Testing the XSR off road…ALPS DAY 7

*PLEASE READ THE DESCRIPTION*
Regret not spending enough time wandering around The Luberon but instead I got into a fiasco in Avignon trying to find the Palais des Papes.
Another searing hot day when I really did not want to be stopped – Avignon nearly killed me. What an amazing city Nimes is….the most Roman city outside Italy with three amazing Roman structures – the Arena (Arenes), The Maison Caree and just outside the town, the Pont du Gard. And then there is the even older Tour Magne but this is pre-Roman built at end of the 3rd century BC!
Here just outside Nimes at Mas de Gasc I spent a few days with our good friends…..where I rested my weary backside. If you are interested in staying in a beautiful Gite, Mas de Gasc is searchable on YouTube.
Big shout out to Dubois Motos Thome – the Nimes Yamaha main dealer who looked after my oil change.

@RobLittleuk
*Fat Man, Tiny Bike heads for The Alps!*

[Music] Come on. Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] Good morning from the south of France. Just checking to see the bike is okay. [Music] It looks like another good morning. So, good morning from the little hilltop town of MS or Merse where I spent the night last night. Um, just down the road is the rather more fashionable town of Gourd in Provence. Absolutely stunning view this morning, 7:30 before breakfast. I thought I’d better go out for a little walk to make the present Mrs. Little proud of me. Absolutely lovely hillside town. Nice. So, the plan today is I’ll end the day at uh my friend Jean Denise house, but I will have a couple of days of restite. Um I’ve got a few things I want to do here in Provence to start with. Um, and then I’m going to head for Dubois Yamaha in Neem because uh I hate to say it, but I think I should have an oil change um before I head back. I’ve done about 1,400 miles. They recommend an oil change at 1,800. It’s done some hard work as we know. I thought you’d find this funny, Bev. This is what this lady does with her dog. This lady is just about to drive past me. She takes her dog out with the car and uh I said to her, I think that might be something I ought to do. Just look across there like this. Isn’t it stunning? Absolutely beautiful. Look at this place right down here. Right on the edge. Fantastic. It’s just wonderful to look at over this valley. not been walking the last few days. Obviously, a lot of riding, so I thought I’d come out and have a walk this morning. It’s very nice, but it’s already bloody hot. I just checked in. It’s already about 22° and that’s at uh 7:30 in the morning. Anyway, I’ll cope. Just seen a cyclist take this view and uh I thought I’d claim it as an original of mine. So, this is where I’m staying more or less in behind here. Just walking up to the hotel. Looks like we’re going to be sitting outside for breakfast. Very nice. Very nice. Well, this was a nice place to stay. Few tricky stairs. Just going down to Gourd now. Cheers. Have a good day. Yeah. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Heat. Heat. [Music] [Music] Lovely little village. This [Music] [Applause] What a lovely morning. [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] No problem with snatchy clutches on this bike. Not like the new 10ear. [Applause] Just coming into the hilltop town of Gourd. [Music] I bet there’s a market here every day. [Applause] This was the restaurant we kept coming back to here. We stayed here. Very expensive, but rather nice. [Applause] Heat. Heat. Very busy place here. I’m glad I didn’t stay here overnight to be honest. But uh what a gorgeous place. is absolutely fantastic here. Just stunning. Bloody hell, it’s going to be a hot one today. The garage is fitting me in at 4:00 for an oil change. I think it probably needs it. So the idea was visiting Avenue that I would find my way to the pale dupes and uh basically just uh sit there and uh have a little think in the big square. I went there with uh with Beverly back in 2007 on the Suzuki 1600 Um, bottom line is all these roads were closed off, but uh I I thought to myself, well, I’m not going to get uh caught, am I? Nobody’s going to catch me driving through these pedestrianized streets. Look what a rebel I am and how inconsiderate I am to anybody wanting to troll me. Please be my guest. Bottom line is anyway, um I couldn’t get to it. I just could not get to it. Uh the GPS was letting me down because of the tall buildings in the streets. just weren’t I just wasn’t seeing the satellite properly. [Music] So I in the end it was so bloody hot I gave up. [Music] headed out of Alvin to the nearest McDonald’s which was of course air conditioned. had a spot of lunch [Music] and then headed off to Ne where I had to get the bike serviced. just rode through Ne, the most Roman town outside of Italy, and uh drove past the uh Maison Carrie and then onto the arena, which is just amazing. Incredible to think this stuff was made 2,000 years ago. Heat. Heat. [Music] [Music] This is uh one of my personal landmarks, the arena in Neim, the Roman Arena. Um, got a photo of the 1600 intruder here nearly 20 years ago. But uh Beverly joined me on that run. She wouldn’t come on the back of this 125. I don’t know why, but uh anyway, very glad to be here. Well, here I am in another dealer. Go change in the oil. I’ve done about 1500 miles. 1,500 very hard miles, I would say. So, uh, the advice is to change the oil anyway at 3 at 1,800. So, uh, what with the hot drive and the mountains, I thought this is the place to do it. I’m in Neem in the Yamaha dealership in Ne Dubois and they’ve been very friendly. So, here is the place. Very nice people, very friendly. For those of you like me who like a good old moan about the cost of stuff over here in England, uh I thought I’d share this invoice with you. Um, they charged me €115 for an oil change and a chain lube and a safety check. And if you spot it on here, their labor rate is €80 an hour, including VAT. And they weren’t short of staff, either. Heat. Heat. [Applause] [Applause] [Music] That’s It looks like I’m back in England on the on the left. [Music] It certainly holds very very hot. Gloves can go in there. Right, here we go then. Not the easiest of drives. This even in the corner. Last time I did this was on the on the intruder. Heat. [Music] [Applause] Heat. water. That’s the gas. Heat up [Applause] Oh god. So hot, aching, tired. That’s me sorted for the next three nights, two days. staying with my great friends Rejene and Jean Deni. Jean Denise’s mother was my mother’s pen friend and they started writing to each other in 1944 after the liberation of France. So we have quite a history between us. So, I’ve had quite a drive today through searing heat once again from uh MS down through Gourd in Provence and along through the fiasco that was Avenue and then a boiling hot ride across to me from from there. Um, and then I had the oil change on the bike at Dwis Nee uh before riding over here to uh Master Gas. [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Music]