From Lille, we hit the road with Antoine from Galb Motorworks to meet Benjamin and his Harley Davidson XR 1200 in the Chevreuse Valley.

We left early, we arrived late, Lille-Paris on national roads is nice but it must look like the 60s with all the mess, and it does. We left with Honda Fours, me on a 750 and Antoine with one of his custom builds (2015), a simple and clean 500 Four bratstyle. The road is cool, although a bit outdated.

You can feel that France is developing its highways and that the national roads lined with plane trees are being abandoned to residents and those who have time on their hands! It’s nice but sometimes totally annoying because there are really too many speed bumps, bored old people, and mothers coming back from Auchan!...

But the light is soft, we're well-covered, and it's a pleasure to ride at 100 km/h, even with Firestone Deluxe tires, and to hear the sounds of our engines harmonize on sometimes winding but rarely deserted stretches of asphalt. Antoine's custom build, before becoming this beautiful motorcycle, was a pile of parts in boxes abandoned in a garage for too long! A great result for an old rusty thing. Once we arrived, a pizza, an after-party in Paris, and a night ride back along the quais de la Seine with three screaming motorcycles. For us provincials, riding in Paris at night is always a too-rare pleasure... You ride through a living backdrop that reacts to its own rules, like all capitals.

The next day we rode in the Chevreuse Valley, first with three motorcycles and then, finding Antoine's Honda 500 Four photogenic, I suggested taking some photos while riding. I climbed behind Benjamin's XR 1200 and off we went again on the winding roads between woods and villages, and I truly enjoyed it! It's a sublime place when the light is just right! Especially in autumn when the vegetation is dressed in rust.