OK ! So I'm still here and still alive....................if you're wondering that is! If not, then sod off !!!!

So what's been happening, well so far we've made it onto the ferry at Ancona in Italy heading for Igoumenitsa in Greece!

This was a sensible option considering the s***ty weather throughout eastern europe.........

Since Dinard we've headed to Quimper to meet up with an old friend of Ed's ! It was cold, dark and raining when we arrived but the welcome was awesome, Patrick is a mad kiwi who made us feel very much at home - plenty of alcohol for me! Along with Miranda and his children we had a great couple of days, fully revived ready for the road ahead.

After this we headed out to Poitiers, then 2 awful wet and very cold days ending in Millau. This is famous for the Millau bridge, highest and longest multispan bridge in the world - great to ride under and scary to ride over, especially if you don't like heights.

After Millau the warm, milder weather of southern France was a welcome break, quick stop in Arles then off to meet up with some colleagues of Ed's and a somewhat impromptu stop in St Raphael. At this point I was feeling slightly under the weather and a 'day off' was called for.

On from here we took the lovely coastal road through Cannes, Nice and of course Monaco - just have to say Monte Carlo isn't all it's cracked up to be - but still managed a couple of photos plus our babies in front of the casino.

Finally, Italy and more bad weather, one of our saving moments whilst pissing down with rain was a signpost for B&B near La Spazia - fantastic hospitality and would've loved to have stayed an extra day but the road ahead beckoned.

On route to Ancona we stumbled across a university town of Urbino and decided top stop off for a quick coffee and panini - of course it is Italy after all. It's great how the motorbikes are conversation starters and with this we began talking to this couple who relocated to italy - she was italian and he was english. We all introduced ourselves, explained our trip and they quickly apologised for having to rush off for a prior appointment, wished us well and said goodbye. It was at this point we were considering our next move, light was failing and here seemed a good place to stay, so we went to pay only to find out that the couple we had been talking to had already paid our bill - incredible ! Fantastic hospitality, we were absolutely gobsmacked to say the least. So a big thank-you to John and Gaya for the coffee and panini..............

The B&B in Urbino was also very welcoming and accomodating, great family who were only too pleased to open there doors for us, let us leave our bikes in their garage and put up with our smelly bike gear for an extra day ! Well, we really liked the look of this small universtiy town and it meant we could chill for a day and deal with the 'smelly bike kit'! And for all those budding art officinados, Urbino is in fact the birth place of Rafaello - its also a good place to lose Ed and get chatted up in a bar !!!

Another short day in the saddle later and we arrived in Ancona, whats there ? Nothing really except ferries across to Greece and some very nice chaps at BMW and Yamaha. The bikes have had a once over, all is great and ready for the next leg - GREECE.

So big thank-you to Yamaha and BMW for accomodating Henri and Figment, just to keep their neurotic owners sane for a little longer!!!

Tomorrow GREECE...............!!!!!!