Archive for November, 2006
Sunday, November 19th, 2006
102km Auberives-sur-Vareze - Privas
We were up even before the sun and the birds this morning, giving us a good head start on the long day ahead. Before long, we came across a coffee shop – an irresistible treat – and a huge Sunday market in the town of Roussilon. After our coffee, we enjoyed a stroll around the market, which had everything from clothes to music and of course plenty of food. Stalls full of oranges, olives and vegetables like aubergines were popular, giving us the sense that we really were getting close to southern France. We bought a little round of goats cheese and a baguette and carried on, stopping alongside the Rhone to enjoy our snack. As the day progressed we made our way through several wine regions, including the famous Hermitage. The hills to either side of the river are once again covered in vines, in a density we have not seen since leaving the banks of the Rhine river in Germany. No time to stop though as we were making our way to the farm. Maybe next time! Around 3pm we were still feeling fairly fresh, helped by a stop for crepes, and decided to see how far we could push by the end of the day. When the cycle computers were showing 85km for the day we thought maybe it was time to stop, but no hotels appeared so we just carried on, turning left away from the Rhone river and towards Privas. As soon as we turned left into the mountains the scenery changed into a very rustic but beautiful landscape. By this time the light was fading so we didn`t take many photos but certainly we will during our time in the mountains working over the next two weeks. We pushed on up the hill, intending to stop at the first place we found, but we didn`t find anything until Privas, by which time it was nearly dark. A nice meal in the hotel and then to bed. We are told the next day may see grades of 17 percent as we carry on to the farm!
No Comments » - Posted in Cycling Trips, France, Journal Entries by friedel
Saturday, November 18th, 2006
66km Lyon to Auberives-sur-Vareze
“Who needs an umbrella,” we said while packing our bags before this trip. Well, if we`d known what a washout our rest day in Lyon was going to be we might have taken one with us! It poured the whole day, so after a morning at a war museum and a few minutes wandering around getting soaked we decided to return to our hotel room by the early afternoon. A few hours in a small room meant we were ready to get going when Saturday morning dawned. Navigating our way out of Lyon was remarkably easy and we got some friendly waves from local cyclists as we passed. Before long we were cycling along the twisty roads which trace the Rhone river.
We stopped in Vienne for a visit to their Roman museum and archeological site, which contained an amazing number of mosaics and artifacts (more here online if you are interested, and in English too).
There were plenty of campsites leaving Vienne, but they all appeared to be closed. Finally we stopped to ask at one and the owner directed us to a site open in the area, of course on top of a rather large hill! It seems this is a trend with youth hostels and campsites. Nothing like a good sweat-inducing climb at the end of the day. We made it up after 10 minutes or so of hard work and enjoyed a good meal of pasta, before playing a few games of cards and collapsing into our sleeping bags at the late hour of 7:30pm or so. Doesn`t take much to put us out when we are cycling!
No Comments » - Posted in Cycling Trips, France, Journal Entries by friedel
Thursday, November 16th, 2006
High on a hilltop….
Presenting our third bicycle show, recorded high on a hilltop in France, between Montbeliard and Besancon, overlooking the Doubs river. We have an update on where we’ve been hiding for the past few weeks, some thoughts on camping sites in France and Germany (not just in the summer, you can camp well into the autumn!), an interview with a trumpeting cyclist and finally a review on the Thermarest coupling kit. We hope you enjoy the show and hopefully we can bring you another one soon from the south of France.
1 Comment » - Posted in Cycling Trips, France, Radio Shows by friedel
Thursday, November 16th, 2006
30km Villars les Dombs – Lyon
Despite our best hopes, we woke up in the morning to more wind and the news that in the afternoon the gusts could go as high as 100km/hour! We had no idea what the wind strength reached the previous day, but we were pretty sure it wasn`t quite that strong and had no desire to cycle in 100km/hour winds, so we made a beeline for Lyon. The scenery was quite pretty along the way, going through a district known for its lakes and bird sanctuary. We saw many flocks of birds, including a large group of herons, overhead as we pedalled. Around 10am we reached a town about 20km outside of Lyon and asked about spending the night there, thinking that might be easier than fighting our way into the city, but all the hotels were full. As we carried on towards the centre, we started to get worried as every hotel we passed was full, apparently due to a conference being held in Lyon for pools and swimming equipment, of all things. Finally, after a lot of hard pedalling against the wind and in traffic, we reached a big Etap hotel (a budget chain) about 15 minutes from the centre of Lyon by bus. We asked about a room and were very happy to hear they had space for us, although only because of a cancellation that had just come in. We`ll spend two nights here, and then carry on towards our farmstay in the Ardeche, which we think is about 3 days down the road.
No Comments » - Posted in Cycling Trips, France, Journal Entries by andrew
Wednesday, November 15th, 2006
80km Sainte Croix – Villars les Dombes
The first thing we heard this morningon waking up was the wind on our tent. It was blowing strongly, and in very much the wrong direction for the day ahead! It was so windy, we decided not to bother making breakfast and to just hit the road, hoping for calmer skies ahead. Despite being so windy, the day was sunny and already warm, even at 8am. We stopped at a local shop for a couple chocolate croissants (“pain au chocolat”), some yogurt, cheese and a baguette. Going headlong into the wind, we got hungry quickly and stopped every half hour or 45 minutes for a little snack. Thankfully it was a gorgeous day, as if we`d had to contend with the wind and rain we might have given up rather quickly. The high reached nearly 20 degrees for the day and for the first time in ages we took off all our jackets and fleeces and Andrew even rolled up his long cycling trousers. The strength of the wind was something quite amazing – leaves swirled in the skies all around us, at one point a huge plastic bag blew straight into Friedel`s gears while she was cycling and nearly knocked her over, and several times we just went sideways with a gust. When we weren`t being blown backwards, we did enjoy seeing some Brest free-range chicken farms alongside the road as well as a continuing series of cow pastures. Cycling tourists must not be all that common here as the cows – which hardly take notice of passing cars or pedestrians – all stop grazing and stare at us en masse as we pass. By 1:30pm we`d reached Bresse en Bourg and took a break there, waiting for the tourist bureau to return from the multi-hour French lunch break. They advised us that there were a few camping grounds open year round, although largely to the east of us in the mountains. One was in our intended path, so we headed about 25km further south, still with the wind in our face. The afternoon was exhausting, not only physically but mentally, as we were on quite a busy yet narrow road and had to contend with several large trucks whizzing by. Most were quite considerate, and gave us as much room as they could, but it wasn`t always possible with the narrow road. We did eventually turn off onto a more minor route, but the wind seemed to get even stronger, if that was possible, and the last few kilometers were quite a struggle. We got to our campground about 5pm, with just a half hour of light left to put up the tent and cook. Hurrah for the French, who not only make great wine, but also have a fantastic selection of canned meals, which meant we were enjoying lentils and sausages in record time. Along with a bottle of Beaujolais wine and a local blue cheese, we were tired but with happy tummies.
