Nine riders [
Jacko, Bill, Chrissie, Steve, Kathryn, Steve,
Bev, Andy, Kathryn] departed from Destination Triumph on a damp Friday morning, the weather prospects didn't look good. We arrived at the Tunnel free of the wet stuff and met up with two more riders [Kenny & Brian] making seven bikes in all for the raid on
Reims.
The forecast for France was storms, we could see one on the horizon, dark and menacing, was it coming our way? You bet! But with the utmost of cunning we kept the beast at bay and reduced it to a mere torrent while we looked for the shelter of a petrol stop. 'Onwards' cried Bill, 'Lets beat the bugger' so we gritted our teeth and out-ran it as it peered down at us angrily. We stopped near St Quentin for a well earned late lunch and with only fifty miles to go we arrived at our hotel-
de-
plastique just after five in a reasonably damp state.
Cosy but adequate.
We were greeted by our friends, The 'Riders from the Black Forest', no, not ghosts or ghouls but Frank, Peter, Roland, Cornell & Thomas, mind you, Thomas can look a bit ghoulish [a thousand pardons Thomas, may your Tiger growl for ten thousand miles and not bite you!];
The first order of the evening [after the compulsory three S's - s..t, shower and shave] was to get some 'tucker' so over to the restaurant. What? No room at the inn? "We av
le party of peeps, numerous pardons" said
le maitre d'. "But we have come from old
Anglais und Deutschland on
da motorad" we
explained, using our secret weapon interpreter - Kathryn. Well, he looked kindly on us two-wheeled mad people and let us in. After much
revelry and rattling of knives and forks we ate and drank to
refuel ourselves for the battle ahead; bowling of the pins ten.
The skills of tenpin bowling ensued, England v. Germany.
Bill 
Chrissie 
Andy
Kathryn
Brian
Kathryn 
Steve B
Steve W
Bev
Cornell 
Frank
Thomas
Roland 
Peter
Kenny
Jacko
After a very
competitive game which only involved the referee once or twice [he could not make the third booking due to need of medicinal assistance at the bar] the scores were as follows;
153 Chrissy, 148 Steve W, 134 Billy, 122 Steve B, 116
Jacko, 114 Peter, 113 Thomas, 108
Bev, 108 Andy, 107 Roland, 94 Kath, 89 Kat, 82 Kenny, 80 Frank, 78 Brian, 69
Connel.
With much swelling of the fingers we eventually retired to our beds for the much needed kip d'zzzz.
SATURDAY, June 24th; and so to Reims.
Mufty day today, no uniforms, so we cabbed it to the city for the Joan of Ark Festivities -
oh dear its raining!
We had a look at the cathedral and made our way to the cafe quarter to gather our thoughts and make a plan of action.
Respite from the rain and a pause {,} for thought. >>>>>>>>>>>
I think Thomas was missing his Tiger >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
On with the costumes and dancing
Steve took this one, as if we hadn't seen enough water!! >>>>
Now for a bit of Kulture.................
Magnificent Art Deco ceiling at the Garnegie library
>>>> & the tiled Foyer >>>>>>>>
At the Cathedral............
Let there be light........
...........and there was Purple Haze man!
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Huge pulpit>>>
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