29 May 2009 Kemmel, Belgium

I got up, showered and went downstairs to eat my continental breakfast. I used to skip eating breakfast but since I started traveling in Europe I don’t skip free food. I know it’s included in the price of the hotel room. The plan today is to leave France. I will be traveling north and east thru these cities: Saint Omer, Hazebrouck, Steenvoorde and Poperinge, Belguim. I needed to purchase gas in Hazebrouck. I found the gas station OK but I needed to find the highway D916 to Steebvoorde. I asked two kids on scooters and they couldn’t help much. They tried but we just couldn’t communicate. So just then a guy on Honda 1100cc Sport Bike drove by and I motioned for him to stop. He did and of course he spoke very basic English which was good enough to ask my question. I showed him the road I was looking for and he indicated he knew it but couldn’t tell me how to find it. He apologized and offered to drive me to the road. He then asked me if I would come to his house and I said yes, for one hour, and he said OK. So off we went to his house for one hour or two. Patrick, his wife and I talked about motorcycles, the US, France, family, children and my traveling plans. I was about to leave when I asked if he knew where I could find a new tire on a Saturday. He said, yes but his wife reminded him they had an engagement with her sister and not to be late. So Patrick led the way to the motorcycle shop and talked to what I thought was one of the mechanics about a new tire. He looked at my tire and shook his head in disbelief. He looked around and found a Michlien tire somewhat larger than my tire. I looked at the tire and was concerned whether it would be too large for the motorcycle. So he pulled out a book showing the exact tire number etc. that can be used on a Kawasaki KLR 650. When I saw that information I put the tire on my bike. Patrick saw that everything was going OK and motioned to me that he had to get home. We shook hands, I gave him my card and he drove off. The mechanic asked me if I wanted to put the tire on my bike myself and I said sure, that will save me some money. That was music to my ears. He said they would put it on the motorcycle hoist and I could take the wheel off there. I said I could take it off outside, but he said, no use the motorcycle hoist. So that’s what I did. Of course because an American was in the building that caused quite a stir and I had an audience for a while. I tried to look like I knew what I was doing but in a strange garage/shop it was hard to know how to find tools etc. without stumbling around a bit. I did get the wheel off without any excess attention and my audience eventually went away. Once off, the second mechanic/technician removed my old tire from the wheel, put on the new tire and balanced it. I then put the wheel back on my motorcycle, adjusted the chain and torqued the axle. After that a woman and her husband came into the shop and she started talking to me. She told me her name was Valerie and she had a son living and working in Detroit, Michigan for the last five years. Actually she knew a quite a bit about motocross motorcycles. Her gift of gab was very good and she spoke excellent English. She also acted as an interpreter between the other mechanic and any audience in the shop at the time. I told them and showed them where I came from in the US, that I flew the motorcycle from Toronto, Canada to London, England. Again most everyone was impressed with the motorcycle and pretty much left. Just then the mechanic who sold me the tire was walking thru the shop. She introduced him to me as the big boss and that he has competed in the Paris to Dakar motorcycle race and completed it. I had to shake his hand. I was glad to make his acquaintance. Granted this was a small Honda motorcycle shop but the owner worked as a mechanic and owned the business. Amazing………So after all the talk was done I had the second mechanic look at my motorcycle to make sure it was put together correctly. He oiled the chain and said it looked fine. I went in and paid the bill on it and cursed Bridgestone Motorcycle Tires for causing me to buy a new tire. Ka Ching Ka Ching. We rolled the bike off the hoist and out into the street. The second Mechanic then showed me Highway D916 to Steenvoorde. He couldn’t speak any English so he jumped on his Yamaha motorcycle with a side car and led me out of town. After that I knew where I was going and quite easily navigated to Poperinge. I didn’t realize it at the time that Poperinge actually was in Belguim. I was driving up the highway and saw the border for Belguim and couldn’t believe I finally made it out of France. I looked around and all the buildings on the border were vacant. I imagine when the European Union was formed that eliminated the need for these buildings and all the people who worked in them. I took a picture at both of the border signs, French and Belgian, and then continued on to Poperinge. I stopped in a gas station and purchased some Belguim and Holland maps and then navigated to a campground in Kemmel. It was quite a large campground where they spoke English. That was quite refreshing. My tent site was a beauty. Nice green grass, no wind and sun shine.