Oops

Q. Why do people in the south of France ride motorbikes in just shorts, tshirts and flip-flops?
A. Because its so freeking hot here!
Q. Why SHOULD people in the south of France wear proper motorcycle protection?
A. Because its so freeking dangerous driving round here!

It's ironic that in the place where you really should wear some protection, it's too hot to wear it.

We hit the coast at about lunchtime with much excitement to finally "see the sea". And exactly the same moment, we hit the traffic - it was rammed. Nose to tail cars.
A year or so ago the French government made noises about making it illegal for motorbikes to filter through traffic. In protest of this suggestion, bikers organised a day where they all behaved by this "no filtering" rule. The result was total gridlock - it demonstrated that with current (and increasing) traffic volumes, it is essential to get the motorbikes making progress by filtering. And they do. With great enthusiasm

I'm not really a fan of riding in traffic congestion (my bike likes it less so) but its water off a ducks back to Scott who regularly rides through central London.

Cars were chokablok and motorbikes were buzzing in and out of the most impossible spaces. Overtaking in the lane of oncoming traffic appeared to be an accepted and natural thing to do. Initially we sat among the cars avoiding such silliness, but it soon became apparent that ducking and diving was not only essential to progress, but essential to our air-conditioning, an so we joined in the madness. And actually it was quite good fun.

When you do your motorcycle training there is a saying that is drummed into you; "only a fool breaks the 2 second rule" which prompts the rider to leave good stopping space between you and the vehicle in front. The rule is good for anywhere on the planet, but unfortunately in some places it is simply impossible to practice. If you leave a space someone else will fill it.

We ducked and dived along to Cannes where we stopped outside the famous Cannes Film Festival venue for a photo opportunity. The place was heaving with people and traffic. We had just got back on the road when the inevitable happened. I ran into the back of a car (a Mercedes E-class)

It was only a bump really. A paint scuff, but it was enough for a wheel skid, bend my front mug guard and require an exchange of insurance details. It was rather embarrassing and another pain in the arse delay. I did the formalities while Scott and Lorne sat on the pavement and took the piss.

I wasn't overly fazed by the bump. It was an inevitable battle wound, and I take a degree of comfort in that my wheel skid was considerably less than that of Scott's only 15 minutes earlier - he was just lucky that time!