The French Riviera and Monaco

Seems like summer in Europe is the time for adventure motorcycle travelers.  I must pass a couple of dozen riders a day cruising the roadways.  It is understandable as to why there are so many motorcycles around, this part of the world is the Motorsports capital of the world, and there is just so much to see in this part of the world. Today alone I met riders from Italy, Spain, Switzerland and France.  

I got up early this morning, and decided to run a stretch along the French Riviera, to include Monaco.  To be honest, I expected more from Monaco, hotels were starting at $700 a night, and for that you got crowds, a sub par beach and unimaginative buildings.  Monte Carlo was more of the same, wit the exception that the yachts in harbor were beyond compare to anything I had seen before. Some were large enough to mistake for cruise ships.  I actually prefer the small little village I am staying in.  More character, more soul.  

Nice, France

St Laurent d'Etze, France 

Monte Carlo, Monaco

I was running to the market this evening and saw a village on top of this massive rock outcropping (see below), so I decided to investigate.  The village was very slow moving with the locals in for the evening.  I wandered around the narrow passageways and alleys, without a single person taking notice.  Looks like it would be a pretty cool place to live.  Now this place has character.

Pellion, France

Off to Italy.

Stage Distance: 136mi (219km)
Leg 2 Distance: 3.937mi (6,350km)

Countries Visited (Leg 2): USA, Canada, Portugal, Spain, Morocco, Gibraltar, France, Monaco

Marseilles, France

Arrived in Marseilles, France, by way if Girona, Spain.  Both Cities are extraordinary, but I am in Europe, this is one amazing place.  I have visited and worked in this part of the world many many times, and I do not plan on visiting the area extensively.  One of the main reasons is that it is high season, and the place is just mobbed with people, not a comfortable situation for me.  Girona was an exception, it is a quaint little city with a very pretty old section.  As shown in one of the picture below, it has been used a number of times in season 6, Game of Thrones (http://www.radiotimes.com/news/2016-07-02/game-of-thrones-visit-the-real-braavos).

Roof of the MuCEM

Marseilles

Church in Girona, Spain
(used in Game of Thrones)

Basilica Notre Dame de la Garde
(not Used in Game of Thrones)

Stage Distance: 325mi (524km)

Leg 2 Distance: 3.801mi (6,131km)
Total Odometer Distance (Leg 2): 4,377mi (7,060km)

Countries Visited (Leg 2): USA, Canada, Portugal, Spain, Morocco, Gibraltar, France

Barcelona , Catalonia

Rolled into Barcelona from Almeria by way of Valencia.  I have been to Barcelona before and I must admit, this is one of my favorite cities on the planet. as Spain is one of my favorite countries.

I am staying in an Airbnb just outside the city, and this piece of artwork was painted in the middle of the night a while back.  The artist is El Xupet Negre, he is a rather famous graffiti artist, and reminds me of Keith Haring, a NYC artist that was famous when I was growing up outside the City.  The piece is busy, but I found myself staring at it for quire a while.  It becomes rather captivating and I must admit that I like it.

El Xupet Negre

Barcelona is just beautiful.  Not a building or street is built without complete attention to how it melds into the surrounding landscape.  The city is a tapestry and buzzing around it on the bike is a pleasure.  Famous architects and artists built this City and it's equally stunning port.  The most famous of the architects, Antoni Gaudi, designed many cool buildings during his career.  His crowning achievement, Sagrada Familia, 125 years after he started it, has not finished construction.  Of all the great designs he is responsible for, and all of the influence he had on this City, he will best be known for failing to look to look both ways before crossing the street.  One day on his way to work, he stepped out in front of a bus and was struck.  Oddly, at the time, no one recognized him, and he was left in the gutter to die.  By time they figured out who he was, it was 24 hours later and too late.  It was a bizarre ending to an otherwise brilliant career,

Heading off to France from here.

Sagrada Familia

Stage Distance: 526mi (817km)

Leg 2 Distance: 3.476mi (5,607km)
Total Odometer Distance (Leg 2): 4,002mi (6,455km)

Countries Visited (Leg 2): USA, Canada, Portugal, Spain, Morocco, Gibraltar

Out of Africa and into Spain

Spent the last couple of days riding from Essouiria, Morocco to Almeria, Spain. The last leg of the journey was by far the most interesting.  I awoke in Algeciras, Spain this morning, had lunch in Gibraltar, Gibraltar (they now have self rule and have declared themselves a sovereign state, as will I), then ran the Mediterranean Coast Highway (it's worth noting that I made up that name, mostly because it has no cool name and that is a shame, its official name is N-340a, and that is so unfitting for this road, so MCH it will be) for a hundred miles or so. The MCH is a rarely used road that is cut into the Andalucian Cliffs, and, as the name I gave it just two minutes ago implies, runs along the Med.  The vistas are insanely beautiful and are enjoyed by practically no one (as is this blog).  I stopped numerous times to take in the sights, pictures, and at one time, a nap in the middle of the road.  Unfortunately for my blogging efforts, and my wallet, the last part of my journey included a stint where my iPhone came free from its mount and tumbled along the highway at roughly 85mph (137kph) for a couple of hundred meters until it came to a rest. Even more unfortunately, any hope of possibly saving some of the data also tumbled to an end when a truck and two cars proceeded to run over what was left of my phone. Most everything is saved to the cloud, of course with the exception of today's pictures, which were not. Sooooooo, in an effort to remember the rock that bears the name "Gibraltar," I have included a picture that I stole from the internet.

Picture I Stole from TravelGuy27
(I made up that name as I was too lazy to go back and look it up)

Tomorrow I continue up the coast towards Valencia and then Barcelona.  

Stage Distance: 708mi (1,141km)

Leg 2 Distance: 2,890mi (4,661km)
Total Odometer Distance (Leg 2): 3,641mi (4,341km)

Countries Visited (Leg 2): USA, Canada, Portugal, Spain, Morocco, Gibraltar
Leg 1:  https://dualsportamericas.blogspot.com

Essaouira, Morocco

Essaouira is the Moroccan's high adventure beach area and playground.  The City is small, has the standard walled in old area (medina), and a good sized corniche (main road along the beach).  There are tons of surfers, kite surfers, wind surfers and paddle boarders strewn along the beaches.  Really is a pretty sight,  In addition to the adventure sports enthusiasts, there are dozens of horses and camels going up and down the beach.  Some for tourists, and some just Moroccans making their way down the beach.  Like all of Morocco, Essaouira is a dichotomy of old meeting new.   

Camel Train on the Beach

Kite Surfers and Camels

I am staying in an area about 40 miles south of the City.  The ride between the two areas is just beautiful with twisties, small villages and Argan tree plantations all around. After my stay here, I will be making my way to the north to the ferry and be departing the African continent.  I would like to have seen more of Africa, but ISIS has their claws in here pretty well and I only see the situation escalating. It would be a shame if Morocco fell in into their hands as these people are just some of the nicest people on the planet.  There used to be a famous off road race that was held in Europe and Northern Africa called the Paris-Dakar rally, it ran from Paris, France to Dakar, Senegal, (just below Morocco and Mauritania). However, do to ISIS's entrance into Mauritania, the Dakar is now held in South America.  Its a bit of a shame.  

Stage Distance: 148 mi

Total Trip Distance: 2,182 mi
Total Odometer Distance: 3,641 mi

Countries Visited (Leg 2): USA, Canada, Portugal, Spain, Morocco
Leg 1:  https://dualsportamericas.blogspot.com

Entry 10: Marrakesh, Morocco

I have made my way from Casablanca to Marrakesh.  The ride out was uneventful.  The roads are typical interstate construction with the same quality one would find in the Western World, with of the exception of the picture below.

Goats on a Plain

Rolling into town, I passed enormous car dealerships to include; Mercedes, Toyota, Nissan, and BMW and I came to the very quick realization that this City has some money. As I came into the center the of town, I came across a very large wall which encapsulates the old city or "Medina."  The GPS brought the bike and I in, and the world just changed,  The old section is comprised of old narrow passageways that are twisting, turning and dead ending without notice.  Life in the medina is very different than life outside.  Inside is still very old school in terms of architecture, dress and way of life.  Outside is very much the modern world.  This is some overlap between the lifestyles of the two, but I have never seen such a clean divide as I have in Marrakesh.  A very cool place indeed.



After my stay in Marrakesh, I will be heading down to Essasouria.

Stage Distance: 149 mi

Total Trip Distance: 2,034 mi
Total Odometer Distance: 3,097 mi

Countries Visited (Leg 2): USA, Canada, Portugal, Spain, Morocco
Leg 1:  https://dualsportamericas.blogspot.com

Entry 9: Casablanca, Morocco

I am in the middle of my stay in Casablanca.  I rented an AirBnB.  The rental includes the entire 4 bedroom house, plus secured parking, for just $25 a night. Nice house, near the beach, and walking distance to commerce centers.  Morocco is a definitely an inexpensive place to live.  After talking with some of the locals, they are concerned that tourism is way off, and it is clearly bothering them as they have allot of national pride.  Well Morocco, you have my recommendation as a nice place to visit, maybe not my first choice, but if in the area, please do stop by.

Morocco is another country where you can buy drugs without a prescription. I stopped by the pharmacy this morning and picked up some antibiotics to have on hand during my journeys.  I bought two z-packs (azithromycin) and a pack of erythromycin for about $25.  Never find those prices in the US.  For giggles, I asked about my other meds, and they have them on stock for about 28% of what they would cost at home.  To put that in perspective, I could fly here, with a friend, stay at 5-star resort for two weeks, pick up my drugs (name brand, in lieu of generic), fly back to the US, and still save money.  The most ridiculous part, my drugs are made in the US.  Something is not right about that.

Trip to Date

Cruised along the shoreline and came across this monstrosity. It is the Hassan II mosque and it is an absolutely gorgeous building.   The spire reaches almost 70 stories, making it the tallest mosque in the world.  The mosque itself is skinned completely of marble, it is quite a structure.

70 Story Spire, Tallest Mosque in the World

Stage Distance: 0 mi

Total Trip Distance: 1,885 mi
Total Odometer Distance: 2,898 mi

Countries Visited (Leg 2): USA, Canada, Portugal, Spain, Morocco
Leg 1:  https://dualsportamericas.blogspot.com

Entry 8: Casablanca, Morocco

Made my way down the coast to Casablanca, namesake of one of my favorite films.  For kicks, I Googled to see if there was a Rick's Cafe in town, and not to my surprise, there was. The only surprising feature of the place was that it came in to existence in 2004, more than 60 years after the film came out.  I went to dinner there the other night, which was quite enjoyable with the Moroccan architecture and the piano player playing "As Time Goes by." The restaurant is located in the old Medina (Arabic for village), and after dinner I wandered around the tight little streets with neat little shops for a couple of hours. They had everything for sale there, from livestock to Nike's with the swoosh on backwards. The Medina is not a tourist attraction, it is a real little village with all locals, and, apparently me.  I was curious as to how I would be received, and it was quickly revealed that it would be quite well.  The locals, as everywhere I have been in this country, were very nice and helpful.   

Stage Distance: 202 mi

Total Trip Distance: 1,885 mi
Total Odometer Distance: 2,824 mi

Countries Visited (Leg 2): USA, Canada, Portugal, Spain, Morocco
Leg 1:  https://dualsportamericas.blogspot.com