Catalunya MotoGP - Road trip

[celticBandit]

So, I decided to bring the family on a 4200km road trip from Amsterdam to Barcelona and back to take in MotoGP de Catalunya. Just got back yesterday. We flew from Cork,IRL to Amsterdam to pick up our rental car. Yes, I know a car but there are 3 of us and 3 don't fit on a bike.

Drove to Antwerp, Belgium to attend the Christening of my brothers son. I was the Godfather. We stayed for 2 days and from there we went to:

Disneyland Paris
Arromanches, Normany
Longues sur Mer, Normandy
American cemetary at Omaha beach,Normandy
Mont Saint michel, Brittany
Saint Malo, Brittany
La Rochelle, French West Coast
Carcassonne, South of France
Calella, Spain, just north of Barcelona, near to Catalunya circuit. Stayed for 4 days to watch racing and drove north again to
Bourges, France.
Amsterdam, Netherlands.

I'll add pics below.

 

[celticBandit]

After a day in Disneylamd Paris, we headed out west to Normandy. I always wanted to see the D-Day landing beaches and museums so we did a whistle stop tour of the area. Started with the artificial pier/harbour in Arromanches built by the Allied forces in the days aftrer June 6th.

 

[celticBandit]

After Arromanches, we headed up to the cliffs to see the big German guns and bunkers at Longues. Very impressive hardwear. Nice pic of a solitary Poppy.

 

[notright]

Great pics, I would love to see it in person.

 

[celticBandit]

Then we travelled about 20 mins along the coast to Omaha beach and the American cemetary there. I'm not American but I can tell you that it really moved me and that it really was an impressive sight. Very respectful and a very apt tribute to all of the American soldiers that died there. I have great respect for the way that your country has honoured their memory.

 

[celticBandit]

After that we moved onto Mont Saint Michel but only got to stay a short while as it was getting late.

 

[celticBandit]

We stayed that night in Saint Malo and next morning it was on to La Rochelle and Ile de Re on the French West coast. Not much to see here, just a quiet beautiful French coastal area and towns.

 

[celticBandit]

Next day it was on to Carcassonne in the south of France. The best thing about this town was the beautiful Medievil town. Spent a couple of hours here before shooting off to Barcelona the next day.

 

[celticBandit]

We stayed in Calella just north of Barcelona, about 30mins from Circuit de Catalunya. Went to practice on the Friday and got to go in the pitlane. It was absolute mayhem. Couldn't get anywhere near Lorenzo or Pedrosa's garage due to the throngs of Spanish fans. We were just outside Colin Edwards pit when who came out but Colin Edwards. My hero. What a legend. Snap. Made my trip. I was over the moon. Seriously nice guy. I told him he was a f****** legend. We'll, he is used to bad language...

 

[celticBandit]

.,,,,,,

 

[celticBandit]

And that was it really. Had a great weekend racing. I did have a really long 2 day drive from Barcelona to Amsterdam. The only thing worth mentioning is that we passed over this really big bridge in France called the Millau bridge. It absolutely massive. The picture doesn't do it justice. Hope you all enjoyed. Next time I'm doing it on the Busa.