Motorcycle Trip to Barcelona on a BMW 1250 GSA and Triumph Tiger 900 – Final Episode

This final episode sees us leave the delightful city of Pamplona and head North over the Pyrenees and across the border to France. Our plan was to spend a couple of relaxing days in Biarritz, a city we were due to visit for a friend’s wedding during Covid, but travel restrictions put paid to that. We decided as we were so close it made sense to finally make the short hop across the border.
Our first stop was going to be the seaside and surfing resort of Anglet for a spot of lunch and a quick visit to The Beach House (the actual wedding venue). The weather was glorious and in the low 30’s by the time we arrived.
Biarritz is only a 20 minute ride from Anglet and we spent a lovely couple of days enjoying wandering its attractions including a delicious dinner in a French/Spanish restaurant we happened across.
Sadly, the weather wasn’t on our side the following day when we head to Bilbao for our final stop! In fact, an hour outside of Bilbao , the heaven’s opened up and we got a soaking – we made the mistake of changing into our riding jeans because of the previous day’s heat and paid the price! We chose the fairly nondescript hotel as it was reasonably convenient to reach the Santander ferry the following day. And so we ended our “Long Road to Barcelona” tour having a had a great time with the family and enjoyed some great riding and great food!
We hope you enjoy this final episode and please feel free to share and comment if you inclined – thanks for watching!

Accommodation: Hotel Jules Verne (4*) £189.53 for two nights and Hotel Aretxarte (3*)£82.01 (booking.com)
The route: Pamplona – Anglet – Biarritz – Bilbao – Santander – Portsmouth on The Santona Ferry approx. 27 Hrs
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Anyway good morning folks had a great night last night in Pamplona one of our favorite Spanish cities and today we’re crossing the border and heading into France so we’ll see you in Bit The So today’s ride was going to take us North cross the Pyrenees over the border into France where we hope to grab a lunch break somewhere close to Beitz All For For foree Spee And just like that we crossed over into France at the little Border Town of Danaria Less Than 3 kilometers into France brings us to inho which is a fairly typical Village in the French Basque Country however it’s also supposed to be one of the most beautiful it’s small in fact only one street to be exact and has about 650 Inhabitants as we were ahead of schedule and bit early to check in in beitz we decided we’d stop for a lunch break in the beautiful well-known Basque cesa Resort of on onlet is well known for its beaches and it’s a very popular surfing destination in fact they don’t even have zebra

Crossings here they have surfboard Crossings and with the temperature pushing into the 30s we’re eager for a cold drink and a bite to Eat okay we’re with the lch sou of France and it’s beautiful at this to be hot that’s why we’re dressed for the for the beach you can see heavy duty bik jeans and it’s 30° so it’s just a brief lunch stop before get to beer Rits after a cool drink and a light lunch it was back in the bikes for the short ride to our final destination of beer rits Oops got caught out there and almost missed the turning into yet another underground car Park Afternoon folks a hot sweaty day 30° but here we are in be well specifically in an underground car parking beer rits but let’s go and check out our [Applause] Room and here we are in room 320 uh um we decide it’s bright but beu uh could you swing a cat yeah probably I think if this is a deluxe this is a superior Queen room Superior Queen I think your Superior Queen would have to be very little for this to be Deluxe

Yeah so it’s can following the Jules ver theme to the whole thing there’s a a mural of this Around the World in 80 Days so not awful lot of space to charge our gear up but it’s got a coffee machine which is good looks like a very

Modern uh shower toilet area hey let’s get changed and go and explore the Delights of beit well second day in beitz here we are down by the sea it’s getting a bit fresher now the clouds coming in tomorrow it’s forecast to rain as we leave but for the moment let’s

Just enjoy the last bit of sun on this bomy day in the He [Applause] [Applause] Oh [Applause] be by the Beach very busy I would have said it’s heing with people this is October my is about 30° right now now nearly 5:00 so here we are first night in beer Ritz we’re hunting around trying to find a place to eat and we came across this French strug Spanish bar restaurant

And this is the starter which is a mixture of pink chop which is like kind of I don’t know Tapas and it looks brilliant let’s get started and we’re the first ones in we are look at this PR on past looks good and the same looks really good it smells

Great B J went for the dessert course we weakened we weakened you didn’t we you look your cret look at this Croc loose we beer Rich you have to do it well that was a great night a great meal at this little restaurant we found down at back street and be a It and now it’s time for bed so if you’re visiting beitz would we recommend a stay at the jwes Vern Hotel we’d heard a great deal about beer rits and had planned a visit with friends until covid and the vaccination restrictions had other ideas so being so

Close to the French border we decided to have a couple of days in this popular Seaside Town famous for its surfing amongst other things the hotel Vis ver rated four stars on booking.com is about a 6-minute walk from The Busy Center and a further 5 minutes to the seafront with

Its many bars and restaurants our room to be really honest was a bit disappointing the first one we were given smelted really awful maybe a block drain so we asked to change and given the size of the room asked if we could upgrade only to be told they were

All the same size a tad confusing as Bri requested a superior Queen which we assumed would be larger it seemed the Superior status referred to the presence of a coffee machine in a list of benefits which also included toilet paper I did wonder if you’d have to take

Your own L roll to the cheaper rooms the bedroom was on the third floor and accessed by a wholly inadequate lift which took a long time to get anywhere and only held four people it was clearly an irritation not just for us but many of the luggage Laden residents the room

Number 320 was Modern and looked fairly newly furnished but was uncomfortably small even for two average Siz people and our motorbike luggage the flat screen TV had only French channels so we didn’t really watch it but the Wi-Fi was okay so a Netflix movie on my iPad was our pre-bedtime entertainment the

Onsuite was also very snug and the sink didn’t drain the plumbing problem seemed to extend throughout all the hotel rooms the staff were very friendly and helpful the receptionist willingly changed our niffy room and the cleaner helpfully let me into the new room when the key didn’t

Work there is a breakfast area with a small bar but no evening meals were offered so we wandered into the town and ate at one of many restaurants most of which open for dinner at around 7:00 a little earlier than the eateries in Northern Spain the parking was again

Underground we shared a space and paid an additional €20 €5 per bik per night it was accessed via slope and automatic door for which the hotel provided a remote control it was very secure and easy to move around and would have scored a five if it had been free for

Residence as mentioned earlier the ver is a fourstar hotel it has a pool and good supply of sunbeds but other than that we didn’t feel it was any better than the three stars we’d stayed in during the trip in fact not as spacious as any of them so I’d say if you’re

Planning a visit to beitz maybe choose a different place to stay well good morning folks I’m a very damp gray overcast uh beer rits on our last leg of the trip we’re off to B Bao now so here’s oroa from a dark going to ground carpod see on the Road so today’s ride to our hotel near Bilbo was going to take about 3 and 1 half hours actually probably longer than that with plenty of stops but unfortunately the weather had taken a turn for the worst so it looked like it could be a bit of a wet ride as it

Turned out it was actually much wetter than we Anticipated another rainy afternoon I don’t know what I’m to do I just miss you more than anything it’s way too quiet in the house I’m just wasted on the couch cuz I don’t want to feel anything wish you stay stay here beside me this isn’t how it’s supposed to be wish you stay

Stay here right with me I can’t shange that feeling that we s goodbye to Soon I know the hours getting late I shouldn’t sit here contemplate I just can’t stop thinking about us I won’t forget a single thing from drunken nights to Sunday mornings and how you smile at me wish you stay stay here beside me this isn’t how it’s supposed to be wish you

Say St here right with me I can’t shake that feeling that we say goodbye to you Soon oh Wish you st stay here beside me this isn’t how it’s supposed to be wish you stay stay here right with me I can’t shake that feeling that we say goodbye to Soon as we approach bil Bao clouds built up and the promis rain was certainly on its Way N Good afternoon folks just arrived at our final Hotel here in just outside Bill Bell and we got wrenched absolutely poured down and it’s still raining now but anyway we’re here so let’s check out the Room so here we are as you can see we’re trying to dry out boots very very soggy Je there’s the view and there’s the other view what do you think of this room we got a tad soggy didn’t we yeah uh the do you know

What the room would be fine if we hadn’t been arrived soaking wet and needed somewhere to dry stuff but you see in the bathroom yeah so this is the bathroom it actually has got a bath and the shower area and again an attempt to hang out soggy riding

Gear but anyway we did really well only got met on the last day so we’re going to go and check out uh be here we are folks in the B of the Ary hotel and it’s beer o00 YY and we’ve been desperately trying to download Express VPN to get the rugby

On cuz there’s no rugby around here anyway it’s not working not working but we are here with beers so all good last night short last night short and tomorrow we’re off to Sant andere and the ferry back to bitey hopefully in the dry so Cheers Cheers if you ever looking for a

Stopover when you’re waiting to catch the Sant andere or Bilbo Ferry would we recommend this hotel the hotel aric’s Ary is rated three stars on booking.com and is situated in the middle of an industrial estate so we thought it’d be pretty quiet particularly at the weekend turns

Out it’s a favorite for families and friends wanting a pub or dinner it’s not really a location you would want to visit but a useful stopover between beer and Sant andere our room was bulk standard desk TV and a small double bed which was very uncomfortable the pillows

Really need changing it felt like sleeping on a bag of socks the on Suite had a tub yippe we got there pretty soggy so we were glad of a hot bath but there was nowhere to dry any kit so it was still wet the following morning the

Service was very good up until now the staff in just about all of the hotels spoke decent English but in this non-touristy area that wasn’t the case it really didn’t affect their level of service and made a huge effort to understand particularly Bri’s desperate attempts to access the Rugby World Cup

Quarterfinals the restaurant didn’t open until halfast dat at night so we passed on a full meal and had a sandwich and a slice of tortilla at beer o00 which was okay but a bit lukewarm continental breakfast was included and we settled for a cron and

Coffee there is a car park at the hotel but it was quite full and we wanted to unload closer to the entrance as it was hurling it down when we arrived the receptionist showed us to a small driveway where some of the staff park it wasn’t ideal but we locked the bikes and

Thought they’d be quite safe well good morning folks this is the view wake up to and our hotel AR EX satti in uh near B Bale on our last morning in Spain today we’re off to Sant andere to catch the Ferry [Applause] Our final leg of the journey was about 2 and 1 half hours or so uh but we said off in plenty of time because our sailing wasn’t due to be until 2: in the afternoon and obviously we had to factor in at least one coffee stop along the

Way look a little closer it’s been quite some time you got to let me know if I’m out line but there’s some way that I just want to say to put it all straight before this night turns in today and then I’m on my way y yes I’m on my

Way a bit naive and so eager to please you know I played for love but it got me on my knees Now’s the Time to read what I’ve so your words echoing in every single B underwat so far out of see there’s no cure for what you telling

Me and soon I’m on my way is I’m on my Way about an hour from Sant ande we stopped in the little town of Cicero for a coffeein i bre I can feel your worry so I have to take my love and ride different Story I’m on my way is I’m on my way yeah yeah yeah I’m on my way yeah yeah yeah I’m on my way yeah yeah I’m on my way yeah yes I’m on my Way heavy roll go easy on me now and my love will shine We normally sail from Sant andere to Plymouth on ponent cuz it’s the shortest Crossing but this time we decided we’re going to go to Portsmouth instead so this was a new ship for us the Santona which was only launched in 2023 so we’re eager to find out just how good it was

Bearing in mind that the crossing was longer it’s going to be about 27 Hours On board the Santona which is a relatively new Ferry never been on it before always been on the ponent and it’s a similar configuration this is a four birth cabin so goodness knows what it be like with four people here but it gives the opportunity to put our junk on the top

Bunk and we are on the bottom junk on the bottom junk on the bottom bunk so on this trip we had a couple of problems with our coms on the shoy near tags uh first of all SE froze and we had to get that sorted out and then fo cover around

My microphone just disintegrated but as look we have it Sue is a master of improvisation so let’s see how she fix this problem are you taking the Mi talk us through it so it would appear there’s more than one use for a blue bathroom sponge and a

Pair of scissors and a hair tie and you know what it works perfectly fine desperately aesthetically pleas I got a mouth full of whatever it’s made of look it’s a bathroom sponge look bathroom sponge look it looks all right so what did you do how did you fix it poked a

Hole in it and put it over your mouthpiece yeah and it just works absolutely fine poked a hole in it trimmed it at that and put a ha TI around it yeah I mean that’s pretty impressive isn’t it follow me for more creative tips and as an added bonus we even

Managed to catch an England game in the World Cup which we won excellent so result we won you in the semi-final of the World Cup rugby and here we are celebrating with some a bottle of s and something that takes more calories to peel than it does to Eat La