Europe 2022

 Lovely cycling along the canal and the Moselle river. The path meanders a bit and we had a little head wind but it was great. We arrived in Metz around 2 and immediately left to explore. During an odd conversation, all in French, a cafe owner recommended the cathedral and it was magnificent. Most stained glass anywhere including the unforgettable Chagall windows.  Exterior of the Cathedral  A Roman aqueduct we passed that looked 100 years old but is almost 2000 Chagall

 We didn’t know how good the cycle path would be or we would have done this in one day. We broke the 82 Kms into two short days with a quiet camping site in the middle. The second day saw us cruising into Nancy at 11 am so we had a lot of time to explore. Nancy is home to Stanislas square a UNESCO heritage site. And it is breathtaking. One of the best sites on the trip so far. It is exactly as it was laid out around 1750. Brilliant! We ended the day with a great Indian meal.  One corner of the square Stanislas himself

 Lovely day along the canal. The map showed quite a bit of climbing but that was nearly all at the many locks on the way. We passed the watershed of the Canal du Voges between the Atlantic and the Med. Then down through the locks to pretty Epinal, once an important printing center. We visited the museum of the Image, much of which was about Epinal’s history and lost on us because they were mainly French satirical comics from 1900. The next day was more successful though as the local art museum has a Rembrandt which isn’t even on my list! 

 We’re in Bains les Bains in a crappy Airbnb. It’s ok for us because we have toilet paper, sheets and towels but I can’t imagine the shock of arriving and finding these and much more missing. Anyway it was cheap and the only show in town. Last night we had a great time at the rural campsite. Judy planned boule for hours, I played a few games. It was fun and as we we were all in a small field we got to know our neighbors.The German couple who we have met several times on the way. A couple of  Dutch cyclists about our age and a nice Frenchman with impeccable English. We now understand the rules of this very popular game. We had a fine days cycling with some not to insignificant hills. The second half was along the Soane canal so was fairly flat but the morning took some work. Tomorrow we cross from the Soane to the Moselle valley which will, in about 200 km lead us to Luxembourg.

 Lovely peaceful day of riding, on the road by 6:45, coffee at a Boulanger and then fast mostly wind free paths to our campsite. We could have pushed another 20 Kms to the next but we had the chance to get a glamping tent and rain is forecast tonight. So here we are at 7 pm it’s pouring we have a huge tent with a fridge and are cooking dinner on a nice stove. Happy campers

 Lazy morning, our first real day off. All of our other non riding days have been spent sightseeing in various places. We swam in the river to cool off, and at 5 pm. Cathy and Tony came to pick us up. I had asked to go to Dôle, birthplace of Pasteur. This his his birth bicentennial. We walked around town went up the 16C bell tower and had a fairly shaded afternoon. We then went to their home we’re they wined and dined us. For people we had only met the day before, it was if we had been friends for years. In the car on the way to the campsite  we discovered a mutual love of the BBC radio show the Archers and throughly enjoyed the whole evening.

 A really hot day today so off at 6:45 and mercifully no wind to speak of. Lovely cycling by the river and through the countryside to our campsite which has a restaurant and a swimming section in the river. We arrived for a drink and met a lovely couple from England who have a house in the area. As we went down for supper they were waiting for us, in order to invite us for dinner tomorrow evening, what a lovely gesture. Socially these have been a great couple of days

 So the heat has set in. We rose at 6 and were on the road by 6:45. The local Boulanger provided drinks and pastries and off we went, into the wind. Riding in the wind is like peddling uphill all day. You can’t go very fast and your muscles hurt. We were very happy to arrive at the campsite by 12. In the village for lunch we noticed a boat that we had seen earlier flying the US flag. I went over and introduced myself. A lovely couple from Colorado who spend their summer in France. They invited  us for drinks at 5. We had a great afternoon with them and some of their boating friends.

 We arrived at the platform in Lyon expecting a local train but a large rather old carriage appeared luckily we were the only two cyclists on the platform. We have learned to drop all the bags first otherwise the maneuver is very difficult. People leapt forward to help and we got everything sorted pretty well. The reason we got the train is that the first three sections of the path are recommended for mountain bikes only. At our destination we threw everything off and reattached the bags only to remove them again to carry the bikes down the stairs and up the other side. The station in Chalon-sur-soane has a plaque commemorating the 1000s of Jews rounded up in Vichy by the FRENCH police and shipped in cattle cars to their deaths. After that sobering piece of history we set off on the Voie Bleu the path that will lead us to Luxembourg. Very pretty. We stopped after about 30 km as it was hot and windy but not as hot as it will be on Tuesday!

Lovely views all the way to Vienne then a Roman temple. A mass of Americans from a Viking cruise and a short train ride to avoid the industrial and urban sprawl of Lyon. Hotel right by the station and a brilliant bike shop who not only had a tire but put new brakes on my bike. Tomorrow is “national day” with celebrations and fireworks.

 This was supposed to be a nice short 55 Km day. I should know better than to rely on Google maps for distance. As the mercury rose so did the distance. The wind was OK. The path great and those extra miles seemed fairly easy. We rolled into our campsite at 3:30. In the office was a frustrated Dutch woman whose camper had broken down. The manager went out of his way to help. As they now had to return home they invited us over for dinner to finish off the food. Nice to make new friends. I also had a rear wheel flat, my tire is nearly bald….

Before describing yesterday we have been quite busy exploring Roman Gaul. From Avignon we went to Pont du Gard and from our hotel on Donzere we took a train to Orange and visited the magnificent Roman theatre and triumphal arch. We got the hotel because the Mistral was blowing so hard we couldn’t bike. The whole thing was pretty Fawlty Towers, small hotel hardy any guests and broken English and French. We are at two great places in the tiny village so it wasn’t all bad. So on the 11th we cycled up the Rhine valley the Mistral was still blowing but nowhere near as strong as before. What a wonderful path, well finished fairly flat and incredible views. Castles on hilltops, a “Himalayan” bridge and at the end a lovely campsite with many cyclists some from English speaking countries!

 Only 25kms today but it felt like 70. The first 11 by a busy road directly into a 30 mph wind. It aches the muscles, makes the eyes water and is depressing. The last 15 were a bit protected but still hard. When we, miserable, arrived in Avignon we found the camping grounds packed as it was the first day of the annual festival. This massive theatre festival is around 1000 shows over three weeks. The town was really hopping. Performers in the streets trying to convince the public to see them. We talked the campsite into a couple of nights, I have no clue why they were reluctant as there was plenty of space for cyclists. We went into town and visited the palace of the Popes who reigned from here for 100s of years.And, of course, the famous bridge. The next day we took a local bus €1.50 to the Pont du Gard the largest Roman aquaduct in the world, another marvel of engineering. 

 56 Kms today. The first 40 were amongst the nicest we have ever had through country land surrounded by fruit trees. Arles was a hot mess, too many tourists on the Van Gogh trail, 4 big river boat cruise ships and 10’a  of coaches. Lunch was expensive, and it was hot. We took in the Roman sights but left the art to the others. We are now in the Rhône valley and, as we were told, the wind is pretty bad. Our last 16 to the campsite were hot and into a 20 mph wind, but here we are ready to go for a swim.

 Our dinner last night was four courses and pretty wonderful our host also provided wine and we went to bed happy. Very easy ride into Nimes for the most part anyway, along a path by the rail line. But the last 5 Kms  were awful busy road, no shoulder. It did get us over two interstates though. We went to see Sting in the evening and it was as magical as we thought it would be. Even though our seats were restricted view we were pretty close to the stage and felt the atmosphere all night.

 Not many campsites on our route today so we found a small B&B en route. Lovely cycling first by the Med and then through agricultural areas of pears, apples, vines and lavender. Our host only speaks French snd she is cooking us dinner which consists of Bull, if I got it right but it’s a nice room and with a lot of smiling we seem to be Ok. 

 We watched the time Toulouse 10k race with 1000’s of runners which ended by our hotel, we have taken to staying in nicer hotels which tend to be where the city life happens. This morning we rode to the station to take our 1:45 train ride to Sête on the Mediterranean coast. The reason we are skipping the scenic canal du midi is mainly because we have tickets to see Sting in Nimes on Monday and also because everyone we talk to tells us how crappy the path is. The journey was a bit traumatic. There are elevators but only for disabled passengers so it’s bikes down on the escalator then up stairs which took us and a volunteer from the audience. Then the train arrives, the door is very narrow and high off the platform, I have very low upper body strength so it’s me Yehudit and a couple of guys on each bike. We get them on finally we hung Yehudit’s from a hook and stood mine up. I helped others get theirs off then when we arrived at our station we just managed to get them through the nar...