Cruised Luxenburg without even stopping because the headache was still nagging me. Slept on a roadside bench and got rid of it when I arrived in France. Then ended up in the town on Nancy (where they blew up the bank in the movie "Kellys Heroes"). Found Chateau Remicourt on top of a hill where they also had a youth hostel. This time i chared the room with Luis a Peruan guy, a guy from Spain and one from Argentina. Spaninsh would have been great to know in that room. But later Sean, a Dutch guy doing his P.hd came and I had someone to talk to. Left early in the morning rain that later turned to heavy wet snow and I had to put on all my clothes complete with plastic bags on my feet (the A.stars vector isnt totally waterproof). I found to my horror I had lost my right cover glove, so that hand got kinda cold after a while. In Vienne the snow had stopped and the day turned out great with a a nice little cheap hotel close by the lake. Took a days rest there and explored the little town (in about 3 hours then read 2 books). Left for Spain and for the first time the weather turned warm! Happy days!. Stopped in the old town Girona.    After a healthy breakfast of croassants with jam and a piece of chocolate (served at the hostel) I continued my adventures down along the coast of Spain. The roads were totally amazing. My intention was to stop in Becasimne but couldnt find a cheap hotel there so continued to Valencia. Arrived 21.00 at night and traffic was a killer so after some driving around in endless queues I decided to leave Valencia. The good part was 2 Spanish girls on a scooter next to me in the traffic did some fun flirting but then we turned different ways. Howerver I didn't know where I was heading. I guess thats the lonly travellers dilemma and strength at the same time, meeting and leaving people all the time. At 23.00 I ended up in a camping along the coast. Tired and with an aching butt I stopped and asked where I could put up my tent. The nice lady in the reception informed me that all space was filled and the camping was closed. Please come back tomorrow. It was the 13th of November in the middle of nowhere?! Lyckily I found another camping half an hour drive away from the first. Crashed in my tent and left early in the morning. Continued on the road with sun in my face and lovely scenery along the mountinous coastline. Checked into a great youth hostel in the middle of Alicante and shared room with a cool British guy named Alex. His website: http://members.lycos.co.uk/alexchklar/ He had been cycling around Europe during 5 months or so. Kinda made me feel like I was sunday cruising, cheating along with my motorbike. The day after i bought a new front tyre (Michelin Baja 21" 90/90) and some Smith goggles for the sun. At first I was planning to stay in Alicante another day but the hostel was fully booked so I left and found Iron Man Alex on the road a bunch of km away (he did amazing milage on that bike). Gave him his shampoo he forgotten in the room and we decided to meet up at the next roadside stop for lunch. I missed the next stop 10 min away and ended up waiting for him a good 30 min ride with my bike. Though we found a great Chinese reasturant complete with Tai-Chi practising tourists. Moved on to Cartagena on the sunny road. No more highways I had promised myself.    In Cartagena I found a great little hotel I shared with Alex and in the evening went out to do some internet business. The police in Spain also rode yamaha XTs, kinda fun. Had chicken with nuts in a Chinese reasturant. And packed up the following morning. Said goodbye to Alex and continued to Torremolinos. Alex diary the 14th november,the day we met Alex diary the 15th november Alex diary the 16th november,the day we parted In Torremolinos I stayed with a friend to a friend of my family, Martin, a great guy. Got some great spanish food for dinner and in the evening I changed my front tyre from the used pirelli MT21 to the new Michelin Baja I had bought in Alicante. I had thought the front would last longer than my rear but the knobblies of the front were almost gone (I had been riding about 4.000 km on it before I left. Down to southern Spain from Gävle was about the same so in all 8.000 km was good I think). The rear was still in good shape and I had read that in the sand its nice to have a pretty smooth but middle but with good knobblies on the side and that was excactly how my rear tire looked so I kept it on. Though I would have loved to get rid of it from the back carrier of the bike inspite of the nice adventurer look it gave my whole setup.    Then it was off to Algeciras and finally take the ferry to Africa. On the way I stopped in Fuengirola to talk and see if the Swedish church had any places or information about northwest africa. Just thought it would be nice to have some compliment to the embassy since I didnt really know anything what to expect there. Stopped at a small internet cafe at the outskirts of the little town and got a free map and checked my mail at the same time. I continued and found the street of the church after a few misunderstandings and a bump on one of my aluminum panniers from a "no parking post" in the street. My first adventure mark! The church was closed but everyone around said it was open so I climbed the fence and found a nice guy working there who could inform me that they didnt have any places in Africa. But I was very welcome to tell my story on my way back. On the way to Algericas I noticed my newly changed front tyre wasnt completly on the rim as it should be so there had become a small bulb annoying enough when riding. I decied to check it out later, but still felt that it had been better to change it myself than paying the 50€ the garage in Torremolinos wanted in order to give me a hand with it. The roads were also massivly filled with signs for the ferries from Algeciras and Gibraltar leaving for Ceuta and Tanger. I decided to wait with the ticket until I reached my hostel. I figured there would be plenty of chance to get my ticket and I had read in the sahara overland book that it was a fixed price for the ferries in all the shops. In Algeciras I had an adress for a youth hostel but couldnt find the street anywhere. I parked my bike next to a cop correcting a street bum for apperantly having messed with a locked car. He pointed me the way and I was lost after 15 min again. Then all of a sudden I found the tourist information office. Parked my bike and went there only to find out it was closed. Then I bumped into a patrolcar and the same officer again, giving me a new point and this time I found the hostel 15 km west of the city. Life was good! Checked in at the reception where a cute spanish girl worked, she also sold me tickets for the ferry with a 20% youth hostel discount. Apperently it worked even if I wasnt a youth. She had also booked me to share a room with a lovely tall german girl with almond brown hair and a Herr Flick accent. That eventually turned out to be a mistake for the spanish girl had taken the german girls name for a guys name. I still blame myself for never asking what her name was. Breakfast with a bunch of solders on leave also staying in the hostel and then off to the ferry and the big A!		Read about my bike by clicking 'tech' in the menu.