Emile is Passingalong

Hope everything works out in the end…
No really, Good luck.

Subscribed.
Don't do anything stupid.

Today I went to the hospital for my consult, it was funny and went real nice. All my questions where answered and my wish to be operated as soon as possible also is for filled, I will be operated tomorrow at 11.00 in the morning.
At first the only possible date was somewhere next week so I am real happy about this
Maybe I’ll even be able to be at home the same day


this is what I did most of the day.





thanks for subscribing and also thanks for the moral support. have to get some sleep now tomorrow is a big day.


Emile

I went in the Hospital at 11.00 in the morning sat there for ages, then they prepared me for the operation at around 15.30.
At 16.00 the operation started and I was put to sleep.
The only thing I remember is that the people that helped me where very nice!
At around 17.00 I was in recovery still under drugs but awake could not really focus on what happened around me over there.
About an hour later I was brought to my shared room to rest, and there I stayed until 21.00 when I went home.
Yesterday I was so tired that I fell asleep immediately.
Today all feels well I have a good view of my bike and some books to read and movies to watch, I’m also tired because of the large open wound in my butt so sleeping wont be a problem.


still under morphine and this morning in my bed at home.





so now the small 6 to 8 week pause will kick in before I can ride off, bummer but that's life sometimes and at least now I will be really prepared for my trip.

Emile

Hi Emile !!!! how do you do now !!!!! are yuo gettin better ?????

Emiliano good that you ask, last week I started to think about getting on my feet again.
been on the bike today, have to get used to it again after 2+ months of no riding at all.
And this is a little bit how I spend my time doing next to nothing.


Hey all my dear friends,

First I want to thank all of you for the kindness and support that I received, it really kept my dream alive!!
You have all been waiting for way too long, including myself.
The wound is almost closed only the skin has to grow back and I will be able to do all the things I did before.
I can’t wait!!



During the time I spent in bed heeling, Jonas called me and asked if I would like to exhibit some of my work in his small gallery project called “small room big ideas”.
This sounded real good, mainly because I needed a sort of kick off to get in the rhythm again.
The only problem was that I had no real new work and I did not want to show my old stuff again because the majority is stored.
I had some doubts now about doing a exhibition.
But soon an answer came, I will do a exhibit of my journey to come and put my big idea in the small room.

“This time I will leave when I feel like leaving”



Check it out on: http://smallroombigideas.com/projekte.html

Most of the past time I have spent in bed, this really sucked.
Only a few small jobs have been realized besides reading some books and sleeping, and not to forget watching movies.
Also I have purchased a hammock with a large tarp which can be set up in a matter of minutes, the only drawback is that it needs trees or something like them.
Yesterday I did my first motorcycle ride since the operation, I had to keep it short but I had a blast!!
Today I will do some more just for the feeling.
The old bike is now one of the means of transportation for my petrolhead brother only it did not work that well anymore since it got stolen, so I did a little cylinder head maintenance including valve grinding and some heli-coils.



“Le mouton” also received some attention, the rear wheel got balanced and the carburetors including fuel lines are cleaned.
The bike rides better then ever!

Emile

I arrived on 31-05 in Duesseldorf to celebrate Lenia’s birthday, the ride was nice altough I was scared because of the heavy back-end.
The bike rode very different then what I remembered. Cornering was a bit weird at first but I learned fast. The way I packed the bike turned out to be not the best way after a little while, but I rode on and enjoyed the ride to Duesseldorf.



I hate to think about it but I will go back to Holland next weekend to start working again so I can leave soon for real! A shame that it’s only a testride.

Yesterday I drove to Wuppertal for the exhibition at Jonas Brückner’s project smallroombigideas.
Because the lesson learned 2 days before I packed different this time and it really payed of.
When I arrived at Jonas we pushed the bike up a few steps to get the bike in the hallway to the small room.
The door to the small room looked like a impossible obstacle to get the bike trough and in the room.
But after unmounting the mirrors, gas-tank and panniers we got the bike in.
It barely fitted in the room.















At nine friends and friends of friends started arriving, and the beer started flowing.

I had a great time! Thanks friends!

I was working on this for a while already, but now time has come to announce to all that there are t-shirts in the gift shop.

During my stay in Düsseldorf Lenia and Merlin helped me out with the screen printing basics. Preparing the screens and getting ready with the printing. Lenia made the illustration for the t-shirt check her website @ www.leniahauser.de and Merlin helped me at Werkstatt Werkstatt to make the screens ready for printing check his work @ www.werkstattwerkstatt.de .
At the moment there are only two t-shirts in the shop both with the size M, if you want one with a different size just tel me and it will be arranged.

I did not forget the girls, there are white t-shirts and tanktops in all sizes xs,s,m,l,xl.
Write me if the gift shop is not updated with the desired t-shirt or top.

Here is how we did it

Today, Anne and I went to bring Phylicia to the station from where she would travel back to London. I will be staying for a few more days at Anne’s place in Munich, she left a little later today to go to her parents and build a new fence in their garden and monday she will be back again. Meanwhile I will have some time on my own to get stuff done clean Anne’s house and enjoy the weather while swimming in the Isar.

2 weeks back Crip came by at my parents place so we could make his van into his home, before he was not able to sleep normally in his bed and had not enough storage room for his stuff. We made a small list with the priorities and started sculpting the van’s interior. After 4 days of at least 15 hours a day we finished and took off for a test to Tuil en’t Waal with beer and firewood !! We talked and drank beer until the early hours and I decided that I would leave on my trip the following morning from my parents place.

The following morning I felt a bit crap but after a quick dip in the Waal all was better and we took off arriving at 11.00 at my parents place.
I packed my bike we ate some french fries and took off with my brother escorting me towards the German border and Crip heading the other way for Den Haag. I said my mother goodbye and she was holding back the tears I could see and feel it. For me it felt like good and bad coming together.

It was good to ride out with my brother on my side. On some small truck-stop on the A67 heading for Venlo we stopped to say goodbye from then on I would be alone until Düsseldorf. Lenia is waiting for me there and I will be staying there for a few days to get the last things sorted out before I really head for the unknown.

The bike felt real heavy the first stretch towards Düsseldorf and was suffering from a 25 year old leaky seal. As soon as the seal arrived I changed it and found out there is another failing seal on the gear lever shaft. But that one will have to wait until I get in Munich.
At Lenia’s place I had a great time, we did some nice small trips together on the bike trough the countryside around Düsseldorf.

From Düsseldorf towards Frankfurt where I would stay with a friend of Kris. She helped me when www.couchsufing.org was offline because of to many visitors.
Thomas lives in Neu-Isenburg just south of Frankfurt. The day was nice and sunny I was dripping with sweat when I arrived at Thomas his place. His housemate Bernd was there to welcome me and show me in. Bernd and Thomas both are real motorcycle enthusiasts and have made numerous trips on their bikes.
When Thomas arrived he invited me to eat at the biergarten Trefpunkt. A good tasting schnitzel with french fries and salad was my choice accompanie
After a good night sleep I packed the bike to head towards the Bodensee where I would be staying with Sybille and her friend Joachim.d by a glass of beer . Next to me a girl screamed that there was an insect on her glass, I laughed because I could imagine the insect drinking her beer.

This would be a long ride for a day on B roads, about 475km in total trough beautiful grasslands and forests. Also I would encounter my first real rainstorm which soaked me completely.
But all was forgotten when I arrived in Hagnau am Bodensee.
What a beautiful small place it is. I stayed only for 3 nights and would leave for München next.
Swimming in Bodensee is nice except for the rocky beaches.

On my arrival in München Phylicia was hanging out of the window screaming Oewe Oewe to me when I drove into the street. Anne was still working so we went for ice cream, the best I ever tasted!!

And now I am here writing my first real update that could be even longer than it already has become.

























Emile

When I arrived at Anne’s place she already recieved the seals for the engine that I bought online.
The weather was good so I build them in right away.



Servus Reiner, I already said goodbye to Anne because she had to leave early to go to work. So only Reiner and Alex where left, and Reiner did this in his own special way.
This was the last bit of München and from now I went south to Austria.
Reiner and Daniel both told me I should go and see the Walchensee south of München so that was the next goal.



On the way to the Walchensee there was a nice road that curved its way into the mountains, ofcourse this road is well known by motorcyclists.



It is truly beautifull at the Walchensee, only it should have been a bit warmer. I wanted to swim but it was just to cold that day.



I wanted to avoid toll ways but did not succeed at all in it, the first one I hit was when trying to cross the German to Austria border. And the second one when I was about 4 km in Austria luckely this one came with a spectacular waterfall view.



Ariving at Zell am see I looked for a place to stay at the lake, but that was to hard to find a spot at the lake for wildcamping.
So I turned towards the mountains and found myself this nice little spot next to a small waterfall.
I slept very well but not very deep because of the waterfall, so no more waterfalls in the future.



At Zell am see I prepared this nice meal for myself from some pasta, cheese, tomatos and salami that I took with me from Anne’s place. Very tasty! Yes all of you that recognize the cuttingbord it used to be Eva’s at the Rossstrasse WG.



The next morning I woke up early, mostly because of the sound that the waterfall was making all night. I kept thinking when does somebody turn that thing off.
Washed myself in the cold but refreshing mountainstream packed my stuff back on the bike, and again different from how I did this in the past. I think I have something good now because I can now also open the panniers when the tyres and packs are still on the back.



When I saw the bench I hit the brakes and parked the bike to enjoy this spectacular view and have a lunchbrake. I hope you are able to see it too, there is a beautiful castle in the back.



Riding trough Wildalpen national park I spotted this beautiful spot next to the river Salza. It was only 16.00 so I could still ride on but I desided to stay. Pitched the tent next to the bike and went for a 5 second swim in the freezing water.



After enjoying my swim I started early with preparing dinner same as yesterday except this time I added wurstl (saussage). Without the view I was enjoying this would taste different.



All night it had rained and it still did the following morning. The rain changed my toughts from leaving to staying here. I had a good and dry spot so why give it up, and I also needed a extra day to meet up with Andreas in Zemendorf.
When I walked around my campsite I found this enormous snail, the biggest I have ever come across. The picture does not show this quite well but the snails house is about 5cm diameter and the wooden post it is placed on is a stool that stood next to my tent. Big ass snail.



Rain rain rain, not what I wished for. Just when I was feeling good with the fact of staying where I was, a car suddenly stopped on the roadside 5m away from my tent. The passengerdoor swings open and a young girl is puking half in and half out of the car. The whole famely got out of the car and started to clean the cars carpet and the girls clothes in the river. They shortly greeted me and got back in the car and drove off leaving me with a large puddle of badly smelling puke next to my tent. This is when the plan changed and I packed the bike and drove off.



On my way again I stopt to hide for the rain I met Reinhard and his wife who where on holiday on there bikes, He on the Goldwing and she just having her driverslicense on a smaller Honda CB I believe.



And their photo.

At the moment I am staying in Andreas his Gypsy Castle, he is working hard to get his farm ready so travellers will have a place to stay + add and share experiences among each other.



Saterday evening I arrived at Andreas his place, I was earlyer than expected. It was more of a get lucky and see who is there thing, because I knew that Andreas would be gone until Monday.
But I was warmly welcomed by his parents and they showed me Andreas place after a nice dinner. At that moment Andreas was not there yet but his parents gave me the key, turned on the hot water and left to go their own holiday.



The following day I went to do some sightseeing in Rust a little village at the Neusiedlersee, Every house there has a Storks nest on the chimney.



Some locals enjoying the shade as much as I did. Just behind the tree there was a old Hungarian man playing on his accordeon, and after a while of playing a few older Italian tourists came and just started singing out of the blue. I just sat there and enjoyed.



Andreas his trustworthy Triumph bonneville and my ride ready to change the front tire.



Operation front tire, the old off-road tire was completly wasted because of the twisty road in the Alps.





The difference!



Tomorrow I will leave Andreas again. He travelled India for months with his friend the 350 Royal Enfield. I had a great time at his place. Riding the Enfield trough the fields and having dinner at a traditional farmers restaurant.

This is how I left my old tire in Zemendorf. Maybe the birds will like it and build a home in it.



Austian – Hungarian border.



I had just bought a map of Slovenia and parked on a small quiet road to draw a route on my map when the bike topled over. Nothing real bad happend exept for that I was not able to get it upright anymore and had to ask a passing farmer to help me.



When I stoped for a moment to enjoy the view and make my first picture in Slovenia some local farmers that where collecting the hay came to me and shared a glass of whine with me. We talked a bit about how life is. And they told me they did not like it that all the old Slovenian people where left alone by there children that often live and work abroad.



On my way I saw a mountain with a big antenna on top of it. I thought well when the big antenna is there, there must be a road up the mountain. Already heading in that direction I asked an old woman the way she explained me that there where two roads and that I had to go left at the church. Not much of a description so further towards the bottom of the mountain I asked again, this time some younger people they said that there is a road and told me how to get there. They also mentioned “ No there is military ” I replied “well I have a tent so I can sleep there so no problem”. I had not really understood what they where talking about until I saw the first sign that is was forbidden to go up to the top. Ignorant as I am after 10km of riding up a mountain in hope for a nice place to sleep I kept on going. They will tell me in person If I am doing anything wrong here. Pitched the tent and slept like a log.



It’s hard to see but from the top of the mountain Boč the view was amazing.
The bike also needed a oil change, I wanted to do this the day before but it started to rain so I did it in the morning on top of the mountain.



On my way down I met the military that where on there way up. One of their jeeps almost drove me of the side of the road.



The Slovenian roads are terrible if you don’t have a enduro bike, because they have a very special way to repair asphalt roads. They just put gravel in the holes and that’s it. Sometimes the asphalt just stops and the B roads just turn to tracks. Good to give my off-road skills a bit of practice.



Nasvidenje Ljubljana. Far in the back just before the mountains is Ljublejana.



I forgot to make a picture of the small deer antler that I got from Andreas for good luck.



Nothing.



Crossing the border to Italy.



I actually wanted to stay another night in Slovenia on the beach near Portoros. But I did not follow my own instinct and let myself go 40km in the wrong direction. So Italy it would be. I imagined that I would drink a beer and eat a pizza in a small restaurant on the beach of the Mediterranean sea.
This is impossible, the whole coast is build shut with hotels and beach clubs each claiming there part of beach including water. So after wasting a lot of time still hoping to find some quiet place to eat and sleep on the beach I made the decision to go more in land. It was already getting dark and I still had no place. Tired as I was I drove into a gravel dead end road in hope to find the best place at the end. And I did.



I put up the tent and heard the sound of a kitchen and people talking. I thought I was in the middle of nowhere, but I wasn’t. There was a nice restaurant just on the other side of the fence next to my tent. So some nice food after all.



A plate of Fruti di mare fished locally form the lagoons. And a glass of strong white wine.
I was in heaven.



The dessert was the best icecream I have ever tasted. Home made raspberry ice with fresh homegrown raspberries on top. It’s a shame I only have a photo of the empty bowl. But it shows how good it was.



On my way back to the tent I saw a man in a boat doing something that looked like he was scraping something of the walls of the locks.



Lago di Garda. This is where I met Wilhelm and Nordi.



Grazie Mile, This old man did not want to sell me his vegtables. He gave them for free. And the way they tasted was amazing!!



These two girls and Aristoteles the dog helped me translate everything from German to Italian. So I could communicate with the old man.



Wilhelm and Nordi, I met them at the Garda lake. They where here with a 4×4 MAN truck which they left on the campground. If they explore the surrounding or go to a restaurant they take Wilhelm’s KTM enduro which sits on the back of the truck normally.
Recently Wilhelm was in Morocco riding his KTM trough the Atlas mountains.
They are a very nice and interesting couple. I took some good advice from Wilhelm and we had a wonderfull evening together at the only restaurant in Terlago. Terlago is a small village north of the Garda lake and west of Trento. My campingspot was also a recommendation from them.

Thanks Wilhelm and Nordi!! I had a very very good spot directly in front of the last lake.



My perfect camping spot at Lago della Mar.



When I was doing my morning swim in the lake a lot of fish came and swam with me, later I fed them some old bread I still had with me. I hope you will be able to see them.



View from the tent that Sunday morning.



Yesterday I decided that I would ride south along the other side of the Garda lake. Today I was going to ride close to 400km in order to get to Claudio in Savona.



3 police speedchecks and one bad accident later I arrived safely at Claudio’s work where I was offered a cold beer and a place to sit on the roof. Luckely I had nothing to do with the accident and the man in it was still alive, but it looked very bad. His motorcycle was completly ruined, and he was taken care of by the medics arriving at the scene.
Not wearing any protective clothes besides a helmet is asking for trouble on a fast bike and a road loaded with nice fast curves. The Ride from Brescia to Genoa was beatiful, the road curved allong the mountainside and trough the steep valley. Lots of nice curves!!



When Claudio finished his work we went to eat pizza!! And we had an assistant to make a picture of us, a shame he did not understand that there was a centerfocus
I am having a great time staying with Claudio for me it feels like the last time I saw him was yesterday.



The small appartment where he lives with his parents has a beautiful view of the Mediteranean sea.
It could not have been better!

Ok I’m off to the beach now!

nice travel !!!!

Cracking ride report keep it coming.

Mooi ! onderweg goeie reis. Mooie foto's tot nu toe Keep it coming.

Love your style dude, great job on your bike! Having a blast! Also my son's name is EMILE too, named after his grandfather who is French/Russian. Not a common name in the State's here.

Enjoying riding along with you in the report - have safe travels & great adventures!

Thanks for the support guys !!!!

@Buell78753 well choosen name :) I am not named after anyone in my family, my parents just liked the sound of it :) and I am still very happy with the name. It is indeed of french origin. I wish you and your son all the best!!! maybe we will meet one day :) Looking forward!!

Here we go after a while!! at the moment I am helping out a friend to renovate her house so I will stay here a little longer. but no worries I will be on the move asap.



This is what a very serious Claudio looks like when he is making some very dellisious Carbonara.



Siteseeing in Savona.



During the tour we took in the fortress of Savona that has been build by the Genoans long ago Claudio spots a pidgeon.



Savona seen from the fortress.



Phylicia here is a picture of some real Italian icecream, I had to be quick because it was so hot the icecream was melting before you even got it in your mouth.



After icecream we did some more siteseeing, this is a very old entrance. One of the entrances we looked at we even got a small tour trough the house by one of the owners. A lot of these entrances are decorated with a soft black stone of which I do not remember the name, Claudio told me but I forgot.



The Last evening we wanted to eat at this shop. I was really looking forward to it but when we went there it was closed. We tried the next good one Claudio knew but when we entered the owner told us he was sold out. So Fruti di mare it was.



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While waiting for our enormous fruti di mare dish we made some real nice portraits. This was the last evening with my dear friend Claudio. I miss you man!!

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When I entered Sesto I saw fellow overlander Derek , he was looking for a hotelroom because he wanted a good night sleep and a shower to freshen up a bit.
I offered him to go with me and look for a small beach directly on the lake and set up camp there. He had already made up his mind Hotel it will be. We shared some good stories and each set out in another direction.



When I left Derek in Sesto it was already getting dark so I had to find a good campingspot soon. And I did, I found a small deserted road alongside lake Maggiore which led to the gardens of some enormous villas. One of the villas was not finished yet but it had a pier with video survailence, or at least that was what the sign said. I did not see any. Pitched the tent and made myself dinner and ate it on the pier with this amazing view.



Sleeping creature like mountains seen from the pier.



In the morning I was able to make a photo of where I was at.



This is what you have missed Derek. I hope you had a great shower in the Hotel, I had a very good bath in the lake.



I wanted to make a picture at the border but the officers where not really pleased with it, so this is what we have from entering Switserland. This is the Italian speaking part of it still. When crossing the border I did not see a significant change in petrol price. The last time I went to the petrolstation was in Italy and I paid € 1,96/L they are insane with these high prices. But I was talking about the price in Switserland, it was 1,88 still very expencive I thought. But I forgot it was CHF 1,88/L which calculates to € 1,53/L so I was happy again and filled up the bike.



When I got closer to the Gottard pass the weather stared to turn form sunny to cold and rainy. On top of the Gottard the clouds where so thick I could not really enjoy the view, It looked more like a valley on a bad day. But actually I was at 2000+m.



I don’t really know why the bike should be on so many photo’s but it just happens, maybe I will try to make some photo’s with me on it next time.



The Swiss Alps.



I did not realize that Switserland was so small until I bumped against the lower side of the Bodensee.
Altnau to be precise is where I camped that night. The next day I took off for Hagnau which lays exactly opposite from Altnau. Hagnau will be the endstation for a while. I am helping out a friend there.



At night there was a storm with lots of rain and wind. Luckely I had a well sheltered campground under a tree and behind some bushes. The morning sun was nice and warm. My kit was dry in minutes and I packed all my stuff on the bike and took off for Konstanz. Later that evening I arrived at Sybille in Hagnau.



The view for about 4 weeks, not bad. To be continued!

In Hagnau I helped Sybille to renovate one of her appartments. I liked the work but I have to admit it did grow a bit out of proportion for me.
It went from a small “do up the place a little” to a full renovation. Luckely Gut and the guys came to pick up the pace and finish the place.
Herr Gut, Adam and Mateusz learned me a lot of things about renovating. This gave me the feeling that I am on the right track with my trip. I set out to learn and experience new things and here in Hagnau I did exactly that.



Me at my best :)



Jean Pierre the Swiss workforce.



The saviors Gut and the guys.



Good times with Mateusz and Adam putting putz on the wals.



In Hagnau I got to know Sybille’s friend Isabel and we went on a small motorcycle tour to enjoy the countryside.



We stoped to see some waterfalls somewhere in the Allgäu. The southern part of Germany is beautiful!



Up here trough there and you will get there.



Standing at the side of a resent landslide near the waterfalls.



The waterfall. In the photo it looks a lot smaller as it was in reality.



When I took of from Holland I took with me a salt and pepper mix made by Max Havelaar called “African mix”.
I really liked it and looked for something that came close to the same taste in the shops where I passed.
But no success so I gave it a go myself.
Delicately cut some skin off an orange, citrus and lemon. And added af few sliced bits of garlic to dry in the frying pan.
After an hour or so of careful stirring and heating (no burning) all was dried, left it to cool down and mixed it with salt and pepper.



The result a very strong sunny tasteful mix for any meal



Isabel making us some delicious Dinkel käse spätzle.



As in almost every post I have to fix my bike in some way or do some maintenance.
This week I did the lot, the traveling is taking its toll on the old bike.
But nothing serious.
Maintenance done:
-valve adjustment
-new rear tire
-oil change
-chain adjustment
-carburetors cleaned

Repairs done:
-broken muffler welded
-new and better heat shield in the side cover

Changes done:
-12v socket placed on the rear of the bike



Jürgen aka Willi, helped me with the TIG welding of my muffler and fixed me up with a mount for the 12v socket I put on the rear of the bike.
He had some cool bikes there a Yamaha 250 DT , a faster then normal Schwalbe and a very cool Beta 498

The bike is ready to hit the next continent! Tomorrow I will set of towards the south of Spain and Morocco.

Any particular reason for not putting those nice heavy duty tubeless wheels off the original bike onto the new one. Would think that would be better than having to worry about tubes and easier to fix without having to remove the tire.