Bastille Day

Somebody somewhere once said that even the longest journey begins with a single step. This one begins with a roar as my motorbike is awakened from its winter hibernation.

Ten minutes into the journey I am reminded of how careful you have to be when riding a motorbike. I decide to leave the chaos of the motorway and head into the Black Forest...

Here there are sweeping bends, hairpins and long fast straights, corkscrew loops, uphill climbs and tricky, twisty turns, ensuring that my motorbike and I stay nimble. This is why I love riding my motorbike :)

The route I am following is exhilarating and enjoyable, but is not really helping me to get to France on Bastille Day. Essentially I am wasting time cruising around the Black Forest, but I like to think the time you enjoy wasting is not wasted time.

That said, I should not squander time as it is the stuff of which this journey is made. With this in mind, breakfast in Germany is followed by dinner in Switzerland and tea in France. As I leave behind the forests of Germany, I weave between the lakes and towering peaks of Switzerland and pop across the border in to France.

As the sun is slowly setting, I choose Annecy as my home for the night. Somewhere called "The Best Hotel" is clearly the place to stay. When I check in I am shown the area where the fireworks will be... I guess that my plans for the evening are sorted :)

The firework display over the third largest lake in France is spectacular. The wall of colours is only  enhanced by the sonic boom of each firework reverberating around the mountains that encircle the lake. What a beautiful way to end my first day on the road.