My first motorcycle tour – Brighton to Brittany 5 day trip

In this video I ride From my hometown of Brighton and set sail from Newhaven to Dieppe. I then explore some amazing French destinations including Honfleur, St Malo, Mont Saint-Michel and spend an unplanned night in a beautiful, quirky French Chateau…Enjoy!

Joly and Chris’s Chateau Trois Cloches YouTube channel:
https://www.youtube.com/@chateautroiscloches

Music by William_King from Pixabay

seeing that I got my full motorcycle license recently I thought I’d venture out on my first motorbike Tour on my 125 yeah okay it’s not a big bike yet but hey I don’t have L plates anymore and more importantly I can legally ride abroad so that’s exactly what I did by taking a little 5-day trip across Normandy and Britany and France from campsites to chat I travel to four destinations including the picturesque Port Town of hon Flur with it lovely Harbor and vibrant art scene from there I rode in historic W city of St Malo continuing my journey I visit the incredible monent Michelle with his Abby Rising dramatically from the tidal waters my final night took an unexpected turn with an unplanned night stay at a beautiful chatau in the French Countryside I hope you enjoy my first motorcycle Adventure where my journey starts in my hometown of Brighton right here we go France here I come but first I’ve got to get to New Haven Ferry Terminal to get a ferry over to deep R’s a bit gray but the sun is sort of trying to come out should take about half an hour to get there just arrived in New Haven and it’s just starting to Absolut Chuck it down just about to go and get some petrol before I get onto the ferry here we go New Haven fery terminal I think I’m pretty early Take Care thank you cheers bye hello hi yeah how you doing yeah just a few questions large knives or car arms just to like a little cooking night that was good I thought they were going to take my gas canister off me cuz they asked me about it but they said it didn’t matter cuz it’s just a small one right I’ve done this plenty of times on a push bike once on a scooter to a island in uh Italy called Elba but never on a motorcycle so this is all very new to me on a m [Music] [Music] [Applause] up the around [Music] okay nice thank [Music] you so the sun is out thank goodness and I’m off now to France it’s about a 4our trip I get to diet and then I’ve got an hour and a half or so rides to a little Port town called hon Flur I mean I’d love to see a hanback whale or a minky whale or even a pot of dolphins would be nice not like him a chances there that’s Seaford over there New Haven Brighton around the corner one another teth your France Bono the app welcome to France not quite in France yet though got to go through Uh custom a lot of motorcyclists a lot of push uh cyclist as well push B so it’s actually going to take just over 2 hours to get to Pon Flur I put into Google Maps so it avoids motorways and tolls so I don’t want to be going on those and it’s a lot nicer to ride on quieter Country Roads last time I was here I was on a bike going up that hill right in front of me not sure which where I’m going this time was your voila let’s see meu of what right here we go welcome to France I got remember the ride on the right hand side yeah so this is uh where I cycled into last time when I cycled all the way to Norway I came up this hill it was a bit of a slug I’m not going to lie uh a lot easier on a motorbike what a beautiful day do like the French roads they’re so quiet this is what it’s like in most places around France I’m just riding into hon Flur now it’s actually somewhere I’ve been before I came here a few years ago but I came on a bike I cycled here uh that took me 2 days this Trip’s Taking Me 2 hours so a little bit different in terms of uh time nice bikes there but yeah it’s really beautiful look at this to my left Carousel this is that’s like the the main thing this little Port area here surrounded by beautiful little restaurants and coffee shops and stuff but I’ll show you around there once I’ve pitched my tent um figure out where I’m going now cobbles bumpy I turn right here and then the campsite should be around there I hope they’ve got space hey they’ve got space costs €160 so pretty good and I’m pitch number 98 that was a lot straightforward than I thought it was going to be 998 I’m guessing it’s this one then was that 99 I’ll just go here for out yes I do all pitched up yeah today was really good very different bike packing of a bicycle uh obviously cover a lot more ground and a lot colder but I think that’s just cuz it wasn’t particularly warm um I put my coat on in the end and I was fine but yeah I really enjoyed it and uh in a minute I’m going to go and walk to that nice little um Port area which I showed you earlier and I’ll show you around there um but yeah it’s a lovely evening sun’s out and it’s roasted now so I’ve got my shorts on and my flip-flops so I’m now walking down to the bit where all the restaurants are so now but this is the road that leads to it how nice is this look how old these buildings are I mean I don’t know how old they are but I’m guessing [Music] very how nice is this look little Marina surrounded by restaurants and cafes and shops and a little Mero round thing carousel look at these buildings they kind of remind me of the tightly packed houses you get in Copenhagen take a little walk around this way well you’re spoiled for choice for restaurants plenty of places to eat although I won’t be in here tonight because I’ve got my little gas stove this place is a lot more busy look I can tell you why cuz it’s in the Sun and all those restaurants over there are in the shade [Music] [Music] so this church to the left of me is called St A’s church is the oldest wooden Church in all of France and it was built by Norman shipbuilders apparently and the bell tower is across the road from it so it’s not even attached to the [Music] church so that’s all me done for today just cooking up my evening dinner got some spicy Mexican Star Rice avocado and tomato Chito and cette and a bit of cheese so that should be tasty and tomorrow I’ve got a long ride to S Malo um but I’ll tell you more about that in the morning so until then see you then it’s just gone 9:00 and today I’ve got a 4-Hour ride to Sint Malo where I’m staying for 2 nights it’s about 140 M so double the distance that I did yesterday but first going to stop in a town called DeVille to get some petrol didn’t get the best night sleep to be honest always managed to pitch my tent next to a guy in another tent who’s snoring God it was unbelievable and it rained a bit and I woke up to thunder it’s still a little bit rainy now but hopefully it will clear up let’s see what today has the store d not like the look of those clouds one little bit it looks like I’m about to get pretty wet that’s summer it’s June come on son it’s so cold I got caught in the rain I felt like Jim car and Dumb and Dumber even with two coats and a jumper and a t-shirt on I still pretty cold got a little bit wet I mean granted they’re not the the warmest jacket but yeah just the sun is out now and it feeling really nice so just going to have to stop for something to eat still got two and a half hours to go and I got Jesus for company so I was just filling up that Petra station behind me and it’s one of those ones where you do it yourself like put your card in and it then it um allows you to put the pet in I did it and it uh it declined it so I tried it again declined it again tried it a third time I noticed that it’s taken 72 quid out of my account without giving me any petrol so that’s a bit annoying so now I’m waiting here opens at 2 apparently this is the shop that’s connected to that petrol station so hopefully they can give me a refund but I don’t know bit annoying though and I still don’t have any petrol oh yeah and the engine management light has also just turned on but it’s got a habit of doing that sometimes and then it just goes off currently I’m riding without Speedo half the time so you can’t trust these Chinese motorcycle Brands sinis get your out [Music] together okay an hour later I think it’s resolved apparently I’m going to get a refund in about 8 Days annoyingly um screw you e ler uh the shop that opened at two the one that they told me to go to then told me to go to the bigger one over there which I did thank God for Google translate otherwise that would have been a lot harder um I already got to learn French I think being a bit annoying and I still got to try and figure out how to get petrol hopefully it was just a mistake and it won’t happen again um cuz I do need it try again English ah doesn’t like this card don’t tell he’s done it again oh my God it’s taking it again look what the hell so annoying so did it again so now I’m going to try a different petrol station about 5 minutes way let’s see if I have any much luck with that hey let’s try again different different P station this time English okay it’s working it’s worked thank god it worked what a bloody pain that was 2 hours later I’m back on my way to St m so I still got an hour and 16 to get there so I just get there around about 5ish so annoying I don’t know what’s happened but that other Petra station just doesn’t like monzo card oh it’s a beautiful day now I’ve just arrived into St Malo literally came through this tunnel and here it is looks pretty nice it’s qu 5 just got to find my campsite now hopefully it’s still open okay so my campsite should be just here it is it open yes it is looks all right I can park anywhere in here with the cyclists H so where should I go just oh in this bit here a bit of off-roading this will do nice yeah so actually cost me £613 I thought it was going to cost me about 40 quid so that’s good saved a bit of money there um considering I lost all that money earlier 80 odd quid but I should get that back right let’s find some my flat here you go look all pitched up under this nice little tree and as far away as any potential snorers as I could get so yeah I’m uh spending two nights in St mow so that’ be nice have a little bit of a chill day tomorrow no motorcycling just explore the city today was a bit of a faf to be honest um the weather at the beginning was so cold and a bit wet then it it got hot but then I had that issue with the for the petrol so they bloody robbed me of 80 quid didn’t they um I said to the security guy in the shop it’s like does this ever happen he goes it happens from time to time to people like you meaning tourists um so it’s a bit annoying I think it’s something to do with monzo uh but hopefully I’ll get that refunded and uh have a nice couple of days so probably go for a little explore in a sec and I’ll show you what I see just when I thought I was free from potential snorers big guy who looks like a snorer to me has pitched his tent within a few meters of my tent oh it’s going to be trouble if he snores going to be trouble so just down there is my tent look and just here is I’m guessing some type of World War II defense with some crazy shelling in it look at that that’s metal and that’s clean like a bullet or something going through that that’s crazy I know St Malo had a lot to do with the the war but I’m not sure what I know there’s a TV program that was just on BBC recently I think I don’t know what it has to do with the war but maybe you do leave a note in the comments so here’s my campsite just here look and right next to it is some type of Fortress I’m guessing once again probably something to do with the war not entirely sure let’s go and check it out yeah look bunkers and gun turrets there’s a gun on top of there and then the like the old town of St Malo is just over there pretty good spot I’d say look at this gun and it’s still intact pretty much that is one gnarly looking gun [Music] come on you know it had to be done you can tell why they put this Fortress here great position to attack the enemy look at that for a view lots of little Islands dotted around as well also got little fortresses on and there’s the old town just over there behind that massive ferry so that Ferry I just chatting to a bik Packer guy it goes from here all the way to Portsmouth so tomorrow I’ll take a walk over to the Oldtown probably take about 45 minutes to get over there uh explore that for most of the day there’s even a little island there it’s got a Causeway on it so I don’t know if that’s tidal but I’ll try and check that out but for tonight I’m just going to stay on this side have a little bit of explore around the beach and that and chill this evening just realized this Ferry is totally ruining my view of the old town oh well that’s another gun turret here absolutely bombarded with shelling hang on is that is that a shell there lodged in look at the size of these look my whole arm can fit inside would not have want to be the person firing from in there when this happened so I’ve walked about 5 minutes from my campsite to the other side of the mound the campsite sort of perched on a mound and look what it leads to this beautiful little beach of a little Fortress just there look how nice is that [Music] can you hear that bonjour it’s about 20 10 and I told you that guy was going to be a snore didn’t I I knew it but I managed to get some okay sleep and this morning I’m taking a walk about a 2K walk to inaro which is the old town just over [Applause] there the whole road is moving look at this just trying to cross over to inaro I think a boat is trying to come through or out there you go boat leaving and another boat coming [Music] [Applause] in so the old town is built Behind These massive City walls and there’s a tunnel over here we can get in I think it’s free and my campsite is just there that mound and you can also do little boat excursions which take around all the little islands with the Forts and stuff it’s about €25 I think it’s about 2 and 1 half hours long not sure and this is the entrance look oh it looks nice lots of buntings and coffee shops and what I can see I thought I’d give one of these a try I think they’re called a bur esur and they cost €3 see what it’s like basically tastes like a um churro these are the steps up to the Sea w [Music] [Music] [Music] there’s a really nice sea wall that protects the harbor to the left here with the city in the background which leads to a lighthouse I think it’s about time to send up my drone [Music] [Music] so this Island’s finally accessible Now by this Causeway the tide has well and truly gone out it’s actually gone out a little bit too much more than I wanted it to I thought it’ look quite cool on the Drone if it was like really close to the cor oh well I went and did a a little food shop so that’s why it’s gone out so much uh let’s go and check out this island you got really beautiful yellow and blue flowers up up here lots of Wildlife and you get a good view of all the other little islands that are dotted about in the sea you can see that so you got a really nice view of the old town from up here and the Lio which just there that was completely underwater earlier look how much Tide’s gone out all of that sand was totally water so that’s me done exploring for today going to head back take my cooking stuff down to the beach where I was last night and cook up a feast and I was going to jump off the top here do a back flip but you know can’t be bothered got all my stuff and it’s bit of f in it have a look there it’s quite High [Music] keich for dinner on a stove not even sure if it will cook properly but look at that for a view not bad e see you tomorrow bonjour good morning so I’ve really enjoyed St mow it’s a really cool place nice to unwind for a day but today I’m off to Mont s Michelle another amazing place where I’ve actually cycled to before this is only about an hour’s drive away it’s a little bit windy today but at least the sun’s out but before I do that I just want to introduce you to a motorcyclist that I met while staying at this campsite and he’s got a proper bike so this is Alex and you’ve been he’s Scottish yeah yeah I’ve Been Everywhere Malo yeah Mell andur Barcelona Sardinia Cora back to Sardinia wow Albania uh C ofal refuse to ENT at Serbia back to North Macedonia Bulgaria Hungary turkey Austria Germany France then back to S Maro so how many weeks is that nine 10 10 not 10 weeks wow 10 weeks of 7,000 miles and you riding a BMW GS how many how many cc is this 800 800 CC a lot more luggage than me look at all this the pan are much bigger so you can carry a lot more I think I need to get myself one of these one side’s cook inside and the other side’s close yeah okay and you got an extra fuel tank as well yeah yeah nice gets you to trouble yeah it does right here we go off to monsa Shell just over an hour to get there it’s only about 50 km away but this campsite has been lovely really recommend it see a lovely Beach see you another time and there it is look just comes out of the ground out of nowhere so flat everywhere and all of a sudden boom there you go and I recognize this from the last time I came camping this way I remember this building from last time a little bit early for checkin a little bit too eager I can check in from 12 but in the meantime I’m going to go to this little Cool River formation that I’ve seen online um and see if I can get some cool drone shops of it and here it is look I’ve seen this on Instagram and thought it looked really cool so I thought I’d come and check it out for myself it’s called leidi if you want to find [Music] it what a beautiful dog just made a new friend come on see you later here I am pitch number 74 man that was actually quite hard to find and I am hot yes so the only neighbor I’ve got is this little dragonfly hello mate look at that don’t think he’s too well though yeah I did actually have another guy snoring in the tent next to me last night wasn’t so bad uh but yeah hopefully quiet night tonight so I’m all pitched up technically not in my space but there’s no one around I don’t think it really matters I wanted to be under this tree in case it rained tonight which is actually forecast to uh going to eat some food now and then going to take a walk to the island I think it’s an island um there is a bus that can take you there but I’ve got plenty of time so just going to do that and then this afternoon just going to go and explore so see you in a bit check out this Beast of a vehicle I guess it’s to rescue people they get stuck in the mud if they get caught out with the tide size those [Music] tires so it’s 2 km walk from the village to Mont s Michelle last time I had my bike so I cycled here the uh the bus is free however you want to do that but I decided to walk I might get the shuttle back uh last time I came it was beautiful it was so Sunny so I’ve already got about a million shots of it so at least I’d have to do that this time it’s very touristy but I can tell why it is an amazing place there’s a church right at the top which I walk up to and then there’s lots of like little buildings and houses all slate roofs surrounding the big Mount this is the main entrance it’s so busy [Music] this first road is full of gift shops and restaurants and bars and stuff like that a little bit tacky but the buildings look pretty legit this place is something like out of Harry Potter it’s so amazing and it is magical but last time I was here it was even more magical I think that was because the weather was out the Sun was shining and it it really was special and it was the first time I visited it this is second don’t me wrong it is amazing but maybe that’s why I really enjoyed St Malo yesterday just cuz the weather was so perfect took me 3 Days To cycle here last time and I remember barely being able to climb up these steps cuz my knee was just totally mashed from all the cycling it was in so much pain but thankfully I don’t have that problem this time you don’t have that issue with motorbikes so down here is the prison it’s a very big hole at the moment there’s a lot of money down there I guess people have been making wishes and the church is up there but I’m not going to go in it cuz I went in last time you have to pay to go in and it’s just a church really good view at the top though here you go look it’s €13 to get into the church [Music] I found this tiny little alley can barely actually can’t get through which leads all the way to the main straight [Applause] haer it’s just started to rain this place is a lot nicer when the sun’s out and like I mentioned earlier I came here a few years back and it was beautiful so there’s no point me fly my drone today you might as well enjoy these beautiful shots from when I came last time [Music] so it’s midnight this is what I have to power with [Music] with four nights in a [Music] row so that was the worst night sleep ever C to see of loud snore number four and the fact that it was chucking it down a rain all last night I’ve left pretty early it’s halfast 8 and I might change my plans today the plan was originally go to RR uh but as it’s due to rain I might swap that and go straight to DEET or possibly I’ve asked a friend who owns a chatau who lives about an hour and a half away outside of theet if I can pitch my tent in their Garden a bit of a long shot but you never know um but I’ll update you as I go uh it’s about a 5H hour ride today it looks like it might rain a bit so I might not film as much okay a slight change of plan so I’m going to stay in a shat tonight how cool is that um I messaged the guy if I could pitch my tent in their garden and he was like just let yourself in here’s the key code and uh make yourself at home so that’s pretty nice and the rain’s let off for now sun is sort of coming out as well still very cloudy but hopefully I can get there without getting wet looks like I’ve got to take a little ferry across this River I’m about 48 minutes away from shatow PR clutches clet not entirely sure so I don’t know if this very cost anything or if it’s free or not guess I’ll find out thinking it’s free no one’s asked for any money see so I’m literally 10 minutes away and it’s just started to Chuck it down I’ve just shouted under a tree hoping it will pass hello C okay so the shadow should be up here on my left it’s called shatow clutches I don’t know if that’s how you pronounce it um is this it no next one nice Countryside here we go Blue Gate yes this must be it yep cateau C clutches that yeah so thank you Jay and Chris you really helping me out here I really appreciate it oh this way oh look at that pretty big and it’s just started to rain as well again this is the front [Music] door how you get in here we go very nice indeed servants I’m here piano look at that grandar Fame I’ll show you upstairs very nice carpet Runner beautiful chandelier Ooh La La check out this piece of our very nice nice exposed brick work not sure if they’re keeping that but it looks nice I think this might be one of the bedrooms I can get to stay in not sure yeah nice big Garden they’ve got stables at the end of their Garden look I know of this because um they’ve got a YouTube channel um I’ll put the link in the description below and they’re also building um their own swimming pool the two of them pretty impressive eh yeah so this is my room for tonight not only is it amazing I’ve got a bed there’s not going to be any annoying people snoring in the tent next to me talk about slumming it to luxury so nice four poster sort of this is ridiculous look at this this is the orangery I believe the guy that designed this is Mr Eiffel the guy that design the Eiffel Tower I’ll show you that in a bit it’s a bit sort of creepy by myself I’m not going to lie I’m sure they won’t mind me exploring I won’t show you the whole chatau cuz it would just take forever we’re already on the third floor but I will show you this I think this leads to the bell tower I might be locked there oh no it’s open I’m not saying this place is haunted there was going to be a ghost I think in here is where they’d be the Attic I didn’t expect this to be open well is this safe I don’t know look at this this is amazing Chris and jayie you’ve done well for yourself there we go there’s the bowet Bell not bow start ring it read not too isn’t it actually I better [Music] not it’s a pretty nice view from up here and I did ask the owner if I could Snoop around he said it was fine so I think this is allowed okay I’m going to do it I’m going to ring the bell God that’s loud a God I hope I didn’t just announce to the whole neighborhood that someone’s died or something I wasn’t expecting it to be that loud sorry neighbors don’t mind me I feel a little bit like that out assault burn there murder on the Dance Floor you better not feel the groove DJ going to burn this gu down house right down not getting naked though got to hope they don’t have any cameras in here they really Ked this out well look gramophone piano in the corner uh this just turned on I’m guessing it’s a TV but how did it just turn on by itself this was black a second ago see on a sensor [Music] this is where I was going to go today etrat but as it’s a bit wet and gray out there I think this is a rather nice alternative I take you to see the garden and what the house looks like from the back it actually looks a lot bigger than what I’ve seen on TV they do um shatow DIY by by the way and their YouTube channel incredible and this is the stables and the pool building it all themselves they hir a digger and just the two of them I think obviously not finished yet there obviously a lot of rain at the moment so I think it’s been a bit of a struggle so I just open this door and how creepy is that and what is that Banger noise I’m assuming it’s the water going through the pipes I was not expecting [Music] this oh my goodness that is a creepy [Music] room bit of an upgrade from last night’s meal pork chops doam wild potatoes tomato and Clarkson’s Farm nice or chatees thoroughly enjoyed that stay so thank you Chris and jie and now I’ve got an hour and a half ride to the which is my final stop before I go back to Brighton I’d love to tell you how many miles I’ve done but um the speedo is kind of only works now and then so it has actually recorded it properly here I am back in the where my French Venture began about to get the ferry back to New Haven and then on to Brighton okay you can go l number one custom spor okay let see back in the queue so I’m going to end this video here thanks for watching I hope you’ve enjoyed it as much as I have motorcycling around France on my first motorcycle Adventure hopefully next time it will be on a more powerful bike and a little further a field but until then feel free to like And subscribe and I’ll see you on the next video cheers