Testimonial WW2 Extended Sights Tour 2017

WW2 Extended Sights Tour 23 – 29 April 2017

The “Virgins'” Tour – all first-timers to BN and what a great start to the riding season. A really fun group, good weather, good riding & a lot of laughs along the way!

We always start with a pre-tour briefing	Our first visit is to the Grand Bunker
Gavin & Josie	Keith (Mike hidden)
“Well its Tuesday morning, the bike has been cleaned and the biking clothes washed and put away for a while… however the grin hasn’t cleared from my face and I’m still thinking and smiling about the people we met, the roads we rode and the sights we saw. Jen and John are a fantastic couple, very informative, very knowledgeable about the area and the history and always ready to answer any questions or queries that you may have about the tour… always willing to help… and you can’t ask for more than that. I am already looking at what I can do next !!Jen and John – thank you for the tour, the banter, the knowledge and the fun … it was a blast – even with John’s dodgy jokes !”
Mike Iles, 1st tour, Triumph Sprint GT
Leroy	Josie “Allo, Allo!”
“Mike & I (aka Bert and Ernie – see below) would like to say a big big thank you for a brilliant week riding and sightseeing. The grins appear to have stuck to our faces. A great group of people and new friends made“
Leroy Smith, 1st tour, Suzuki GSX 650F
“Had a brilliant first tour with John and Jen, loved the sights, excellent company xx see you in September on the Monte Carlo Tour!”
Josie Allen, Kawasaki GTR 1400 (pillion)
Kevin tries the range-finder	Informative map of the D-Day landings
John outlines the glider landings at Pegasus Bridge	We have a guided tour in English
“Had a fantastic week’s riding on the WW2 sightseeing tour with a great group of people. I was very impressed by the organisation and planning with John and Jen at Bike Normandy and for making it fun.”
Keith Edwards, 1st tour, Harley Fat Boy
See the original Pegasus Bridge	.
See how the Bailey Bridges were used	See a replica Horsa Glider
Lunch is at Arromanches	John explains the Mulberry B harbour
“Just want to give a big thanks to John and Jen for a great week we had on the WW2 Tour. We had a brilliant time and thoroughly enjoyed everything about the holiday, we had great places to visit, very informative especially with our “idiot guide” sorry “idiots guide”! Great accommodation especially in Bayeux. Great roads, Sheldon really enjoyed those. Great weather, we were really lucky to have such a great week in April. Great company, we really did enjoy everyone’s company, we had a lot of laughs and hope to see everyone again, perhaps on another tour. Everything was well organised and easy going with no stress, John and Jen really made you feel that the most important thing to them was that you enjoyed yourself on the Tour, which we did and will be booking another tour with them soon.”
Elaine Gardener, 1st tour, Kawasaki GTR 1400 (pillion)
Mike on the sea wall	We then visit the Gun Batteries
Josie, Elaine & Jane	Our next stop is the American Cemetery
“Hi John and Jen, just like to say thanks – what a fantastic week – fantastic roads, sights and company and would like to say a big thank you to you both for making our first tour such a great week. Look forward to meeting you again next year (if no spaces come available for the Monte Carlo tour). Sill trying to explain the joke to Jane!!”
*Kevin & Jane Colmer, 1st tour, Honda VFR 1200*
.	.

Sheldon & Keith	The names of the Missing
Our hotel for two nights in Bayeux	Parking in the private courtyard
John sets the bar (low) for jokes!	Dinner is included the first evening at Bayeux
Leroy chooses oysters	Ugh!! (Jen!)
Day 2 we visit the German Cemetery	Leroy at a graveside
All the bikes
John in the lead on our Street Triple R	Sheldon & Elaine – Kawasaki GTR 1400
Keith on his Harley Fat Boy	Gavin & Josie – Kawasaki GTR 1400
Kevin & Jane – Honda VFR 1200	We then visit the Pointe de Hoc
Hear moving testimony from surviving Rangers	See the bomb craters
The cliffs scaled by the Rangers	.

Leroy on his Suzuki GSX 650 F	Steve & Anne – BMW K1600 GTL
“Hi Jen and John! Thank you for the fab holiday! We loved it and really enjoyed the company. Everyone was so much fun!”
Steve & Anne Williams, 1st tour, BMW K1600 GTL
Our next visit is the Airborne Museum at St Mere Eglise
.	Walk through a fuselage
Leroy steps out…	Steve goes next…
Experience how the parachutists fall…
Back at Bayeux – drinks on the terrace	Keith, Anne & Steve, John
“Gimme, gimme, gimme!” Josie wants her Muscadet!	Sheldon & Elaine with Josie & Gavin
Kevin & Jane with Mike and Leroy	Our hotel is near the Cathedral
Our next hotel near St Nazaire	Ice on the bikes & Jen’s riding!
After a heavy night Elaine was at the bottom…	The next day she’s moving up the scale…!

The group opposite the U-boat pens at St Nazaire
.
We go on board the Espadon submarine	Josie at the controls
Gavin – “Dive, Dive!”	Mike climbs the periscope ladder
The torpedo room	Kevin studies the torpedoes
Sheldon – up the periscope ladder	Leroy slides down !
Jen leads on our Street Triple R	Mike as backmarker on his Triumph Sprint GT
Our next hotel is at La Rochelle	Explore the ramparts
.	.
John & Mike with ice creams	Coffee in the sunshine

Another of John’s jokes…Question…”Why are French omelets so small? Answer…”Because one egg is un oeuf!!” Can someone please explain this to Jane !!!!
We visit the Museum at Oradour-sur-Glane	.
.	.
Josie outside the Girls’ School	Steve & Anne
Women & children were burned in the church	Elaine & Sheldon
Outside our next hotel	Boys with beards & beers !!
Guess who drew the short straw to ride again today?! (Thanks for the photo Elaine!)
Our next visit is to the Saumur Tank Museum
Keith by a Tiger ll	Mike by a Flak 88 anti-aircraft gun
Kevin & Jane by a Jagdpanzer (38t) Hetzer tank destroyer	Anne & Steve by the Kettenkrad half-tracked motorcycle
The tigers Elaine & Sheldon by the Tiger ll	Gavin & Elaine by a Maultier rocket launcher

Leroy was there – really!	Mike by a genuine piece of the Berlin Wall
A Russian rocket launcher	French Pluton nuclear missile carrier
The engine room	A car in a suitcase !
Mike	Leroy takes aim
Our final 4* hotel in Le Mans	Drinks before dinner
Dinner together our last night	Mike says a few words of thanks
Jen starts the jokes…	Mike goes next…
John takes a turn – so how did Jane know it was a marrow?!!!	Spotted on the way back to the hotel – we always knew Leroy was famous !
The final visit is to the Museum at Montormel overlooking the Falaise Gap
We finish with a pic-nic lunch back at BN HQ where Mike is thanked for riding as back-marker during the Tour
And that’s it – all back to the port in good time for the ferry

Thanks to everyone for making this a really great tour – “good things always come in small parcels” and although this was a fairly small group we had a lot of fun together – we hope to see many of you again on future tours. Regards, John & Jen.

And finally, as Mike & Leroy said…