All posts by Richie

Camper van cycling road trip France

Saturday 01/07/2017 Richie

Camper van cycling road trip France a two week trip with 4500KM of driving and a few hundred KM of cycling up some epic French mountain passes.

Start off with a 328KM drive to Rosslare for the Irish Ferries boat to Cherbourg

Waiting to board

Crossing was rough.

The cabins are very good, great night sleep 13 hours non stop.

Entry to Cherbourg, I guess Napoleonic Fort

First stop “Chez Ginnie” a friend of Nadette’s who she met in India.

“Drink”

Then on to Baudelys “chez Jean”

Sardines and squid

Saturday Market

Neil cycled up the Pic de Nore two times in two days, the second day was a French race he entered. There were some issues with his UCI licence but it all worked out in the end. 24KM of uphill all the way.

Jean shows Neil his vines

Jean Sandrine Neil Richie and Nadette

Cycling past this sign, it aint no 2 minutes 😉

Stopping for lunch on the way to Mt Ventoux

Drying Tilleul in the sun, whilst Neil and I ride the Mt Ventoux from Malaucene

Getting ready

Made it, very hot I was slower than last year at 2hours and 10 minutes. Neil was 1 hour thirty five

Shadows

Lunar landscape at the top of Ventoux

Neil does Ventoux second time from Bedoin, 90 minutes, one of the fastest on that day.

Looking down from the top

Proud Mum

We stayed for a few days “Chez Fabienne” in a tiny hamlet, Provence near Buis le Barronils.

“Chez Fabienne”

Unlike Ireland, French people are still driving their old cars, if they pass the MOT why not. The most ecological car is an old one. Not consumerism

Night talking

Scorpion

Lunch stop on our way to Col de la Bonneta

Top of Col de la Bonneta almost 3000 Meters

Van-Rouge

Found a great place to stop the night 2500 meters

Spot the MArmot

Road blocked at the very top

Neil searches for a mobile signal to upload his Strava time for the climb

Campsite for the night

Watch a short video here Col de Bonneta

Plenty of natural beauty

Breakfast

We then moved on to the Col de Galibier

Tough climb my sixth in seven days. Neil was much faster than me…

Looking down the Col de Galibier

Evening Meal at Alpe de Huez

Nice evning meal, were going to camp here the night but tractor started cutting grass very late. So moved down to campsite at foot of Alpe D’huez

Breakfast before cycling up Huez

Neil under the hour me 75 minutes

Last few days in the Jura with Catherine, Lionel and Augustin.

When in France

Lots of cows in the Jura, the home of Compte Cheese

Last spin in France

Boat trip home

Camper van cycling road trip France

Feel fre to share, thanks

Beara, Dursey, Farming, people and places

Beara Sheep Shearing

Monday 22/05/2017 Richie

Beara Sheep Shearing at Ballinacarriga at the farm of PJ “Phàdraig” O’Sullivan on the very end of the Beara Peninsula overlooking Dursey Island. PJ got a sheep shearing team in for the day and got all of his sheep done in one go. This is the second film in the new series of “Beara Paople and Places” and again there was no acting. The filming was done on the go, no stopping the action for special shots.

If you can suggest the next film feel free to do so…

Watch a Short film of the Shearing here, enjoy

Beara Sheep Shearing

This film is shot close to the Lehanmore Community Centre

Please if you get this far, think about sharing the film so that others can see it too, thanks a lot.

Beara, Film, people and places

Derreen Garden

Wednesday 10/05/2017 Richie

Derreen Garden located in Lauragh on the Beara Peninsula. Website here, this is the first in a series of films that we will be making this year about “Beara People and Places”. We visited the Garden for just a few hours and shot all the clips in one visit. There was no acting out of scenes it was a case of running after the gardeners as they were working. The gardens are maintained by two full time gardeners and two part timers also come along in the afternoons. The garden is well worth visiting any time of the year and are spectacular.