Trip Photos

After a few weeks at home, we’ve sorted through photos and created a Flickr collection with albums as follows:

Norway-Sweden-Denmark

Germany-Alsace

France

Dieppe

England

It was another good ride. We are lucky sods.
M&C

Logistics: Toulouse to Oslo

We returned to Oslo overland as planned, weaving together visits to family and friends. We did this without dismantling our bicycles. We’d expected it to be an adventure in itself, and it certainly was. We took a total of 23 trains, 1 bus, 3 ships and 1 ferry, arriving in Oslo with 1 or 2 ribs broken in England. 

2019/10/22: Toulouse to Dieppe

TGV Innoui to Paris, 5 euros per bike, reserved space on easily accessible rack. Seats reserved beside bikes. Death-defying 15 km commute across Paris from Montparnasse to St. Lazare station. Intercity train to Rouen with bikes vertically on hooks. No charge for bikes but hooks allocated. TER (regional) train to Dieppe. Bikes leaning in luggage area, panniers removed.

2019/10/23: Dieppe to Newhaven

Evening crossing, 4 hours. Loaded bikes lashed down on lowest car deck. Disembark in dark and rain, cycling on left in search of a B&B. 

2019/10/24: Newhaven to Canterbury

Cycled 39 km in increasingly heavy rain to Eastbourne. Margo yelling “LEFT, LEFT, LEFT” as Chris drifts to right on bike path. 2 trains to Canterbury. No charge for bikes, rack space available, panniers removed. 

2019/10/26: Canterbury to Lincolnshire, no bikes.

Bikes and panniers parked in hotel’s garden shed. 3 trains and one bus north to see friend. Bus segment due to unusual flooding on rail line.

2019/10/28: Lincolnshire to Canterbury via Horsham, no bikes. 

Driven to Doncaster to avoid flooded rail line. 2 trains to London. Buy additional tickets to Horsham to see cousin, out and back from London. Fast train back to Canterbury, retrieve bikes. Glad we bought National Rail Senior Railcards! 

2019/10/31-11/01: Canterbury to Cambridge

Cycled 74 km to Gravesend, some on trail suitable for MTBs, then under and over busy highways. Night in B&B. Ferry across Thames. First attempted route was closed. Second attempted route ended at a garbage dump. Onto “A” road with terrifying traffic, roundabouts, and honking. Train from Brentwood to Cambridge via London. Ride at walking speed through Cambridge city park to C’s old friends. Unfortunate fall onto a bent metal fence rail while stopping. OUCH!

2019/11/03: Cambridge to Harwich

Buy more ibuprofen and Paracetemol en route to train station. Direct train to Harwich cancelled, replaced by three, meaning two extra changes. Platform and train are never at same level. This means each loading of bikes requires strength difficult to muster with broken ribs. One of us loads bikes, while other stands holding a bike. Buy tickets and pedal onto boat to Hook of Holland. Given bag of ice for ribs.

2019/11/04: Hook of Holland to Hannover

Roll off to peaceful Dutch bike infrastructure. Pedal 30 km gingerly to Schiedham. (Maximum elevation 3 meters.) Helped to use ticket machine by cleaning woman with impeccable English. Train to Rotterdam. Buy more tickets. Ticket seller makes us lattes using staff coffee maker. A relaxed and welcoming country! Makes us want to come back to Holland with bikes in better weather! Conductor at departure evicts oblivious youth with headphones from bike alcove. Train to Amersfoort. Train to Hannover, Germany. Find hotel. Walk back to station after supper to buy tickets to Kiel. 

2019/11/05: Hannover to Kiel

Position ourselves correctly on platform according to bike access diagram. Train arrives. Diagram was incorrect – we are at wrong end!! Move as quickly as injury permits to other end. We delay train’s departure, and take a later train from Hamburg to Kiel. We still make boat departure. Lash bikes in hold. Asleep in our cabin by 2 p.m. sailing, do not wake till following morning. 

2019/11/06: Kiel to Oslo

Make good use of buffet breakfast. Minus 5 Celsius in Oslo. Roll off boat carefully at 10 a.m.. Chat to customs officer who clearly thinks we are very odd. In the distance, we see a familiar figure waiting for us with a minivan. Olav to the rescue!!! The non-injured load everything into the vehicle. 

Oslo may not quite be home, but it’s a very welcoming base camp. 

M

Final Days of Cycling

2019/10/14-15: In Millau and 89 km to Bedarieux

After a quiet day hiding from rain, we met Belgians Karel and Yvette for a relaxed dinner. The following morning, we slogged uphill in mist, to emerge on top of one of the causses that makes up the southwestern part of the Massif. We were in Parc Naturel Régional des Grands Causses. These raised chalky plateaux are cut by rivers to form canyons.

The wind helped us make progress across the top, an open moorland grazed by sheep. Before we began our descent off the plateau, there was a group of modern windmills. “Stop les éoliennes” had been spray painted into the tarmac nearby. We need to read and explore further to try to understand the basis of this protest movement against what one would think is a move toward a renewable energy source. We fell into a basic hotel, and rode to find dinner at a Chinese restaurant.

2019/10/16: 80 km to Mazamet

As planned, we followed another voie verte on old rail bed. The day took us very gradually up to a 750 m long tunnel at the top, and a very gradual descent across Parc Naturel Régional du Haut Languedoc. The only surprise of the day was when Chris ran over a fairly large (60 cm?) garter snake. Judging by how quickly it dove into long grass, I don’t think he seriously injured it.  

We rolled up fairly early to a two star Logis to find it unattended. After making a phone call to the posted number, we were cheerfully instructed how to check ourselves in, where to park our bicycles, and which key to take from a hook so as to let ourselves into our room.

2019/10/17: 90 km to Lauragais

The early part of the ride put us in heavier traffic than we’d have liked, but from Revel, we were on a suggested cycle route on small roads. We soon found ourselves on the distinctly off road cycle path that follows the Rigole du Canal du Midi. This is the feeder channel which brings water, collected in the relatively rainy high area to the east, to fill the canal at its highest point and allow the locks to operate. 

Having ridden along the Canal du Midi in 2014, we found it interesting to now follow the rigole or supply channel, and to arrive at the partage des eaux or watershed boundary, the highest point in the canal. 

Having followed the rigole on 40 km of path more suitable for mountain bikes, it was pleasant to ride along the familiar canal to Lauragais. This was our final night before arriving in Toulouse, and we marked the occasion by having hearty cassoulet for dinner.  

2019/10/18: 40 km to Toulouse

We started early, gliding along the familiar canal toward Toulouse. Ducks still slept, heads tucked under wings as they floated. A territorial goose challenged us. Were we taking photos of the same bridges we’d passed in 2014?

Our intent was to take the train north to Dieppe from Toulouse. This was to be a slow few days of overland travel, and a test of the bike-friendliness of France’s regional trains. At the station, we bought tickets for what we thought would be a northward departure the next morning. We settled ourselves in the nearby Ibis hotel, and made an outing to the laverie, or laundromat. This was the first such outing since Norway, and much needed.

2019/10/19-20: Still in Toulouse

The next morning, we loaded our bikes and rolled to the station. Our departure wasn’t shown on the board. In fact, there were very few departures shown.

The trains are on strike. Welcome to France. 

M

Into the Massif Central

As planned, we left the valley of the Rhône valley for something a bit more challenging. Our idea was to travel west across the southern portion of the Massif Central, where we hoped for forgiving weather as we sought out some interesting terrain.

2019/10/09: 73 km to Barjac

We started on an alarmingly busy stretch of road, but all became quieter as we turned to climb along the Gorges de l’Ardèche. We stopped at pullouts to admire the view into the canyon carved by the river. The water level was low, and the river seemed peaceful.

At one of these pullouts, I removed my helmet in order to change shirts. I placed it on a cement bench rather than hook it onto my bike. About 3 km after riding off without it, I realized there was far too much wind in my hair, and we rode back to find it was gone. 

As we rode on, I was kicking myself for being so stupid, till the sight of two goats ensconced at the roadside – happily chewing their cud – brought me to my senses. There was an exhilarating descent as we continued to Barjac, and after some searching and a coffee break, we found a friendly chambre d’hôte, and soon flopped into bed. 

2019/10/10: 63km to St. Jean de Gard

Finding a new helmet was the urgent task at hand. I’d been wearing a bandana so as to feel slightly less naked and vulnerable.  A flattish ride took us to Alès, a larger town with a fairly big bike shop. I tried several before deciding. 

We ended up eating our picnic at a table inside the shop while it was closed for lunch. The staff even provided us with espresso. This was due to errors made as Chris was paying for my helmet. Due to different banking systems and a raft of ensuing headaches, we left the shop with an enormous wad of cash that we were given to rectify the error. The helmet will appear on Chris’s credit card at ten times its correct price!

We rode peacefully in to St, Jean du Gard, where we learned Robert-Louis Stevenson ended his trek across the Cévennes with his donkey, Modestine, in 1879. His first book “Travels with a Donkey” recounts this journey.

2019/10/11-12: 57 km to Florac and rest day

After a quick round of chain maintenance and some food shopping, we began the ascent to la Corniche des Cévennes. We climbed about 1100 m and descended about 600 this day. The ride along the ridge was spectacular, with extended views of high grazing land and Mediterranean forest; chestnut trees and persimmons bore fruit; wild boars had been rooting for truffles (or something) along the roadside. Sheep bells jangled. 

We stopped at a monument to a group of resistance fighters who operated here during WW2. The rugged Cévennes was a stronghold for a group of French, German, Russian, and Spanish fighters who fought against Naziism. We are in what was Vichy France now, and have been past many other monuments to resistance fighters, but this was to a larger multinational group. 

A hiker plodded past us, his pace steady.  By his side was a loaded donkey, with a young donkey in tow. We realized that the GR 70 follows the route of Stevenson’s journey, which many like to retrace. We’ve learned that it’s possible to rent a donkey in order to follow in the steps of RLS, and that designated campgrounds and accommodation are donkey-friendly and will provide fodder. Who knows what we might do next?

2019/10/13: 86km to Millau

From Florac, we followed the Gorges du Tarn. It was a gentle descent with jaw dropping scenery.  The road was quiet, since tourist season is mostly over. We stopped often to admire fall colours, canyon walls, turrets, tiled rooves and Cathar fortresses. There are villages on the side opposite the road which can only be reached by boat, by fording, or by cable car. 

We passed rock climbing areas.  The diversity of license plates of parked vehicles gave us clues this was a climbers’ Mecca. We talked to some Czechs as they prepared their ropes, slings, and carabiners, and learned that this is some of the best limestone climbing in the world.  

We crossed another département boundary, and a sign announced we were in the region of Occitania. This is the area of southern France where Occitan or Langue d’Oc was historically spoken, and still is by some. It is also still used in nearby parts of Italy, Spain, and Monaco. There is a movement to revive the language, and it is used as a second language on some place name signage. 

Photo by Belgian travelling couple we chatted with at length.

We’ll be staying a second night here in Millau. Chris’s back is sore and he needs more sleep before we ride the last few days to Toulouse. It’s there that we plan to wrap up the cycling part of our journey, and work out way north to Dieppe by train, trusty steeds in tow.

M & C

Commuting South

We had discussions with Alison and David about our forward route. We let go the plan of heading west into the center of the Massif Central, since it was likely to be cold and wet. We are several weeks behind schedule relative to tentative route plan assumptions. This is due to scheduling of social interludes along the way. 

At first, we considered taking a train south to Montpelier to escape predicted wet weather. We soon decided we’d prefer to keep ahead of the rain under our own steam, and kept cycling south down the Saône and the Rhône to Bourg St. Andreol. From there, we planned to head west across the southern part of the Massif. We knew the Massif riding would be more challenging and scenic than riverside riding, and an interesting wrap up to our journey. 

2019/10/03: to Macon 61 km

The ride to Macon was pretty. We rode on small roads in morning mist, then met Alison and David at the Salorney market. After buying lunch fixings, we had coffee with them before heading to Macon on back roads and voie verte. 

View of Cluny from voie verte

2019/10/04: to south of Lyon 99 km

From Macon, we followed gravel towpaths and smaller roads to Lyon, which has some fabulous urban bike infrastructure. This includes the 1.8 km long Tunnel de la Croix-Rousse, which runs underneath  two of the city’s arrondissements. We rode through the separate tunnel modes douces (for cyclists, pedestrians, and buses) completed in 2013. We were aiming for a Hotel Campanile south of the City Centre, but a gap in cycling infrastructure meant google put us into terrifying traffic. We’d hoped for a low effort evening grabbing a bite in the Campanile’s restaurant, but it was closed. This meant we had to cycle to a pizza joint in a pretty rough area. 

Gravel towpath

2019/10/05: to Tain l’Hermitage 96 km

We found our way to the southward cycle path known locally as Via Rhôna, soon to become Eueovelo 17. It was provisoire at first, more suited to mountain bikes, but soon became the usual Eurovelo paved standard. In the afternoon, we were sent on a detour off the cycle path onto a road that led through the woods. We passed about ten white minivans, parked some distance apart along the roadside. Each was occupied by an African woman in revealing lingerie. All appeared to be equipped with cell phones. One chatted to a customer. Prostitution. Migration. Exploitation. Slavery. We’ve seen this before, notably in Italy in 2014. Travelling independently can be an eye opener.

2019/10/06-07: to Valence 26 km, and errands. 

We rode the short distance to Valence, where we knew we needed at least half a day’s rest. We soon realized we were pretty tired, and booked for a second night. This allowed us to buy maps, plan our forward route, and replace Chris’s aging pedals before moving on for our last day in the Rhône Valley.

2019/10/08: to Bourg St. Andreol 95 km

We could feel we were entering a warmer, drier area as we rode; there were kiwi orchards and olive trees. From here, we would leave the Rhône and head west.

During our travels, I’ve developed a soft spot for donkeys. In a town where we stopped to buy bread and have coffee, I noticed one tied to a signpost, wearing a packsaddle, the load removed and girth unfastened. Journey essentials lay on the ground nearby, but we never saw the associated human. 

What a patient companion! One day, I would love to travel with a donkey. 

M