2nd day though France: Montbeliard to Valence

It was a good day on the road today. We only came close to dying once. (As far as we know!)

The weather is definitely improving. This morning it wasn't raining but it was a bit foggy. The roads were still damp but no rain. Yahoo!   The further south we went, the better the weather became. By the time we reached Valence it was sunny and 20 plus degrees.

We planned to check out then French Autoroutes today and it was generally a positive experience. Unlike the German Autobahn, there is a speed limit on the French Autoroutes. If you think 130kph is too slow, you won't agree with me, but it is fast enough for us.  The road surfaces, signage,  rest stops in an ample supply  (some with gas stations, restaurants and playgrounds) made them far superior to our Canadian limited access highways. (Albeit... there is a toll, about $30 Canadian over 400K, but it cuts the ravel time in half, if this is important to you.)

Also,  compared to the Autobahn, the ride was quite scenic.  Along the Autobahn there are high hedges or walls that block the view.  I am told that this is intentional. With no speed limit the German authorities do not want to provide any opportunity to distract the driver.

Tomorrow, we will continue south to the Mediterranean coast.  Once again we will continue on the autoroute until we approach the coast. At Montpelier we will leave the autoroute and follow the coast, looking for a place to stay.

That's it for today.   Oh yeah!  The close to dying part.  A car in the lane beside and slightly in front of us, on the autoroute, either lost a part or ran over a  car part that was on the road. It flew out from under the rear wheel of the car and struck us. It hit the crash bars along side the engine and bounced off my knee, with a fair amount of force. If it hit either of us it could have been fatal.  Had hit the front wheel we likely would have crashed.  If I had not been wearing padded motorcycle pants the impact would have seriously injured my knee.  We were lucky.

You can see the damage to the engine guard and bodywork.