A general manager of a Palm Jumeirah resort is back in Dubai after completing an epic charity motorbike ride which saw him travel 7000km from the UAE to France.
Jean-Francois Laurent, general manager of Anantara Dubai The Palm Resort & Spa, set off from Sharjah on June 1 on a journey which took him, his wife and two other riders through Iran, Turkey, Greece, Albania, Montenegro, Croatia and Italy over the course of 20 days.
The final destination was his home village of Teilhet, in the south of France, and he was raising funds for the Special Needs Future Development Center (SNF), a Dubai-based charity that offers personalised and professional care for young adults with special needs.
“Everything went absolutely extraordinarily well,” Laurent told HotelierMiddleEast.com.
“From the moment we left to the moment we arrived we were very lucky. The weather was great and we only had a morning of rain.”
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The only glitch the team had along the way was a broken brake cable at the beginning of the trip, but Laurent’s main memory is the reception they got along the way.
“All the way up to France we really were welcome everywhere. People were taking pictures, exchanging emails, wanting to know where we had come from,” he explained.
“People were looking at our number plates and maps and asking: ‘Have you really come from Dubai?’”
Having set out with the target of raising US $20,000 for SNF, Laurent has been pleased with the response and will continue to seek donations until the end of Ramadan.
Meanwhile, the trip has only whet his appetite for more journeys; next on the agenda will be another intercontinental adventure, this time to the Anantara headquarters in Bangkok, Thailand.
To contribute to Laurent's fundraising efforts for SNF, click HERE.
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