Chateau Thierry to/and Paris

Day 58 Chateau Thierry and Jabilines 71ks

After a warm night’s sleep we were up early to head off for about 50ks in our trip towards Paris. We are getting close to Paris and we are just doing smaller days so we arrive in Paris around Wednesday lunch time. We are still riding through the Champagnes area so there are grape vines all around us. They are very pretty on the hillsides with the sun shining through first thing in the morning. There are plenty of rolling hills to keep us honest. There are many villages along the way with most of them being very old. There are a lot of crumbling houses and many shops that have been closed for a long time. We think that maybe many of the shops are closed down due to the fact that the big cities are not very far away.

The patisserie where we called into to buy our rolls and croissants for morning tea had the bakehouse in the front window of the shop. We were all looking through the window and the baker motioned us into the room to watch what he was doing. He was making croissants and other delicacies with the same pastry. He was treating it very roughly which amazed us, as we thought it had to be treated very gently. It was lovely to be invited into the shop which had a staff of about 6 men and all the produce from the shop was sold on site. Pretty amazing as there appeared to be a lot of pastries and bread for the size of the town.

We were planning to camp at Meaux but there were no camp grounds there although there was one mentioned in our camp book. New Plan! Over lunch, which has now reached big city prices, about 3 times as much as we have been paying in the smaller rural areas, we decided that we would push on as far as we can today. This will mean that we will now camp in Paris tomorrow night instead of arriving on Wednesday. We will camp at the caravan park in Paris on Tuesday night and then we will be able to have a relaxed arrival on Wednesday.

Along the way we had a shower of rain which we pulled in under a tree to save us from getting wet. It made the riding quite steamy, but better than being cold.

The van park we are staying in is on a lake which the people at reception were keen to tell us that they have a ‘beach’ for us to swim in. We checked it out and decided that yes you could swim in it, but no WE would not swim in it. The difference between the swimming facilities in Europe and Australia does not rate a mention. It is quite a big park but has a very pretty outlook. We decided to have a new experience for dinner tonight, order in Pizzas. We ordered them at Reception and they will be delivered to our pitch, which is what they call our site.

By now the pizzas have arrived and they were not too bad, similar to pizza delivery in Canberra, filled a hole and saved us cooking.

Should be a pleasant night for sleeping tonight as the temp has dropped after the rain but is still probably in the mid 20s. Very pleasant.

 

Day 59 Jabilines to Paris 49ks

Today we are heading to Paris, a bit scary and a bit exciting. Hopefully we will be able to get into the bus lanes as bikes can  use them along with the buses.

We had a lovely temperature for our ride, a bit of light cloud cover which kept the the temp very pleasant for riding.

We only needed to ride about 7 ks from the van park and we were on the canal which we hoped would take us most of the way to Paris. It is very easy riding along the canals as it is pretty flat until you come to a bridge when you get a steep pinch for about 30 mtrs or so get across the road and then 30mtrs downhill, then back to the flat.

We arrived on the outskirts of Paris about 11 o’clock and left the canal to take on the roads. The Garmin (our GPS) made it a lot easier to navigate than the last time Phill and Chris rode through Paris when all they had was a map and a rough idea of where they were going. The first 10k or so was along the road where there was a major road reconstruction going on in the centre. It was very noisy and dusty but we managed to find our way. We stopped at a doner kebab style of café that also had a patisserie for a cuppa and enjoyed watching the world go by. Not far to go now but it was getting into the busier area.

Once we got away from the road works and into the bus lanes riding was quite pleasant. The buses ring this bell as they pass you in the lanes and the cars keep to their lanes and did not seem to annoy us.

The camp ground was not highly rated by the Lonely Planet and we three ladies were very apprensive of what we might find. Lonely planet suggested it was a dodgy park with the ladies of the night being quite a downside. When we arrived we found probably the largest park we had been in which was almost full to capacity. We decided to book a site that had power and was therefore where the mobile homes and vans go as we did not like the look of the tent sites and we had already been warned by our friends who had been there a few weeks before that it was a very noisy area.

Turned out to be a good decision as we had quite a level site, near the shop and toilets with plenty of room to spread out. Steve saw the ladies of the night in the day! When he went for a ride in the afternoon, well away from the van park and really not creating  any problems for campers, not sure what planet lonely planet was on. They were all sitting in transit style vans ready for you to make your selection. We were all intrigued as to where the action took place, in the van? In the trees behind the van? Or at your choice of location.

We all decided we had had a successful ride into Paris and were keen to find our apartment tomorrow and start our sightseeing.

 

Day 60 - 64, Paris, 15kms

Left the park about and had about 4 hours to fill in until we could get into our apartment.

We all felt we were really in Paris when we saw the Eiffel Tower!  The riding was fairly easy into the centre of Paris.  We had a combination of road, bike paths and bike lanes shared with buses. 

The ladies of the night had surfaced again and were in the Bois looking for customers – even at 8am in the morning!  The office of choice still appeared to be the back of vans.  There were some just standing around or sitting on park benches, propositioning the guys as we went past.  Despite this we didn’t feel unsafe in our numbers.

We stopped for a cuppa and something to eat close to the Eiffel Tower.  We talked a fellow photographer into taking a group shot of us to prove we got here!

Our trip to the apartment took us up the Champs Elysee – very nice riding up towards the Arc de Triomphe.  We found our way to the unit and as luck had it the street was a cul de sac which provided us with a great spot to pull the bikes down and put them away while we waited for the agent to arrive to see us into the apartment.

The apartment was very roomy and a great location – about 800m from the Arc de Triomphe – 200m from a Metro station, so moving around the city was very easy.

Our first night saw us dining at a restaurant recommended by a friend from Canberra.  We had a great evening with wonderful food and entertainment watching the valet car park attendant manoeuvring cars left right and centre as vacant parking spots became available in the street. 

We nearly created an incident when we asked a smoker (in the smoking section) if he would mind not smoking while we were eating!  They were asked if they would move to another table by the waiting staff, which they did but not very happily.  Turned out he was a regular at the restaurant too!

The next few days were spent doing the touristy bits around Paris and it’s near vicinity. 

Linda and Steve’s son and his girlfriend spent a few days in Paris with us too.  We were all pleased to have the space and facilities available that the apartment provided after spending the last 9 weeks in our tents!

Toul to Chateaux Thierry

Day 56, Toul – Epernay, 18kms

We had an early start today.  We were up at 5am to catch a 7.19 train from Toul to Epernay.  We had decided that we were unsure of the terrain between these two towns and we now have an appointment with our apartment in Paris next Wednesday, so the need to get some quick kilometres under our belts was there.

We made the station in plenty of time, but we are always keen to ensure we have the platforms and strategies with the bikes sorted.  As we were at the station early it was still quite chilly and we were pleased when the sun peeked it’s head onto the platform. 

Access to the train platforms varies.  Sometimes there are lifts for the bikes; sometimes we have had to carry them, fully loaded up flights of stairs; other places have a travelator system where the bike goes on the travelator and you support it while you walk up the stairs.

Today we were able to walk across the train tracks to get to the right platform.  BUT – you have to wait for the stationmaster to put on his orange jacket, radio ahead and advise those in the know that we will be walking across the lines.  He then stands in the middle of the tracks while we all walk across like a family of ducks!

Luckily we boarded a newer train.  These ones you can wheel the bikes straight onto without it taking three of us to lift them up into the train.  It is also nice when you have a friendly conductor (even though we couldn’t understand each other) who indicates you can take up this door space as it won’t be used for entry/exit to the train before you get off.  The six bikes take up a lot of space fully loaded, so travelling by train requires some logistics.

On arrival in Epernay we visited a champagne cave (cellar).  It was a bit commercial and they certainly didn’t miss you with the price of a small glass of champagne.

We organised a champagne vineyard tour from Epernay, which started at 2.30 pm in Ay, a small village about 5kms from Epernay.  We rode the bikes out there in stinking heat.

It was an “Eco” tour organised through a small family vineyard in an electric car. The young guy who took the tour had reasonable English and some of the rest of the family was also involved.  Four generations of the family had been involved with the grape production, with two different generations of the family losing everything during the two world wars due to bombings and internment.

The lady who is the current owner started everything again in 1997 with her husband.  The business in now called a mix of their two surnames – Richard–Fliniaux.

A great time was had by all, despite the oppressive heat.  A good day, with lots of different champagne tastings.

Day 57, Epernay – Chateaux Thierry, 55 kms

The weather forecast was for another very hot day, so we cycled off early again.

As we caught the train yesterday, we now don’t have big days of riding before we get to Paris on Wednesday.  Our ride was fairly “undulating” today.  A few long slow hills which some of us walked (no names mentioned), but generally an interesting ride through the champagne area.

Our plan was to ride to Chateaux Thierry and arrive early to beat the heat.  We did this, but our concerns regarding the availability of campsites, was founded.  There is no campsite in the town, but there is a “camper car” site.  This has an automatically operated system designed for camper cars to have access to showers and toilets and park in an allocated spot. 

It is sited right next to the river, but we aren’t getting any breeze to cool us down yet. We managed to trick the automatic gate into believing 6 bikes and 3 tents = one camper car!  It will be interesting to see if anyone says anything.

The adjacent McDonalds is airconditioned, so we have made use of their services! The company we have in McDonalds is about the same as their food!!!!!

Luzelbourg to Toul

Day 53 Luzelbourg to Luneville 82ks

Quite a warm day today with no canal or river riding. Rode through mainly rural areas again where everything looks very dry. We had a local rider take us through a cpl of villages today and he told us it was a Sunday, we said no it is Wednesday and he said yes Sunday a holiday. We worked out that today is a public holiday in France and everything will be closed.  We stopped for water in a village and as there was a very nice TABAC (bar) open we had our lunch as well. Good move as the rest of the day was through small villages where there was not a soul to be seen. We all wondered where people go on the weekends and public holidays as there is no one to be seen anywhere. We were pleased we had had our lunch as there were a couple of long hills on the way to our next camp and it was very warm, late 30s.

Luneville is quite a large town but was very quite due to the holiday. We had a lovely camp near a chateau which was too host celebrations for the holiday tonight. Unfortunately it started to rain close to the time of the celebrations starting and storms were forecast so all was called off. A pity as we rode past the chateaux the next morning and it would have been a great lighting  spectacular.

Day 54  Luneville to Toul 78ks

We had a lot of rain overnight but dry start to the day. Once again it was going to be a very hot day so we tried to get under way early. More rural riding and some long hills. Stopped for lunch at St Vincent Pont where we bought our lunch at a patisserie and took it across to the local Tabac to buy our coffee. They were happy with BYO food. They put up a brolly for us and looked after us well for the price of 6 coffees and BYO food. We rode onto Toul where we decided we would camp but no campground. Plan B a hotel. The tourist bureau found a one star hotel in the centre of the city. It was budget but very clean. We decided to spend 2 nights there so we could do some trip planning for our next 5 to 6 days before we arrive in Paris. It has a bar below the hotel so we spent an hour or so there in the evening for some cooling ales and water.

Day 55 Toul  0ks

We met for coffee and a planning meeting early today at a nice bar where we again brought our croissants and bought our coffee at the bar. We decided to catch the train to Epernay tomorrow as the area we will be riding in is more rural and not very interesting. Epernay is in the Champagne region and we hope to be able to organize a tour of a vineyard. Linda and Steve and Clem and Lesley went to Nancy for the day and Phill and Chris stayed in Toul for some sightseeing. We all enjoyed our sightseeing and had dinner at a lovely French restaurant that had been recommended to us by the manager of the hotel. We all enjoyed our meal although we are not sure if it was traditional French fare. It was another warm day which is apparently unseasonal for this area.

Day 52 – Strasbourg – Lutzelbourg, 76kms

Today saw us finding our way out of Strasbourg with no major issues.  A little bit of circle work when the six of us missed one of the “Velo route” signs but we ended up only about 500m out of our way, so no harm done. But the mighty garmin on Phills bike saved the day again.  It has certainly been very helpful this year.

Our cycling was mainly on the bike path adjoining the Canal de la Marne au Rhin which we joined just out of Strasbourg.  The riding was mainly flat, often with large trees along the route providing us with some shade, which was appreciated as it was quite a warm day.

We rode through a number of little villages along the route, then into Saverne which was a real surprise.  Not expecting much, we were pleasantly surprised at the feel of the town and the streetscape.  We were met by a local who walked us up to the tourist bureau – the service we get from the locals is great.

The Chateau de Rohan, the imposing building in the centre of the town was a former Episcopal residence was restored by Napolean III and converted into barracks after 1870.  It now houses a cultural centre, a primary school, the local youth hostel and a museum. Unfortunately Tuesday is it’s day of rest and we were unable to visit any of the public areas.

A beautiful building, Maison Katz was another feature of the town.  Highly decorated and built by the local tax collector in the early 1600’s.

Next stop was “le plan incline” at Arziller.  This structure is also known as a “shiplift’.  It was built in the 1960’s to enable barges etc to bypass 17 locks.  The sophisticated design consumes little energy by using the weight of upstream water and two counter weights which are enormous blocks of concrete loaded with cast iron pigs, each weighing 450 tonne.  The travelling lock, which encases the boats, is connected to the counter weights by two groups of 14 cables.  This enables the boats to be transported in a transverse manner about 128 m up or down the incline.  We were all very intrigued.

We were close to the campground, so set up camp, then headed into the small village nearby to get supplies for dinner.

For some reason some campers in France have a habit of camping as close as possible to you.  The last couple of nights we have been camped in quite spacious areas, to return and find our neighbours are VERY friendly and like to share our space too.

Eberbach to Strasbourg and Strasbourg

Day 49 – Eberbach to Karlsruhe, 117kms

Today’s ride was mainly flat along the Neckar River. We picked up the River not far from the campsite and stayed with it for most of the morning. It is a much prettier ride than the Rhine and you are close by the river most of the time. There was no real bike route to follow so we stuck to the road most of the time. The drivers were very good and there was often a bike path beside the road. The villages along the way were very pretty with lots of old houses and churches and very clean. We rode through the outskirts of Heidelberg and found out later that Linda and Steve had gone there for their rest days. The really enjoyed their stay.

We spoke to a couple of German bike tourists along the way and they agreed it was a very pretty route to cycle.

We were talking to another local couple just making sure we were on the right track, we were talking about what was happening in the local area and said goodbye and the next thing we hear this noise and the lady has fallen off her bike. She was at a loss as to why she fell off but we helped back on her feet while her husband stood back and had a bit of a chuckle, she patted her bottom and said something in German which we assumed must have been did not hurt myself, plenty of padding. We felt awful and hoped we had not distracted her, she rode off after we packed all her shopping back into her basket.

One guy Chris spoke to was interested to hear we were from Australia and not the USA, but was concerned that people disappeared down holes in Australia! There are some funny ideas of Australia over here, last year we were amazed to hear how there were snakes everywhere which stopped a lot of people coming for a holiday. Honestly!

We dined in at the campground and managed to see a small amount of the Olympics, were pleased to see the Jarred Talent won silver in the walk.

Early night after a long day in the saddle.

Day 50 –Karlsruhe to Strasbourg, 88kms

After a good sleep we set out for Strasbourg, we knew it would be a long day but thought it would be a pretty flat ride.

We stuck mainly to the roads for the first part of the day. Had a chat to one local at a bakery on our first stop who had spent some time in South Africa in the French speaking area and said that was a good spot for cycle touring, we had never thought of going there.

Again, lots of pretty villages and other bike riders out today, it was in the late 20’s so pleasant for riding.

Not much to report today as the country is still very rural, some farmers were working away planting new strawberries in large quantities, others were still hay baling. There are a lot of apple trees in Germany along the road side all well covered with apples. There are some orchards but a huge number of trees not necessarily in an orchard.

We were checking the map at one stage and this fellow who looked to have about 20years on us asked if we thought this was the way to Switzerland. We said no you are going the wrong way, should be heading south not north. He said the area looked familiar, thinks he rode over yesterday, must have taken the wrong turn our of the ‘van park! He did have a map but said he was too lazy to use it, perhaps he should be more keen to use it. He had been touring around Germany but was heading back to Switzerland where he lived, not sure when he was hoping to be home!

We crossed back in France near Strasbourg in the early afternoon after following the Rhine River for 30 or 40 k. The camp ground was through the city and out the other side.

Clem and Lesley have rejoined us and Linda and Steve are now back in riding mode after their rest days.

Dinner was at the camp restaurant, not the best meal we have had but we thought we would try their smoked pizzas. You never know until you try it, maybe not our favorite pizza!

Day 51  Strasbourg – 10k

We all rode into town early to get some breakfast and spend the day sight seeing.

I think we all agreed that strasbourg is a pretty city. Some of us enjoyed a boat tour of the city on the River L’ill. We went through a lock which was good fun, we had previously watched other boats going through but this time it was us. Nothing too startling but good fun all the same.