UK to Spain via France

View Larger Map Before heading out to California, I had agreed with my wife that we'd spend a few weeks in Moraira, Spain during April. H and his wife have a lovely rental villa down there (see link in sidebar) and we stay there from time to time. My wife couldn't spare the whole three weeks so I had a brainwave..why not ride down through France and Northern Spain returning by ferry? The total journey is about 2000 miles with 27 hours or so on the Ferry. This would give my 2009 Road King Classic a good run out and give me the opportunity to sample a little French cuisine on the way and the family could join me later.
So, the planning started. I decided to break the journey into fairly easy legs with a straight run to a Calais Hotel via the Eurotunnel then stops in Orleans and Aumont-Aubrac before entering Spain and a stop in Girona, then the final leg to Moraira.
After two and a bit weeks in Moraira for family visits, cross country to Zaragoza and up to Bilbao for the ferry back to Portsmouth and home. That journey meant that most legs would be between 250-280 miles apart from the final run to Moraira, which would be the longest at 350 miles. So came Easter Monday 5th April. The night before departure....