(Temporary Backup) Day 11- Baume to Mulhouse- 110.1 kms

We started the day a little later this morning with some overnight rain making an early start a little harder to take with wet roads and bike paths. The weather was also a little colder with temperatures around 13-15 for most of the day and some light rain at various times

The ride was mostly on bike paths alongside canals and rivers. We started out on the Doubs river and later tranvered to the Allen and the Bourbeuse. The rivers traveled through the valleys of a fairly large mountain range. Later we picked up the Rhone - Rhine canal on the downside to the Rhine river which was a thrilling ride into our destination at Mulhouse. Got to wonder about the canal system in France and the engineering involved.

Today was probably our quickest ride although we had a morning tea break and longer lunch at Montbeliard hoping to find a library to use a computer to have ANOTHER try at downloading the Europe maps on my Garmin....alas the

Libraries were shut. We had a good lunch firstly of fresh fruit ( strawberry’s , cherries, nectarines and peaches) followed by a baguette and raspberry tart.... gee you eat a lot when riding!!!!

 We arrived at Mulhouse at about 4.00 pm and we are staying in a house hosted by a Warm Showers couple who we contacted a couple of days ago. Dinner being provided for us so we will buy some wine and a box of chocolates as gifts 

I am hoping that our hosts can help we with the downloading on my Garmin as it seems that they are cyclists .... any everything is crossed ( and I mean everything!!!) that this will put this saga “ to bed”.

We are sitting in a cafe now doing blogs and planning the next few days until our Warm Showers host is home from work. Chris has just advised that we have done 789 kms so far on the ride with an average of 99 kms per day (based on days we have actually ridden) . We have also climbed about 4500 metres so far.....not bad for a couple of old blokes!! 

We stayed the night with the first Warm Showers with our host Stefan who was delightful. His flat inin central Mulhouse and we had the opyof washing our clothes in a washing machine....as opposed to the base of the shower!!!

Stefan prepared a wonderful meal of pasta which we all enjoyed. 

Whilst we tried unsuccessfully to download the Garmin maps we had a really great chat about the rides that Stefan and his partner , Jessica, had through South America, New Zealand and Asia... all great stories....

Now for the photos 

Early morning ride along the Doubs through the valleys 

Nice shot of a typical waterfall 

Nice building in Montbeliard near where we purchased fresh fruit 

Town Hall ( Marie) in central Montbeliard 

We saw these km marking points when we first joined the official Eurovelo 6 Route on the Loire and wondered where the start point was.... here it is in the middle of nowhere on an bridge the crosses the Bourbeause!

Funny what takes your fancy...



We are heading towards Budapest....still a long way to go

We have taken a short cut rather than travel from Nantes... only 789 kms for us!!

A celebration at the sign....

Where is the champagne???

Some interesting stats regarding the Rhone/Rhine canal

Today’s ride....

I forgot to include the hotel we stayed at last night....La Bambi!!!

Some little animals we saw on the side of the cycle path... very cute!!

Home for the night with our Warm Showers host Stefan

A wonderful host and a great cook....

(Temporary Backup) Day 10- Dole to Baume-les-Dames 106 kms

The day started very early with us both awake at 5.00 am and ready to go shortly thereafter. We were on our bikes at 6.00am and made good time along the Eurovelo 6 route along the canal which runs alongside the Doubs river

We had a small break after about 25 kms to have a dinner roll we saved from last nights dinner.

We then proceeded alongside the canal again to an Internet cafe we sourced online at Besancon.... well the area where the cafe was located was very shady to say the least and we were early for the scheduled opening time so we had a fuller breakfast of juice and a cake.

As the opening time for the Internet cafe had passed and it looked very run down and was not looking like it would open, we headed for the Decathlon store nearby and had some real success in talking to a guy at the shop about downloading the maps. It seems that the Europe maps are huge so I needed to get a new larger memory card ( 32 GB) to cope. Doing the download from Garmin Express is not as easy as first thought as the Garmin computer system was not working and we had to wait to see whether it was rebooted again.

Well there we go again.....good old Garmin’s computers were down for the afternoon so Chris and I spent about 7 hours trying to do the download and despite tremendous help from the staff at Decathlon we failed miserably....in fact the Garmin memory card I had before buying a new larger one seemed to have lost all saved routes for the ride plus the French maps do diligently downloaded by Chris in Paris 

Well the only good thing was that I got the bike mechanic to adjust my rear deraluer and I bought a new pair of bike shorts as Chris said one pair was very see through from the rear!!

We at about 4.00 we were on our way to Baume-les-Dames which was a pretty 46 km ride along the Doubes river as you can see from the pictures below 

We made one stop for a lemon cordial drink as the weather was very humid 

We arrived at our hotel at about 7.15 after a good day of riding interspersed with a lot of Garmin frustration 

We are staying at a very nice hotel with towels!!!!

As I am writing this article the weather outside is threatening with loud claps of thunder.... might make for interesting riding tomorrow 

Now for the photos 

Early morning sunrise on the Boabs....

The bike track

An interesting tunnel for the barges...





All hands on deck to download Garmin maps!!!!!!!

Day 9 update

Our home for the night 

Very tired F1 hotel but the internet works😀

Day 9 -Montceau to Dole 139 .2kms

Today was another big day of riding and we agreed that an early start was best. So after waking at 6.00 we were on the road by 7.00 am 

The early riding was alongside the canal for nearly 60 kms and we were heading down stream so no climbing at all

After about 35 kms we had breakfast at Saint Gilles. Breakfast for me was apple juice and an apricot tart.... yum!

We then rode on to morning tea at Fragnes which is a newish town alongside the canal

After morning tea it seems that Chris went off in one direction and I on another as we both had different ways to get out of town.... After a few phone calls we agreed to meet at a village Gergy up the road. Amazing how technology can help on occasions like this both for the communication and in using the Garmin.

As the wind was starting to get up we were conscious to keep moving and for the most part the winds were on our backs which made for some faster riding.

We stopped for lunch at a lovely town of Trugny. Lunch consisted of a large lemon cordial drink and sorbet.

After lunch it was off to our final destination Dole.Our only trap was that we decided to take a short cut along a busy main road which took some careful riding with large trucks taking up a lot of road space and there being no road shoulder.

After looking at options we found the route alongside the canal was best in to Dole

Dole seems a pretty big town 

It is interesting to note that on our journey so far we have traveled down parts of the following rivers

1. The Seine 
2. The Loire 
3. The Saone
4. The Doubs (today’s river)

Over the next few days I am going to do some investigation on the canal network in the parts of France we have traveled because they are extensive and the myoglobin holiday makers using them is staggering. Chris and I have marveled at the engineering and work that must have been done to get these built.... all without the technology we have today 

Now for the photos.....

Lovely view of the canal at breakfast 

Riding alongside the canal 

Our lunch stop near the boats on the river 

boat moorings along the river

Today’s ride......

Day 4- Paris to Evry 41.2 kms

After a great night of sleep I woke to find that Chris had solved the “riddle “ of downloading the Europe maps on to my Garmin... big step forward as anything to do with Garmin is a problem until you get to know what you are doing!

We were up and about by 6.00am and anxious to start the ride. After a good breakfast of cornflakes and baguette we were off on the bikes at about 8.00am

The ride was a short one along a canal that fed in to the Seine river then along the Seine itself

We rode along bike paths for most of the way and the navigation seemed easy. The weather was about 18 - 20 degrees with some drizzle on occasion. It was almost perfect riding weather 

We reached Evry at about 11.45 am making reasonable time for our first ride

We settled in to the F1 hotel and after a shower headed out for lunch at a local Italian restaurant. 

The afternoon was spent usefully sorting out the transfer of the routes we are taking to my Garmin... sounds easy but my computer skills could be best described as “basic “

After a few hours we decided to have a walk around the park near our hotel which is quite pretty 

Dinner tonight was at the same restaurant we had for lunch and we are back at the hotel by 7.45 

Interesting that it seems there was a public holiday in France Ascension Day which is something we do not have in Australia 

Now for the photos....

Ready to go!!!!

Bastille monument 


A view of the Seine 



A boat harbour on the Seine 

A view of the one of the bike paths

Our home for the night

(Temporary Backup) Day 6 - Cepoy to La Charite -sir- Loire 139 kms

Today was a big day of riding so early on the trip. We covered nearly 140 kms and climbed about 1200 metres..... no wonder I am feeling a little tired.....

We started with an early ride at 6.00am at Cepoy and were the first up at the Youth Hostel 

As per usual the start was delayed as I had troubles downloading the amended course on my Garmin....to be frank the Garmin is really giving me the irritations as we spent about 2 hours trying to get the map downloads for the other Europe countries other than France and the latest situation regarding the course download was almost the last straw..... I have tried to call Garmin but it would be fair to say the response was underwhelming. They ended by saying I should contact the French Garmin office and good luck with my French speaking 

Anyway it was off and riding at about 7.00am... we decided to have breakfast on the road after riding about 20 kms

After the breakfast.... 2 crossionts and a coffee for me and a cherry cake and a pain chocolade for Chris 

It was off to ride the Burgandy country with rolling hills . We had a 75 km ride approx to visit a medieval castle that is being built in the traditional way with artisans.... seems everyone in the region had the same idea as when we arrived there was a queue to get tickets and any food was not available outside the entrance gates. So the idea of eating lunch was lost and we rode on. After a stop to have a snack on the side of the road we managed to find a great restaurant in a town called Bitry who served us Botha sandwich and cool lime cordial drink. The timing of lunch coincided with the last quarter fade out by the Dees against the Crows in Darwin... as had often been said bad kicking is bad football 

The break for lunch was much needed as the day was becoming very hot with temperatures in the high 20’s

After lunch we moved on to the Loire valley and as we travelled the prevalence of vineyards started to get more intense 

We had to stop several time to ask farmers if they could fill our water bottles as we were using water heavily in the heat

We finally made it to the Loire at Poully and then travelled along the bike pass to La Charite where we are staying in an Airbnb which is a first for me

The house is owned by Alison and is very pretty with lots of keep sakes in each room

The good thing is that we have fresh towels rather than the camping towels and we are having our washing done!!!

Despite the hardness of the ride, I was pleased to get through it and am looking forward to a good dinner downtown and an early night 

Now for the photos....

 Dinner last night... savoury pancakes...quite nice

A view of the Burgandy country 



I liked the shot as you could almost smell the wheat growing


Lunch... and was it needed!!!!

Wine tasting at Poully Fume... it was closed unfortunately 


Details of today’s ride


Our home for the night and towels!!!!

Day 7 - La Charite to Decize 74 kms

After a great dinner at a lovely restaurant last evening I slept very well at the Airbnb home. 

We were both up early again at 6.00 am and after “packing” our belongings we were ready to leave by 7.00am

Chris had sorted out a route overnight that saved us about 30 kms but still followed the river. As we were later to find out the route was following the Loire river for part but a large portion was following the canals alongside the river

The day started quite cool then warmed up to be very hot with temperatures in the low 30’s

We had breakfast alongside the Loire with croissants etc and then had a very pretty ride on the velo track to Nevers which is a large city. We managed the trip in good time and saw a Decathlon store where we had been told we might be able to get help to download maps on my Garmin.... but alas the store didn’t open on Sundays

So it was on for the rest of the journey to lunch at Fleury which is a pretty village alongside the canal. We saw a restaurant but unfortunately it was booked out but we managed a couple of drinks to have with our baguette.

It was starting to get really hot and the last 15 kms to Decize was slow and we made frequent stops to drink water

Arriving at Decize at about 1.00pm we saw a fair was being held one of the parks and headed there for an ice cream... it turned out to be a music festival for the locals with most of the people attending being middle aged bikies.

All very good though and they seemed friendly to couple of middle aged ANZAC’s 

As our hotel room wasn’t available until about 6 pm we had to rest at the music festival for a time 

We finally arrived at our home for the night at about 5,00 pm and after negotiating the shower taps we were able to shower  and wash our gear 

I think today being a shorter day was great after the big day yesterday 

Not sure what we will do for dinner tonight but our hotel has a restaurant which might be handy for a quick meal then bed

Now for the photos....

The town centre at La Charite 

Breakfast alongside the Loire 

A view of La Charite and the Loire as we had breakfast 

The velo route to Nevers...

The ancient castle remnants in Nevers...built in 1100’s

The music festival in Decize 

Our home for the night.... quite good with towels!!!

Our route today 

(Temporary Backup) Day 8- Decize to Montceau 92.7kms

We started early again at 7.00 pm and traveled down to the bakery to get some crowns other goodies for breakfast which we had in the village square 

All good to get going for Chris had sourced a short cut which cut about 40 kms from our journey 

The weather started out well but we could see the clouds rolling in from the west which did not look good. As it turned out there was a few brief thunderstorms which made the going a bit wet. Other than this the riding conditions were excellent and in sharp contrast to the heat of the previous few days....

The road conditions were good except for a country lane which had overgrown weeds and a rough surface which went  for about 1. 5 kms

We had an excellent lunch at Toulon - sur - Arroux which consisted of a steak with pasta and a cauliflower cream cake. 

The final ride in to Montceau was over some pretty hilly country but we had the wind behind us which was a blessing 

All day we climbed 980 metres which was challenging 

I thought this was probably my best riding day of the trip and am getting comfortable riding in successive days now

We are staying in a very comfortable Ibis hotel  .

Now for the photos 

At Decize as we left..... note the clouds building!!!

On the road before we started the rolling hills

Today’s trip 

Home for the night 

Day 5 - Evry to Cepoy 88.2 kms

After a good night sleep we were awake early and decided to get dressed and have a quick breakfast and hit the the road. The weather was cool to start off with and warmed throughout the day to about 21 degrees 

We were on the road by 6.45 am

We made good time with very little traffic and the rroad conditions were good apart from a short section of cobbles.....

Morning tea was at Fleury en Bier a very quaint town with a large chateau. Chris had a sandwich ( baguette) and I had coffee and a cake. Then it was on to Nemours for lunch but not before trying to find a bike shop.... I wanted to get my tyre pressure checked and Chris wanted a new pair of bike gloves.... well the bike shop turned out to be more of a garden implement shop with ride on movers, chain saws etc than bike gear. The owner was very helpful and managed to get my tyres pumped up but as for bike gloves!!!

Anyway we then ventured in to the town for lunch in the town square which was very pleasant with the sun shining. Sharp contrast to Melbourne, my home town where the weather is very cold. Ringing home earlier it seems that the snow season has started early...

After lunch we then had a delightful trip along the canal de Loing which is alongside the de Loing river

The ride was flat and the canal had several barges and boats traveling along enjoying wonderful spring weather 

We made good time arriving at the youth hostel at Cepoy at 1.30 pm. Unfortunately we could not get into our room but were able to use the facilities for a shower and the like 

Today was a great day of riding and a chance to extend the distance a bit from yesterday 

I feel ok but we have a few big days ahead

Now for the photos....

The “cobbles”....

An interesting sign at morning tea

The juxtaposition of the bike parking and dog parking was interesting 


The Chateau At Fleury de Beir


Chris at lunch in Nemours 


Along the canal towards Cepoy 


Our bed for the night at the Youth Hostel 


Today’s ride

(Temporary Backup) Day 3- Paris

Before I talk about today, I want to mention that Chris and I had a wonderful dinner last night at Jerome Vidal’s apartment which is quite near the youth hostel

Heron hosted us with his good friend Alison from Melbourne. She works in the data management field for mining companies and seems to want to take out French citizenship. Jerome on the other hand is studying to be a nurse.

Jerome is “babysitting “ my bike box until I return to Paris...thanks Jerome much appreciated!

Today was a day of being a tourist and after a great night of sleep we were ready for it!!!

First up was a visit to see the Notre Dame cathedral after the fire. Gee there is a lot of work to do as you can see from the photograph 

Then we did the big bus tour which was a good refresher for us both. The big issue for me was the additional security around all the attractions particularly at the Eiffel Tower where there is now a glass fence surrounding the base with security gates controlling entrances. The other issue was the traffic... seems there are traffic jams everywhere. The locals who do not use cars use electric scooters which are hooked up via the GPS by various operators 

We used the metro to get around which was fine but a little confusing at times 

We finished touring at lunch and after a bite in the Latin Quarter we came back to the hostel to sort out my Garmin maps.....wow this is frustrating to say the least 

Anyhow we sorted out bits of it but downloading Europe maps was unfortunately a problem...

We gave up after a couple of hours and Chris went for a sleep whist I tried to sort the problem out at an Internet cafe

I gave up due to real concerns about security 

At about 6.00 pm we went out locally to have dinner but most restaurants open st 7.00 pm so it was a frustrating time finding one open for a couple of older blokes looking for a “nursery tea”

We were fortunate to find a cafe with ok food

After a feed of steak chips and salad we headed home for an early night ahead of the first day of riding 

It would be fair to say we are both looking forward to the days ahead of adventures in 10 countries and over 3000 kms...

Chris has a good friend who is doing the same Eurovelo 6 route and over dinner we had a look at his blog and the scenery looks great 

A good sleep tonight should be great for the days ahead

Now for the pictures

Notre Dame... note the fire damaged roof

Champs-Elysées 


Eiffel Tower

Day 1 & 2 Travel to Paris

Monday 27 May was a busy day getting my bike packed by Matt from Cycleinn and sorting out the gear for the trip

After saying goodbye to Robyn and Alice and Mikayla it was off to the airport. Great that Nick, my eldest son had time to drive me and my gear 

I met Chris in the check in desk and we managed to avoid a big queue by checking in business class.... thank goodness for that!

After dropping the bike bags it was off to the lounge for a drink and meal before the long 13 hour flight to Abu Dhabi the the 7 hour flight to Paris 

We arrived in Paris at 7.30 approx and managed to get a cab that could fit both bike boxes and it was off to the Youth Hostel where Chris has booked 2 nights 

As the rooms were not ready until 3.00 pm we decided to walk and catch the Metro. Chris needed to sort out his mobile and I thought it might be useful to find a bike shop 

Finding a reputable phone shop proved to be a real problem and we resolved to go to Orange on the Champs Alysee which seemed ok

Finding a bike shop proved to be more difficult and in the end we gave up and came back to the youth hostel to unpack our bikes and sort out our bags.,.

We are both a bit tired and are resting before going out to dinner with the son of one of the folk we met through Warm Showers on the last trip in France. Should be a good night as he does a lot of bike riding

Well we are nearing the time to get on the saddle but tomorrow is going to be day to”shake down “ our bikes and do a big bus trip through Paris. I particularly want to see Notre Dame cathedral and the damage caused by the fire

Now for the pictures...

Yes here is the Arc

.... me here to prove it!



The youth hostel where we will spend the first 2 nights 

Very comfortable

Paris to Black Sea

I am looking forward to a ride from Paris to the Black Sea which starts on Monday 27 May when I fly out from Melbourne 

I am riding with my wonderful Kiwi mate Chris Jones and am looking forward to seeing him again as we travel in Europe 

Last Sunday was a time to say goodbye to the Wheeliebinners in Melbourne as per the attached picture 

Looking forward to ridin in Europe as we visit 10 countries and travel along side some of the great rivers

Catch you all when I get to Paris 

Reflecting on the trip

As I sit on the plane heading home I have a glass of champagne in hand and am reflecting on the past 3 weeks of fun in both the UK where we stayed with Ian and Lorna in Richmond and then on the journey first to Dover and then on to Calais and the journey south to Cahors and then by train to Toulouse 

The trip through France was terrific and provided many highlights and some real challenges , particularly when Chris  had his bike stolen in Niort .... but like true travellers from the Southern Hemisphere we responded with the right spirit 

France and the French people were great even though our spoken French was poor at times . But we managed well

Over the trip we traveled 1696 kms or 1700 kms in my book 

We climbed 9737 metres and most days we did over 100 kms per day

Our biggest day of distance traveled was 151 kms

Our biggest climbing day was 1079 metres 

We stayed in a mixture of youth hostels, Warm Showers homes , camping sites and cheaper hotels and it would be fair to say the Warm Showers accomodation offered the real opportunity to meet some great hosts 

I say thank you and merci to all of our hosts 

Finally I want to thank my riding partner Chris Jones for putting up with me over the past 3 weeks...

I hope my snoring and lack of hearing at times did not spoil your holiday and I wish you well in the days ahead with your new bike and the Tour de France trip

As you said on your blog yesterday we might make an ANZAC business out of this yet for those interested in an adventure with a bit of “ ruff and tuff” traveling 

So with a tear in my eye and a glass in my hand I say au revoke

Day 23- In Toulouse-43 kms

Today was a day to organise ourselves for the trip home for me and for Chris to sort out his arrangements to pick up his new bike in Niort 

So we slept in a bit getting to breakfast at about 8.00am and using the time over a good feed to plan the day

First step was to find a bike shop so I could organise a bike box and Chris could buy a few items he needed for his new bike 

The first shop was only a few kms away and was ok for the box but Chris wanted some particular tyres which the shop did not have so we resolved to have a look at other shops which seemed to be dotted around the town 

On the way to the second shop we went to the Airbus museum which was located near the airport where Airbus have their big assembly plant 

The museum was most interesting and gave a good account of the history of flight as well as having a Concorde on display 

After a drink in the museum restaurant we then ventured in to the train station so Chris could get his tickets to Niort 

After a sandwich lunch at a cafe near the station we then went to 2 more bike shops which didn’t have the gear that Chris wanted so on our way back to the hotel, we visited the first bike shop we saw in the morning and I got my box and Chris picked up some of his gear

After getting some help from the bike shop owner as to how to pack the bike I took a cab back to the hotel... Chris rode back!

Then it was time to clean the bikes and shoes and start to pack....yuck!

The weather today has been warm and humid but not really hot like yesterday 

The traveling around Toulouse by bike was easy with good navigation and there seems to be a good network of bike paths and lanes on the road 

Something I have been wanting to mention on this trip is the numbers of people in France who smoke!!!

It is staggering to see people young and old with cigarettes and cigars... much more than we see in Australia or New Zealand. People smoke anywhere and there seems to be spasmodic restrictions 

Anyway a good day to finish off in Toulouse a city that I should visit again if possible.

A view of the river- La Garonne ( same river as in Bordeaux $

Me with the Concorde

A back view of the Concorde 

Underneath the Concorde with some smaller planes

The tail section of the plane

This is one big plane!!!

Day 22- Cadouin to Cahors - 78 kms

Today was the last day of my ride in France and Chris has another 3.5 weeks to go 

We were both awake at 6 am and the morning was fresh and cool despite being very humid so we decided on an early start with breakfast to be purchased along the way

We had a little bit of difficulty in finding our way out of the town ....

Shortly after this we had the most horrendous route along an overgrown lane way that had to be walked with our bikes rather than riding them....this was probably only one of about three occasions where this had occurred on the bike navigation system we were using....quite remarkable really when you think about it after all the roads we have been on over the past few weeks 

Them we had the “mother of. Climb “ for about 1.5 kms where the gradient was over 20 pc in some parts

We later discovered that we could have taken another road which went around the hill we climbed !!!

Lesson learned for later in the day....

The first stop for breakfast was at Belves which is a pretty town at the top of a hill!!!!..and after a 5 km climb of gradients of around 5pc so getting to the top to have some croissants was certainly a well earned reward 

After breakfast we had a good decent followed by many ups and downs with the ups being more than the downs.....

The next stop was Casals for a snack which consisted of a soft drink and a Paris Brest for me... Chris had a strawberry tart.... the 2 seemed to go together well somehow!

Anyway after the snack we decided that the cycle tour route was going to deliver some tough climbs so we followed a few of the more major roads for a change which were:

- less hilly

- offered a slightly shorter route 

- and were not all that busy 

The result was that we made good time to Cahors and were at the train station by about 12.30 with a train leaving at 1.15pm

The weather was getting quite hot so rather than go down town , we booked tickets on the train and had lunch at the train station cafe

The train arrived and left on time and we enjoyed a good rest for about 1.5 hours on the train. We struck up a conversation with a couple of guys who were heading home to Niort and Paris after a ride in the wine country for a few days... they gave up because of the heat!

Arriving in Toulouse we then started looking for youth hostel accommodation only to find the place was closed. Our next option was an apartment hotel next door but it was full.

So on to the net with booking dot com and we found an apartment hotel that looked okay but was on the other side of the river!

So Chris guided us to the place with about 15 kms of riding through the heart of Toulouse with people everywhere!

Finally we arrived at the hotel only to find that they had 2 locations and we were at the wrong one!!

Let’s say we were not all that happy.....

On the bikes again and off for the 5 km ride to the other hotel...

Yes finally arriving they had our booking and we could finally have a drink and a shower after a big day 

I will reflect upon the ride either tomorrow or on the plane home but initial reaction to the trip is that it has been fantastic despite the problem of Chris’s bike being stolen 

Chris has been a great pal on the trip and in many respects we compliment each other’s strengths and weaknesses 

We have covered a lot of France and seen a lot of country and met a lot of very fine French people who have been more than helpful and hospitable to us

It is sad the trip has finally finished for me

Early morning fog over the valley...(sorry about the wire)

Breakfast at Belves....what a view!

A disused railway viaduct 

This cafe took or fancy but was closed 

Me at Cahors...

In the hotel finally at then end of a big day with a drink!!!

Home for the night 

(Backup) Day 21- Libourne to Cadouin 120 kms

Today we again made an early start after having breakfast at the hotel at 6.30 am. We were on our way by a little after 7.00 pm. I was the allocated navigation for the day and we made a good start by getting out of Libourne very quickly with no mishaps 

The travel through the Dordogne valley was beautiful as we traveled through wine country with many familiar names such as Saint Emilion etc

The roads were good and flat and the weather was perfect for riding being about 18 degrees 

We made good timing to have a stop for a morning tea in a town on the Dordogne river

Our next stop was Bergerac for lunch where we had an omelette in a cafe overlooking the river. After lunch we struck up a conversation with a couple from York in the UK looking for a house in the region. I think they must have seen too many reality TV series on buying homes in France because they spoke no French and were completely unaware of the region .... good luck!!!

After lunch we made the final run in to Cadouin which started off with more travel along the river flats noticing we were getting out of the wine country and in to farming country 

The last 11 kms in to Cadouin was more difficult as we needed to move out of the Dordogne valley and in to the valley of the river of Le Belingou. The climb of about 6 kms was about 5 pc in most sections with some lovely flat sections 

At the end of a long ride this was a bit of a test but we came through with flying colours!!!

The village of Cadouin is quite beautiful with many old buildings 

We are staying in the youth hostel which is located in an 11 century abbey ...

At the time of doing this blog I have befriended a Frenchman named Rene who is quite good at English and we are exchanging information about our families 

All good fun!!!

Today is the second last day of my ride and was probably one of the most testing and yet most rewarding 

Now for a drink and dinner

Early morning in the wine country near St Emilion 

A wine chateau 

Lovely view of the Dordogne valley 

...and the river 

...and again near Bergerac

We saw some gypsies 

And some lovely homes

...and of course the river 

What about the street decorations in this town!

 ...and of course the river again 

Home for the night in Cadouin in the Abbey 

Day 20 - Blanquefort to Libourne- 69 kms

Today was going to be an easy ride after a relatively long ride yesterday so we started a bit later after having a feed on the fruit that was left over from last nights fruit salad we made up to accompany our frozen spaghetti bolognase and chilly con carne. We had to make a visit to the local supermarket for dinner as all the cafes appeared to be shut...

So much for an authentic French meal!!!

Anyway it turned out well and we had plenty to eat and enjoy 

So it was left over cherries, peaches , grapes and apricots as a snack prior to a short ride to Bordeaux for a fuller feed on croissants baguette and coffee.... well not so easy!!!

Firstly trying to find our way out of Blanquefort was an effort as the Garmin had us heading every which way. Then after getting to Bordeaux finding an open cafe proved to be a real test. Finally we found one on the “poor “ side of the river (La Garrone)

I had a croissant and coffee and Chris a croissant as well... hardly what we had anticipated 

After this we made our way along the bike path beside the river and it started to change completely with some very big chateaus with lovely gardens etc

A little further along the path which had now become a rail trail we came across a cafe which was part of a disused railway station. It had a couof guys playing acoustic guitars and people enjoying a drink and food 

We thought we might stop and have a brunch ...

We ordered what we thought was an omelette but turned out to be a cheese and  meat platter.... so much for our attempt at the French language 

Anyway it turned out fine and we were joined by a couple of locals who were on their way home after a 60 km ride 

We had a good chat ..... mostly about bikes and our adventures.... all good fun!

Then it was on to Libourne along the rail trail which was very pretty.... but the weather was getting hot and the humidity was taking its toll 

We stopped at Creon which seemed to be at the top of the climb between the valleys of the La Garrone and the Dordogne rivers. It was here I noticed that my rear tyre was a little flat. On inspection I saw a piece of glass in the tyre and after extracting it of course the tyre went completely flat...

Well changing the tyre became more difficult as the new tube replacement seemed to have a faulty valve so a I had to use a spare tube that Chris had.... fortunately!!

Anyway whilst all of this was going on the village was in full festival mode with a band playing and people dancing and kids playing on the sand that was placed in the village square for the festival 

All good fun... except when you have a puncture!

Chris kindly bought me a drink to calm my nerves and it was on again to Libourne with only another 30 kms to go

The ride down in the the valley was goods and we were now seeing the full valley of vineyards.... very pretty but HOT!!!

As we arrived in Libourne we stopped for a drink and ice cream just ahead of the final 5 kms to the hotel

We arrived at about 3.30pm after a short but hot ride ready for a shower to freshen up

I also had to repair my tubes which was done quite quickly... I hope they are okay 

Today I thought I might talk about the navigation approachuwe have taken on the trip

Chris is one who uses his Garmin as his guide almost exclusively 

I on the other hand am more of a street watcher looking at the street names and sorting this out with the Garmin 

Both approaches have their positives and negatives but I think the combination works well when applied together 

The Garmin that Chris uses is a Garmin 1000 which shows the down loaded route from cycle travel and has good information 

I think it was Phil Eagar who said the issue with this model Garmin is the fact you cannot see a large enough map to judge where you are particularly when you go “ off course “ 

Anyway Chris’s Garmin has done a great job to get us through most of France 

Tonight we look like going to Buffalo Bills for dinner to haves steak!!!

Only 2 more days of riding to go 

Bordeaux alongside the river 

Bordeaux again near the big park 

Bordeaux... they knew how to build great buildings!!

The bridge across the La Garrone river 


Stopped for an omelette or so we thought 


We met 2 nice French guys out on their bikes 

Puncture time!!...in the meantime the town was celebrating!!

A nice rail trail ... but boy was it hot!!

In to the wine country 

Drying our washing at the hotel... worked well 

Home for the night!! And with AC!!!!!

Day 19- Mussonville to Blanquefort- 122 kms

We made an early start on our ride this morning at about 6.50 am to be well down the road before the heat kicked in!!

Yes this was before breakfast which was a little difficult but once I got going we had done about 30 kms before the hunger pangs started 

The town we selected for breakfast had a village market being set up with food stalls and the like so we had a good choice of food. I had an OJ and 3 croissants. Chris had an OJ  and croissant .... I later found a coffee shop that did cappuccino!!!! Wow what a change for France!!

After breakfast we then proceeded along some very pretty cycle ways which are a real feature of the Medoc region 

The paths are everywhere and are well marked and FLAT!!!

This made for very fast riding until we came to our next stop in the village of Carcans... not sure how it got it’s name as it certainly does not sound French 

At Carcans we had 2 each of the biggest lime and lemonade ( Chris had water with his lime) drinks you could imagine as we were feeling the heat. We also had a toasted baguette with butter and jam.... not the ideal lunch but we were hungry 

After lunch we decided to take a shorter route than planned which meant about 20 kms on the road. Luckily for us most of the traffic was heading to the coast for the weekend break so traveling was both fast and safe and we made good time to Sainte Helene to rejoin the bike path

The route then took us on to the outskirts of Blanquefort on the most magnificent bike path. The surface was very good and was flat and in good straight stretches. I opened out in time trial mode with average speeds for Garmin distance gaps of 8 kms each of 30 kms/ hr plus in to a slight headwind and in temps of the mid to high 30’s.... it was exhilarating to say the least 

We had a final stop at a pretty cafe to have a drink and fill water bottles as we were using water at a fast rate with the high temps and humidity 

The cafe was an old railway station which served food and drinks much like the situation at My Evelyn in Melbourne 

After the drink we traveled in to Banquefort and rode with a Zfrench guy out for a lazy 60 km ride... he was interesting to chat with as we made our way along the bike path. He had done over 20,000 last year!!! I thought what an effort but looking at him he was at least 20 yrs younger than me

We finally arrived in our hotel in Blanquefort at 3.30 pm after doing over 120 kms...

A great effort I thought on a hot and humid day....somewhat different to the weather at home in Melbourne I hear!!!

Dinner and entertainment last night in Musselton..

Thanks 

The Atlantic coast this morning.... small surf!



A view along a typical cycle way in the Medoc region 

I thought this Paella looked good... but doing 60 kms after it might not be the best thing???

Chris at lunch in Carcans

..... drinks at the railway station on the bike path for a couple of parched blokes!!!

Home for the night

Trip so far

Here is a photo of the map of France with the top half first 

Calais to Poitiers 

Then Poitiers to Blanquefort 

Day 18 - Rochefort to Mussonville- 82 kms

Although it seems that today was a short ride it seemed longer and harder in many respects than the rides where we had done over 130 kms. I think I can put this down to the poorer conditions on many of the roads, the hotter and more humid conditions, the fact that we had 2 stops ferry trips which breaks the riding rhythm of the day and lastly I had a puncture after hitting a pot hole on the road....

Well the day started with breakfast at the youth hostel at about 7.00 am and we were on our way at about 8 ish

It was lucky that we did not start earlier as we needed to ride a punt across the La Charente river shortly after leaving Rochefort 

The area around the punt was interesting in that there is a rebuilding projector restore a bridge mechanism that will take people across the river on a contraption that moves over the water.....very ingenious and will be interesting to see when completed 

The next 20 odd kms was through a lot of swamp land until we reached a small town called Marennes where we stopped for a drink and a very nice crepe.

As I said the roads were poor today and after hitting a pot hole I was surprised I did not get a flat straight away. It was only after our stop in Marennes that I noticed my tyre

After replacing the tube it was off to Royan. Once again the country was uninteresting with swamps and villages perched on the top of any high ground. The weather was also hotting up and with humidity it made for hardish riding 

We arrived in Royan at about 1.30 pm and headed to a bike shop to get my tyres pumped up and checked and Chris bought a new water bottle 

After this we had a sandwich and drink and made our way to the ferry across from Royan to Verdon Su mer... there was a bit of a wait at the ferry wharf but once on the ferry the ride was short to our destination .... appropriately half an hour 

Off the ferry and then on for the short 10 km ride on the cycle way to our despot Mussonville

This ride although flat was marred by the humidity and fact there was no wind....

Arriving at our destination we were pleased to have a shower and cool down 

Interesting the name Mussonville....not really French in my mind more somewhere in Australia in the outback

Anyway despite the poorer riding conditions the body and the bike are holding up

Tonight we sample some of Mussonville’s finest cuisine.... I will report on this tomorrow 

Me leaving the youth hostel 

Note my erect bag!!!

The structure being renovated near Rochefort 

Our punt across the river near the car bridge 

A view of the car bridge and the punt 

Chris and other cyclists on the punt

The guys on the right were Germans and I think they were amused after we got off the punt as we returned to the area near the wharf 3 times as we were lost...poor navigation on my part!

 At the top of a bridge we crossed later in the morning 

Note jet vapour in the sky.... we see this all the time 

After getting off the ferry at Verdon Su Met

Home for the night at Mussonville