Going Transatlantic. From Montreal to France on a red Ducati.

Allow me to preface this by mentioning I am also covering this in my blog. At times there will be more on here (like this intro post), other times I might put more pictures over there to keep the thread somewhat manageable.

Either way, CHECK IT! www.JulienConstans.com

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I've wanted to start this thread for quite a while now. Never knew where or what to start with.

FWIW I still don't know what I'm doing. But I'll do it anyways. I think peeps will enjoy the whole documenting of this trip.

So here's the deal.

I've been in Montreal for quite some time now (12 years), and for various reasons (none making much sense), I decided I'd had enough and needed to gtfo.

I'm leaving Sunday Sept. 18th.

Why France? I'm originally french. I can work there if I want to. That's what it comes down to, essentially.

Oh, and it's pretty, and the food isn't too bad, and there is no winter, and there are mountains, and old stones. Unfortunately it's full of French. Which I'm quite apprehensive about. I hope my fears will be proven wrong.

Where exactly am I going? Carcassonne. I have family there.
Yep, Carcassonne, with the medieval city and such.





From there, I'll visit the Pyrenees quite a bit since they're right there, and plan on hitting the Alps as well, hopefully before winter. No precise plans, but rest assured there will be many trips.

I mean ... this is what my backyard will look like.






Do I have your attention now?

I've mapped out a few interesting roads. Hopefully they're pleasant in real life.









I like to take pictures, so you'll just have to bear with me. There will be many pictures, hopefully documenting every single step of the journey.

My gear is very basic, but it's rugged and I won't mind losing it. Canon 10D body with Tokina 12-24 and Canon 50mm f1.8 lenses. Again, basic but yields good results and is tough as nails.

I also have a helmet mounted GoPro HD. I'll use it a lot, but think I'll chicken out when time comes to edit videos. That shit takes time. A lot of it.




Now, I know I promised a red Ducati ... so yeah. It's a Duc. And it's red. And shiny. And spent last winter in my living room.


Yep, that's snow. First ride this spring.


And everyone says you can't tour on them. I don't give a shit. I've done 1,000km days with no problem. Plan on doing it again.
Little bit of luggage space


So that's the transportation. I'll be forward and say it's not too shabby.

This is how it stands now in my yard, with camping gear and all.


How's the bike shipped? Air France Cargo.


Damn right.

I'll go and drop it off tomorrow all loaded up, no crate. Go home, finish packing up, take my plane on Sunday, and on Tuesday the bike will be waiting for me in Toulouse. The trip actually takes 2 days, but it's easier for me to drop it off a bit early.
This is a ridiculously simple way of transporting a bike. And you'll get great rates if the staff is bike friendly.


I battled quite a bit with insurance issues as I wanted comprehensive coverage and not just the minimum liability most companies offer. Motorcycle Express came through, and this little thing showed up in my mailbox!
Can't believe I summed up 4 weeks of research in 2 goddam lines.:huh It's easy once you know.

GREEN CARD FTW!!


So that's that for now!!!

I'll update this thread and my blog as frequently as possible. I'm hoping I can get pictures of the bike being loaded in the plane ... and if I can't, well it'll be pics of me loaded in the plane. Not quite as exciting, I know.

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TL : DR - going to France

Wow. I'm envious of you. That looks like a beautiful place to live. Are those the Pyrinees?

Close to the Mediterranian sea, and the mountains. A bit like the West Coast, USA, except for the thousands of years of human history.

Keep the updates and pictures coming.

im fapping keep posting

Have to admit....
I am jealous.

But have fun anyway.
Bon voyage!

Wowzers. This is gonna be sweet. I can't wait for updates.




.....oh yea and the bike is sex

pics of topless french woman please

(keep in mind, pics of hawt topless French woman at the beach is within the TOS, but American woman topless is against the TOS because....well, they don't go topless at the beach).

thank you.

you got balls dude... i don't even trust my ducati to make it to the grocery store across the street without requiring warranty work...

Good thing you aren't doing it on a yellow Ducati.

I've read that it is MUCH easier and cheaper to ship a bike to europe from canada (vs USA). especially by air.

Thanks guys!

Yeah, I wouldn't trust a yellow Duc' either.

fast4d, it is easier and cheaper, but that's entirely coincidental, aka a friend at Air France Cargo hooked me up. Cost me 1k one-way (full "retail" is 3k), and no guarantee I'll get the same special on the way back.

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Update!

The bike has boarded the plane.


I'm not sure if it'll really land unharmed ... there again, shouldn't move about too much. It'll be a surprise next Tuesday when I pick it up in Toulouse.

Subscribed!

I will definitely be following your blog. Subscribed as well
Have fun and keep us posted.

Once again, I hope your bike makes it there non-broken...

One thing after working Air Transportation for 2+ years now, everything gets fvcked up intransit.

fast4d said:

I've read that it is MUCH easier and cheaper to ship a bike to europe from canada (vs USA). especially by air.

Click to expand...

This is true, at least in the research that I did.

OP, check with mlm (George) regarding routes in the Pyrenees. He rode through there in July.

Have a great ride! FWIW, I like the French, at least those in the south.

Hard to go wrong riding in France, especially the southern parts....great food, great wine, and excellent riding! Even the cagers are cool with bikes and regularly make it easy for you to split (or filter as my Brit friends say). Keep rubber side down and enjoy the

Cool pictures!

Kornholio said:

Subscribed!

Click to expand...

ditto

Alright, time for some proper updates!!! I'm gonna play catch up real quick, and it'll all be live from now on.

In order.

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Leaving Montreal

So the bike left Montreal earlier. My turn to get outta there.


Great strategy on my end, I picked a seat on the wrong side of the plane, and had a beautiful view of ... Laval and the South Shore. Just Great.


As straightforward as you'd imagine. Hop in plane, sit next to an annoying fool for 6h, and land in Paris at 7am with zero sleep whatsoever.


Then, hop in the train, and voila! New home, Carcassonne. It's sunny. And warm. Quite pretty, too. And I'm so tired my head exploded twice, I feel like crap having spent the last 18h sitting down, A shower was welcome. No pics of that.

I'm from Montreal too! I'm incredibly jealous of your journey. Good luck.

Subscribed!

From 2011-09-21

I PICKED UP THE BIKE!!!!!!!

It was as smooth as ever. Got to Air France Cargo in Blagnac (Toulouse Airport thing) in the morning, paid some 60 euros fee because it was over 200kgs, went across the parking lot to customs, where they made a copy of my registration, and rode out. And everyone was super pleasant.
They didn't check shit, not even insurance. Can't believe I stressed all that much about it.
And the bike is in perfect shape.

Didn't get lost getting out of the city and headed straight for Carcassonne to unload some unnecessary items.

In the evening I went for a quick ride since ... well shit. Do I need a reason? I'm in southern France, and I have a 1098 sitting right there. What else am I gonna do?

Headed for the first small departementale I could find, 5 mins away.

Aaaand it was spectacular. Wide views going all the way to the Pyrenees, winding little roads.




Must be mushroom hunting season too, there were more than a few cars parked on the side of the road, and old men looking belliquously, for fear I'd snitch on their secret spot. Fear not old man, I don't even know where I am, I was lost 30min ago and I haven't stopped or asked where the hell I was since. I could be on the moon, for all I know. Except prettier.

Managed to hit a main road to Limoux and headed back to Carcassonne via some more small roads. Paused at Gaja et Villedieu. My grandparents used to have a house there. Kid memories and stuff.


Unpleasantly enough, on some innocuous corner I had the rear tire slide out a bit. Not enough to call it a highside, but unpleasant. Blame it on my body positioning, on the odd coagulated gravel road surface, or on the shitty Michelin Power Pure that I hate with a vengeance ... the end result is that I'm a bit wary. That's good I presume, will keep me from riding fast. I might get overtaken by grandmas on their Vespas though.

Made it to the Cite before sunset. It's still there!!! And it's still quite imposing. I'll have to actually walk in it again at some point.