Day 18- Deggendorf to Passau- 60.7 kms

Today was meant to be a short ride day in to Passau so we were a little later in starting at 7.30 approx...

The first stop was to find a bakery in the main square at Deggendorf which we did very easily and it was breakfast with sugary croissants and an apple tart both of which tasted yum for the ride ahead

The ride for the day was beside the Danube essentially following the bike path beside the river 

The morning tea stop was at Hofkirchen at the halfway point of the ride... here I had a coffee. 

The rest of the ride in to Passau was relatively easy and we made it by about midday. 

Passau is a town where 2 tributaries of the Danube join the main river and the city has the boat anchorage’s for the big river cruise boats that travel downstream the Vienna etc

The amount of tourism in the town is incredible and the streets are quite crowded. Heaven only knows what it is like in the peak of the tourist season in mid summer!!!!

As the hostel ( our accommodation for the night) was not open we found a cafe in the old part of the town for lunch. I had a strawberry cake and Chris had a sandwich and cake plus drinks. Although the sun was hot (high 20’s) we managed to find shade under an umbrella for our lunch 

As we had a bit of a wait for the hostel to open we had a visit to a couple of bike shops to check on their Garmin situation.... no luck again!!!!

We then decided ,after a traditional ice cream , that we would try to booking in to our accommodation....

The good news was that we could get in.... the bad news is that the trip to get there involved climbing to the Schloss at the top of the hill where the gradients were up to 20pc!!!

Most of the road was on cobblestones so there was a fair bit of walking!!

Anyway the youth hostel is situated in the Schloss precinct and is quite comfortable.

We are hoping the we can do

A “major wash” here so after a shower Chris took the washing to the laundry which is again more of an uphill climb.....

During today’s ride we passed through the 1500 km mark so we have another 2000 kms ( give or take) to go

I am feeling okay so far and am happy that the bike has had no mechanical issues.... I say that and maybe it might be a curse

Looking forward to dinner at the hostel tonight 

Now for the photos.....

Dinner last night at a Greek restaurant at Deggendorf... great food 

Centrale market in Deggendorf near where we had breakfast 

The Danube....

These are the types of signs we see everywhere showing the way to go... you can just see the Eurovelo 6 sign on the bottom sign post at the bottom of it 3 signs fro the left 

Here is a war memorial we saw at a town being looked after by this guy 

Strange you don’t see many war memorials in the towns on Germany showing the names of those who died in the 2 world wars... this in the only one we have seen 

Passau shopping mall near where we had lunch 

Photo taken by Chris of me with “ angel wings” 

A view of the dock where the river boats anchor

See the Schloss in the background.... that’s near where the youth hostel is located 

Her is the cobblestone drive up to the youth hostel 

Here the gradient was 20 pc!!!!!

At the hostel... completely stuffed after the ride walk up the hill!!!!

Today’s ride ... excludes 3 km for the travel up the hill

Day 17- Obersaal to Deggendorf- 126.7 kms

Today was probably one of the best days we had to ride... the weather was perfect in the mid 20’s , the wind was at our backs for most of the day and the stops for breakfast, morning tea and lunch worked well together with our now traditional ice cream before riding in to our final destination.

The day started on the bikes at 7.00am after a great night of sleep in the Airbnb home we stayed at last night.

The first 15 kms were uneventful until the route took us on a major road at which time we said it might be safer to take a longer route. On this basis we headed north through some rolling hills until we reached Bad Abbach where we had our breakfast. This was at a bakery which seemed to be the early morning hub for most of the town... very interesting for a couple of old blokes just watching the comings and goings of the town at the bakery 

After brekky it was on the bike path following the Danube which by this time is a very wide river after several major tributaries joined it along the way so far.

The farming along the river has now reverted back to more traditional wheat and cropping together with plots of vegetables. The Danube valley has some very narrow gorge type travels together with a very wide valley which enables great farming on good fertile soil 

Lunch was at Straubing at a bakery on the side of the the road. The food offering was great but we were served by a very grumpy lady who I think struggled to tolerate foreigners. Anyway the food for me was a bread roll with sausage meat lettuce and tomato and then a magnificent raspberry tart.... all good for the wasteline I am sure 

With only about 34 kms to go it was an easy ride to our final destination at Deggendorf but not before having an ice cream at Zeitldorf. It was so refreshing ....

Ariiving at our apartment at 4.25 we had time to clean our bikes before having a shower and doing a clothes wash 

It is interesting to look at the names of the towns that we passed through over several days now. It seems there is a pattern in the names.... currently we are in the “dorfs” ( eg Deggendorf) and we have been in the “Heims” ....all very interesting to contemplate as the riding goes on

Not sure what we will do for dinner but I have decided I will have a week off the grog ... might be interesting to see how I feel during and after the week ☹️☹️

Now for the photos....

Thought this sign was interesting!!!

The Danube with a town and Schloss...

Couple of river boats anchored on the side of the river 

They look like a good comfortable way of traveling 

Another Schloss 

Our home for the night above an office 

My bedroom has the balcony 

Today’s ride

Day 16- Donauwörth to Obersaal- 126.3 kms

Today was another bad Garmin day...

I thought that I might get som joy talking to the Garmin folk back in Australia but after spending time with them for about nearly 2 hours there was no result. The good news was the delayed start meant we could have the hotel breakfast which was good and cheap ( 3 Euros)

Waking at 5.30 and the muck around with the Garmin meant we started our journey at 7.50 am which was later than our recent starts. The other piece of good news with the later start was we missed the early morning rain and had a start with some sun but cool.... about 10 degrees 

The early riding was flat and we decided to have an easier riding day after putting in some bigger days earlier.

The first real stop was just short of Neuberg where we had a drink and a cake and purchased some supplies for the day.

Then it was on to Ingolstadt which is a large town north of Munich where we thought we might find a bike shop to get a replacement rear vision mirror and make some enquires regarding Garmin maps 

Well the mirror was replaced quite easily but as per usual the Garmin was a problem so in the end I will give up the Garmin as a map and course tool.

The whole situation regarding downloading of maps remotely in foreign countries is a mess and the customer help is a real mess with no person on the help desk able to help. My mistake was not downloading the maps in Melbourne before I left on the trip

After spending another 2 hours mucking around we had lunch at Ingolstadt then resume to ride

The weather had picked up but we were finding the mosquitoes really bad when not riding...

The trip to Weltenberg was fairly uneventful but arriving at the road and bike trail stopped at a ferry terminal....

This is the start of a beautiful part of the Danube which passes through a very pretty gorge but the only way to get along the river is by ferry...

With all of the delays during the day we were fortunate to catch the last ferry at 6.30 pm

The journey to Kelheim was great on the boat and we managed to get some dinner on the boat. A bratwurst susauge and chips..... great food !!!

Arriving at Kelheim we located a fruit shop and purchased some fruit to have at our next accommodation.

We quickly made the 15 km ride to our accommodation which is a self contained flat in the rear of a house at Obersaal. The owner of the house is Barbara who has set the rental apartment up so well. The day ended on the bike at about 7.30 pm

I will be having a quick dinner of fruit then hopping in to bed

Now for the photos....

Me at the Danube 

An interesting cyclist joining Chris???

The Schloss at Neuburg.... quite impressive 

Bavaria is big on beer so they need plenty of hops!!!!

The town square at Weltenberg near where we got the ferry 

The ferry coming in to pick us up

We caught the last ferry for the day.... whew!!!

Me on the ferry 

Some of the gorge we traveled through 

Home for the night... thank god

Today’s ride

Day 15- Ehingan to Donauworth- 126 kms

The day started early again with us up at about 5.30 am and on the road by 6.15am

The weather today started out cold (7 degrees) and fog and a bit of rain which became a bit heavier as the morning wore on. After lunch it brightened up a bit and the sun was reasonably strong and the Garmin was recording temps of 30 which seemed to high as the wind was quite cool at times

After about 2 kms, we remembered that we had not returned the hotel key to the right spot so I made a quick return trip to fix the problem 

The riding today was through fairly flat farming country with the odd small change in gradient.... apart from the end which I will come to later 

The wind was also behind us for most of the way which made for fast riding 

Our first stop was after 30 kms at Ulm which is a very impressive town with a lovely old part of the town. The big cathedral apparently had one of the highest spires in the world and is very impressive. We noticed that there was very little traffic and wondered why... the girl at the cafe where would bought breakfast, advised that today was a public holiday in Germany being Pentecost day.... there you go we have the Queens Birthday holiday on the same day as Germany has a break.

After breakfast it was on to the 90 km mark at Wertingan which was a lovely town but better still we found a cafe open so we could have lunch. I had a kiwi fruit sundae and an apple strudel and Chris had a raspberry sundae and an apple strudel. It was yummy and the sugar hit was needed.

After lunch we left at about 1.30 and made our was to the hotel at Donauworth

On the way to Donauworth we saw some guys flying their remote control aeroplanes on a field and we stopped to have a look. These machines move like “stink”( Aussie term for fast) and they are really quite manoeuvrable. The planes being flown including prop planes and jet planes and gliders. It was very interesting talking to the guys whilst they flew their planes.

Riding always throws up some real challenges and getting to the hotel involved climbing some of the steepest roads for the day and after 120 kms the legs are pretty tired. Anyway we made it to the hotel only to find that we had been allocated one room with a double bed.... now Chris and I are great friends but sleeping together is not on our list 

Luckily they had another room available with 2 beds so all was well 

Whilst all the mucking around was going on regarding the room, we were able to sort out bike cleaning. The bikes were filthy and the chain needed oil after a few big days of riding

I must admit today I am feeling pretty tired after some big days of riding.

Hopefully we can have an early dinner and get to bed

Now for the photos....

An interesting conundrum trying to get a big loader through an intersection near Ulm.... they had to do some minor renovations to the traffic lights to fit through the intersection 

Here they are removing the traffic light covers...

A shot on the Danube after a larger tributary joined the river near Ulm

The cathedral at Ulm

Some of the flat country we passed through 

Us with the guy who flew the jet... it was fast!!!!!

Home for the night.....

Day 14- Bolderhof to Ehingan - 147 kms

After an “interesting” night at the accommodation at the farm where we shared the big room with a family on a farm holiday we awoke at about 5.30 am and were on the road by about 6.15 am. Don’t know what the kids thought about sharing a room with a couple of 67 year olds with one who snores (that’s me!!!). Anyway we managed to change and pack without waking the family....

It was a cool start at about 8 degrees with clear skies and as the day wore on it became warm rust about 15 then we had a few drops of rain as the ride ended 

Our first stop was alongside Lake Constance which is a leek on the Rhine. It was in a town called Radolfzell which is quite large... and do you think we could find a cafe that was open???? No we had to settle for the cafe at the station which was ok but I had visions of having coffee and pastry looking out over Lake Constance.... no such luck as we huddled in the cafe at the station!!!

After breakfast it was time to leave the Rhine and head for the country as we traversed to the Danube or Donau. The firt part of the traverse was ok though some rolling hills which was ok to lunch which we had at Stockach. There we shared a pizza at the Lebanese cafe which was the only eatery open!

It was prior to lunch that I discovered my rear vision mirror and rear tail light had fallen off the bike... bugger really as I now have to find a bike shop to get replacements

After lunch we had a 5 km flatis ride until we had an 800 metre climb with the gradient being at 18pc in some stretches. I must admit I walked my bigot about 50 metres whiowas disapointing but I was keen to save my legs for the longer day ahead

After the climb it was back to rolling hills again with a general to be down hill towards the Danube 

We reached the Danube at Krauchenweis.... the river here is probably no wider than the Yarra in Melbourne up near Dight’s Falls and the locals advised that it becomes “bigger” later when several tributaries join

At this point the weather looked a bit more threatening so we donned jackets as there were a few drops

The wind was favourable and at our backs which made for easy and faster travel

The counter passed through was open fields on crops .... wheat and corn etc 

As our water was getting low we stopped at Rottenacker ( funny name that!!) and asked a local resident for water and they kindly obliged 

The last 30 kms or so was alongside the Danube in to Ehingan where we are staying 

We arrived at about 5.15 pm after 7 and a half hours on the road. We both said we were not completely tired after what was one of our longest rides. Having said that... we were looking forward to a shower and a rest for the night at the Sternplatz hotel which is very comfortable 

We even managed to talk to the staff about doing our washing and drying for a small fee!

As I write this note the church bells are going off with a lound noise ... we have noticed that the bells chime at funny times and not on the hour etc 

Anyway today was a good ride and we clocked up the 1000 km mark which is a significant milestone 

Now for the photos....

A pretty village called Stein am Rhine ... very old buildings beautifully maintained 

Another shot at Stein am Rhine....

Lake Constance 

Looking towards the Danube valley below 

Note the great riding surface 

A 1000 kms at time to celebrate!!!

We had a feed of beautiful strawberries from this lady who had a stall on the side of the road

What are these towers used for I wonder????

We saw lots of them 

Here is the first sight of the Danube 

Wood piles in interesting art forms....

Home for the night... very comfortable hotel and our washing is getting done!!!

Today’s ride

Day 13 - Basel to Bolderhof- 126.9 kms

From a weather and scenic perspective today was probably one of the best days we have had...

The weather was perfect with sun and a cool breeze that was on our backs and we saw some real magic courtesy of the Rhine river 

We started at about 6.15 am from Basel after a good nights sleep at probably the best youth hostel we have been to over the yeats

The trip out of Besel was relatively easy for me as I just followed Chris as my Garmin maps were useless 

We traveled about 25 kms before we stopped for breakfast at a small town where Chris located a bakery with lovely cakes and pastries 

It was time for me to catch my son Nick and his wife Catherine who are at our holiday house at Rye over the long weekend ... seems from what Nick said the weather in Melbourne has improved a bit and the rain has stopped for the time being 

After breakfast we continued alongside the Rhine for periods and the water flow is simply incredible and over the day we saw 2 hydro power stations that used the stream flow very effectively 

As the day proceeded we traveled through bike tracks alongside the river and country roads together with busier roads as we traveled through towns . Looking at the map after the ride it seems we moved between Germany and Switzerland several times along our journey 

Locating a town and bakery for lunch was a real problem as it seems most places are closed over lunch... funny really as I would have thought there was a market for lunches. After travelling 95 kms I was really ready for something to eat.Lunch consisted of the lovely lime lemonade and a bbq sausage in a bread roll courtesy of a marketing effort by a plant and flower shop.

After lunch we traveled back to the Rhine for what was for me the highlight so far on the trip.... the Rhine falls

The photos do not do justice to this majestic place and the power of nature 

Getting back to the bike trail required a real climb up from the falls but from there we traveled along the Rhine upstryfrom the falls. The scenery provided by several villages was terrific as I hope is demoywith the photos 

We left the Rhine for the final ride in to our accommodation at 

Day 12- Mulhouse to Basel - 44.5 kms

After a great night of conversation with Stefan last night we enjoyed a good nights restful sleep and awke at about 7.00am... Stefan had left at 6.00 am for work in Germany by train so Chris and I thought we might have breakfast at a local cafe before heading to a nearby Internet cafe to try to download the Europe maps on my Garmin 

We had a good breakfast of coffee and croissants and headed off to the Internet cafe when it opened at 9

We made some good headway by ourselves but we had the good fortune of gaining useful advice from Julian a German who was in the Internet cafe preparing job applications 

The whole process was more complicated by much of the instructions being in French so Julian who spoke French was a godsend

We finally thought we had the matter solved when the downloading started and finished over a one and a half hour process only to find it had downloaded USA maps and not European maps. To say we were annoyed would be an understatement.....

Where to next when the Garmin process fails miserably 

I have sent an email to Garmin Australia to get them to advise me what I do next!!!!

After dusting ourselves off with the latest Garmin episode we then had a baguette lunch and made our way back to Stefan’s apartment to dress and pack for the ride to Basel 

Well if things didn’t get worse from there...

As we retrieved our bikes Chris locked his helmet in the bike storage room only realising this when the apartment keys were locked in the apartment mailbox 

He agreed that the only way to resolve the problem was to buy a new helmet which we did enroute to Basel 

At the bike/sports store I noticed that Chris did not have his water bottle.... this had been left st Stefan’s apartment 

Chris then purchased a new water bottle and it was on to Basel 

The bike track we followed was alongside a canal which is part of the Rhone- Rhine canal system 

The travel was easy and relatively flat and we enjoyed trying to engage in hello and bonjour with the cyclists along the path .... all good fun 

We reached the end of the canal at the Rhine river.... what a sight it was .... so wide and the water flowing so fast!

Shortly after we located a cafe on German soil where we had an ice cream.... then we made our way across the Rhine again in to Switzerland thereby completing travel into 3 countries inside about half an hour 

Basel at first looked very industrial but along the way through the city it became more pretty with cafes alongside the river and people enjoying the good weather of the afternoon 

We located our youth hostel which is an excellent place to stay the night and very comfortable 

We get free transportation in to the city by tram as part of the accommodation costs 

In summary today was a frusuone in many respects but we reconciled this with the pure enjoyment of our travel in a wonderful part of the world 

No for the photos....

Julian and Chris at the Internet cafe .... Garmin solving??

Riding alongside the canal 

With some swans....

The canal meets the Rhine 

Today’s ride. ... a short recovery ride!!!
Home for the night at a very comfortable youth hostel 

(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