Route Barrée.  January 2010

It has taken a while to get all the dates and prices together but I am pleased to confirm details for the Tours for 2010.  I hope I shall see you on one of them.  I am grateful, too, for permission to use participants' photos in the publicity material and on this site.

As previously, the hotels have been carefully chosen for location, price and welcome.  When choosing a hotel I have my wife's expectations firmly in mind !

Thanks for the expressions of interest in the year's programme. I am now taking deposits for all Tours and all places are on a first-come-first-served basis.  A deposit of £50 per person for each Tour will reserve you your place.  Please make cheques payable to 'Alan Abrahams.'  I am a bit jittery over the euro exchange rate for the overseas Tours.  It is possible that I may have to make price revisions but I sincerely hope not.

As previously, all monies are held in an an account that I use only for these Tours.  Your money is held in the account until I pay the hotel at the conclusion of the Tour.  This has enabled me to offer full refunds in the odd couple of cases where cancellation has been necessary.  I expect to be able to do the same this year.

Please indicate any special dietary requirements / food allergies when making your booking.  I notify the hotel ahead of our visit and they make the necessary arrangements.  Please also make a note if you require a quiet or a twin bed room.  Single and twin rooms tend to be less readily available but I'll do my best.  Single rooms attract a supplement.  Sometimes a 'single' rider asks whether anyone else in the group is willing to share a room.  If you are in a similar position - wishing to avoid the single supplement - please let me know so that I can put people together.

I really hope that I shall have the opportunity to ride with you in 2010.  All the routes are designed to be suitable for all types of classic motorcycle or car - in 2009 I used my 1921 Martinsyde extensively and the Three Amigos used 50cc machines (not sure what that proves.)  I hope to ring the changes and use my Vauxhall Cresta at some point in 2010 (if I can get it to go !)  It's your holiday and you can ride / drive whatever you like.

I was in France over the weekend of 4-6 December and worked out three new routes for this year.  I have used one or two of the coffee / lunch stops from last year again but the routes are new.  December is not the perfect time to set out on a mission like this as so many places are closed and it can be quite difficult to find cafés and restaurants.  Once again, with the short days, I was planning routes in the dark and seemed to be lost half the time.  I shall look forward to seeing the scenery at a later date.  I covered about 900 miles in total, before dashing back on Sunday afternoon to catch the Alice Cooper Show at Hammersmith in the evening !  He hasn't changed a bit since I last saw him in 1972.  God, I'm getting old !

I plan to go over to the Continent again in late February to check the French routes and to plot three new routes each in Belgium and Luxembourg.  I've been poring over maps looking for likely new byways and old favourites to enjoy again.  They are a bit short of traffic over there so come and join us for a few days riding.  'The right crowd and no crowding' as they used to say at Brooklands.

You may have seen a provisional listing of the Tours and prices some weeks ago.  The information on the website now is correct and I'm pleased to say that many of the Tour prices are now confirmed at lower than I had, provisionally, anticipated.  Many have not increased from last year.

Best wishes for a happy new year

Alan Abrahams 38, Charles Drive, Cuxton.  Rochester  Kent ME2 1DR 01634-710036 simplywizard@hotmail.com or gettinglost@hotmail.co.uk

In the patisserie, Londinières. December 2009