, beef with melted cheese, a "mignon", some sort of cheese-pancake and salade on the side. Bottle of red wine to accompany it all. A perfect day, nice goal, good weather, beautiful roads, certainly the road back by Vulvoz and a successful meeting with Genu and Dana.

On thursday, July 26 we decide to drive to the south. We haven't been there yet. With the necessary mountainroads again. Way up in the mountains with a view over the lake of Nantua, we call the boys at home.

At home everything is fine and so we move on. While wandering and a detour by newly paved roads with the necessary fine gravel, we eventually en up in the countryside. A few A-roads are welcome now. At least the hairpins are on the signs here. By noon Roel gives me the option to grab a bite at a MacD. Great idea! The nearest is in Bourg-en-Bresse, only 69 kms away. On top of that there is another detour of about 10 kms. By 1.30 we arrive and have a good lunch. Now we can make it until dinner. In France dinner is served after 8pm. Restaurants open after 7 pm. But on the way I've made some nice pictures as well.

My second memorycard is full. The first one with 256 MB was full 2 days ago and now the 128 is full as well. We either should drive home, or find us an Internet-café and get the pictures on the memory-stick. We are nicely in time back on the camping. It is still very pleasant to lay in the sun for a while at 4 in the afternoon. There will be 2 more guests on the camping tonight. Jos from the Netherlands and Bram from Belgium. After dinner I already say goodbye to Jacotte. She will leave early tomorrow morning.

Jeannot has invited us to have dinner with the family tonight. It is our last evening here. In the morning we will leave. We'll see where we end up. The fastest route is by Luxemburg and Germany, cross the border near Arnhem and it is still 995 kms. Travelingtime will be 11 hours and 27 minutes according to the GPS. But we will need to take enough breaks, it would be quite a challenge and it would be a day-record for both of us.

On friday, July 27 we already pack stuff before breakfast. The sleepingbags are rolled and put back in their bags. The sleepingmats need to be deflated and rolled to get them back into the waterproof bags. The clothes need to be folded so they will all fit in the panniers. Then there is breakfast for the last time. We say goodbye to Jeannot. Then we get the things on the bikes and just after 9 am we drive off the camping, waved goodbye by Jeannot.

We turn right and drive into the mountains for the last time to go into the direction of St. Claude. From there we go to Besançon. There we soon find out that the road to Nancy has a detour. Near Quenoche we drive into a service-station, to get some fuel and eat some sanwiches. After a few more breaks we arrive in Luxemburg. In Berchem we need some fuel again and we take a longer break to eat and drink some more. There is no free place on the parking anymore, so we stop behind a few little cars, which leave enough space for us to stand between the lines and if anyone wants to leave, we can move the bikes. Then we drive into Germany. This should be the fastest route, but that is a bit disappointing. There are a lot of roadworks and the speed has to be adjusted. Once on the Autobahn we can drive 150 km/h and then we can make some progress. After about 250 kms, I move forward to drive next to Roel and point my finger to my mouth. I feel hungry. In Ville Ost, we first fuel up again and then we park the bikes to go into the restaurant for a good meal. That improves our concentration.

Near Arnhem we cross the border and the final time that we fuel up is about 12 kms before Zwolle. One more cigarette and then we go home in the final episode of this trip. Just after 10 pm we are home. We have been driving for 13 hours today. A final check on my kilometre-counter tells me that today we drove 1032 kms (641 miles). When we walk into the kitchen, it looks like a bomb has exploded. We definatly were not expected home yet.

This vacation we drove 2959 kms (1839 miles) and we really enjoyed the mountainroads of the Jura in France. But for now we go straight ahead here in the Netherlands.