Europe 6, France

Wednesday 22 July,

Leaving Arnay-le-Duc in very overcast and hot and humid conditions,and it doesn't take long and I get rained on, not very hard, but with large drops, which make me pretty wet through. By the time I stop to make coffee I am dry again, this is after about 30 km near Chagny, where I spot a picnic table at this small road intersection. Across from where I am sitting I notice 4 monoliths standing in a small paddock. They are from the same era as Stone Henge, I am told and have some religious and historic significance.

I enjoyed my coffee without any rain, and met a nice Dutch couple, who shared their knowledge about the monolith with me.  I got wet again shortly after leaving there. It was the pattern of the day, wet and dry about six or seven times.

I am on the small roads again, through forests and mixed cropping and cattle farming.  I pass through some very old villages where time has stood still. If I imagine taking away the cars and lampposts it would have been exactly like this for more than a thousand years.

This village where I stopped for lunch had these two defensive towers overlooking the town, the far one is still at its original height.

 Then I notice the GPS indicating that the next turn is onto a "trail". That is new to me and as far as I know, the GPS doesn't know about dedicated cycle ways. But indeed it takes me onto a rail trail, nicely tar sealed along a redundant railway route, for about 40 km into Cluny. Fantastic, more or less level all the way, with the rail bridges still in place over highways and water ways.

 I arrive in Cluny after 110 km and climbing another 819 m. It is a nice place and I am staying in an old fashioned hotel in town. The rooms are small, and although I have a 3 person room, there is barely enough room between the beds. However I arrived early enough to enjoy the Tour de France stage of the day on TV. The dinner was of high quality, but got a bit out of hand with a family at the next table with 3 small children, between 1.5 and 5 years old. Jr was in the highchair, the other 2 girls managed to sit at the table. They did a lot of staring, and were restless to say the least. Jr was let out of the chair from time to time and got very noisy when dad dropped him quite hard back in the chair.
The next thing I know mother rushing out with Jr's bare buttocks flashing by very close over my table. The next thing he is parading around with a potty, which was a little over the top I thought. I requested my after dinner coffee served next to the restaurant in a small lounge, which was fine, until dad put Jr in a corner of the lounge for a time out, leaving him almost next to me screaming! I would be the first to admit to have no child management experience, but this is ridiculous.

My next surprise was that they occupied the room next to mine, but after some initial screaming, including the parents, the night passed relatively peaceful. 

Thursday 23 July, started with clear blue skies again and turned out to be another very hot day. Going South to Macon, there is a huge range of hills to get over. I had programmed my route into the GPS and It took me back onto the trail. I was pleased because i had heard that the trail goes through a rail tunnel. But after a few km it directed me off the trail and onto a steeply climbing small road. I stopped and lookedT the map, the road South and the rail trail both end up in Macon, so I decided to stay on the trail, although it felt like cheating when I did go through the hill, via an almost 2 km long well lit and paved ex railway tunnel.

There was a bit of climbing to get to the tunnel, unlikely that the old railway had those short bends and elevation changes. History is probably similar to the NZ rail trail development, where tracks were abandoned and strips of land sold off before the idea of creating these fantastic trails. Once through the tunnel, the landscape changed to larger rolling hills, covered in vineyards, of the Beaujolais province stretching as far South as Lyon.

I ride along several waterways, contributors to the river Rhone, which again has dedicated cycleways along its banks. Which makes for great safe riding away from the traffic. I pass through Chatillon-sur-Chalaronne, Villers-les-Dombesand Chalamont, arriving at Amberieu-en-Bugey after 93 km and climbing 524 m at an average speed of 21.9 km/h in 30*C. The hotel is a new modern affair in an industrial type area, with a hospital, a rescue service centre with ambulances and helicopters. Very close to a motorway intersection North East of Lyon. The hotel has 3 floors but no lift, is of pretty high standard with an excellent bar and restaurant. It has only 2 stars, but that must be purely because of the lack of a lift. Good value for money at €100 for the room, drinks, dinner with wine, cheese and dessert and a good breakfast

Europe 5 France

Europe 5 France

The rest day was just that, a rest. Visitors from Europe use to joke about New Zealand, that it was closed on the weekend, well Rural France runs a close second.

The day was heavily overcast, which felt like a thunderstorm looming, it proved to be so as the heavens opened and torrential rain proved all storm water drains inadequate.

I managed a walk through the square and a look in the large church which I called a cathedral before, very impressive stone work but like so many churches nowadays in need of some serious maintenance.

I ended up quite early back in my room and watched the Tour de France develop into a one team race, with Christopher Froome having a tight grip on the yellow Jersey. My expectations and my excitement for it was for a much closer race, with the final outcome in the balance right until next Sunday with the showdown at Alpe D'Huez. But unless Froome has a serious setback or crash, it looks a foregone conclusion. So my cancelling the pre booked beds at the alps because of the Cash Card delay, don't feel so bad now. 

Monday 20 July saw me back on the road and with still lots of cloud about the morning ride was cooler without the direct heat of the sun. The D396 took me out of town across the river La Marne. Then via Les Rivierel Henruel to Bussy Aux Bois and the D5 to Rosnay-L'Hopital. Through huge cropping farms into a large forested area with lakes at Dienville, with welcome shade as the sun is in full glory again. At Vendeuvre on to the D79 to Le Grand Mallet, then a very long downhill through Essoyes and onto Mussy sur Seine. I Pass the place were Renoir worked for many years, not that I noticed any inspiring or outstanding landscapes, apart from a very large church. But hey! I continue through Charrey sur Seine and on to the D118 to my destination for the night at Montliot et Courselles, arriving at 3 pm in 31*C after biking 110 km and finding the hotel closed until 5pm.

I end up down the road a little in a bar, with one other customer and the owner sitting on the veranda, having a drink. The customer Bernard, knows all about the All Blacks and predicts the All Blacks will be beaten in the World Cup final by France ! A lot of this is in sign language and with the help of pen and paper, Bernard even got up and did some version of the haka! The 2 hours waiting for the hotel access passed quite quickly, although I would have  liked my shower first. When it did open it is quite basic, run by a nice young couple, relying on overnight stays from travellers coming off the main road nearby. They do have a basic restaurant with a set menu and  provide breakfast consisting of 2 bits of French bread, one croissant some condiments and coffee. It was adequate, and at a reasonable price. They filled my thermos with hot water for along the way with a friendly smile. One of the things I enjoy most of all when I am on the road, is to find a nice spot for a break and sit down and enjoy the place I am at, make a cup of fresh coffee, from the thermos flask and my paper filter holder and freshly ground coffee I carry. Usually I would pass a boulangerie to buy a nice pan-au-resin or some other delicacy to have with the coffee. So it is not all hard riding and suffering as you might expect or I try to make you believe!

War memorials a plenty here.

I avoid all main highways and France has a huge intricate network of secondary, third and fourth class roads, which are generally fine to ride on, virtually no traffic, bar some large farm machinery, and vary in size from a NZ state highway size with marked lanes, to single lane access ways barely wide enough for a car. All tar sealed, the very narrow ones, sometimes a bit rough or cobbled but overall very smooth and in this area quite undulating. One is never more than 10 km away from a village or hamlet so one is not really isolated, as we know it in NZ or Australia. This is not the way to travel in a car, but certainly the best way to travel by bicycle.

Coincidentally I travel close to the source of some great rivers. First of all the Meuse or Maas as we call her in Holland, today the Seine, which flows through Paris and soon I will make my aquaintance with the Rhone.

Tuesday, 21 July,

I am away by 8 am, with clear blue skies and it promises to be another hot day. The ride today takes me, again, along very small lanes and farm roads, through tiny hamlets and long forest roads. The disadvantage is that I did not come across a single boulangerie today, so my coffee break was accompanied by a stale muesli bar.

I did enjoy the quiet roads though and was surprised by seeing several live foxes and one dead one, killed on the road overnight I suspect. Also a couple of weasels chasing each other and making interesting squealing noises, they were obviously enjoying the chase, nearly running under my front wheel. I enjoyed some very long down hills, the reward for climbing those false flat roads of this area. For the ones that follow my progress on the map, the ride today took me through Etrochy, Cerilly, Balot,Nestle-etMassoult, Savoisy, Etais, Fain-les-Montbard, Venarey-les-Laumes, Posanges, Saint Thiboult, Eguilly where I crossed the A6 the autoroute to the sun, then onto Chailly-sur-Armacon, Chatellenot, Clomot and to my hotel in Arnay-le-Duc

Riding 107 km in max 36*C heat, arriving here just after 2.30 pm.

To date after 8 biking days and including a bit of sightseeing while waiting for the Card, I have covered 1,015 km and climbed 5,726 meters so far. Coming from below sea level in Holland, it is generally up hill to the Alps, but obviously not just climbing, otherwise I will have reached the moon by the time I get there. Later on I will do the subtraction of descents to see the actual hight difference as we go.

That is purely for the interested parties, for some others it might be useful to help you go to sleep.

As far as audience goes, Google gives me all this data, where the blog is accessed from, so far on this journey from Holland, NZ, UAS, Belgium, Germany, Canada, France, Australia and Belarus !

That reminds me, I was woken up in the middle of the night by a racket my iPad was making! Ellen Bracx, nee Cohen somehow got her wires crossed, or her fingers in a knot, and face-called me from
Canada ! My pad is on to use my alarm clock, and to re-charge it overnight Ellen, thanks for the call !

Europe 4 Belgium and France

Two more days with rain and I am forced to watch the TdF on the TV !

The card arrived by courier on business day 4 at 8.30 am Wednesday. Within the of the promised 3 to 5 business days, so that was acceptable. It came with no instructions, just a peace of Paper with the Cash Card's Peterborough England office address with a sticky label stuck to it with a number to ring to validate the card.

The card is pre loaded with euros with pin number supplied by Master Card.

I don't carry a phone, so my friendly host Patric let me use his restaurant phone.

It is not a good line but worse of all, the number to ring has no area or country code with it, so I assume it to be a Belgian number. Not so, it is non existing, I try it with the British codes, then the NZ codes, unsuccessful. I ring the office in Peterborough to find out what is going on, the receptionist is helpful but sounds frustrated and tells me several times that all she can do is pass the message on. Fair enough. She suggests 3 other numbers, none of them work. I ring her back she suggests to save me money, rather than waiting on the phone for someone in the upstairs office to answer, she will email him and tell him personally to call me back. Sounds good, I wait till 3.30 pm and check again with the receptionist, still no one has returned my call. She apologises, it sounds like she puts up with that more often,  I can understand her frustration.

I decide to go to the small Fortis Bank branch in the village. It is a internal ATM space with an office behind, to talk to someone is only by appointment. I hang around in the ATM space for a bit, hoping someone might come and check out why I am loitering in there. Then a young man comes in, who has an appointment, not long after the door is unlocked to let him in. I tell him my predicament, to the bank person, and he lets me in too and let me use the phone, after he looked up the MasterCard  Belgian phone number.

It worked and within 10 minutes it is done, I have my card validated and know my new pin number. I still don't understand what went wrong with the English office, just that they seem totally incompetent.

Anyway, I was able to pay Patrick's bill, who pretended to be crying !

The dog in full admiration is sad I am leaving too !

Thursday I made the move, the weather forecast was for hot and sunny weather. I checked out the trail along the river Meuse from Fosses la Ville to Charleville Mezieres, and it is about 85 km as the crow flies according to my GPS. The trail is unknown to the GPS so I will have to follow the signs. 

The good thing is it is mainly flat, but the river has many bends and with a few missed signs and a
little backtracking I biked in searing heat for 153 km in just under 7 hours. 

It was crazy but having had trouble finding a place to stay the last ride to get here, I pre booked the hotel in C-M, so I had to keep going.

Several towns along the river have those huge fortresses in strategic locations overlooking the town and the river. 

The following day Friday I promised myself a shorter ride. The temperatures in the mid thirties again, through the rolling hills of the Ardennes from Charleville Mezieres to Apremont where I found a lovely air conditioned Auberge after 83 km.

Passing through some big arable farms, which are ready for harvesting, but do not offer much shade for overheated bikers.

Fortunately I passed through some forested areas, which offered some much needed shade to cool down a bit.

Saturday 18July I got away after a huge breakfast, the Auberges usually have excellent kitchens, arriving for breakfast, I saw the usual on the set table, a small baguette, a pastry with chocolate, some honey and jams, a coffee cup, glass for juice and that is just about it usually. The host came over and asked me if I wanted tea or coffee, cheese and a series of other offers I had no idea what was offered. My usual answer is a nice smile a nod and merci. When he came back I got a can of coffee, a pancake, a slice of bread with a fried egg, a bowl with cut up fruit, 3 kinds of cheese and a carafe with orange juice. I managed to eat most of it which gave me a good start for the day ahead. The
weather was cooler at 30*C, the terrain more varied with many forested hills early on. My destination
today is Vitry le Francoise, which is the centre of the Champagne district. I wondered why I had not seen any vineyards at all. Not until about 20 km before Vitry did I see any, on the steeper slopes of the rolling hills above the vast acres of wheat, which are being harvested,  sunflowers and lavender, certainly a diversified use of the land. It is not like New Zealand where in this case the whole district would be into champagne, or lavender or dairy ?

The champagne vineyards on the slopes.

Arriving in Vitry just after 2 pm, into a nice old hotel in the centre of the old city. I decided to have a rest day tomorrow, looking forward to exploring the old city.

The view of the cathedral from my hotel room window at Hotel de la Poste.

Europe 3, Belgium

 The waiting game.

The weather is great, so I have been exploring the rolling hills and river valleys of the Ardennes and the many villages, churches and monasteries of the area.

The area has many large cropping farms with fields ready to be harvested. Also many forests, nature reserves and trails to explore.

                         

The capital of this district is Namur, situated where the river Sambre meets the river Meuse, an old city with a huge citadel overlooking the city and the river junction.

Namur

The river Sambre at Namur

The river Meuse or Maas as we cal her in Holland reaches the North Sea at Hook of Holland. She flows through the city of Rotterdam my birthplace and gives me a special connection with the river. 

Biking through the hills and down the river valley it is very pleasant to ride the paved trail along the river's edge from Profondeville to Namur.

Cycling along the river Meuse

Some poor Belgian's house

Very picturesq 

I am the only guest in this small hotel, to be converted as I previously mentioned. Patrick, the owner is extremely nice and accommodating. Although we cannot speak each others languages we communicate well and he is obviously sad and will miss the hotel business he has built up over many years.

The small restaurant with a large outdoor area has reopened and is leased by a couple with dubious restaurant experience.

The first night of reopening Patrick helped out, shaking his head, when our eyes met and mumbling
"no good". The waitress of that night never appeared again, she might have got the blame for all the
problems. The next night Patrick was helping out on his own beside the new managers and although run off his feet, his personality and skill made it a success. Last night Patrick was absent and a new waitress was serving. Despite only about 5 tables occupied,  the service was extremely slow and chaotic, it reminded me of Faulty Towers at times. The new manager running around like Manuel completely out of his depth. The couple at a table behind me had ordered before me, the lady's meal was delivered, but the gentleman's meal, was delivered to me !

As it was the same as I had ordered, I started to eat it before the waitress discovered her mistake. They did not know how to deal with it, great panic. 

The couple and I had a good laugh about it, negotiated with sign language that we should share it, only if I could share their wine, as my wine had not arrived yet !

It all was sorted in the end, with the manager offering me another glass of wine on the house.

I think Patrick would have torn the last of his hair out, had he been there.

Breakfast is a much quieter affair, just me and Patrick's dog, who sits beside my chair and affectionately looks up at me. He is very clever and understands every word I say, unlike any of the
humans I meet lately.

Patrick serves a generous breakfast, and the rolls, croissants and pan au chocolat I don't eat, he wraps up for me to have for lunch or along the way on the bike.

His attention to detail is amazing, for instance he noticed that from the 3 mini jars of jams, I ate the strawberry jam, so he makes sure the strawberry jam is replenished.

Well it is Monday today and tomorrow could be the arrival of the replacement card, so I can be on my way again...I hope so.

No biking today, it is raining, but the outlook is good for the rest of the week.

Europe 2, Holland and Belgium

Another great visit with Kees and Diny, aunt Nel is doing well, she was very bright and happy. Leaving the next day, Diny supplied me with meatballs and dutch stroopwafels for sustenance along the way and Kees took on the job of Super Domestique in true cycling fashion to shield me from the wind and to make sure I wasn't going to get lost finding my way to the Belgian border. He may have had a different motive to do this, but I'll leave that to your imagination ! 

The ride was a good one with a favourable wind, although I had to put on the rain jacket a few times, but despite that I enjoyed sitting in a windy spot on a bench by the Prins Albert Canal with cold balls!

The route today went via Ossendrecht to Putte where I crossed the border into Belgium. Then via Kapellen , Brasschaat, Schravenwezel en Schilde to Oelegem where I reached the Prins Albert Kanaal. I followed the canal along the tow path via Grobendonk to Herentals where I booked a room in Hotel de Zalm in the city centre right on the market place. 

The hotel is in a traditional brick building complete with stair gable, beautifully refurbished inside with a great restaurant. I enjoyed, (sorry for any offence) a horse steak, with a glass of Merlot.

The market square in Herntals, the hotel De Zalm behind the flag poles.

The next morning away after a good breakfast, I rode via Aarschot, Rotselaar and Leuven into  Wallonia, the French speaking part of Belgium. Dutch and French are the official languages in Belgium, but riding into Wallonia is like turning a language switch as virtually no one speaks dutch at all !

Starting out in bright sunshine, it soon became overcast with some huge threatening very dark clouds. After about an hour on the bike, the rain started and shortly after putting my rain jacket on it became torrential. Luckily as the drops became large a covered bus shelter appeared and I was able to sheter and make coffee while it bucketed down.

It rained on and off most of the ride, getting into the hills of the Ardennes. Through Grez Do and Bonlez, I found a sheltered place for lunch after a stop at a supermarket.

Finding that the water in my flask is stone cold, I ditched it and don't have to carry that anymore until I find a replacement. Continuing via Glembloux and Mazy to Jemeppe sur Sambre the planned stop for the day after just over 100 km. Not having booked a bed ahead, I followed my GPS to find a Hotel, but after a merry go round of 4 addresses I found 2 of them closed and the other two non existent! The fifth one is being altered into apartments, but the owner kindly gave me a room in the attic, air conditioned and very comfortable. They are Italian and leaving the hotel business because of a stroke his wife suffered about 3 years ago. We got by, communicating with the help of his daughter by telephone and his nephew from down the road who spoke some english. I finally arrived here just after 6 pm, and need to ride about 3 km to the nearest village of Fosses-la-Ville for dinner as the hotel's restaurant reopens tomorrow under new management.

After a quick cleanup to go for dinner, I could not find my wallet and realised with a bit of panic that I have lost it, with my daily cash and pre loaded cashcard in it! 

Rang the special number to cancel it and I should get a replacement in 3 to 5 business days. This place being the only address I have it looks like as it is Thursday the ninth of July today, I will be here at best till Tuesday the fourteenth, or hopefully not later than Thursday the sixteenth ! Unfortunately that makes it impossible to get to the Alps in time for the Tour de France as planned.  

At least I did not loose the lot, I keep my passport, credit card and spare cash in a different place.

After all that, I raced to the village for a pizza and got back before dark. Managed to sleep well and had sweet dreams about the world used as a water tower.

Europe 1, Holland

This time My adventure starts in Holland, arriving in Amsterdam after flying for 25 hours from Auckland, with a halfway stopover in Singapore, where I slept for 8 hours in the Transit Hotel.

First of all We had a great get together for Frans and Ellen's 50th wedding anniversary with a boat trip along the river Vecht.

The weather is great, with temperatures in the mid thirties, which is much higher and sustained than I remember, then we were grateful if the summer fell on a weekend !

After setting up the bike I put in some miles in preparation for the weeks ahead, riding through the forests and fields of heather of the Veluwe, while being "at home" in Scherpenzeel.

The on the forth of  July my younger brother Arie and I went to Utrecht to watch the prolog of the Tour de France in Utrecht and enjoyed the racing and I the atmosphere with thousands of fans along the course. It was very exciting and noisy, the riders said they were unable to hear the coaches instructions because of the noise. 

The next day we witnessed the second stage with the family and neighbours, in Rotterdam, the spectacle passing through one street away from the house.

It is perfect motivation for the next few weeks on my bike, on my way South, to meet up with the Tour again in the French alps at Alpe'DHuez.

So my first day on the road is taking me along the Dutch coast, a very windy ride, wind against as usual, my first port of call at my cousin Kees and Diny in Zeeland and a visit to aunt Nel, who is 96 now !

Birdseye view atthe TdF prolog in Utrecht

Contador one of the favourites

 Waiting for the ferry across the Oude Maas at Rhoon South Holland

Ferry to Oud Bijerland