Travel pages

After finishing my school and working for some time, I became ill and spend a long time in hospital and at home. After I started working full time again, I wanted to do something else so I quit my job and went to my oncle and aunt their farm in England and worked there for sometime. In Juli I was back home in Voorburg and wanted to visit another oncle and aunt, in Switzerland, and to see Monaco and the Mediterranean. Tuesday, July 17, 1979 I left my parents house at six in the morning on my way to Geneva in Switzerland. From Voorburg I took the freeway to Rotterdam but in Rotterdam, I realised I lhad left my bag with maps and addreses and some more things at home. Well, I could do without so I did not go back. From Rotterdam, I drove to Antwerp and from Antwerp to Brussels. From Brussels, I had the E40 past Namur, March and Bastogne to Arlon. On the E40 to Namur, I stopped at a roadrestaurant for a coffee and to call home to make sure there was nothing really important in the bag I had left behind (fortunately there was nothing important in the bag). In Arlon I left the freeway to ride to Luxembourg. Through Luxembourg, I went to Thionville in France. From Thionville, I had the freeway to Metz and Nancy. When I left home it was a little rainy but fortunately, the weather became beter when I was halfway Belgium and in France it was very nice sunny weather. Just past Besançon I stopped at a small roadrestaurant. The same that I had visited two years ago on my way to Camping Moto. I had a cold cola and I tied my warm Belstaff pants, my sweater and my winter gloves on the bike. It was to warm now to wear that. Restaurant near Besançon While I was drinking my cola, I saw a biker, on a yamaha XT500 passing by. (Later I would meet him again) From Besançon I went via Poligny to Champagnole where I met the XT500 rider again. We drove together for a while and when we stopped, I asked him where he was going. he happened to go to Geneva, just like me decide to ride together to Geneva. Onour way to Switzerland we stopped at a café for coffee and then we drove past St Laurent and Morez to the "Col de la Faucille", the pass that crosses the mountains from France to Switzerland. On the summit of this beautiful road we parked the bikes to have a coffee and to enjoy the view. Having a coffee on the summit of the Col de la Faucille The XT500 rider was Hiroshi Nakamara, a Japanes biker. He left Japan last year on his kawasaki 750 4 ciliner and drove all the way to Greece. Then the winter made riding a bike impossible so he had to stay there for a while. Unfortunately his bike was stolen so then he took the bus to England and bought this Yamaha XT500 with an extra large tank. After exploring Europe, he want to go to Africa and cross the Sahara desert (that is why he has that extra large tank). Hiroshi Nakamara and the XT500 he bought in England A picture that Hiroshi made of me and the bikes (I received it months later by mail) At the summit, I checked the oil level of my SR500 and added half a liter and then we drove down the pass into Switzerland. Halfway we had to stop. The view was so beautiful that we had to get some pictures of it. Our Yamaha's with Lake Geneva in the background

In Gex, stil in France, we filled our tanks and then we went to Geneva. At the gasstation I asked for directions and later, at the border crossing into Switzerland, near Ferné Fautaire, I asked again. I had to go to my aunt and oncles house in Genthod, a suburb of Geneva and Hiroshi had to go into Geneva itself so here went went our seperate ways. When I arrived in Genthod, I realised that the address wa in the bag I had left at home so I stopped at a garage and asked if I could use their phone to call home for the address. With the right address it did nottook me long to find the way to "The Gingerbreadhouse" where they lived. The Gingerbreadhouse in Genthod I arrived just wehn they were having dinner but fortunately they new I was coming because I was very hungry. It was nice to meet my oncle, aunt and their children. I had not seen them for a long time. After almost 14 hours and almost 900 km, I was at my first destination after a very pleasant ride. Wednesday, July 18, 1979 This morning I left the Gingerbreadhouse at nine in the morning on my way to Chamonix and the Mont Blanc tunnel. For the first part of the route I had the toll road to Chamonix. I was not very happy with the sound of my bike. It had started to make a lot more noise because a gasket between the cilinderhead and the exhaust was leaking. On the toll road to Chamonix After I left the toll road I came on a two lane road with heavy traffic. I was happy that I was on a motorbike so I could easy pass the line of on the road to the Mont Blanc tunnel. After paying 32 French francs, I could enter the 13 kilometer long tunnel between France and Italy. Entering the Mont Blanc tunnel There is always a light on the end of the tunnel and after 13 kilometer in the dark I arrived on the other side of the tunnel. At a bankoffice I changed a hundred French francs for thousands of Italian lire and rode my bike into Italy. The roads were wide and winding but the quality of the pavement was not very good. I enjoyed riding the winding Italian roads and via Aosta I drove to the St. Bernard pass. It is very warm and with my full face helmet, it is to hot for comfort and I have a terrible headache. I try to ride without my helmet to cool my head and that helps only a little. (It is illigal but I saw a lot of Italian bikers without a helmet) Halfway the pass my headache is so bad that I park the bike and take a nap in the shadow of my bike. When I wake up after fifteen minutes I felt much better but when I opened my eyes, I saw the head of a cow, right above my head.......A very strange way to wake up. Without my helmet I rode to the summit of the St Bernhard pass but before I entered Switzerland, I get my helmet back on. At the bordercrossing I ran into trouble. The border guard would not let me in because my bike was much to noisy. (Well, actualy it was. the gasket between the cilinderhead and the exhaust is completely gone now) but when I explained that all my luggage was in Gethod and promised that I would repair the exhaust as soon as possible, he let me in. On the the summit of the St Bernhard pass I bought a coffee, took an asperine and bought a badge to sew on my vest. Then I went back to Geneva. The scenery was stunning with the snow on the mountains and the green valleys. Beautiful scenery Despite the asperine, my headache was not gone. On the road from the St Bernhard pass to Martigny I decide it was not safe to go on, so I checked in at a motel to get some sleep. It costed me 20 Swiss franc. I arrived at the motel at four o'clock in the afternoon and I slept until half past five, feeling much better then. The motel. I had the downstairs room on the right After filling my tank again, I drove through Martigny to Montreux. In Martigny I stopped at a restaurant and had a giant egg sandwich. Having a good meal made me even feel better and with new energie, I jumped on my bike to ride, via Lausanne, back to Genthod. Here I had a very good egg sandwich Again it was during dinner that I arrived at the Gingerbreadhouse but fortunately they were not mad at me. Today I drove 450 kilometer. After diner I relaxed, chatted with my family and went to bed in time.