Didn't get far today - lost in 2 separate towns. I had to get another blue gas bottle so I went out of my way to go to a Decathlon sporting goods store. A road closure sent me out of my way some more & in Saintes, I encountered this really old place (middle of old town, little tiny streets) which I later discovered is called "L'Amphithéâtre gallo-romain". Amazing what you can bump into around here - one tends to forget just how old this place really is.
On another topic, my American family will be surprised I actually found food I wouldn't eat; I decided not to eat this particular can of food I bought in Spain. Looked good on the picture and I like the spicy Spanish food. However, after trying it I decided I didn't like it much and looked it up. "Callos a la madrileña" is actually tripe (cow stomach!) & since I don't eat beef anyway, it went uneaten after all - but mostly because I didn't like it much...

I am back in France now (west coast, tonight near Bordeaux). No picture today...you know, the ocean looks the same everywhere and I'm sure you don't want to see the Honda again. However, it's what I don't see that's odd; no motels on the highways! It rained last night & this morning and I thought, what happens if I need to get a motel? There were none in Spain (only hotels in town) and even in France there are a few motels but again only in towns. They just didn't get the "let's scatter ugly buildings all along the highways" bug. It all like that stretch of I-75 up north where there is nothing for miles - only here it's like that everywhere. But then, I'm sure the hotels in towns are doing well.

Another 2-lane blacktop, again in Spain now. This picture juxtaposes old & new - a 17th century farmhouse near Castrodeza with its new neighbors, the modern wiņdfarm. Houses here are stone or brick only, but the new barn is not. Nice road, too! I have been spoiled with the southern warm/dry weather, as I discovered upon ariving at the Bay of Biscay - to colder & wetter.

The choice between highway & country roads in Spain and Portugal is a choice of mountains or somewhat flatter with tunels. So I can choose looking around or clinging to the road by focusing on the center line (if I look up, I'll fall off the road as it curves again). Both countries have done a tremendous job in setting up the highway/byway networks that didn't exist here a few decades ago - Bravo! Yesterday was a really long awesome ride through the twisties south of Badajoz, Spain. Every once in a while I get to see something like this - coming up on Vila Velha de Ródão, Portugal...

"An adventure is a disaster that didn't happen"   me, circa 1980 or so

And that was how today went for one reason only - wind!! I am guessing the gusts were around 100 kmh near Tarifa, the little village that is the most southern point of Spain. I went there thinking; well, couldn't get a good picture of the African coast from Gibraltar because of the wind (hell, you can barely see the boats!) so I'll go there. Almost fell over a couple times (at stops & slow corners) and was blown out of my lane a few times on the road. But hey, I made it! Couldn't very well put up a tent in that wind, could I? So now I am in a little country campground just west of Seville. Now south of there, after the winds calmed somewhat, I saw that this was a farming area which looked remarkably like north/central Iowa - with lots of wheat & corn and an amazing number of giant sunflower fields nestled in the hills. This time, 2-lane blacktop even felt like Iowa riding! Speaking of which, Granada was just another big city with snarled traffic - that does it, I'm staying out of cities. 

I promised I wouldn't post the usual European pictures so there will be fewer; here is one that caught my attention - villages on mountains (near Gandia). These all have ocean view; I had just left the campground across the road, which was actually on the shore. There are a lot of these towns, some higher & steeper. Roberto said that southern Spain looks a lot like the Texas desert & he was right - a little greener perhaps, but the same reddish hills with dry river beds. Still adjusting between highways and villages but both are quite nice. I'm not going anywhere near Madrid but rather will be riding through Granada tomorrow.

OK, I am in Spain now. And what happens? - I meet a couple Brits, Brian & Dicky and they're good guys 'cause they like my music. Made me stay another day, they did. Got to ride around this Barcelona area as a result and it's real nice here.

Apparently, my navigation skills just vanish when confronted with French towns with lots of those pesky roundabouts, even more so for cities (turn me around a few times & I have no idea which direction I was going in a few minutes ago). Lost in Marseille, I finally found my way out of that bewildering maze and discovered this really cool farm campground. The picture was taken from inside the tent! The town on the hill (in the sun) is Lançon-Provence.

It's a bit different, this time...
The scenery is nice, sometimes awesome - but the scale is different. In the US or Canada there is a town every 20-30 miles, but here it's more like 2 or 3. This can slow you down some. Then, the roundabouts are a bit much; one after the other, other, other, etc. So if I expect to see all of Europe, it's going to have to include freeways, a lot more than usual for me. Having said that, the freeways here are nicer than the US ones, which tend to be little more than advertising opportunities (except Vermont!). So when I get hassled by the neighborhoods, I'll find a highway & vise - versa.
Coffee is the other thing - the $1 thermos refill is not happening; in fact no refills of any kind are to be found here. Buy a cup of coffee, that's what you get. So Roberto suggested a Réchaud - it's the blue thing on the bike in the pic. A really cool little gas stove that folds up into a little container  (except for the blue gas bottle, of course) and now I just make my own! And, I've not quite figured out the campfire thing - there aren't any - no fire rings, nothing. Oh, well, maybe other places, there's about 20 or so countries to go!

Yay! Started the ride...got all the paperwork done (important everywhere & very much so here). I am in Dijon tonight - yes, where that mustard was first concocted. Appropriately, my UK tarp is just the right color. Seems the setup ends up looking alike on all the motorcycles. This one, at 741lbs a full 160 lbs less than the Victory, rides real smooth on the highways; wasn't going to take those but I got lost a bit and made up some time. French highways are pretty nice - smooth, no billboards anywhere & the trucks are OK. Not to mention the 81 mph speed limit, which must be obeyed or the cameras might get you. Here, you actually do get a ticket for 1mph over - cameras have even less compassion than the humans. Those really cute tiny villages look better from afar than stuck in one, where the speed limit hovers between  19 & 31 mph. Although they are nice to ride through, for a couple hours anyway.

My French family! Roberto, Leandre & Marjolaine Fernandez. Just to the right of the house is a small river then a large forest. Quite a morning walk, that. Their hospitality has been amazing & their help absolutely necessary for me to set up my trip (not to mention the food, oh my!)

I made it to France and am now staying with my French family! And I have a motorcycle - a 2014 Honda CTX1300AE. I will need to wait for the title to arrive next week and off I go...