1000km In 2 days - A Motorway Journey To France On The R1250 GS Adventure

So last night we rode till about 9.30, 10 o'clock. We rode past Benidorm and eventually we decided to call it a day. So we found a little hotel somewhere. It was a beautiful stay, overlooked the beaches and things. But we found this area, this east coast, is very overpopulated with hotels and resorts. But there are a few really nice spots still available to visit and one of them, which we've been recommended, is to go to Denia, which is where we're going now. It's a small coastal town. So we should be there in the next 20 minutes. So far the road to Denia on this Alicante to Denia route is great. Lots of nice turns, great views. There's a lot of really nice rocky coasts to look at and plenty of places for you to stop. So let's head to Denia now. We're just heading a little bit inland now. We're on the N232. It just cuts off a little bit of the corner of the coast there to make it a little bit more direct to Denia. It's creeping up the hills, big widey, sweepy curves and road conditions look really good today. So it should be a nice little ride. And the weather is perfect. Blue skies, not a cloud in them. Seems to be a theme in Spain. Yeah, it hasn't rained once pretty much while we've been in Spain. It's been fantastic. Yeah, I do wonder as we head up north how much colder it's actually gonna get. Yeah, I did check the weather the other day and it didn't look too great. So we might put the waterproofs back on again. We are on the outskirts of Denia now. There's actually a really cool fort just on the right of us on that rock there. Hopefully, we're heading to the port area, so hopefully it's gonna be really nice. But this is the classic outskirts to any Spanish city. Very similar. It's very cute. So far, so good. Yeah, it's definitely not as over populated as like Bernadorm and Alicante. It's a lot smaller. So if you want something a bit quainter, this is to come. Oh, the front is lovely as well. Ah yeah, it seems like a slower pace here. More relaxed. You've got a little dock as well, but I'm guessing you can rent some boats. Shall I pull in here? Yeah, let's pull in here. It's got good bike parking. Designated bike parks. I think I'll take up about two spaces though. Are you saying we're fat? Are you calling Shadow fat? Yeah, basically. Well, he's taking up two spaces as well, so don't feel too bad. We have just parked up in Denia, this little coastal town, and the bike is not looking so pretty as Shadow, but it's secure. No, we try and plan if we're visiting a city or a town to maybe stay there the night before and visit it in the morning, but sometimes you can't avoid it and you just have to park up the bike. But the ParkSafe system works fantastically. It doesn't look messy here, but everything is fairly secure, unless they really want to take it. Yeah, it's a deterrent, isn't it? It's definitely a deterrent. It's the best you can do. Yeah, so we're going to head off now, have a little walk through this city that's been so recommended to us by so many people. And it's boiling. It is so hot today. I'm thinking it might be ice cream weather. Possibly ice cream weather. They haven't even... Yeah, they've just put their hats on. When you see there's other bikes, not even with their helmets chained up, take that, and it's got a local registration as well, take that as a sign that you don't have to worry so much. Certain places we have been in Spain, we've seen every scooter with a wheel lock on it, so maybe be more aware in the cities. We've been extra safe this tour because we've heard of so many bike thefts recently, especially in Italy, so we've been extra cautious with everything. But so far, all good, but we do love that PassSafe system. It is, yeah. It's really useful. You can get both jackets, both pants, and even both pairs of boots in it, and a small bicycle lock for the two helmets, and then it's all good. It's just the inconvenience that it would cause if you got your hat robbed. All right, at the port. I think why people must love this place is because it's quiet. Yeah, that's a good point. It's a quiet little port town, and that's something that you don't have much of on this section of Spain, this coast. It's very busy, a lot of resorts, which are great. We all enjoy a resort. It's necessary, isn't it? But here, I don't see a resort around here. No. A few little hotels, beautiful port section. It's got a bit of a modern bit over there, it looks like, but it's quiet, isn't it? Yeah, it's quiet. There's nobody in front of us. Nobody here. So we're just crossing now into the main town area, it looks like. So if you do come to this coast and you're wanting to try some traditional Spanish food, Valencia is actually the birthplace, they say, of paella. So loads of good places along this coast, apparently some of the best paella in Spain. But we're walking through the little town now, and it's quite cute, but we're heading towards the castle, which I think must be the main attraction of Denia. I think so, yeah. I think the whole little town's built around the castle, and there's Roman artefacts have been found, so maybe it was a Roman town as well at some point. It's a nice port, too. I think it was originally a port town, right? Yeah, it still is a port, I think, it's still operation. So this looks like kind of the main restaurant section. It's like a little alleyway that runs from the seafront into the back end of town. You've got bars and restaurants, and some really cool shops as well in here. It's really nice. It's nice to just be not surrounded by normal chain restaurants, these seem quite little independent. So we've had a nice walk through Denia. It's a very quiet little town, and if that is what you're looking for to escape from the hordes of people, and the noise of Benidorm and Alicante, it's definitely worth the drive or the ride up here. We, however, are going to get back on the bike for a little bit and continue up north. Yeah, I can see why people like this place. It's very authentic, isn't it? I think most of the places are not open as well at the moment, so in peak season, I think the markets at the front will be open as well. Yeah, I think people are craving these little untouched port towns. Yeah, for sure. Over these big new cities that seem to be popping up in Spain. So I can see where we were recommended it, but it's getting very, very hot, and I'm actually looking forward to the bike jacket wind, the breeze through my vents. Good morning from northern Spain. Yesterday, you saw we were making our way from Alicante all the way up to Barcelona. We didn't quite make it all the way to Barcelona. That motorway in Spain is a bit of a slog. Yeah, it was quite a boring ride. Very, very boring. So we got about two hours south of Barcelona, and we found this cute little hotel not too far. It was like 80 euro a night with breakfast and beautiful sea views and a beautiful pool, but it's a little bit overcast today. So that's what we did yesterday. Now, today, we don't have much time left of our trip. No, we're running out of days. We need to make some rather large kilometers. We've got 1,200 kilometers back to our home in Switzerland, but we have an event in a couple of days in central Switzerland, so we need to be back in time for that, and that event is with Touratech and a BMW, so it's quite important for us to be there. Yeah, that's the Ace Café Luzon, which is a really cool location. Yeah, really cool. It's going to be a nice way to end the trip as well. So today, we're planning on doing another big kilometer on the motorway, which isn't going to be fun, but a necessary evil, and we also know we'll be back in this region again soon. So the Barcelona Costa Blanca region, we haven't really explored, but we will do it in more detail in the future. If we can make up some good time today, which we'll have a target that tomorrow, we might be able to ride the Rue des Grandes Alpes through France, and that'll take us back up into Geneva, where we'll stay, hopefully, tomorrow night. Yeah, so we just plan on doing a big motorway day today. We're going to take you along with us because it's a necessary part of motorcycle travel. Some days are B roads and twisties, and some days are just long slogs. So that's going to be today. So we'll be having the Cardo system on with the music blaring to try and keep us motivated, as I think it should be around 400 kilometers today at a minimum. Minimum, yeah. Yeah, not so much fun. But definitely, if you're going to come and do this coast on a bike, there's so much to explore here. There's a lot of big resorts areas, but if you base yourself in one and you want to go inland, you'd say to do some of the twisty roads. Yeah, absolutely. You can still have a resort holiday and have day trips into the hills and stuff, because there's some awesome roads around. And there is a good coast road. That N340 that we've been riding on and off, this B road, has been really a lot of fun. We're still on it at the moment. It stretches the whole of the east coast. OK, that road from the Alicante up region was a really nice coastal route that we did, as you guys saw. So I definitely think we'll be back in the region. I'm a little bit sad to be missing out on Barcelona, but we'll be coming back next time to do Barcelona, Madrid and the Costa Blanca. So this is this is our day plan. All right, let's go. Let's go. Let's hit the motorway. So I quickly wanted to give you guys a room tour because we found that this coast can be quite expensive and you can pay up for like 300, 400 a night, depending on what kind of area you're in. We've been looking for villages or little towns that are a little bit less busy than like Benidorm and Alicante and then up to Barcelona. So this place we got for 80 euro a night, including breakfast. And this is the sea view room outside. So pool, the sea. We also have the bedroom in here, which is kind of your standard bedroom, but it's quite big for the sizes. And we also have a standard bathroom. But this is about what you can get for 80 euro if you're outside of the main towns. So now we are going to pack up and get onto the motorway. Is the bike packed up now, Sean? Half packed up. Half packed up. Half packed up. So we're going to get the final panniers on, head off, right? Ready to go. Yeah, ready to go. I'm like g'd up for this motorway. I'm trying to like psych myself up. So flash forward two hours of motorway riding. Yeah, I didn't feel a need to document that really. No, it was pretty straight, really boring. And we are just outside of Barcelona. We got stuck in a little bit of traffic and I jumped on my phone on Happy Cow and I found a vegan restaurant that was seven minutes off the motorway in the direction we were going as well. It was super convenient. Didn't quite fancy heading into the city centre of Barcelona for a quick bite, but this place is just on the outskirts. And just before we start, excuse me, just before we start hitting the toll roads. Yeah, and we were getting hungry. It's about half twelve and we've done some good kilometres. We have. We've actually only got three hours left till we get to Montpellier. I think we're going to stay there the night. Maybe even further if we feel like it. Yeah, but we found an awesome plant-based restaurant called Greta. So we've got our classic two oat milk lattes and we've ordered some tapas. And it's in like a village full of standalone shops and restaurants. It's got such a cool vibe here. Vintage clothes and good crafts. Yeah, so we're so happy we stumbled on this place. Super convenient as well. Really convenient. We haven't had any toll roads yet. I think they're only located in the northern part of Spain. Really? Well, throughout southern Spain, we haven't really seen any. No, we have been on quite a few B roads. It's true, but yeah, I think they're quite, yeah, they're more predominantly in the north. Well, we, yeah, I'm just happy we found food because it was getting, it was getting late and getting hungry. And I'm excited we've ordered tacos and some cheeses and other delightful little tapas. I think it's a nice way to end our Spanish trip. It's a nice treat today. It's really good. And I'm going to have a look around some of these shops now because every one of the shops has a workshop in the back where people are making the stuff. So you can see that there's a girl around there doing pottery, another girl painting. That lady's making handbags. So this is a really cool little spot we found. I wasn't going to film this, but food has arrived. And look. Look at this. It's beautifully presented. What's this one, falafel and chickpeas? Yeah, baba ganoush they call it. So got hummus, got some vegan cheese, falafel. And in this box is their cheese board. These look like homemade crackers as well. She said everything's homemade. You got to try it. Nice. I like that cheese as well. Is it good? That's really good. Because they're, I have two favorite vegan cheeses in the entire world. One of them is New Roots, which we get in Switzerland. And the other best cheese I've ever had is AO27 in Lisbon. That was the best cheese. So I'm going in with just, just the cheese. That's very good. I have a new hot spot here. Absolutely. All right, we still have more coming. So stay tuned for the next round. Next dish has arrived. Look, these are their crunchy wings. Made with cauliflower, I think. Yeah, I'm going in. Are you going in? I'm going in. They've got a spicy dipping sauce too. They have arrived. The piece de resistance. The tacos, complete with hot sauce as well. Jeez. Look at those. They look great. I'm looking forward to eating them. Are you going to put the hot sauce on it? I might pretend to. But to be honest, this was a fantastic meal. I really enjoyed it. It was really, really top quality vegan food. Really impressed with it. We'll make sure we put a link to the actual spot in the description. So if you're in or near Barcelona, riding through, you can check it out. Because it's definitely worth a stop. Yes, absolutely. The whole area that we had lunch in is like a market style. It's really, really cool. I can't believe it's only seven minutes off the motorway. Definitely worth the detour. Yeah, it's a really convenient location. It feels like you're in the middle of nowhere here. It's great. It's got a great, like... I know I'm going to say it again, but it's got a great vibe. She used the vibe for it. But it does. Restoring furniture. Yeah, loads of pottery places as well. And this was the cafe that we went to as well. It's got a nice outdoor seating area. It's getting warm, isn't it? Oh, it is getting hot. It's getting really hot. Not too bad. Two more hours on the motorway. We've got this. Three. Oh, no. There's Shadow. He's done well. He has done well, hasn't he? He's what? Six and a half thousand? Straight from the showroom to Spain. He's done great. No error messages or anything. No, we're going to need to change the tyres, like, immediately. The BMW garage are going to be like, wasn't he just here for a first service two weeks ago? Oh, there's another GS parked up next. 1,200. I think it's an air-cooled as well. They're like ours back home. He's got the Touratech handlebar raises on as well, and the Touratech mount. Very good. That's what's good. All right, we're back on the road. Back on the motorway. Headed north. Quite a lot of traffic, actually, around Barcelona. But it looks like we're about to get away from it. I can put the cruise control back on and relax. Otherwise, this guy braking and not accelerating. Classic. Welcome to Spain. I found in Spain, people don't know what to do at roundabouts, so they just stop. And then they wait till another car's coming before pulling out. And acceleration lanes, they stop at the end and then have a look. And it's completely acceptable for a bike to go in the hard shoulder in traffic here. Yes, that's a great little feature. It's almost a bike lane. All right, looks like we're moving here now. Yep, free. Take these. Cruise control on. And relax. So we have two hours left until Montpellier. We've pulled over to grab some fuel, some snacks, and have a little bit of a rest from the movement. It's getting really hot out on the road. I am in my Touratech suit, but I have a thermal merino wool layer on underneath. And I'm just the right temperature, but I'm starting to get hot. But when we're riding at like 120, the wind is a little bit chilly. So I'm going to keep it on for now. Maybe in a bit I'll have to take it off. But yeah, this has not been the most exciting day, but it's one of those things that's very necessary. And he's back. We're making fairly good progress on the motorway today. There's a lovely cool breeze that's keeping us at a good temperature. We're about two hours from Montpellier. So we might actually get there a little bit earlier than we thought. So we might go a bit further. I just thought I might try out a setting on the bike that a lot might not even know exists. There is an eco mode on the GS. It might be sacrilege to use it. You just have to go into settings, vehicle settings, driving mode pre-selection. Now you can only select four at a time. So I might just deselect enduro because I won't be needing that for the motorway. And then activate eco. And then that riding mode you can switch here. It should be there now. There's eco. Let's see. Let's see what difference. Eco mode makes on the motorway. I'm not sure it's going to make a huge difference, but we're going to see anyway. One hour 43 left till Montpellier. We might even push further than Montpellier tonight. We might even get to the foot of the Rue de Gonday Alps. I'm not too sure how long it's been since we last vlogged, but we've been on the motorway here in France for quite a few hours. We drove past Montpellier and we've just kept riding. It's nearly 9.30 now and we're just going through the first payage because we're heading to Genoble to start the Rue de Gonday Alps halfway up tomorrow. That's the plan, isn't it? That's right, that's the plan. So I would guess this is going to cost about 30 euros. I think it's going to be more than that, I think about 45 euros. Do you? 45? Well, we've been out for three hours on the French payage. All right, let's go and see. Let's wait for a bit of road rage at the payage. All right, Em, you're up. Yeah, watch out the wall. Close enough. Oh, I can't get it in. It's your one time to shine. I'm not doing a good job of the pressure. There we go. That's still pretty steep for one journey. Yeah, people complain about the Swiss Vignetta being 40 Swiss francs, but that's for the entire year. Like, you use the payages twice, it's the same as the entire year. Oh, this is good, isn't it? They instantly split into two ways after you pull out. Right, follow the signs to Grenoble and we've got another 50 minutes. Right, we have got ourselves a hotel. We are staying at one of the B&B, that logo there. They're quite common over here in Europe. They're pretty basic and a good price too. 58 per night here with free parking as well outside. Yeah, and it's closed parking as well for motorcycles, which is a nice feature. Yeah. Yeah, it's not a bad room. And we've got the best view in the house because out here we can see Shadow. There he is. He is safely chained to the railings there. So we should be able to hear that if anyone is taking a hacksaw to his friend. I would like to fix it, I'd be worried. I mean, I am a deep sleeper, but I think Em at least will hear it before I do. But yeah, we're not so far from the middle section of the Rue des Grandes Alpes. We're going to be taking that and heading north in the morning all the way up to Geneva and then we'll probably stay somewhere in Geneva or Lausanne. So yeah, that's it. Oh, our cardos have got low battery. Oh yeah, sounds like our intercom is about to crack up. I think we might also take a little ride around the lake tomorrow. Which lake? Lake Geneva. Okay, yeah, that'll be nice. Yeah, we made up some really good time today. I'm not sure how many kilometres we did. I can't even remember where we started. Where did we start? That was in some random place near there. Yeah, because it's give or take. Give or take your location. It must be around 1000 kilometres today. You reckon 1000 kilometres? At least, yeah, 800 I reckon. At least 800 kilometres today. That was huge. Yeah, but there was no wind on the motorway, so it was all right. And the R1250 GSA on the motorway, it sits lovely at about 140 kilometres an hour. It's his preferred cruising speed, I think. Yeah, I think, people complain about the seat, but I'm absolutely perfect on it. And it's 800 kilometres, I've been fine. Super comfortable. Can't complain. No, everything has performed so well on this trip. Has indeed. Anyway, we're going to get some sleep now, so we'll catch you again tomorrow as we ride the Rue des Grandes Alpes.