Crossing France to the sound of sirens!

I'm starting to get to the pointy end of the trip now! I have a lot of distance to cover and I've spent a little longer that expected along the way! So I've decided to skip the south of France to give myself some extra days in Paris & London.


Crossing out of Switzerland into France is amazing!

The ride from Grindelwald to Paris is about 7 hours and was going to be ...ambitious... but I decided to head off with no accommodation and see how far I could get!

I crossed out of Switzerland for lunch, one moment I was winding down the hills and the next I crossed a small bridge and was in France! I almost missed the sign as it was just in the middle of a car park!

Goodbye Switzerland!

I decided to call it quits 2 hours out from Paris - traffic was getting heavy and the sun was setting so I discovered the city of Auxerre - pretty nice!

Next morning I was back on the road and arrived in Paris mid afternoon, just in time to go to the Embassy to vote! I wasnt sure I was in the right place however...

Oh no that's right!

Next morning I headed to a cafe for breakfast - Paris gave me a very uneasy feeling; whilst googling Paris results in pictures of a clean, pristine city my experience after one day was much the opposite. The streets smelt terrible - whether it was garbage or pee wasn't clear and the buildings and monuments themselves didnt seem to be cared for.

I can't imagine Trafalgar square being left with graffiti on it? Whilst sitting at the cafe a group of police turned up - not particularly interested in the cafe itself just stopping everyone passing through.

Before I finished my coffee there were riot police everywhere and the street was shut down!

The host explained there was another protest in the city today and previous ones had ended violently - the police were filtering the crowds along a defined route and it turns out the cafe I was sitting in was just slightly outside of that!


Several hours later they slowly cleared off and I continued my walk - I'd managed about 1 km of a 2 km walk to the Triumph shop!

But along the way ...more roadblocks. The city was feeling a lot like Italy - the military police presence strongly felt!

So deciding I'd had enough Paris I decided to bail and spend my last few days somewhere I'd thoroughly enjoyed! Some thoughtful Parisian had blocked me in however...

A short 2 hours later I was in...