27 April 2017

FR17 - DorDOGne

Looking at places to go. It's just over three weeks until we go. The site seems pretty good and the mobile-home we have is two bedrooms and and two bathrooms. One each then....

There are a number of beautiful villages in the area. and some are linked below. Must remember to take "proper" cameras this time.

Tripadvisor?





I guess we all have our own ideas of what makes a great hotel or restaurant, but sometimes I read reviews (before I go somewhere) and pick out places that I think we'd like to go to.

Of course, you have to sift through and discount the reviews written so obviously by the proprietors best friend and at the othe rend of the scale, those written by someone in competition or simply hates them.  These are the usually the over effusive 5* or totally terrible 1* reviews. 

Some are simply weird.

Today I was thumbing through the Dordogne area, by town, for "dog friendly restaurants". We all have an opinion of that. Personally before I was a dog owner again after over 20+ years of not being a dog owner, I didn't really care. As long as Muttley was quiet and not causing a fuss.

This guy obviously thinks it's a dirty European habit. Forget your heritage bud? Has he never been to someone's house where the dog is inside or maybe they own a cat?  As long as the animal isn't in the kitchen where it can be  licking the plates or pissing on the veggies, and is restricted to the public areas, what harm is there.  Maybe in the Republic of California they don't have indoor dogs?

As a general tool Tripadvisor is very useful.  I have quite a few places reviewed. I tend to not be too critical unless it really deserves it.  After all, as they disclaimer says "This review is the subjective opinion of a TripAdvisor member and not of TripAdvisor LLC"

This is my worst review of a hotel in Coventry.  It was in 2011. The manager commented but it looks as though little has changed as there are more recent damning reviews! Second worst!

25 April 2017

Most Popular Post - VX800 Road test

I just had a look at the stats and am quite amazed that a road test report I wrote on the Suzuki Marauder has had over 15800 views.  An article originally written just shy of 20 years ago!

I do this blogging lark as a bit of fun but I'm glad that someone has actually read something I have written and appreciated it.

And here it is.

http://invictamoto.blogspot.co.uk/2009/08/roadtest-suzuki-vz800-marauder.html

TomTom 410 Update

It's been a while since the last update in the Saga of the TomTom.  It's not quite as long or as involved as the famous Icelandic Sagas, but the story has to be told.

On the test runs in the car we had several problems where the unit turned itself off. Not simply going into "sleep mode" but actually fully shutdown.

In the settings there is one that can be switched off that covers it going into "sleep mode" when it detects a drop in the power.

Very inconvenient especially on a test where we didn't actually know where the destination was!  When it does that it actually loses the route that it was following.

On the "front" screen it displays the status of the connections and the battery symbol know to all of us with a mobile/cell phone.  When connected to the car mount the battery shows no charging is taking place.  If the power lead is then connected to the unit itself. The battery shows the lightning bolt image.  

I reported this to TomTom and they are sending a new car mount.   

With very little time to get out in the garage at weekends (no power and dark evenings don't help) I have yet to check whether the motorcycle mount is working. The only time that we have tried the unit went crazy and this whole thread and fiasco was kicked off.

At that time I never saw whether the battery shows the lightning bolt or not!

This weekend I have a trip on Sunday into unknown territory and for peace of mind I will use the Urban Rider as I know that the unit works, has the right mapping and the power lead to the Rocket's socket works!

MyDrive App

On a positive note. The 410 connects to a smart phone via the TomTom MyDrive app.  To connect the phone needs to pair with a Bluetooth tether link.  This was simple.  MyDrive mapping is not as easy to use as Google Maps and for some reason is not a richly formatted e.g. there are no overlays.  

For example. Looking for the football ground at Wimbledon for Sunday, Google Maps shows the street and the ground is there to see, but MyDrive shows the streets but not details of what is there in the blank bits.

With the phone and unit both switched on and tethered planning a route on the phone simply needs "send to device" clicking and a few seconds later the unit announces a new destination has been received.  Note. Not a route has been received but a destination.  Planning needs to be sequential. 

Planning a route from A to B is okay, but if you decide to go via C, you need to remove B, add C as B and then re-add B and that becomes C.  You cannot add what the old system terms a waypoint once the start and end points are determined.

That's okay once you realise but frustrating at first.




24 April 2017

The Key

I started using this ticket at the start of the year. For years we have been expecting Southeastern Trains (SET) to replace the paper tickets with a smart card. After all in London they have been using the Oyster card instead of paper and cash for a number of years.

In the photo you can just about detect the discoloration, bottom centre, where there is a little crack. The card now doesn't work at all. Unlike the Oyster it doesn't have an obvious microchip in it.

I reported this on the 7th April and expected a new card in about a week to ten days, this extended in an email from them to two weeks.  I called them today as the replacement hasn't arrived and they had a look. Twelve days ago the card was being tested. Six days ago it was being tested.  Today?  Who knows?

The Key from Southeastern Trains

Until it went wrong it has generally worked okay. I buy a new monthly travelcard that covers train from Kent and tubes/buses in London as well.   It ain't cheap folks. Luckily a kidney regrows each month in time for the next time I have to pay out.

Whilst the train section of my journey is okay, I show the emailed receipt for the kidney, and the conductor laughs it off , and the gate staff grumble and let me through.  But.  The Tube/Bus staff look at me as though I have printed my own non-working ticket and won't let me travel. So instead I have to use my contactless credit card to buy each journey. I can claim this back from SET once the new card is up an running, whenever that will be.

So far pretty poor service.

Update 5/5/17:

A flurry of phone calls after I had logged a complaint that I was still waiting and in the weeks since I had reported it the ticket had expired and I was now using a paper ticket again.

The upshot is that as it has expired, they will cancel the account and I can then order a new one, which has been done and I have ordered a new one.  Whether I use it of course is another question.

As for recovering my out of pocket tube fares, they say there is a form and I need to send my bank statements in with the amounts and they will pay it back.  Now that remains to be seen!


Latics @ AFC Wimbledon

Although I have supported Arsenal since 1965 when we moved down to the South from Oldham when I was ten years old, my first flirtation with football was with Oldham Athletic - The Latics.

This was primarily as they were my local team, and when I say local, from my house less than a mile across the field next to Fernhurst (cotton) Mill. My Dad worked for the supporters club as the Pools Promoter and also helped out at the Bingo evenings they ran. These were very vital earnings streams in the 50's and 60's.  

I started to go with him and then with my Aunt Linda and Anne,  a pal of hers.  For a couple of years I had a season ticket and  then we moved south to Surrey.  

My Dad was an Arsenal supporter and many of the family were too.

Over many years as an "exile" I have tried to get to games when they are in the south and accessible. 

Although I have been to games at Wimbledon before, in their original guise as a non-league side playing in the Southern League at their old ground at Plough Lane, and then latterly as they made their way to the Premier League and playing home games at Crystal Palace's Selhurst Park.  

Then an owner took the club to another city and the new club was born from the angry supporters back in south London. They have worked their way through the pyramid as far as League One - the third tier in the English game.

They still share a ground before moving back to Plough Lane where they have taken over the land from the greyhound racing stadium.

I've not been to the current ground, although in the 70's friends and I from school did go often to watch the club they share with, Kingstonian, in the Isthmian League, the 7th tier in the pyramid.




As it is difficult to get to from where I live I intend to ride up on the bike. I have checked that there is parking onsite. They confirmed that there is motorcycle parking at the attached leisure and fitness centre.  So now I hope for better weather!!

23 April 2017

The Adventure Goes On - FAC Semi @ Wembley

And the adventure goes on.  

After a disastrous run of games of late that have seen the assault on the league fade and fade with a record, under Wenger, of four consecutive away defeats, Arsenal were definitely underdogs on Sunday in this semi-final. 

In the League trailing their opponents by a considerable margin, the one-off match to reach the final was a different ball game, to coin a phrase.





After a dreadful mistake allowed  Manchester Oil Barons to go ahead in the first half. The Arsenal players managed to rally themselves and equalise through Monreal.

The game went into 30 minutes extra time before Sanchez scored to win the game.












The final beckons on May 27th.

21 April 2017

FR17 - Overnighting Orléans

The journey to the campsite near Sarlat is about 550 miles according to the route done on Tyre by Google maps. With Reggie onboard we decided to break the journey about halfway and so the hunt began.

Once I had a route in mind that avoids Paris and the terrible Périphique and the slightly less terrible outer A86 ring. 

In the end "halfway" looked to be Orléans or that area.  On booking.com I did a search and selected the Campanile at la Source just to the south of the city.  Given the time of the outward Shuttle I expect we'll be there in good time to give Reggie a decent walk on the nearby fields. 

I emailed to find out how much it will cost for him and it's an extra €5 a night.  Amazingly, at this particular hotel he is allowed in the restaurant. Although the idea of dogs in restaurants doesn't appeal to everyone, a well behaved dog is hardly noticeable on the floor and is no dirtier than the shoes that people come in.

In the end I have booked in there in both directions.

15 April 2017

Walk on the Shingle

Today we had a short drive to Dungeness to take Reggie for a walk.

We go quite often to see the trains and for a walk on the shingle.


As it was a sunny Saturday of the Easter Weekend the place was packed.  Now that some of fishermen are selling their product direct to the public and have small pop-up restaurants, the crowds have increased.

We were lucky to park and then set off across the shingle inland to give Reggie a chance to smell down a few rabbit holes. Luckily for all concerned no rabbits ventured above ground.


Shingle!
The old Lighthouse
The big square building is a nuclear power station!

12 April 2017

Every Game's an Adventure

That may be true.

Except of course every Arsenal game is more of a nightmare at the moment.

11 April 2017

TomTom 410 - Update

The call I logged on the TomTom Support site seems to have fallen into that hole where difficult calls disappear to when no one wants to do them.  Maybe they think that if they ignore me long enough I'll simply write-off the money and forget I bought this piece of crap.

Sadly, they are mistaken.  I have updated the call a few times and maybe asking for it to be replaced as it has never been used has caused them to go silent.

I tried to connect again last evening.  This time I was able to login to My Drive Connect and it went through the "restore" motions and re-booted the unit. But it failed again... and again and again.  In the end I aborted.

I have updated the call, again, on the Support site and also this time added a scan on the invoice from when I bought it on February 1st.

So let's see where this takes us!

P.S. The Urban Rider took me to the parking on the Vimy Trip without a hitch.


UPDATE 12/04/17 11:00

This mornings update is that is had to go back as the internal memory is u/s. TomTom have sent a label and I need to package it up and it has to go UPS to The Netherlands!!   I doubt I'll see it for a while then. They have said 7-10 days round trip. But that will  be longer as we have two Bank Holidays coming up this weekend and May Day.

A little annoying that they simply haven't just replaced it with a new one considering it is brand spanking new.

Better start scrambling around for some bubble wrap and a padded posting bag. Luckily today we had a dog food delivery and that comes with loads of those irritating plastic peanuts to pad the box out. So I might use some of those!  Let the Dutch recycle them!

I might give it one last chance before I box it up. You never know.  Murphy's law will dictate if I don't that it will arrive with TomTom and it will work when they turn it on!


UPDATE 12/04/17 20:00

The law according to Murphy.  I connected the 410 to the same laptop with the same oem cable, and started My Drive Connect and... it connected. The screen didn't come up with the error message but it booted properly!

I have updated the call and said I will keep it until after the Easter holiday weekend and see if there are any problems with it.

10 April 2017

Vimy 100 - Report

The day started a little later for me as I had misread the booking for the Shuttle and set off to arrive at 0850 when I fact the train was at 0850 and I was supposed to be there before 0820 when that train closed.  Curiously the automatic booking system didn't quibble and still gave me the crossing I could never make.  

As usual there was a delay. I don't think we have been over using Eurotunnel for many years where the train has left on time or at least as scheduled.  The last time was with Reggie and Claire when we went glamping on the Somme (80) coast last October.  Delays both ways.

Anyway.  Once I had done a few laps of the parking I slipped between the barriers.  When I arrived with my "hanger" - a thing that car drivers can hang from their interior read-view mirrors - showing crossing K, the staff didn't say, "Go straight to the controls", instead I would have done a 360 loop of the parking had I not snuck through the barriers after 180!

UK passports was relaxed and the French were creating queues.  Usually they are reading the paper or simply not there but today it was "only have two windows open" day  for hundreds of cars.

On the Shuttle

Once aboard the train we were told there was a slight delay as there was a hold-up loading the coaches in a different section of the train. As usual bikes are the poor relations and we wait for all the cars to load and they shove us on the end. I have never had a valid reason for this.  Once I was told it was because a bike might go on fire!  I am sure that my £13500 Triumph is less likely to cause a problem than the number of £2500 crap heaps that wheezed past me as I queued.

Once in France we were off into the same warm sunny day as it was at home.  As a consequence I only wore the Aldi base layer under my Joe Rocket mesh jacket. And I was fine even into the evening.  I did take a v-neck jumper just in case.

Other things packed included a couple of pies, a bottle of water and some biscuits, plus by accident some sun screen!  One each of the pies and biscuits came home too.

Once onto the A26 southwards I was in need of a drink. I pulled into the Aire de Rély and unusually for me,  I topped the tank off with €9 of unleaded.  Rather than hunt around later as I wouldn't manage there and back on one tank that wasn't full to start with.

A coffee and pain-chocolat later I set off again.
Slightly delayed as Pepé attracts people to come and have a look, I almost felt sorry for the glam couple in the Porsche being ignored, even when they blipped the throttle a few times.  Very Loud.  Feeling smug I set off.

All was going to plan, after the problem with the new TomTom 410 I was back to using the "old" Rider.  It took me off the A26 and A21 to the parking.  But sadly, by the time I got there it had closed as full. There did seem plenty of spaces for a motorcycle but the French jobsworth is more resolute that his English counterpart. Even the Gendarme was on my side but M. Jobsworth was adamant.

So I was directed to Lens, where I had already passed by, to Parking D situated at the 2000 car space parking lot by the RC Lens football ground.  Pepé was quickly locked up and secured and I was on a bus within 10 minutes.  
What organisation!  Don't worry reality will set in later!

The journey to the Memorial Park went along where I had just ridden and then we were disembarked some 500 metres from the festivities.  Along the way a lady kindly gave me a little maple leaf badge to wear. 

From there is was a bit chaotic as no one really knew where to go.  I picked up a programme and a water bottle from a table where volunteers were handing them out.  


On the really plus side and with the weather hovering about 25C in full sun all day, the organisers had water stations, with water cooler bottles so that the bottle they gave away could be refilled.



When I last went, in 2014,  it was mid week and there were maybe five coaches.  I doubt the ceremony was seen by more than 200 people. Today over 20000! Groups from all over Canada. School groups with those irritating little table tennis bat signs the leaders hold up and then proceed to push past every one.  

In the end I went to the right of the entrance and the path from the road to the monument was fenced off for the services to parade.  

There was plenty of seating and I took the opportunity to sit on an end. I got chatting to a couple in the back row, and I immediately forgot their names (!).  As I had packed light, I didn't bring a camera, just relying on my phone.  
For that I did bring two battery chargers though to top it up.  One didn't work though but the other did provide 50% charge for the S5.

More people in this pic than in 2014 at all.

We had a good view of the marching and for the speeches conducted on the other side of the monument, facing the west where the troops had attacked from, we had a screen to watch.

Unfortunately, the Samsung S5 has a good camera, but in full sun the screen is 99.99999999% impossible to see.  Some of the photos dotted around this blog were taken using the system of locating the target by checking their position in relation to a hat in the crowd!  It worked occasionally.

The massive crowd was entertained with music and dancing from people from the English and French speaking communities and from the First Nation. Gradually bringing us closer to when the dignitaries would arrive. Usually this is 3pm, but for some reason it had slipped back to 4pm and of course, they were late. As well as Canadian Veterans Affairs there was President Hollande from France, Justin Trudeau the Canadian PM, and of course Princes Charles, William and Harry representing her Maj the Queen.

The ceremony proper started off with a gun salute.  I lost count of the shells fired.  As we didn't see any part of Lievin and Lens on fire we assumed they were blanks... With my new found sighting system I managed to get some photos and accidentally a video! If you look at it you will see the sighting hat!


Gunners getting ready.

One of the themes was the need for boots. Some letters read out from men that took part, and the main, were killed or wounded in the battle, they were concerned with few things other than having new boots, Their old boots hadn't been designed for spending all day in mud and water.  it does make you wonder who supplied the army.  I'm sure Canada has its fair share of wet and muddy conditions, not to mention -30 temperatures and snow.

Boots!

All but M. Hollande conducted their speeches in both English and French. Some of the Canadians in my area were a little disgruntled by this as they thought it a little rude.

Mr Trudeau received the biggest cheer from the assembly so I guess that the disgruntlement wasn't to do with French per se. He slipped from English to French and vice-versa with ease and confidence.

There followed a fly past by some replica aircraft from WW1. Even though they weren't too fast, they were too much for the S5 and the new sighting system.  I just kept clicking hoping to get one decent or at least one none too laughable shot come out. By accident I did get a video but it needs editing to remove some of the verbal comments....

Replica aircraft fly-past

Okay, so they are a little small.  At least the purple umbrella helped get them all in the same shot!

And then the people began to slip away towards the buses.  And here's where the system failed.

The four parking area bus "stops" were close together.  Instead of organising lines/queues to each, they left it in a chaotic mess.  The school leaders blocked everywhere up to try and keep their charges together or at least round them up. That should have been done elsewhere and taken as a group to a bus.

In the end after two and a half hours I made it to a bus.  The humour in the crowds shows that at the end of the day, Canadians are generally nice. Some cat calling and rude waves as the seemingly endless procession of cars and coaches took the dignitaries and their hangers-on away before the plebs were supplied with buses.

Once back at Lens I got back to the bike and was ready to leave in ten minutes. I had no idea how to escape the parking and set TomTom for Home.   I mixed up "laissser" and "departer" up asking a security guy for the route to "direction a Calais" but in the end TomTom came to our rescue.

Once on the A21 and then the toll A26 I was off like flint. The speed limit is 81mph on the toll sections and I was about that all the way between toll stations. Another €4 spent going north.  

At Eurotunnel it told me I was late and had missed my scheduled crossing. As it was 2145 local time I was 55 minutes late for the train. The automat kindly gave me hanger O and a time of 2225 departure.

Once clear of the passport formalities I saw that O was loading. Once again, I sat alongside the train as they loaded all the cars. It's annoying anyway, but when cars with P and Q hangers are loaded first..... Then that is taking the piss.  In the end I squeezed on the very end of the train. Just enough room behind the last car so they could close the fire doors with inches to spare.  I didn't bother taking any more photographs! OMG what if I had gone on fire..... The 2007 Peugeot in front of me was more likely to do that!

And so 40 minutes later we pulled into Folkestone and I was last off. Duelling with the foreign lorries to get onto the M20.

I was pulling up on the drive at about 10pm. Feeling a little hungry and also in need of the loo.

All in all a really great event to be part of. The chaos at the end could have overshadowed the day's events but for the good humour of the Canadian and British sharing the same  fatalistic sense of humour - making jokes out of adversity.

7 April 2017

Tomtom 410

A miserable story here.

Ever since it arrived I have been trying to get it up and running.

On the face of it the new software that was supposed to be a step forward seems in fact two steps backwards.

Most of the best functions from the older systems have been lost,  but modern app like functions such as web connections through a mobile phone are better.
Linked to an app on the phone it should mean sending a route to the unit is simpler and does away with having to connect to a computer.

So far so good. Sadly the reality is not as good. The new software doesn't handle waypoints like older TomToms and even my ancient Garmin.  You can add stops though.
When connected to a computer it shows up as a drive but unlike the older generation it can't be browsed.

I spent hours today and all seemed good. I got the route set, and even amended it slightly on the unit itself. Then I fitted the cradle and Ram mounts to Pepe and put the unit on and.... it failed.

Nothing I have tried has made it work and yet another call has been made to their support site. It didn't help that although I could login to the support site, the My Drive Connect desktop app wouldn't accept the password,  even though it is all the same.
Luckily, I still have to Urban Rider available.  Good job I didn't put it on eBay.

A few minutes tinkering and it's setup ready for my trip to Vimy Ridge on Sunday.
The login problem extended to TomTom Home as there were updates to maps but it failed with some connection errors.
Let's see what they come up after the weekend to get the 410 working.

At the moment it is looking like a massive white elephant and waste of money.

The first picture was when it actually worked and shows the route to Vimy. The other is the marvellous screen that popped up when fitted to the bike.

But as they say "The show must go on".

2 April 2017

AMRR 2017




After missing out on 2015 after my heart attack and 2016 as it clashed with the Somme 100 ceremony, I am planning to Rocket up to Cambridge to join this year's run.

The date is July 1st and is a Saturday again.

The Kent RBLR group are meeting at Cobham Services on the A2 at 0845 with several stops on the way. It's a bit early for me to be up there as I am not planning to leave home until 0900. Maybe I will catch them up with my no stop strategy.




1 April 2017

Aldi bike gear

Once again Aldi have their bike gear on sale.
 
I'm not in the market for jackets or over trousers so I didn't bother going in on Thursday when it went on sale.
 
For those of you that don't know, Aldi is a German supermarket chain. They have become very international and you may find their stores in most European countries.
 
They started off being cheaper than the UK competition and has gradually moved up and with the economy the way it is, people are looking to cut their shopping bill.
 
Anyway,  as well as food they do household stuff and other goods from time to time. This week they have motorcycle gear. Next week caravan accessories.
 
Claire went in in Friday and bought me a Base Layer shirt. In XL it is a tight fit but apparently it's supposed to be that way.
 
Might give it a try out tomorrow if the weather is kind.
 
 
UPDATE: April 9th 2017
 
 I wore this shirt on the Vimy run as it was very sunny all day and although not billed as windproof I didn't feel any windchill as Red Pepé and I cruised at 70 - 80mph on the A26. On the way back I got slightly chilled after the sun went down on the last bit of the run into Calais at about 2200 local time.
 
I'd rate this shirt 5/5 for performance.