I have been away in South Africa for a week, visiting my aged mother. You may recall the last post I made on this blog was complaining about the lack of any sense of urgency by Honda France to supply a Certificate of Conformity stating that my ST1100 was legal on French roads. According to French law, I have one month to register the bike in France.

So, Wednesday 5th September dawned. At lunchtime, a letter arrives. I nearly fell over when I saw the postmark. Could it be possible? With trembling hands I opened the envelope.

Yes, it was the Certificate of Conformity! Nearly four months in the making.

Yesterday we visited the Prefecture in Blois with all the documentation, fully expecting them to say that something else was missing. But no, everything went smoothly, and after paying €109.50 to the cashier I was issued with the temporary Carte Gris.

Now I can get the new French number plate. And then a search for an insurance company can commence – at the moment the cheapest quote I’ve found for a year’s fully comprehensive insurance is around €650. This obviously does not compare favourably with the £95 I was paying in Britain.