So here we are, last night of a pretty epic trip!

Someone once wrote (and I suspect it was the H-D marketing team!) “It’s all about the journey.” They were right you know! I could be twee and say that it’s about the journey through life, which may be true…but whatever it is, it’s about keeping open eyes, open ears and most importantly an open mind. That way you get so much more out of every experience, more to savour at the time and more to reflect back on in days to come.

This past ten days have seen me grab some personal goals and on reflexion maybe score a couple of own goals as well.

Grimsel Pass was dangerous and stupid, I should know better, but hey we survived!

The flat tyre in Italy, just one of those things, but ya know I’m pretty pleased with myself, I didn’t get stressed and made new friends to boot, maybe that was the reward?

Galibier? Well lets just say its a sort of love affair, I even forgive her the tunnel incident!

Tomorrow we have a little over 130 miles to the ferry and then 25 from Plymouth to home. I’m ready for home this time, don’t know why, just ready.

That Harley Softail of mine is ten years old in December and today clocked up her 31000th mile, not much by HD standards, but ya know, most of those miles are mine! On our trips she is not just my motorbike; she is my companion, my confidant, my friend. I trust my life to her, if you think about it!

Where will we go next? I don’t know…

…..as the French say, maintenant je suis très content; at the moment I am very content.

The rest of the restaurant has emptied and the maître d’hôtel pretends to be busy. I sit in the window with the last of my coffee, another weary traveller waiting for the morning to come and then move on to the next adventure; Oui, je me suis très content and why shouldn’t I be?

I have become comfortably numb…

Dookes