The Tour de Tours: Of rain and brakes!

And next to Evreux

The next day we packed up Sassy and rolled out. Instead of heading to Rouen as previously planned we opted for Le Mans then ultimately redirected ourselves to the town of Evreux. We like to keep our plans fluid so we can roll with whatever happens.

The Giles Jaunes

We started to notice the presence of people in yellow vests stopping traffic at the round-a-bouts. Sam and I put it together when we arrived in Les Andelys for lunch and we saw the rioting in Paris on a news broadcast. This was what the fella at Vimy had been talking about, a protest to recent tax increases implemented by the Macron government. We were happy not to be in Paris with our high visibility yellow rain gear!

While we were in the vicinity off Paris the traffic circle delays were frequent and slowed our progress thus the redirection to Evreux but the protestors seemed peaceful. Some were interested in our bike trek around Europe and some even stood out offering chocolate to those who passed by the blockade. At one of the blockade locations in Evreux I was directed to take an empty lane and pass all the other stranded motorists. Tempting as it might be I did not want to become a mascot for the cause and decided not to take the offer! All part of the experience.

Chop House!

Once in Evreux we stayed at another B&B hotel for the night. Within a short walk we located a chop house and dinner was set. Whenever we travel Sam and I always endeavour to try new foods. I noticed a sausage named Andouillette on the menu. The photo looked like great coarse cut meat and evenly spiced. However, when it came out it was not to my taste. It turns out that this sausage has tripe and sometimes stomach in it. There are some whom I expect acquire a taste for this Andouillette but I will avoid it in the future! My fate was bread and wine for dinner, and why not? After all ‘when in France!’

Full Rain Day

Despite the rainy day ride our spirits were high as it was warm and our gear worked very well. It was a balmy day at 8 degrees celsius but raining. Being a Sunday in France the sidewalks were rolled up and the town’s folk shut up in their homes. Not too much for food choices on this travel day. Believe it or not MacDonald’s France to the rescue! It all started with a visit for a breakfast on the cheap with a photo lark and turned into the only restaurants we stopped at all day long. 

Comfort Fading

The rear brake on the bike was starting to fade. I had expected they would need replacement and as such had brought an extra set of pads with me. On one of our MacDonalds bathroom stops I switched out the pads before moving on. The brakes got worse not better. We kept on moving southward with only two working brakes, not the most comfortable feeling but there were no automotive or bike shops open anywhere on a Sunday. 

Kiosk Check-in? What?!?

Some of the motel type accommodations here in France allow you to check-in entirely electronically. For example in Evreux we arrived at around 1700 hours and there was no hotel staff to be found. Sam and I had not made any reservations. We noticed a kiosk similar to a bank machine in the lobby. After deciphering the French instructions we realized it was for booking a room! You pay with a card and are given a keypad code to enter the front doors and the room. Pretty cool when it works. 

We arrived in Tours late in the day and tried to book into our Brit hotel at the kiosk. Sam had made a reservation a couple hours earlier by booking.com but the machine did not recognize our names or confirmation number! Luckily a hotel attendant arrived and we got in. Moral of the story is that if you pre-book online do it a day ahead so the reservation can be processed by the accommodation. If you cannot do that then it is better to just show up and book in by credit card right at the hotel. (at least in the off season)

We were very happy to get in and settled to hang out our gear to dry overnight. Dinner at a fabulous hand made pizza joint across the parking lot and a 15% discount coupon to boot. The Brit hotel had coupons for a few different food establishments. Nothing fancy though. 

Mecapassion Life Savers!

With the brake issue on Sassy I figured there was no way I would be able to get, what I believed to be, an airlock cleared without brake fluid and some expertise. I did not want to drive all day with only a front and sidecar brake. In France generally mechanics and motorcycle shops are not open on Sunday and Monday. I scoured the internet for anywhere that may be able to help. Low and behold Mecapassion motorcycle shop, open Mondays at 0900! We packed up and set off for the shop. 

We arrived at about 0930 and were greeted by a young lady at the storefront. Between her broken English, my terrible google translate version of French and Sam’s translation between we were directed to mechanics in the shop. After I explained the issue he said ‘no brakes, ok’ Yohann (pronounced Ewen, yes like famous Mr. MacGregor) dropped everything and started in diagnosing the brake issue. He and his shop mate worked away trying to get the airlock out. He even took apart the manual pump and inspected it. I got in there as well and together we pumped fresh fluid through the system until it finally pressurized! At one point we thought maybe the pump was not working. Thankfully we did not need any parts or we would have been staying in Tours for a few days. Lesson learned, when installing new pads no matter how hard it is to push in the calliper piston, do not open the blender valve to make it easier Dan! 

Team Hydulphe Boucher

After our successful brake repair Yohann brought out a brochure and said “this is my sidecar.”

It turns out he races in sidecar cross at a highly competitive level. Crazy! Out of all the shops to be open and ready to help out, this is the one we end up at. We can not thank Yohann, his lovely lady as well or his shop hand enough for dropping everything to work on Sassy for 2 hours! Please check Mecapassion out on Facebook and follow team Hydulphe Boucher (Team H&C-Sidecarcross) in competition for 2019. I would love to make it to one of these events in France in 2019.

This sort of meeting is precisely the premise of our travels. In the midst of a never-ending parade of ‘bad news stories’ we find wonderful people wherever we go.

They gave us a couple of decals for Sassy and snapped a shot for FB. Just as we left the sun broke through a bit and it was to be a beautiful day for travel after all. We were off safely on our way south towards Bordeaux or were we?

And next: Along the road to Bordeaux: ?????…….stay tuned, subscribe, share, add your comment to this post and we will see you again soon.

Take care and keep on travelling,

Dan&Sam 

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