Wednesday Morning in Angers France

This is what I’ve been dreaming about for the past 9 months. To be back in France, over our jet lag, and ready to head out on our bikes again to live the simple cycle touring life. Carrying just what we need and no more. And a credit card or two, of course, as we’re not camping.

It took a week from our home in Seattle to get to this place, but we also had a lot of fun along the way. Cheryl noted that this will be a new travel experience for us; home owners again AND retired, not nomads wandering from temporary home to temporary home. And indeed it has been different.

But so far a lot has been pleasantly familiar. Ah yes, the wonderful maze of a Heathrow transfer at 6am in a jet lagged fog? (Follow the purple signs!) The windy but stunning flight approach along Lake Geneva? The new extra manic rush to immigration in Geneva post Brexit! (flight from London!) The indifference of the Genevois.

This area was our hub during our fully nomadic years (are we ”partially nomadic” now?) so coming back here is a bit like returning to an old friend, and actually, our old friends were here this time too. Bonus.

It also turns out Seattle is closer to the UK than SF (thanks spherical earth) and it shaves 1-2 hours off getting to most of Europe. Add a strong tail wind and our flight was just 8 hours. Somehow it makes a big difference as the flight felt a bit more like a cross country trip. And we had almost no time or inclination to sleep, especially departing mid afternoon. But our British Airways Premium Economy seats were very nice and the flight was quite pleasant. It’s always great to be settled in your airline seat after a week of prep and packing. All done, bring it on!

After landing in Geneva there  was no time for jetlag as we had a stimulating four days with our hosts and 4 other friends from the UK in the Vallée Verte. So much catching up on both conversation and wine! And we had the luxury of travelling light, since our touring bikes and most gear was still here. (Thank you kind friends) So we had a few days to prep our bikes, sort our gear; and decide what we would really take on out on our planned 6 weeks on the bikes. We did have the luxury of knowing that we can easily mail things back via French post if we find them redundant, which often happens with your warm gear by late April.

Once on the bikes and with a proper send off by our friends, we roll out down a local road, still icy, and extra careful to not crash on the first 300m of our trip by dragging a foot along and being ready to slip and recover. All good. And a right turn onto the salted main D road and we are free and clear, knowing we have gravity in our favor today with over 700m down today and only 150m climbing to get to Geneva.

As usual, two French trains got us where we needed to be, albeit 30 minutes late each time; first a short 2 hour trip to Lyon, and then a 6 hour cross country intercity journey to the city of Angers; in the heart of the Maine/Loire Valley.

We have written endless scribes on the travails of taking two loaded touring bikes on trains and we’ve come up with a few golden rules. Always get on at the beginning of a train journey when possible; avoid transfers, and get off at the end if possible too. So we cycled all the way to Geneva this time instead of taking a train from Annemasse and transferring. 

After a pleasant Sunday evening in Lyon we peddled back to Lyon Pernache station to catch a 6+ hour intercity train at its start (always!). Our destination was Angers, in the heart of the Loire Valley. Cycling back to the starting station was the right decision as we were ensconced in our seats and bikes/baggage stored by the time it got to the much busier second station – Lyon Part Dieu. We did have bike reservations, which are mandatory for intercity trains (not local TERs).

One down side I was reminded of on most French trains is the ubiquitous 4-person cafe table seating. It’s great if there are just two of us in a 4 seater, but otherwise I need to fold my legs back to fit under the table and therefore must stand up or walkabout frequently to stretch in the vestibule. The seats, table height and metal supports were clearly not designed for my 6’-5” lankiness. My discomfort stresses Cheryl out too, as seasoned travelers know when their partner is not happy.

But I can adapt and get in a zen place as needed (really!) and it was all fine in the end as the French are pretty friendly and helpful on trains. And this time we decided to get all the outbound train pain over early in our trip as we got warmed back up to bike touring mode. And hopefully we won’t need to get on another big train journey for awhile; just the joy of linear bike travel; where every day is new, and there are no time or space constraints.

Angers is a small French City that dates back to Roman times and I’ve always wanted to visit, yet we had just managed to miss on our past trips on the Loire. It has about 150,000 people and a nice center city aspect up on a significant hill above the Maine River, a tributary to the Loire.

So our first week was great, but we both do feel a bit weird still as we settle into freewheeling mode again…we do have a home in the Pacific NW now which we like very much. We’ve planted things, decorated, and made new friends. Our bed is now a huge CA King, our coffee and tea just as we like, and the neighborhood is blissfully quiet at night.

Yet we go forth and ride. We cuddle closer in a queen (or smaller) bed again. We search to find food we crave each day, and yes, I even sip instant coffee all day in my thermos again. Ah travel, I love it -:)