France/Paris-to-Bruges, Day 13

Today we spent the morning being given a guided tour around Bruges - apart from

Chocolate shops all professing 'the Finest'
Cafes with Waffles/mussels and Fries
Lace shops
Scenic buildings
Churches

There are a respectable amount of museums - some people will stay extra time here and visit them at leisure. Unlike the brewery museum, I find it unlikely the diamond museum will be handing out samples !

A quick ride in the afternoon (very small group of riders to a small village on the outskirts of Bruges 'Damme' and so it was when one of the group found his way inro a big pile of 'pate de chien' aka dog sh@t) ) adds 17km to the total - making 926 km in 3 weeks

The bikes have now been returned, stripped of any of our parts, cleaned etc - thoughts now start about heading home .... Being home isn't a problem, getting there (flying for a day and losing a day) is, although I have a rest day in Bruges anyway off the Barge.....

Packing - ugh !

France/Paris-to-Bruges, Day 12

Another 57km at average 16.2km/h saw us roll into Bruges today.

It is a very pretty place, full of lots of (calories : waffles, fries, chocolate), lace to name two

Our guide page says the city centre dates back to the middle ages (or is that 'muddle') and 'is almost completely intact' .... Er right, are they forgetting the money UNESCO and the EU poured into restoration ? ..... Whatever, the result is very nice

So, a quick shower and it was off to visit a brewery - the only one inside the city : then a taste - at 6.5% alcohol on a near empty stomach I was just about knocked flat - the guys then had another 'glass', at 9%, from which I thankfully abstained

Tomorrow we do a city tour, then might get a small ride in the afternoon - so far my total is 889km !

France/Paris-to-Bruges, Day 11

Another 42km of very flat cycling saw us arrive in Ghent/Gent depending on what language you're using - interesting that our guides said no french is spoken here - a young lady I spoke to earlier said that was untrue, many people are multi-lingual, and french was an obvious choice - being that this is a uni town, there's a lot of lively young around, who are helpful and talkative - except one group of around 20 'kids' we saw who were obviously (from the smell) smoking wacky-bakky, not that I'd no that much about it - like wow, man, peace rules ok ..... (Just kidding, tried it once a long time ago, in the company of trusted friends, didn't do anything for me)

Founded by the Romans, the town has a few canals, a ring canal 4km out of the city centre inc but is not like 'the Venice of the North' that we will cycle off to tomorrow (Bruges/Brugge).

There are lots of tapestries and laces for sale here (and some made in China if tourists are not careful) - as much as I'm not a lace man ;-) it is spectacular - Bruges also has lace though .....

A lot of work being done in Ghent at the moment - digging up, replacing things - there's also a tram system here, with the tracks set between cobbles ..... Again, bicycles rule, in the town centre cars are not an issue - being run over by a bike or hitting a pedestrian on the other hand, is .....

The long ride tomorrow is slated as 50km - the plus is we get to visit a beer brewery - often when we get our first ride coffee circa 11am, the locals have already tucked into a beer - but nothing is made of it - its just a way of life ..... Fri also although its slated as a walk around Bruges day, we might get a 15/20k ride in - this will likely push my total for 3 weeks up to 800km !

Well, quite tired, well fed though, must almost be time for a nap ....

Ttfn

Ps ; Beer is cheaper than water here !

France/Paris-to-Bruges, Day 10

Whoo hoo - we did our own 'Tour of Flanders' today - 45km at average speed 18km/h inc hill through forest requiring granny gear, cobbles and lotsa flat ..... Our path actually crossed both the real Tour of Flanders route and a ride that's dedicated to the great Eddy Mercx

So, tonight we find ourselves in Oudenaarde, having crossed another 'border' 2/3 way on our ride, that from French speaking to Flemish speaking. Apart from the great town square, the city hall has many fine tapestries, which used to be made here. The city hall itself was renovated on the outside, all the old stonework (that was by now black having stood since the first half of the 16th century) being replaced with fresh sandstone

Enough for tonight, must massage calves and quads a bit - cobbles take a bit of work ...

France/Paris-to-Bruges, Day 9 - ps

... Just been told that tomorrow's 'long route/ride' will do part of the 'Tour of Flanders' pro ride including cobbles - woo hoo (the rest of the group looked at me as if I was a sicko for not being daunted by this)

...Its just a pity the bikes won't take a lot of punishment so I'll have to take it easy rather than 'fly'

France/Paris-to-Bruges, Day 9

Well, today we officially crossed the border into Belgium and arrived into Tournai/Doornik (French name/Belgian name) - 60km cycling .... Not that its much of a border these days anyway - there's no machine gun posts and passport inspections etc :-)

I was hoping as we neared this part of the country to visit or cross any part of a famous cycle race 'Paris-Roubaix' aka 'The hell of the north' ... But in reality we've done quite a few km on cobbled farming roads in the last two days so I no longer need to. It takes energy, skill & wits (quiet in the peanut gallery) to ride cobbles

While we were away cycling we heard of a mishap on our accommodation (barge) - not sure of the details yet, but two big windows are broken on the lounge/dining deck, it seems there was a collision with another barge ... All the crew are ok, which was our first thought (beds, booze, food etc second)

Well, time to scrub up, grab a drink and get ready for dinner

France/Paris-to-Bruges, Day 8 - ps

Postscript :

Lots of farmers hunting today - shortly after lunch in an idyllic spot we came across a group at close range (sitting around a bbq, bbq-ing corn, drinking le vin rouge) ... So, we asked them what they were shooting .... Quick as a flash, they answered 'cyclists' with a broad grin - they then modified their answer to say in order ;-

1) Cyclists
2) Female cyclists using a 'green loo' aka the bushes
3) Doves and pidgeons

It's funny in a way that we arnt that far from Paris - 1 maybe 2 hours on the highway - but everyone we say 'allo' or bonjour to smiles and replies, and we get waved at - the kids are great fun, too

France/Paris-to-Bruges, Day 8

Sunday

Well, throat better, sun out (mostly) .. We went for a 60km ride, through Cambrai - old Roman provincial capital - has restored buildings built under Charles V, and old city gates dating from 12th century.

Also went through a nondescript village and bought 2 huge strings of garlic - what's so special about it ? Well, it had been smoked for 5 days by a peat fire - the strings, containing many heads of garlic (platted together) have a lovely golden colour. We are looking forward to garlic soup :-) Can't bring any home unfortunately, don't think AQIS would allow it through (not vacuum sealed etc), so you'll have to rely on a description of the taste, 'other effects' l8r

Well, I think 2mrw is a big cycling day, and, if I'm not mistaken, we cross into Belgium..... Time to wash, get ready for dinner

France/Paris-to-Bruges, Day 7

Yuck - throat start feeling r/s y'day and its cold and drizzly today ... Given there's only a short (30k) ride, I'm going to slack off, dose up on throat meds, and hope I can cycle 2mrw ....

So, sitting on the barge - we went through the Tunnel of Riqueval ... The barge doesn't moter through on its own engine, it's towed 7km by an electric barge in front, which pulls itself along a chain running down the tunnel (under the water) ... There's lights and ventilation every so often, but it was bl@@dy good to see daylight at the other end ... The crew turned out the dining room lights, lit some candles, and we had a treat - some sort of small donut (I think in French a Beignet) to munch on - it takes 2hours top get pulled through the tunnel, btw

Hoping for better weather 2mrw and no throat issues

France/Paris-to-Bruges, Day 6

Friday ....

A day of rest - from cycling that is

Most of us have been on a WW1 Battlefront tour - very sobering, even if you don't have any relatives you know of buried here or missing hereabouts

You could sum it up by saying a lot of Northern France is a cemetary - marked and unmarked

France/Paris-to-Bruges, Day 5

(I should point out in case I confuse myself that I only started counting days where we cycled, not the first Sat in Paris - hence by the tour calendar its day 6 ....)

So, today finds us in St Quentin - we are now off rivers as such, and into canals - this one was commissioned in Napoleon's time - and the city St Quentin was founded circa the 2nd century, at the junction of 2 roman roads.

The basilica that overlooks the city is gothic style - it has a unique double transept and stained glass windows from the 13th and 14th century ....

As we wind our way towards Belgium, things begin to blend a bit - a cafe/restaurant was serving Moules & Frites - steamed mussels and (hopefully not steamed) chips - this is a popular dish in Belgium. A shop in the large town square was also selling Belgian chocolate (to which we thought why bother, we'll be there in about a week)

Today was supposed to be short km for me - I opted for 35 not 53km, but at the end of the ride I had to do a loop to pick up some stragglers who were still on training wheels and bring them back to the flock, costing me 7km - so the total for today is 42 .....

Tomorrow sees a total rest day from cycling, 2/3 of us are on a battlefront tour, the remainders will potter at their leisure

Au revoir

France/Paris-to-Bruges, Day 4

60km in the saddle today - the last 20km in the rain - not too bad .... The captain of the barge has kindly taken all out cycling shoes in a basket into the engine-room so they dry out for tomorrow

So, today .... Visited the forest clearing where WW1 armistice was signed, and the (now replica) rail carriage used - very sobering - lots of memorabilia and stereoscopic views of WW1

Visited a now protestant cathedral, where there's a memorial to Joan of Arc, went through lots of farmland - saw predom 2 crops, corn, and sugar-beet, used for ethanol or cow food

Tomorrow I'm thinking of the short option ride (35km) so I get some time in St Quentin (Friday is a rest day there but I have a full day WW1 battlefront tour, including Villers Bretonneaux)

France/Paris-to-Bruges, Day 3

Well - after 54km cycling, the 'long' route group made it to Compiegne - a beautiful (and busy) town that owes its architectural wealth to its proximity to Paris and the enormous woods surrounding it, in which the French kings loved to hunt.

The woods are criss-crossed with walking, biking tracks and roads, and are a great place to ride - havnt seen any deer (oh ....) but can imagine them deeper in - pretty lakes abound also

There's also a Chateau here (we arrived to late to see it), a national stud farm, and 'le Tour Jeanne d'Arc'

Well, we got here just before the rain - and tomorrow aint lookin hot - so we'll suck it and see

Shower, dinner, bed, all next on the agenda

A bientot tout-le-monde

Ps ; Special mention to Paul Marklew, hope you got the sms - I will be drinking the red in your honour, tonight - happy birthday

France/Paris-to-Bruges, Day 2

Well, yesterday saw us notch up 54km more, and end up in a town called Creil - pronounced 'Cray'

The town is big, busy, and its only claim to fame appears to be fine pottery

The 'pace' we're doing is about 20km/h - we still split into a short (distance) and long group, the short group doing about 20km less each day - most of the people here are 70+ ... The long group therefore see$s to comprise anyone short of that + one older guy who can likely outride all of us ......

Went to Chantilly Castle - still couldn't see its connection with cream, although Marcus the chef (German, interesting sense of humour) did whip up some cream to serve with the applecake he made for dessert last night ... Somehow I don't think I'm burning enough calories to survive a 3 course meal each night !!!

Today is off to Compiegne, cycling through some rolling roads and more royal forest

Flash report 3 cyclists went missing in forest yesterday causing consternation to their guide (they did utter last words to the effect 'keep going, we need a boy break' which she seemed to miss) .. Said cyclists turned up a few minutes later looking 'relieved'

Ttfn

Ps : 2mrw's weather report aint looking crash hot, we'll 'suck it and see'

France/Paris-to-Bruges (or bust), Day 1

Well, today saw fantastic weather, and a 50km ride out of Paris past Conflans where we were originally scheduled to stop, to Auvers-sur-Oise.

The main note about Auvers-sur-Oise is, this is Van Gogh territory - both Vincent and his brother Theo are buried here next to each other - we did a night graveyard tour, spooky !!!

The ride only had one puff 1/8 (tm) hill in it, the rest was flat .... The 'long' option ride took us through 'la Defense' in Paris, up the Terraces at St Germain-en-Laye - Louis xiv built these around his Palace for a view of Paris

Tomorrow sees us push on, with our dutch guide(s), to Chantilly Castle for one - that's about 20k flat ride from here - there's a short option some are going on, taking the train some of the way - after the castle there's 34km of ?? Road till the next o/night stop

1/8 (tm) is attributed to Elizabeth Diamond from my first tour, to her credit she did all the hills, if she had to, in granny gear aka 1 on the front cog and 8 on the rear .... A real trouper :-)

Ps : Dutch guides were born on bikes and can cycle forever .....

Tt

France/Provence

Once again I head for Paris - it will be a brief visit though, a ? quick walk from the TGV station to the boat mooring and then trip 2 starts - cycling Paris to Bruges (Belgium)

..... Very windy/cold in south of France, don't mind cycling in cold so much but can do without wind .....

Cramping left calf muscle - might have a rest day tomorrow on the barge - we'll see

Miss my friends from the first trip already, but we all have our seperate ways to go - you know who you all are - in no order, Gil, Colleen, Lee, Paul, Tom, Elizabeth, Ralph, and Jeremy and David the guides

Hope everyone else out there is well/happy

Posted from TGV : Avignon->Paris

Ttfn

France/Provence - Tour 1, Day 5

Well, as expected, a 'gentle uphill' or similar description for the morning workout was actually a granny-gear climb that took any remaining energy and will-power - luckily we made the wine tasting. :-) very different from Aus reds, and although I like French plonk, Aus red really is better - softer, deeper

Anyway, I digress - its 3;20 in the arvo(ish), and we just made it to the final destination for this trip - Mazan ....

The bikes are being stripped of all the seats, pedals etc we ourselves supplied, and will then be returned to the shed 1.5-2 hours away and the guides will be back before dinner hopefully (else we WILL start without them) ... Fairly moderate distance today, only 39.7km .... Don't think anyone has opted for the optional 21.4k loop, I think our guides are counting on this so all the bikes can go now, leaving enough room in the van to transfer us all to our destinations tomorrow in 'one pass'

It was 5deg c this am when we started - for the last 6km only did I strip off my shell and extra layer I had to wear .... The next trip may be 'flatter', somehow I doubt it will be warmer ! :-(

Well, something in my room smells - oh, it's me - guess I better have a shower and change

Ttfn

France/Provence - Tour 1, Day 4

Well, the end of a perfect day - 55.8km - made very funny by watching 3 comrades who are on road bikes have to walk 1-2kms along a stony track - 'hybrids rule' (ok. until the next road stretch where they eclipsed us with their speed)

Tomorrow is to start with some undulating roads up a track (as if we believe our guides at this point, it'll be granny gear type haul-a$$ more likely), then a stop in some nice villages, a wine tasting (again, we suspect a hill might sneak in here), followed by flat to the last night hotel (we think it might be flat if you're lying on your stomach looking at the road .... We may yet be pleasantly surprised)

There's an optional 21km ride 2mrw as well (we're all thinking, "yeah, right, we're up for it'". NOT)

Ttfn (again, bed calls)

France/Provence - Tour 1, Day 3

Another day in the saddle - 67km - a little bit 'up', but a lot of down - 23km approx freewheel along a gorge ... Spectacular scenery

Our base tonight is made even better by not having to pack up 2mrw am and lug bags to the van - we're staying here tomorrow night too. 'Here' is Vaison-la-Romaine, we"re staying in a hotel next to the bellfry - hence the name of the hotel - 'Beffroi"

Another nice meal (lamb), not boar ... 2mrw most of us are thinking of a short 30km loop to some markets through 'undulating" country according to our erstwhile guides - well, its like this, if you know the sheep joke, 'sheep lie", and so do guides - its a bit like dad's 'flat-on-average' .....

Bed calls
Ttfn

France/Provence - Tour 1, Day 2

Puff, pant, hard 54.1km day in the saddle, with around 20km climb at 3 to 4%

Still windy - most of us looking at either not riding day 3 or taking the easy route, which means we won't summit Mt Ventoux - self preservation

There is one ultra fit guy from Toronto who will be doing it we think - have to see what daybreak day 3 brings

On way up passed spectacular gorge with dogs howling - we figured out they were hunting boar a bit later on - we had boar for tea, a lot less gamier than Cinghali I had in Italy

France/Provence - Tour 1, Day 1

Distance-wise, short - 36.9 km ... Some great scenery, but boy, this area is hilly and most of the scenes/towns are at the top of the hills ... Plus a gusty up to 90 knot wind just to liven it up (no sign of it abating :-((( )

Tomorrow is 54.1km, some more climbing ...

Initially had trouble with the bike - I opted for hybrid over road, lower gears, bit more solid - but the seat kept going down on me - changed seat posts, almost got height right - will take it up another smidgeon before setting out tomorrow, leg still has a bit of angle on bottom of down-stroke

The two Provence hotels we've stayed in so far are great - 3 stars, but their rooms, attitude and food eclipses '3 star' hotels I've been in Paris ....

Gotta get some shut-eye - tomorrow will come all too soon

Arrived France/Provence/Avignon

Was a touch dissapointed leaving Milan - the train was a standard Trenitalia/Cisalpino service - scenic, but not fast.

On arrival at Geneva, switched to TGV - the 'V' is for Vitesse, ie 'fast' but again, I was beginning to think I'd been ripped off - fast ? Nah, only about 100 to 110 km/h. Only when the train got to Lyon (and out of the twisty windy bits) did be pick up another locomotive, then we got the Vitesse bit ... I'd estimate upwards of 200 km/h !!! :-))

Just made acquiantances with my new friend (or foe) for the next six days, had my saddle, pedals etc fitted .....

Tomorrow, we ride .... Chant rsd, rsd, rsd

Ttfn

Bellagio - exit

I'm currently sitting on a train France/Provence bound, after having overnighted in Milan

The exit from Bellagio - I wimped out of driving back the way I came (having even been to Como and back on a bus and that was 'entertaining'). I caught a car ferry to Cardenabbia on the other side of the lake and drove from there - at least the speed limit is 70 in most spots and there's a white line down the middle of the road (although, that didn't seem to stop some people) ....

On re-entrance to the Avis lot at Malpensa, I nicely/cheerfully pointed out that the fuel tank was now full, even though it was clearly 7/8 when I picked the car up - they gave me a discount which covered most of the road tax (which you pay on km basis when the car is returned)

Well, ttfn - next update likely from France/Avignon, tonight

Bellagio - 1

Well - one of the most beautiful spots in the world - there's a 'but' though

I elected to drive from Milan/Malpensa airport .. I expected a scenic drive - what a bonus, it was a white knuckle drive - talk about combat by car - even one of the locals said he hated it, and other locals were crazy

I'll have to post pictures l8r, but they will be worth it - and on the principle, if you make an effort to be friendly and polite, you'll get along better with the natives, this was truer here than Paris for exampe ....

Copenhagen

I've run out of internet access, so will have to send pics later

Stockholm - 4

An interesting/unexpected find :-


These were done by Carl Malmsten - who died in the 80's - when he was 28 he entered 2 chairs into a competition for the rights to furnish Stockholm city-hall - this picture caught my eye, it was on the side of a display case, and the contents wernt nearly as interesting. Carl's 'heyday' and when these were produced, was in the 1920's... he set up wood-working schools, in order that his skills/ideas wouldnt die out. His (?grandson) now runs his studio, the picture below is on the outside - in a very upmarket area of Stockholm, where all the swank furniture designers display




I was allowed (coz I asked nicely) to photo some works at his studio, they may be shown at a later date here). It all goes to prove, not all Swedish wood is IKEA - as an aside, I did an antiques tour with my guide, and this sort of thing 'Intarsia' was popular in the 1830's in Sweden (the Swedes are going to hate it when I get to around to posting on Copenhagen though)

Stockholm - 3

One for the knitters out there - Mum, My Sister for example ...

(I suspect it's machine-knitted, not that I asked - impressive pattern though)

Stockholm - 2b

more shots - one or two of these I will come back to

Stockholm - 2a

Unfortunately I adopted a 'no/as little as possible' cruft policy - so once I moved on from one place to the next, being semi-nomadic, I threw away the city maps ... ok, that makes it a bit hard to remember what the pictures were - d'oh

for now, some shots around Stockholm - part a

Stockholm - 1

first - its cold .. how cold ? - I had to wear my thermal undershirt here and in Copenhagen (where is was cold, and wet)



a word on the locals : They are a shy/'reserved' lot, but quite happy to talk
especially about culture and history, when they get going - these picture indicate how they must (or want to) see themselves

proving they do indeed have a sense of humour :-

Paris - One for Ross ...

as it turns out Ross-the-boss, I do have such a shot that you asked for .. et voila !



for those of you you hadnt heard about my previous time in Paris, I did a tour of Paris by Segway then - although they were an older model - the one I'm riding here 'R2D2', a newer one, doesnt turn by applying a differential to the right wheel - it's much smarter, the central core Im holding moves left or right in an circular axis I guess 'perpendicular' to the foot-platform. The newer models seem to have better battery life as well :-)

Paris by night

1 - cold

2 - trying to take night shots from a Segway, not brilliant - found it's better to 'park' the beast and use a rail (at least it wasnt as hard as trying to photo the Rialto Bridge in Venice from a floating pontoon using a coke can as a tripod)

Not sure about the bridge in the shot - if its the one I think it is, its a major example of reuse. Dont go looking for the Bastille when in Paris - you might see the monument (below) .. the Bastille was pulled down, and a lot of stone reused by common folk - what was left, the bigger blocks, some years later were used to make 'that bridge' ...

Paris by night

Paris : Babooshka Dolls vs this place ?

ok, its Napoleon's tomb .. thats right, the short guy with the big attitude, funny hat etc .. and the answer to the question is - Napoleon 'Blownaparte' is sealed within six concentric coffins ... wow - they really didnt want him to escape again did they ?

(whoops, will need to rotate some pics - sorry for twisting your necks)

Paris - Eat Ya Heart Out Claude !

Monet that is ... I'm not a refined art critic - I leave the oh ah's to my sister - to her credit she's got a degree in fine art. So its out with cubism, surrealism, and yep, sorry Claude - impressionism - this is realism, point the camera and get the shot, hopefully you wont get too many other schmuck tourists in the frame !!

Luckily, my little camera is quite good, healped by the weather and some decent sun :-) ... here's a shot of the placed he lived (Giverny)