France – Page 2 – Less Car, More Life

French Basque Country and the Atlantic Coast. And some rain.

Infrastructure like this makes us so impressed with France. Obviously new, and so wide with a lovely surface. On our way out of Saint-Jean-de-Luz.

We knew the weather was changing. And boy did it! We woke in Saint-Jean-de-Luz to heavy rain. Nothing to be done but put on rain gear and hit the road. It was Saturday am and the hotel rooms that were available in this beach town were quite expensive, so on we went after a one night stay. A quick stop at the grocery store for lunch food and I did stop myself from buying espadrilles from the colorful display inside the Carrafour City grocery store, but only just. Absolutely no room in the bags for another pair of shoes.

Hiding from the rain in the vestibule of a Church in Ascain. Rich went inside and told me I had to go in to see the cool wooden balconies.

It is a traditional Basque church. Église Notre-Dame-de-l’Assomption de Ascain.

The wooden galleries were new to us. We later learned in the Basque museum in Bayonne that they were added to accommodate the increase of population, and so women and men could sit separately. I imagine there was much making eyes and flirting going on across the way.

Seafaring was an important part of Basque life. I love the model ship with its wee Basque flag.

Churches with covered porticos are much appreciated.

But, time to leave the church and head up another hill. With another helpful/motivational sign. 5% grade. This was the second segment after a starting 7% pitch.

We topped the climb and the sun welcomed us to the downhill.

Whee! Pay no attention to those big grey clouds.

Focus instead on these fascinating stone fences. Walls? Enclosures?

Whoops. While we were focused on the stone fences the clouds had their way.

The little stand across the square was selling Gâteau Basque.

The houses had a look to them in this French Basque area, the Pays Basque.

White render (a surface coating), half timbered, and trim and shutters in the emblematic Basque red or green. The carved stone lintel usually tells the story of who first lived in the house when it was built, this one in 1662.

Blue shutters and wisteria. This is in Ainhoa where we spent the night in what we shall always refer to as “dead mouse room”. No body was found but the smell was pretty recognizable. Staff was apologetic and thankful we didn’t pitch a fit. Eh, we said, old buildings have their challenges. We left the window open, they comped us wine.

Stone fence AND a 1670 lintel stone! Pays Basque bingo anyone?

Not many photos on this rainy Sunday. We’re trying to get to Bayonne in time to visit the museum of Basque History.

Fragments of the old town walls still exist.

Rich demonstrates how narrow some Bayonne buildings are – just about a Rich and a 1/2, about nine feet wide.

We made it to the museum. So much information. If you don’t speak or read French it’s a bit of work to figure it all out, but worthwhile.

A really picturesque town, and very lively.

And one of the few towers still standing. This was the executioner’s tower, now a private residence.

The Nive river is running fast and high from all the rain.

Looking down the Nive, towards the confluence with the Adour River.

The look of a cyclist who knows she has a long day ahead of her. At least no rain!

Into the scrubby forests of the Atlantic coast.

And the wide sandy beaches of the Capbreton area. We are still on the Bay of Biscay.

Sand dunes and blue sky. A welcome change.

Still smiling. Long day and headwinds haven’t gotten us down yet.

And then the photos kind of stop for the day. After about kilometer 60 or 70 I just focus on pedaling.

It was a lot of this. But at least the weather was nice!

We made it! Giddy with relief and post shower. 90k/55m later.

Contis les Bains and our long shadows on the beach at 8pm.

The main drag down to the beach is packed with folks and noticeably car free. Space for restaurant and bar tables instead of parking.

If you weren’t on the Main Street you were up on the dune watching the sunset.

Sunset, happy humans, and a weathered fence.

The reality of bike touring is a lot of packing and unpacking of panniers. We each have two back, two front, and one handlebar bag. Good times. When you have so many one night stays it’s a lot. But, it all came out of the bags so it must all fit back in, right?

More Atlantic coast scrubby pine forest riding. This long stretch of bike path was just a dream. Lovely pavement, nice swooping curves.

Take a break. At the grocery store. Big shaded entrance so why not relax?

Riding by one of the lakes of Biscarrosse.

The sunsets! Biscarrosse Plage where we spent the night.

Breakfast fuel up for another day riding.

The campgrounds were filling up on this Wednesday, April 30th. Folks ready for the May Day holiday.

Giant sand dunes! Folks practicing paragliding.

Dune du Pilat in the background. Happy beach goers and a slightly cranky cyclist – this part of the coast is getting very busy. A long weekend and nice weather means lots of people out.

Pour some more coffee in him! That might help.

And tea for me. We’re in Arcachon, very close to where we will spend the night.

The beach stretches were fascinating. Boardwalks and such a mix of old and new buildings.

Rich wisely booked us out of the fancier beach area and in a more relaxed area of the fascinating Arachon Bay: Gujan-Mestras. Oyster heaven.

The oyster cabins. They serve oysters and wine. That’s it.

The potholes in the dirt path are filled in the oyster shells.

A friendly cat helped us enjoy the sunset.

On the jetty looking back towards the town.

Celebrating the night before the May Day holiday. The barbecue is raging. Couldn’t tell if they were barbecuing oysters or other seafood. Or hamburgers.

So many oyster shells. In most areas they are returned to the water to give the larvae of the next generation somewhere to hold on.

Kitty showed up again to drink at the doggie bar.

We’re off to Bordeaux for a much needed break. Three nights!

We expected this road, Avenue de La Cotê d’Argon (D1250), to be an unfriendly bike route. But look! New cycle path! Not all the way but along a lot of it.

May Day is a workers’ holiday, like Labor Day in the US, but way more widely celebrated. Little posies of Lilly of the Valley are sold at small road side stands.
La Fête du Muguet (Lilly of the Valley Day).

Why? In 1561 King Charles IX of France was given a posey of Lilly of the valley flowers as a present on May 1, and a tradition was born.

Vineyards just outside Bordeaux. We hear they have good wine here?

Who’s a good boy checking into the hotel? And sporting the French dog collar du moment – very wide.

A huge bricolage, or flea market. I’d call it an antique market. Book a container and ship it all home…oh wait, we don’t have a home!

A bottle drying rack and enamel ware pitchers.

Rich checking prices on bottle drying racks.

Bassins des Lumières, a WW2 German constructed submarine base now a light show exhibit.

Place de la Victoire has two stunning creations by Czech sculptor Ivan Theime to celebrate the culture of wine.

First, the mama and baby tortoises. Rich added for scale. I didn’t realize how lucky we were to get a photo free of other people- ok, kids.

And she is festooned with little figures, also holding or wearing grapes.

The red marble obelisk, same sculptor. Makes an imposing focal point to go with the more whimsical tortoises.

Since returning to France. The top heart is Bordeaux. We had seven days of riding, which explains why we were so tired when we got to Bordeaux.

The tired happy travelers enjoying a tram ride in Bordeaux.

Next up, some pretty rural and remote riding through the French countryside, roads that go up and down for no good reason, and a train to Paris.

Cycle touring days are like dog years.

Leaving the Vallée Verte, France, on a clear day.

Suddenly you look up and two weeks have gone by! But you think back and can’t believe it was only two weeks ago that we got on our bikes (March 31) and headed to the train station in Annemasse. A hop through Lyon to Avignon to spend the night, and then train to Béziers, and ride on to Narbonne. Phew. That sounds easier than it really is, which is why we spent two nights in Narbonne to get our bike touring mindset on.

Lyon’s wonderful bike lanes. Our long train transfer was between stations so we got to leisurely ride across town.

Rich’s American flag doing its job and attracting a chat from a local.

My panniers match the train. Although the high speed Ouigo train is not for us.

Our plan to get on our way was derailed by a long chat with another bike tourist, Martin from Holland.

Our plan was to use trains to get south and ride in Spain before the weather got hot. Neither of us are happy cycling in hot weather. We had been in Béziers on bikes before, but this time we’d ride out a different direction. After a good long chat with Martin who was also riding a Koga bicycle, it was time for a lunch stop.

Lunch in the shade alongside Le canal du Midi. We brought our little travel chairs with us this trip.

We decided to stay in Narbonne for two nights once we realized we’d be arriving quite late in the day, and it gave me an opportunity to have the brakes on my bike fixed.

Narbonne at dusk. Like a lot of French towns there is a focus on new public space, here a lovely newly redone stretch along the Canal de La Robine.

Narbonne Cathedral’s gargoyles. I would love to see these spouting water. But that would mean rain.

Canal de La Robine. The work on the canal side path is ongoing to the south.

The small black poodle being groomed inside this shop would certainly attest to the accolades on the sign.

The canal trail. This is going to be a lovely day on a champagne gravel (hat tip to Annie) trail.

Or will it? Blocked by fiber optic construction.

A 47 kilometer detour. Thankfully a local road cyclist stopped and told us the detour was a fine route, one he rides often.

So off we went, better know the marshes.

A bit windy. Was it a headwind or a tailwind? I can’t remember. (Kidding. It was a headwind.)

Lunch at the boules court in Bages and a chat with some locals. The flags doing their jobs again by drawing folks in and starting a conversation.

Still smiling. It’s chilly enough that my fuzzy pink sweater comes in handy.

Bicycle signage is quite good in France.

Peyriac de Mer, after a quick snack and map stop. Such a sweet street I stopped on an uphill climb to snap a pic.

Although he was technically closed for lunch the owner came out from his apartment behind the shop to sell us some much needed fruits and veggies and home made cookies. Sigean, still in France.

Out of Sigean the route climbed up a rocky pass. Definitely best suited to mountain bikes or gravel bikes, but here we go.

This look says ‘Yes, I did just fall in that mud puddle’. My rear pannier caught on a branch as I tried to skirt the edge of the puddle and I ended up in the puddle.

Ortleib panniers act like bumpers for the bike when you go over sideways. My bike and panniers were fine, I was very muddy with a few scratches on my left leg. Pride? Slightly wounded.

Still in France so the signage is still strong.

Headed down a very rocky route. Lots of walking the bikes.

Leaving Leucate where we spent the night and a bit of time de-mudding me and my gear.

Headed to Perpignan and our first good view of the snow capped Pyrenees mountains. Don’t worry, Rich says, we’ll have even closer views.

Getting closer to those mountains along a very nicely paved cycle path.

Are we riding or just always stopping to take photos?

Oh photos, definitely stopping for photos.

Perpignan. The French buildings and palm trees made me smile.

The Basse canal, an off shoot of La Têt River. Coming in to Perpignan from the north it didn’t look promising but once in the heart of town it’s charming.

Polite and obvious reminder of where your ciggy butts go.

The days are long, sunset at 8:30, so lovely long twilight light.

Oops – an entire bottle of red wine. And a lovely chat with a Swiss/Spanish couple. In light of what’s going on in the US some of our conversations have gotten more intense. Not confrontational, but intense.

Leaving Perpignan, next stop: Figueres, Spain. In the way: mountains.

Ok, next stop actually still in France. Brouilla. But it’s starting to look like Spain.

Through vineyards. That little orange speck is Rich. Who’s anxious to get to some mountain climbing? He is.

This low pass closes not for snow, but for risk of fires.

Unlike France, information on cycle touring routes was a bit spotty as we headed into Spain, but we headed up the pass optimistic about our new adventures coming in Spain. Stay tuned.

Our month in Paris, Take 3: Museums

Palace of Versailles. 8:30 am on a Wednesday in November.

Museum planning can be quite a challenge in Paris. First – which museums? Choosing between the 136 options looks daunting. Even when you narrow it down to the 111 listed in the great book our friend Nancy brought with her, that’s too many for a one month visit. Second – which days are they closed? Monday is a popular closure day, so going to a museum that isn’t closed on Monday means it might be a bit more crowded than usual.

Two horses and humans walking through the forecourt of the Palace of Versailles. I think they were just locals who use the park as a cut through. The noise of hooves on cobblestones sounded like time travel.

The palace opened at 9, so we used our 30 minutes to check out the view.

Getting going early had the pay off of no crowds. And cold November weather helped too.

Versailles probably wouldn’t be fun for us crowd adverse people in Spring or Summer, so this might be our one and only visit to this A List site.

The Hall of Mirrors with our fellow early arrivals.

As we walked around we kept joking “now why was there a revolution?” in response to the luxury on display.

Pensive gazing out the window while listening to the quite good app based audio guide.

Make sure to budget enough time to explore Petit Trianón.

Sophora Japonica, or Japanese pagoda tree, planted in 1764 for Marie-Antoinette near the Petit Trianón.

Temple de l’Amour. The folly in the English Garden of the Petit Trianon.

The Petit Trianon, a laughing American tourist, and the classical angel statue. The app based audio guide covered a lot.

The Hamlet had a rough time surviving but several renovations later, you have a good idea of what it was like originally.

It is a peaceful respite from the grandeur of the Palace.

While we waited to get into the Palace there was a little guy, probably about seven years old, having a meltdown about having to visit the palace. He screamed and cried and his adult spent some time talking him down. He uttered a memorable phrase which we filed away for future use: “This is the stupidest thing in the entire stupid world!”

I sure hope that little guy made it to the hamlet and got to see the farm animals.

I’m sure the pigs, goats, and bunnies would have cheered him up. Not stupid.

So how else do we decide on museums to visit? Well, when you go to a lot of museums in France, and in the world, you see connections. At a museum in – Lyon? Dijon? I honestly can’t remember – a little card said about a missing painting: currently on display at Musée de la Chasse et de la Nature in Paris. What what what? That sounds fascinating. So it was marked on a Google map and Rich remembered and off we went.

The museum is in an old
Hôtel particulier. A grand urban mansion.

Yes, that’s a stuffed fox curled up on the chair.

The rooms were themed, and simply beautiful.

Don’t let the name of the museum put you off. It’s not really a celebration of blood sports, but more humans relationship with nature and animals.

Adorable little hoods for the falcons to wear. Putting feathers on a bird.

Even with only a month in Paris it was so fun to circle around topics or artists and come across them in different exhibits or even in cemeteries.

The grave of
Théodore Géricault, in
Cimetière du Père-Lachaise.

One of our early morning Louvre visits was specifically to visit The Raft of the Medusa, by
Géricault.

Which is replicated in bronze on his tomb.

A cold and grim subject. Again, the smiling American tourist.

A college friend (thank you Jen) reminded me of the chapter in Julian Barnes’ book History of the World in 10 1/2 Chapters, chapter five, Shipwreck, which relays the story of the creation of this painting and the history behind it.

The artist visited morgues to achieve the correct shade of skin tone.

Not far from The Raft in the Louvre is another famous
Géricault painting:
The Charging Chasseur, or An Officer of the Imperial Horse Guards Charging.

Which is also recreated on the artist’s tomb.

At our final Louvre Visit to see this exhibition, Figures of the Fool.

Here was another work by
Théodore Géricault,
The Woman with Gambling Mania (French: La Folle Monomane du jeu) from 1822.

I can’t be the only one who goes through museum exhibits hoping for fun reproductions in the gift shop? These marginalia of little monsters or grotesque characters would have made fantastic pieces for the museum shop.

Chimeras of Notre-Dame de Paris:
Monster Leaning on the Parapet
Paris, 1847-1862

Although we missed the re-opening of Notre Dame by a few days, we did get to see four chimeras removed during a restoration in the 1800s. Gargoyles spout water away from a building, chimeras are ornamental, adding to the overall atmosphere of the Cathedral.

Such a moody and beautiful presentation.

Chimeras of Notre-Dame de Paris:
The Pelican The Lioness
Monster Leaning on the Parapet
The Wandering Jew.

We also visited the Musée d’Orsay for the Gustave Caillebotte exhibit, amazing, and Nancy and I went to the Azzedine Alaïa museum. He was a talented and famous Tunisian couturier and shoe designer.

We loved the window which let you see his atelier. Left exactly as it was when he died.

There were other museums we visited – my head is still spinning from what we saw – and of course, the best museum of all: the city itself. Thanks to our new friend Roy, whom Nancy met on her flight over to Paris, we even got to see a Chambre de bonne. These small top floor maids rooms on Baron Haussmann’s 19th century mansions. Ever since listening to this 99% Invisible podcast about Chambre de bonnes I’ve wanted to see one. But how? Well, have a friend who makes friends.

Hi Roy! Thank you again for showing us a side of Paris we wouldn’t have seen without you.

The corridor of doors to small, very small, apartments. Some have been joined together to make more useable spaces.

The view! Eiffel Tower one direction, Basilique du Sacré-Cœur the other.

Those very top windows will be the Chambre de bonnes in this building.

Everyone who travels will tell you that the most amazing experiences are not found in guide books. They happen. You walk by them, if you’re lucky and open to saying yes, you get to have unexpected and delightful times, and even better with friends.

The happy travelers in flattering Paris light.

Spending our time in Paris. Take 2.

We have a running joke while we travel where we put things in a Bay Area context for each other. Guanajuato is the Mendocino of Mexico City. Parc Vincennes is the Golden Gate Park of Paris. When we discovered that Paris is actually smaller in size than San Francisco, but with over twice the population, we felt a bit more at home. We lived in SF for decades, most of those years without a car, so Paris felt like a super lively, more busy SF.

What? In my mind Paris was much bigger than SF.

Almost every Metro trip we mapped out on CityMapper was about 30 minutes or less from our Paris apartment. The Metro does move along and wastes very little time dwelling at stations – on the older lines you can actually open the doors while the train is still moving. And people do. But to walk across the city, or to your destination, really doesn’t take long. We started taking one Metro ride, and instead of transferring to a second line, just walked the rest of the way. Or, walked the whole way. We took buses as well, which is a great way to see the city and rest your feet.

Paris is so walkable. Nancy demonstrates that even the weather can’t stop her.

Rich and Dan on the Coulée verte René-Dumont.

The retail scene is so vibrant. Restaurants and shops abound. And bakeries- so many bakeries. Pharmacies everywhere. Laundromats – check. Chocolate shops – check. As you walk you never suffer from a lack of interesting things to see.

So many 6-8 story buildings. So much housing.

Although the population of Paris has shrunk since its high of 2.9 million in 1921, it now hovers around 2.1 to 2.2 million. As with many cities smaller family size and gentrification have had an impact. But the population certainly keeps the city humming! A street near our apartment simply teemed with parents and children at school drop off time. We quickly learned to try to avoid that street at morning drop off.

Paris is doing a lot of street re-imagining, making more space for people not using cars to get around. This is a street in the Montparnasse neighborhood getting an update. Wider sidewalks and planting areas.

And in the 12th, a massive redesign of Place Félix Éboué, adding bike and pedestrian space, more trees and amenities, and removing car lanes.

These changes seem to have brought out a lot of folks on bikes.

On my Paris bingo card this lady transporting her dog and baguettes would be quite a get.

Of course we got out on bikes! Despite the chilly weather.

We used Lime bikes while in Paris. Cycling in Paris is quite good, although with so many cyclists I would recommend skipping rush hour at first, until you get the hang of Parisian cycling it can be intimidating. It helps to be a calm and confident urban cyclist since you will be passed by faster Parisian cyclists with only inches to spare. And be careful stopping at red lights since not all cyclists do and you risk a rear end collision!

After all that cycling around France we did this year – finally! The
Champs-Élysées to the Arc de Triomphe.

Now we can fully appreciate the cobblestones the Tour de France cyclists face in the Paris circuits that typically feature in the last stage of the race.

Not our own comfortable bikes, but a great way to explore Paris.

The Tunnel des Tuileries. Once full of auto traffic, now graffiti, bikes, and pedestrians. Delightful.

And along the Seine River on a road where cars used to be.

Notre Dame, just a few weeks from re-opening after the devastating fire. That’s Rich on the bike on the right.

After parking the bikes we snapped the apparently obligatory Eiffel Tower photos.

It’s fun to see, or bike by, the big attractions, but our joy really comes from simply wandering. Having an errand – find a good coffee roaster to buy beans – and then seeing what we see. Be a Flâneur. Wander the city. Stroll. Observe. Be delighted. It’s what we did for so long in San Francisco, and it was such a luxury to have the time to do the same thing in Paris. As we kept reminding each other, stop and look up, look around.

Coffee shop dog. The family who ran the shop had their two kids and dog keeping them company since it was a holiday and schools were closed.

Nancy joined us in Paris and shared our cafe stops and delightful times.

I particularly love Kermit and the painted poles echoing his color scheme.

Neighborhood markets and murals, Montparnasse.

A wall of old advertising, uncovered and refreshed on Rue des Martyrs.

In the 9th. The society of mineral water building.

The people in dark wool coats strolling the passages.

Basilique du Sacré-Cœur de Montmartre glimpsed from Bd Haussmann on our way somewhere one morning. And the real life of a city going on.

Enjoying a chocolat viennois at the Cafe at d’Orsay.

One of the famous and stunning clocks at the old train station turned museum.

Watching Paris put on her Christmas and holiday decor was wonderful. Although we didn’t see too many lights on private balconies, the commercial corridors and chocolate shops put on a show.

Chocolate Christmas tree. Buy a forest of them!

Baby Jesus meringues. Apparently a retro treat, it’s a soft candy, not a hard crunchy one. I think it’s more like a marshmallow or melt away candy.

A forest of Christmas trees for sale in the 17th arrondissement.

The netting on the trees looks like spider webs.

Trees for sale on R. des Martyrs which is closed to car traffic on Sundays.

Nancy and I inside Galleries Lafayette admiring the massive Christmas tree.

Which put on quite a show as it changed colors.

We walked to go to specialty shops only open on Saturdays to buy artistic stamps.

We walked until the sun set (at 4 pm) to watch the lights come on.

All that walking meant we needed to keep up our strength.

The soufflés at Le Récamier were just the thing.

We had a one meal out per day rule. So we made those meals count.

Sometimes we didn’t need to go far. This oyster stand set up one weekend for two evenings on our neighborhood market street.

12 shucked oysters from Brittany and white wine.

Thanks to Dan we visited Buns Land for some amazing Biangbiang noodles. Mostly take away with just three stools at a tiny counter.

We also drank vin chaud when we could. Hot mulled wine. This was the best we tried, from the wine stand at the regional merchants evening market where we also had the oysters.

Had to try it at La Défense Christmas market too! Complete with souvenir cup.

Nice and hot, but a bit sweet. But we kept our souvenir cups to savor sweet memories.

More vin chaud please! At a small Christmas market at Pl. des Abbesses.

A nice version, not too sweet. The quality of the wine was not as good as at the regional merchants evening.

Late November and early December seemed to be a great time to visit Paris. Holiday cheer was getting going, but Christmas crowds hadn’t fully arrived yet. The weather was mostly grey but the sunny days we got felt even more special. The one day of snow was scenic but melted quickly. And having friends visit, first Dan and then Nancy, was just wonderful. And we got more photos of the two us than we usually take. As Nancy joked, it’s proof Rich does have a right arm – that’s his selfie taking arm usually not seen in our photos together. A big thank you to Nancy for the great photos.

Look at that! We have legs and Rich has both arms!

We got to pose in front of a Christmas tree.

And we got to spend time with one of our favorite people in all the world! Nancy.

Apartment lobby mirror group photo of the happy travelers.

Saying yes got us to Paris. For a month. Take 1.

When we came through Paris in May, on our fantastic bike tour through France, we visited our friend Jason who was on sabbatical from his professorship and staying in an apartment he found through sabbatical homes. It turned out that he and his wife could only take two of the three month final increment on the lease and he asked us if we would like to take the third month. Yes – was our pretty fast reply. Since we’d stayed at an apart hotel just up the street from the apartment we knew we’d like the neighborhood, and we’d been to the apartment for dinner so it was an easy decision. And a great decision.

The neighborhood street market, Tuesday and Friday. An early visit to avoid crowds later.

The wide sidewalks of Bd de Reuilly in our 12th arrondissement neighborhood.

Windows that face La Promenade Plantée. A greenway somewhat similar to the high line in NYC. Those windows and iron balcony just scream ‘Paris’ to me.

We hit the ground running with our Amis du Louvre cards and a trip to Disneyland Paris. The high and the low? The culture and the pop? Mona Lisa and Micky Mouse!

The RER A goes right to Disneyland. One transfer from our apartment, metro to RER.

The mouse ears on the train departure signs are pretty darn cute. And helpful.

As huge fans of public transportation we were thrilled to take a train right to the entrance of Disneyland. We’re both very familiar with Disneyland Anaheim so we spent the day making comparisons and ranking the rides between the two parks. Paris for the transportation win, for sure. And our monthly Navigo passes (~€80) covered the entire trip, as well as all metro and trains in the Paris area (Zones 1-5)

It was a grey and chilly day at the happiest place on earth.

I sort of expected Europeans to be a bit blasé about Disneyland, maybe treat it as a brash American import. Nope. Disney fans are Disney fans.

Thunder Mountain Paris for the win! Most of the ride is on this island, so you start and end through a tunnel.

Phantom Manor, The Haunted Mansion in Anaheim. Both are fun, similar layouts, nothing terribly different, except the spooky French in lieu of English. Très amusant!

Before the ride. I should have paid attention to the signs warning about motion sickness. And noticed the shoulder harnesses.

It is right there in the name. Hyperspace. Not just space. I’m used to the one in Anaheim which is pretty much a simple rollercoaster in the dark. I knew right away this one was a mistake. It went upside down twice. We now call it the brain scrambler. I lurched off the ride to find a bench, feeling pretty shaken up and a bit nauseous. I am past rollercoaster age, I decided. I’ve always avoided rides that go in a circle, the worst motion sickness ride for me is the spinning tea cups, but this one really was awful. Even Rich thought it was a bit much in the dark, and he loves rollercoasters.

The only thing I could face was Small World.

The grounds of Small World are more extensive in California, with more topiary animals, but the ride felt fresher and more culturally correct in Paris. One of the biggest differences we noticed was how quickly the lines for the rides go under cover in Paris. In Southern California you can be outdoors quite comfortably year round, and the rain isn’t torrential. It was chilly and a bit drizzly when we visited and we were glad for the shelter.

A big motivation to visit was that we were there during a very quiet time. The Halloween decorations were down and Christmas decorations not yet fully up, so it’s not a popular time to visit.

But, being efficient Disneyland, some holiday decorations were already up.

We could bore you much more with our detailed observations of how Paris is different than Anaheim, but won’t. Ask us the next time we see you in person about Pirates of the Caribbean. We have thoughts.

On to the high culture: we learned about the friends of the Louvre card from our Paris apartment connection, Jason. Not only do you get to go to the Louvre as often as you want, you also get a different entrance, at the Passage Richelieu, so no big line like at the pyramid or in the Carousel Mall.

We had visited the Louvre once before and it was a lesson in frustration. The audio guide is a Nintendo based handheld gizmo which is confusing to operate, even for people younger than us. Signage is not great, the layout is labyrinthine, and you will walk miles and miles finding the art you want to see. But it’s the Louvre! On display: 35,000 works of art. In the collection: 500,000.

In the newly renovated Anne of Austria Summer Apartments, the Torlonia Collection.

The marble sculptures are on display outside of Italy for the first time.

Rich added for scale in front of a massive painting.

We visited the Louvre six times this visit. Once was only to visit the bathrooms and get a coffee, which was a mistake since it was afternoon and very busy, but we will share what we learned. The Friends of the Louvre card – fantastic if you can make it work. We had it mailed to our Paris Apartment, and we applied from within France. Sunday am turned out to be a fantastic time to visit. At peak times the crowds are thick, but for an hour or two Sunday am we wandered the halls and galleries of the less popular wings and rooms with very few other visitors. We even peeked at the Mona Lisa – no, no selfie.

A happy Louvre visitor. This is in a room just past the Mona Lisa,
The salle Mollien Room 700, Denon wing, Level 1. The Red Rooms, Les Salles Rouges.

We visited three special exhibits during our six visits, The Torloni Collection, Figures de Fou, and A New Look at Watteau. We kept reminding ourselves how extensive the Louvre collection is that they can mount amazingly specific exhibits by plumbing the depths of their own collections. And when you view the Louvre outside from the I.M.Pei pyramid and understand how little of the connected buildings is display and how much is storage and other use – it’s overwhelming.

My fearless tour guide. If you aren’t one, find yourself a map friend who won’t get lost in the many rooms and levels of this museum.

Leaving on a Sunday at 11:24. After coffee at the Starbucks in the Louvre (!). Still not super crowded but the line to get in through security is now very long.

There will be more Louvre photos in later posts, but our recommendation is to get yourself a Friends of the Louvre card if you can. We paid 120€ for both of us, good for a year and allows you some discounts at other museums and into the Louvre Abu Dabi. Not sure we’ll use that benefit but who knows! The usual museum card coffee and gift shop 10% discount too. We ended every visit with a caffeine break.

The Happy Travelers in the sun at Luxembourg gardens.

Some of the special exhibits will have their app based audio guides, Figures of the Fool did, so check before you go and bring your earbuds. We searched on line for paintings we knew we wanted to see and read write ups to each other standing in front of the paintings. There are small bathrooms scattered along the galleries, some very well hidden, so if the line is long at the main bathrooms- and it will be ladies – try to find one up in the galleries. More from Paris soon. We just arrived in the UK for a nice long stay, until January 14th, happy holidays to all.

The railroad to Paris goes through Bourges. And Orléans.

Bourges through a window of the Palais Jacques Cœur.

Lyon is the bottom heart, then Bourges, then Orléans. All by train as our bicycles have entered winter hibernation.

Looking forward to a month’s stay in Paris we left Lyon, and the sunshine, although we didn’t realize it at the time. And we headed to Bourges. Bourges isn’t a big tourist destination, although Rick Steves tours do stop there to enjoy the half timbered houses and the huge gothic cathedral with its 13th century stained glass windows.

Cathédrale Saint-Étienne de Bourges. Seriously huge. We called it a triple decker cathedral.

The soaring interior and lovely chandeliers.

Bourges has nearly 500 half timbered buildings, more than any other French town, and the ruins of a Gallo-Roman wall. A tea and cake shop, Cake Thé, uses one tower as a dining room, if you follow the path to the shop you will find the remains of the wall and a lovely walking path.

Twilight on a street of half timbered buildings.

The upkeep of the buildings must be very challenging. We saw a few supported with external bracing like this.

And more half timbered buildings on a quiet street near the center of old town.

Of course a Camino route goes through town. And, this is the last you will see of our sandals for a while.

One of Bourges’ other sites to see is the Palais Jacques Cœur, a large Hôtel particulier – a grand urban mansion, freestanding and not connected to its neighbors. Cœur was a government official and successful merchant in the 1400s. Too successful, as his ability to lend large sums of money led to his eventual arrest and downfall. It seems never to pay off to have a King in your debt.

He did not get to enjoy his mansion, traveling during construction, arrested before he could live in it.

So many craftsmen were employed to make this building an absolute masterpiece. Gargoyles abound.

You’d need a fireplace this size to heat the massive rooms.

Although the palais is not furnished, it changed hands several times and was the town hall for a while, the audio guide helps you picture life in the building, and understand the amount of money and work that went into its construction.

And more gargoyle downspouts. Unfortunately for me the rain had stopped. I love seeing these in action.

Our two night stay gave us enough time to visit one of Bourges other fascinating sites, Le Marais, or the marsh, or swamp, in English.

A sign pointed the way as you walked down a neighborhood street.

On the map the Marais looks like a city of water. We caught a glimpse from the train and had to see it on foot.

The Yèvre River is the source of water, and the swamp had provided a defendable space for the town. The 300 acres now hold 1,500 garden plots on which locals grow food, build small summer huts, and enjoy strolling on the levees. Some plots are only accessible by boat.

I imagine the locals know their way around the small paths and bridges, we had to check the map frequently.

A building being taken back by the vegetation.

A boat ready to carry gardeners to their plot.

We imagined quite a lovely summer scene in the Marais.

It’s a fun way to travel, a few nights here, a few nights there, get the sense of a place and understand its place in the region and the country, and then off we go! But first, a nice dinner out at a restaurant we spotted our first night, and made a reservation for our second night. La gargouille.

More gargoyles, and Rich, not a gargoyle.

Gargoyle tartar! (No gargoyles were harmed.)

The second best tartare I have had in France.

Even when traveling bike free we can’t help but check out the bike spots on the trains.

Our last stop before Paris was Orléans. We went through Orléans on our bicycles when we rode along the Loire River in 2021. We enjoyed it then, in a sunny October, and knew there was enough to see still for a short stay. This is where the grey November weather caught up with us. What the morning news show called la grisaille. The greyness.

The fog made for a very atmospheric walk along the river.

This narrow building caught our attention in the old streets by the river.

The old town streets giving framed views of Cathédrale Sainte-Croix d’Orléans.

An autumnal display brightens a grey day.

Inside the cathedral on All Saint’s Day.

Joan of Arc, Jeanne d’Arc in French, is honored as a patron Saint of France for her role in defending Orléans in April 1429. You can find her in cathedrals, as statues, and paintings in the Musée des Beaux-Arts d’Orléans. Her story is powerful and poignant, as she was only 19 when she was tried for heresy and burned at the stake.

The Happy Travelers looking ahead to Paris.

Next post: Paris!

Warm Autumn Days in Lyon

We missed summer in Europe in 2024. Like really missed it. It was great to be in the US for the summer, but it’s been a relativley cold spring and fall in Europe. So we were thrilled to get a last gasp of pleasant fall weather in one of favorite French cities, Lyon. Some places we seek out, such as our return to Taiwan and further exploration of Malaysia earlier this year. Other places in Europe we seem to end up in more often due to their location, and Lyon is one of these places since it’s usually our train gateway to and from the Vallée Verte.

This was actually our fourth visit to Lyon, and the second time this year, as we passed through for two nights in March on our spring bike tour along the Via Rhôna. In March, we caught up with some freinds staying in Lyon, and explored a few new places, but didn’t have time to dive in deeper. So we decided to return and spend a week this time, and it was really a joy, from the lovely autumn warth and sunshine (finally!) to the amazing food and friendly people.

Shorts and sandals! On the pedestrianized Montée de la Grande-Côte, which takes you up to the Croix-Rousse neighborhood.

img_7270-1 — A snipet of the vast Mur Du Canuts. A huge building mural depicting the rebellion of the local silk workers from 1831-1848, some of the first labor revolts of the industrialized world.

Lyon is France’s third largest city, but for many French, it’s the best. As we found out, many Lyonnais wouldn’t consider living in Paris or Marseille. It reminds me of the rivalry between New York City and Boston growing up; one clearly the biggest and dominant in cultural icononography, but the other more livable and approachable, espcially as a tourist.

Along the Saône River, which has a more industrial and gritty feel than the Rhône promendaes.

What I really enjoy about Lyon is the geography, as it has some dramatic hills at it’s edges, and the confluence of two major rivers at it’s core. You even get views of the Alps when it’s clear. It’s also very walkable and easy to get around by bike and public transit, although pales to Paris in its extent of metro and trams. I imagine the access to the Alps, Massif Central, and Mediterranean is a huge benefit with those with the means to get away regulary. Oh, and the weather is a bit nicer than Paris.

Ready to explore the Lyon Bienalle’s largest installations at the former SNCF workshops known now as “Les Grands Locos”.

We also were lucky to time our visit with the large Biennale Art Show, which showcases about 75 artists in venues around the city. The 2024 theme of “Crossing the Water” invitied a wide array of interpretations and seemed especially pertinant to the migrations of people across the globe due to wars and economic opportunity, as well as animal life impacted by climate change.

The installations at the SNCF Railyards site were often extrememly large scale and experiential like **Hans Schabus** –
*Monument for People on the Move*

img_6891-2-1 — **Mona Cara** – *The Cactus*

Slightly Creepy carnival installation by **Clément Courgeon** –
*The Cart of the Clever*

img_6913-2-1 — **Lorraine de Sagazan & Anouk Maugein** – *Monte di Pietà* at the MAC. Labeled and recorded, the objects that compose it are linked to traumatic memories.

I have also crossed the water many times, but luckily by choice.

**Grace Ndiritu** – *The Blue Room* features around a hundred prehistoric, Roman, Egyptian, medieval, modern and contemporary pieces from various *Lyon* museums. It was part the Biennale at the Musée d’art contemporain de Lyon (MAC).

I really enjoyed the Biennale and it was well attended but did not have a crush of visitors, due to its long run and dispersed venues. The artists also seemed to represent a modern and diverse cross-section of Fench and foriegn artists, something often missing from all the classical art museums of Europe. The other musuem we really enjoyed was the recently renovated Musée Lumière. Dedicated to the cinematogorphy and the history of the Lumière family, the Musée Lumière looks back at the various technical creations of Louis and Auguste Lumière and their family. It’s well curated and has a great collection of early film equipment, as well as engaging and interactive elements, all set on the grounds of the historic building and workshops.

We reluctantly skipped the striking new Confluence Museum as the week we were in Lyon was one of the Autumn school holiday weeks and anything child and family friendly was very busy….saved for our next visit to Lyon.

The Place Des Jacobins dates back to the mid 16th Century is an important historic junction of 12 streets. The fountain was added later in 1885 after the start of the Third Republic and some disputes about content. Public art and monuments are taken seriously in France.

img_7302-3-1 — Off the bikes and back on transit!

Paul Bocuse looks over the street nearby Les Halles. He is Lyon’s most famous chef and has a legacy 3 star Michelin restaurant and the new Les Halles is named in his honor.

The way the locals eat and drink in Les Halles.

img_6684-1 — The food presentation at Les Halles is often like a museum installation.

We opted for a classic Moules marinière feast at Chez Lyon in Les Halles. Mussels are generally in season from August to January.

We probably could have shared a bucket, as they were huge! But sooo good.

I can do this…and I did, as well as about 1/3 of Cheryl’s bucket -;)

The typical chimneys of Lyon with Grafitti/Art?….how did the the street artists get up there?

The famous Frédéric Bartholdi fountain featuring Amphitrite looking over the four tributaries of the Garonne River….in Bordeaux?! It was his intention to sell this to the City of Bordeaux in 1892, but Lyon scooped it up instead.

We stayed in an apartment and a hotel for parts of our visit, but both were just a block from the Left Bank of the Rhone; a perfect location to access all the city and the river’s many cafes and 5km of paths, but out of the tourist zones.

img_6915-1 — Lots of space for people, dogs, and bikes along the extensive Berges du Rhône.

Selfie on one of my frequent runs along the Rhône, with the Mussée de la Confluence in the distance.

Access in pedestrianized zones is generally controlled by retractable bollards activated by residents and delviery vehicles only. Why is this hard to transfer to US cities?

Besides the great variety of food in Lyon, we really were impressed by the lack of impactful car traffic in most nighborhoods. There are some busy main arterials, but in general, you can walk freely and cross small streets with ease. There are 7 tram and 4 underground metro lines that cover the ciy pretty well, and an extensive bike network. And as in much of France, they are investing more in public spaces for people with a huge project to expand car free space in the commercial core, not to mention a massive renovation of the always busy Lyon Part-Dieu train station. As always, the surface tram lines are a nice way to get around and sightsee as well.

Roman ruins are tucked into Lyon in surprising locations, such as the 19AD Amphitheater of the Three Gauls in the 1^st Arrondisement.

Random Roman ruin fragmants yet to be pieced togther by a grad strudent, and cats…always!

This cat seemed to be in some sort of guardina role. We kept our distance.

Taking advantage of water collected in the ruins.

Cities with layers of history are always intriguing, and Lyon city along the Saône used to be the core of Lugdunum, a thriving Roman city dating back to 43 BC. It may have had up to 200,000 inhabitants at its peak, which is in incredible as Lyon today only has 500,000 inhabitants in the age of modern infrastructure. There is a large Gallo-Roman museum, two amphitheaters, and lots of other remnants to be seen if you want to dive deeper into this history.

Beyond the usual recycling and residential composting, we were surprised to see public compopsting bins in such a large city.

Delicious dumplings at Enginomo. The culinary scene in Lyon includes a good variety of food choices, not just French Gastronomie.

The “Pot Lyonnais” The usual French wine ‘pichet’ comes with a twist in Lyon as it has a thick glass bottom and only accomodates 46cl instead of the usual 50. Apparently the factory bosses used these bottles to take a little from each worker of their weekly wine rations.

Notice the thick glass bottom, which also makes a “Pot Lyonnais”very stable!

Beautiful architecture, trams, and sunshine.

Former 19^th century hospital is now the Grand Hôtel-Dieu, as well as shops and gathering spaces.

Low morning autumn light on Les Célestins Theater.

img_6906-2-1 — We used the last few minutes of our 24-hour transit pass to take the funicular up to the Basilica of Notre Dame of Fourvière. It’s impressive and one of Lyon’s top sights, with views of the city from the nearby terrace.

Remains of the Gier Aqueduct which brought water to Lugdunum from over 50 miles away. Parts are still fully intact while other sections are now one with later development. Amazing.

This streetscape reconstruction in Sainte-Foy-lès-Lyon was still in the archeolgical phase, as Lyon sits atop layers of history.

Enjoying the nice weather on our exploration of the hills.

Colorful liquor bottles caught Cheryl’s eye at a casual neighborhood bistro where we had lunch in Sainte-Foy-lès-Lyon.

Sunshine on the Saône looking toward Croix-Rousse.

Street Art and murals are a mainstay of Lyonnais life and there are websites dedicated to the various artists.

Nothing but smiles after a stimulating week in Lyon. But will this great weather last?

Lyon is not always a must see to most visitors to France, and I think it’s still a bit overlooked. Paris is amazing, but Lyon is a place you can really feel comfortable in quickly and will be rewarded by friendly people and a vibrant cultural scene. We were glad we came back for a longer look. Happy travels!

What makes time in the French alps better? Good friends.

When we end a bike trip nothing feels better than taking a nice break at our wonderful generous friends’ house in the Vallée Verte, France. We shop for food and cook in every day instead of searching for open grocery stores and restaurants. We have leisurely mornings and afternoon naps.

We watch the alpine glow and the cows waiting to go back to their barn.

But this break was even better since we had our dear friends Christine and Cecily joining us for a week. Usually we spend our time in the alps hiking from the house, catching up on stuff, travel planning, cleaning and storing the bikes and trying to help around the house. Their visit gave us the kick in our pants to rent a car and actually get out and see some of the alps. We joke that for folks who have spent so much time in the area we hadn’t seen many of the local sights.

The best way we know to get over jet lag is physical activity in the sunshine. Thankfully the weather cooperated for our first hike, Plaine Joux up to Pointe de Miribel.

Remember to turn around to see the high alps playing peek a boo through the clouds.

The summit! Photo credit to the nice Australian lady hiking with her dog.

I can never get enough of the views – those huge clouds.

The nice hiker with the dog warned us there was a herd of goats with their guard dog on our chosen route down. The dog barked at her and her dog, just so we knew. My sister in Colorado has had these big white guard dogs for her livestock for years so I assured everyone that they aren’t dangerous, just protective. Well, the big white dog did indeed bark at us, but calmed down after we greeted them with good doggie voices.

And I will escort you out of my territory.

If we had done our hike in reverse we would have seen this information sign before meeting the big dog.

The fall colors were changing every day.

For jet lag busting hike number two Rich and Cecily both had their fall appropriate colors on.

After a day just hiking from the house, we headed by car to Sixt-Fer-à-Cheval. The weather was rainy but we all just suited up in our rain gear and headed out on a fantastic waterfall loop.

Cheryl and Christine. Friends for 42 years.

It was hard to know if it was rain or mist from the waterfall. Whatever- it was wet.

A wet day meant we had the trails almost to ourselves.

Cecily and Christine enjoying the break in the rain and the fall colors.

The mix of trees makes for dramatic vistas. As did all the uphill hiking.

Framed waterfall. It was all downhill after this point.

The next day our destination was Chambéry, which is south of Lac du Bourget. A nice walk around the old town, a visit to the Musée Savoisien and lunch.

Musée Savoisien had a great exhibit on houses of the Savoie region, and how and why they were constructed as they were.

Really detailed architectural models of the different house types.

The museum also celebrated one of the region’s most famous dishes.

Tartiflette– potatoes, lardon, onions and reblochon cheese.

At a traditional Savoie restaurant for lunch, Christine had the tartiflette, which was delicious but rich. We all agreed it is not an everyday meal. But so luscious.

Rich captured what we called “our album cover shot”.

We learned a good lesson about renting cars, always add the second driver even though it costs more. Since Rich did all the driving he didn’t get to enjoy the scenery as much as the rest of us. We’re spoiled from California where the rule is that the spouse is always covered when it comes to rental cars. We should have added me as a driver so Rich could relax and enjoy the scenery too. So, with that in mind we took the train the next day. Rich still had to drive us to the train station but then we all got to admire the scenery from La Roche-sur-Foron to Annecy.

First stop in Annecy, where it was market day, a coffee cart.

One of Annecy’s beautiful rivers, Le Thiou. With fun and impressively sited fish graffiti.

Such a picturesque place. The water is crystal clear.

We weren’t the only tourists in town, but it wasn’t super busy. Just pleasantly hopping.

The perfect case for retirement, lounging in chairs by the lake.

After a day at home, shopping and doing an airport run to pick up Hannah, we headed off the next day to Chamonix, a new place for the four Americans. The very impressive roadway leading to Chamonix and the Mont Blanc tunnel was mostly empty since the tunnel is closed for works until December 16, 2024. That made for a lovely traffic free drive along the impressive viaduct roads.

The top of Mont Blanc was shrouded in clouds, but we now had Hannah with us!

Even with the peak covered the view is impressive.

A glacial river and a glacier. Oh, and Cecily and Christine!

Hannah and Cheryl, friends for 40 years. I do love being able to say that. Long term friends are so wonderful.

Rich in front of a mural of famous mountain climbers.

Sadly we had to say to goodbye to Cecily and Christine as they were off by train to Italy for another friend’s 70th birthday party. We dropped them at Annemasse train station, they took the local Léman Express to Geneva, and then trains to Turin. Such a fantastic way to travel.

When we made our nomadic decision it was our hope that we would have friends meet up with us in various places. This visit by Cecily and Christine was so energizing and wonderful. To get to share one of our favorite places, the Vallée Verte, with two of our favorite people was fantastic. The biggest downside to our life as nomads is missing friends and family.

We also had bonus time with Hannah our wonderful host, and some lovely weather to enjoy.

And got high enough to catch a glimpse of the reclusive top of Mont Blanc.

That might look like a dry field, it was actually wet and swampy.

The sign for the cooperative cheese monger in Boëge.

Which has a fantastic cheese vending machine with curated selections, open 24/7. For those cheese emergencies.

Too soon it was time for Rich and I to shoulder our backpacks and head off ourselves. Hannah’s family had arrived so we left them in good spirts and got a lift to the train station in Annemasse.

After our challenging trains with bikes time the previous few weeks we were giddy to have only backpacks. This is so easy! We kept saying to each other.

The travel planner enjoying his stress free train ride.

We were working our way to Paris for a month stay and more visits from friends, but first we had a few stays along the way. More on that in the next post.

The happy travelers in Chamonix. Life is even better when shared with friends.

Four countries in four days. By bicycle.

To Californians who are accustomed to having to drive hours to leave the state there’s a funny thrill to crossing country borders. Even the non-controlled sometimes unapparent borders of the EU.

Heading out of the Vallée Verte, France. And into a cool and wet weather pattern.

First stop: Boulangerie. On to Switzerland.

Even more fun when you ride a fantastic bikeway from France into Switzerland.

A map of our travels by bikes in Europe would look like the wanderings of a neighborhood cat, on a large scale. Between vacations when we worked and our post retirement bike tours we’ve crossed, criss crossed, meandered, train hopped, ferry hopped, head down and pedaled, woken up with no plan, gone with the tail wind, and any other description you can think of about our pedaling in Europe.

Our last bike tour, spring of 2024, started the same way, pedaling to Geneva, but we pedaled right through and out the Via Rhona. This time we hopped a train to Zurich, Switzerland, to get us to a new starting point.

Dueling train lunch decisions. Gazpacho for me, not Rich’s favorite.

We stopped outside the train station in Zürich to put on all of our rain gear and started the 10k ride to our hotel.

After a good nights sleep, which was very welcome as the jet lag got us bad this time, we headed out towards Wil, Switzerland. Riding out of Zurich was like riding out of any city, getting through big box store areas, crossing highways and motorways, through large roundabouts, and finally seeing the wide open countryside. Well, almost any city. In the Netherlands of course, you can easily ride anywhere – including into and out of big cities. We still reminisce about our ride through Utrecht a few years back and how absolutely easy it was.

Welcome to my world. And don’t feed me, said the sign on his fence.

One of our pastimes while traveling is building the perfect country, taking our favorite things from each place we visit and adding them to our fictional nation. We didn’t get very far on this ride before I was reminded of my favorite thing from Switzerland, Austria, and Germany. So many farm cats wandering the fields.

Usually the farm cats are too far away or too skittish for photos, but this one came over for a visit.

And then started following Rich up the road.

This covered bridge had windows and ladders so you could admire the view.

Some cow barns have automatic scratchers which start turning when the cow leans into the brush.

I’m sure the locals and farmers laugh to see us snapping photos of their farmyard animals, but who can resist chickens wearing feathered footies?

Smooth smooth asphalt on the bike paths.

Apple season! There are so many apple trees. Well tended orchards and random trail side trees. We only pick apples from those which are not obviously part of someone’s orchard.

Our lovely historic room in Wil. This is before we dumped the contents of our panniers everywhere.

The view over Wil from our hotel. The clouds are so dramatic.

We’d been lucking out with the weather, grey skies and threatening clouds and we got to Wil before the rain and hail front moved through. The hail did catch us out without an umbrella and forced a dinner decision on us – the close burger place versus the Thai place which would have meant arriving drenched. And did we walk out of our hotel right past a big bucket of umbrellas to borrow? Yes. Lesson learned.

Heading out after our second and last night in Switzerland. It was a cold morning.

What’s the first stop? A bakery. Always.

No, this giant cookie did not come with us.

Apple trees so loaded that their limbs are propped up.

More apple trees. And threatening skies.

The villages, all centered around a farm, are so charming.

And welcoming. With benches and a fountain.

A perfect place for a pastry break. And then the rain came down.

And a very nice woman across the street invited us to shelter under her barn overhang.

Climbing up, we’re almost out of Switzerland now, about to cross into Austria. My handle bar covers are still working well. Keeping my hands warm and dry.

Beautiful Swiss cows wondering why we are leaving Switzerland.

The signage makes you feel so welcome as a cyclist or hiker.

Schloss Hagenwil. We went inside and had a look around. Mostly restaurant space but quite stunning.

Hagenwil is the only intact water castle remaining in Eastern Switzerland. Imagine what it took to build and maintain this castle.

Lake Constance to the Swiss and Austrians or Bodensee to the Germans.

A train crossing. That’s an Austrian train. We’re so close!

Wait! How did we get on this side of the border already? We’re in Austria after crossing a little bike pedestrian bridge.

To refresh your Austrian geography, here is a map. The little left side tail which touches the lake is where we entered. That’s Lake Constance.

Our one night in Austria would be in Hard, and we were both quite impressed with the space for bikes and pedestrians on this bridge into town. The engineer said “Now that’s how you build a bike lane on a bridge.” Yes, we’re looking at you West Span SF Oakland Bay Bridge.

Another pristine hotel room. Before bag explosion. As a bonus, it started to hail just after we checked in. This early and cold storm, named Boris, will dump snow on the Alps and cause flooding in Czechia and Austria. We are fine though.

Another cold and wet day. I’m clutching my tea thermos which is extra swaddled to keep it warm. And a bag of pastries.

My favorite: quark tasha. Like a cheese danish. And a photo bombing Rich.

Riding through the countryside gives us a bucolic look at a place. It’s unique and refreshing to us, coming from the western USA, to be able to ride from town to town on safe connected pathways. We are used to some cities, including our own San Francisco, being quite bicycle friendly, but if you were to ride town to town, or city to town in the US, you would find almost no bicycle infrastructure. You would simply be sharing the road with large fast moving motor vehicles. That’s why crossing county borders by bike like we are still thrills us. It’s why we travel, to see what it’s like away from home. To get to do something we don’t do in the Western US.

And speaking of borders, hello Germany! Country four, day four.

Bavaria. The southernmost state of Germany’s five states, and the largest by land mass.

The happy travelers- some cold wet days have tested us, but we’re still standing.

Dijon through the Alps

Even on long travels, the end of any travel segment can start to drain your enthusiasm as you start thinking about the next phase of your journey, or worse, the work waiting for you back home.

Heading to Albertville on a beautiful spring day in the Alps. Our minds are now addicted to new.

We’ve all had that end of vacation feeling or remember our childhood summers of freedom coming to a close in late August (Ugh!). But one of the reasons we gave up or locked up most of our material possessions three years ago was to experience the world without that constant end of trip deadline. No limits or boundaries. It’s a magical feeling and one I appreciate more and more as we traverse the world. We are lucky and know it. We recommend everyone tries it someday.

Spring in the Place de la Liberation of Dijon

But our last few weeks of spring bike touring in France took a concerted effort to stay focused and motivated. Don’t get me wrong, parts of it were wonderful, and some warm spring (summer?) weather gave us a “vacation from our vacation” feeling in Annecy, a perfect cap to our recent journey.

Signaling my intentions for Cheryl and the locals in Dijon. Église Saint-Michel in the distance. BTW, French cyclists don’t signal much, and seem to thrive on the organic flow familiar to the Dutch.

After a brisk morning cycle to our train hop from Les Laumes – Alésia on the Burgundy Canal, we rolled into Dijon Ville station mid-day. We were pleased to see a train platform ramp and the option of an at-grade exit to the street. Outside the station was a bikeway towards center ville. This abundance of bike infrastructure is one of the major reasons why we’ve been exploring France by bike for nearly 3 months!

Dijon Gare. We love platform access ramps; the best station solution for all when space permits.

This was our second visit to Dijon while cycle touring, but this time we planned to spend two nights to allow a bit more time to explore the beautiful city at the heart of Burgundy. It’s an extremely pleasant and lively city, with a bike and pedestrian oriented core, parks, and beautiful architecture. Free museums and a wide array of food options add to the draw. It’s also extremely well connected by train on the Paris-Lyon mainline.

History plaques add to the joy of wandering historic Dijon. Many stately buildings with grand courtyards were built by the wealthy in the mid 1700’s. Vive la Révolution!

A few hours to kill before checking into our bike friendly hotel. Often nomadic life includes sitting on park benches; maybe travel planning, reading a book, or just watching the world go by.

This area of Dijon was being upgraded this year to meet the Mayor’s goals for livability. We noticed a lot of new streetscape improvements and tree planting in urban areas of France.

Upgrading to City 2.0 – more walkable, more trees, and limited car traffic.

E-bike cargo and mail delivery is really put to the test in France and the perfect tool for compact urban centers.

What is behind these beautiful blue doors?

After enjoying a day off the bikes in Dijon, we had planned to continue south and east towards the Jura mountains and Geneva. But as I looked into the details of our planned route, I was thinking maybe we needed a Plan B.

Access to the Dijon city center is controlled by retractable bollards, making it a pedestrian and bicycle oasis.

First, there was a lot of flat sections of the Burgundy canal and Doubs River to pass along with a likely headwind. Blah. Second, lodging with food in the Jura is very limited and I was challenged to find places to stay early season once we climbed up to the 3,000+ foot plateau. (Probably better to camp up there.) Third, more unseasonably cold weather and rain was predicted. No thank you.

High boarding train to Lyon. Local TER trains are your best bet with bikes or IC trains with bike space reservation. TGVs also serve this corridor but have very limited bike space, so only work with advanced planning.

Two hooks with pretty easy access inside.

So we pivoted last minute and instead caught a train south to Valence via Lyon, and headed up the Isère River valley into the heart of the Alps. It was the route I had originally scoped for our return to the Vallée Verte. It has a lot more lodging options, lower elevations, and trains for backup. More importantly, we were excited by this new route, which is a key component of (nomadic) life. It’s good to suffer sometimes for the sake of a goal, but also ok to make sensible choices for yourself.

A perfect cafe to people watch in Dijon.

The Musée des Beux Arts permanent collections are free and it houses a wonderful collection of art, sculpture, and antiquities.

Paulus Potter’s “Head of a Sheep” at the Dijon Musée des Beaux-Arts.

The Isère River enters the Rhône north of Valence and is the namesake of the Department that is a part of the region of Rhône-Alps. We had actually passed through Valence in March on the Via Rhôna, so had to retrace a bit of our route upstream this time. Strangely, the lower part of the Isère River is actually still in the department of the Drôme.

The skies are starting to look threatening as we head up the Rhône near Valence.

Great bike bridges on the Via Rhôna and Isère

An homage to our favorite woodland creature.

We just beat the forecast rain to our first night stay in Romans-sur-Isère, but were a bit stunned by the somewhat incessant and gridlocked traffic through this old riverside industrial city. We slogged through to get to our surprisingly charming lodging on the edge of the city, and walked back into the center of the town in the rain for dinner. We did find a (the?) fun and friendly place to get a drink and dinner and everyone was very nice to the two noticeable American cycle tourists. The town clearly gets few cycle tourists, although sits on the recently developed V63/V62 cycle route know collectively as “La Belle Via”.

Heading into Romans-sur-Isère. We hadn’t hit the traffic jams yet.

Heading out in the rain the next day from the very nice Hôtel L’Orée du Parc.

Full rain suit and a feigned smile during a slight rain break

We did manage a pastry rain break under a shop awning. Can’t let our French baked goods levels get too low.

We love to learn about the history of places, even for a one night stay, and Romans has been influenced by its strategic location on trading routes and a major river. Shoe manufacturing is still a business and there is a small museum dedicated to the industry that was unfortunately closed by the time we rolled into town. Further down river are abundant walnut orchards. On the way out of town, we learned another source of major traffic was a nuclear fuel manufacturing facility. But Romans is not a bicycle city and the bike infrastructure was sad or non-existant. There was a renovation of part of the Main Street in progress which may help the pedestrian environnement, but otherwise it seemed to be a bit overrun by cars and parking.

We were following the V63 cycle route up (and down) the Isère which includes some dedicated path sections, but mostly quiet roads.

The challenge of the next day was 84km to Grenoble which would have been manageable except it was raining out the door and rarely stopped. We had a low point this day as the traffic getting out of Romans, steep hills, and incessant rain seemed to zap the energy and motivation of Cheryl, and I could sense it. We both have our bad days, but generally one of us keeps it mentally together. Today we were both just a bit over it. Travel, rain, eating out…all of it.

The Isère river valley was beautiful, even on this moody and stormy day

A lunch snack at a welcomed picnic area was cut short as we saw a massive thunderstorm front approaching. Ride fast!

We did manage to miss the worst of an epic thunderstorm and hail in a farmers shed. Cheryl is a travel trooper and rarely complians, but the ups and downs of 10 weeks of cycle touring was weighing us both down. (I generally complain first -;) We had a train bailout option in the small town of Vinay, but arrived to just miss a train prior to a 2 hour gap in service. The days lack of progress sent me into a travel tailspin too, and let’s just say, that afternoon was one of the low points of our France sojourn.

Made it to a farmers shed just in time for the skies to open up.

The rain and hail let up a bit finally so we headed back out.

Rain booties on, trousers off. It’s a look.

But the sun came out as we waited for our train. and the short train hop to Grenoble was fine. The city was lively and green, and the next day was beautiful. Travel and cycle touring can propel you on a rollercoaster of emotions, but that is why we continue on. The next day IS generally better -:) .

Grenoble was home to the 1968 Winter Olympics and now 700,000 people live in its region, making it the biggest metro region in the Alps.

Nope, not a cute animal, but the 2024 Paris Olympic mascot takes the shape and form of a Phrygian cap; a symbol of freedom and revolution! Love the theme and inclusion of a Paralympic prosthetic leg.

There was a surprising abundance of street art and murals in Grenoble.

Love the green tram tracks (but not all the rain).

Next level cargo bikes in a seriously green city.

The cranky travelers recovering in Grenoble and ready to explore another day.

We loved Grenoble but only stayed a night as hotels were unusually expensive due to a conference. We vowed to come back and explore more there soon as it’s nearby the Vallée Verte and has a lot of top museums, not to mention outdoor adventure in every direction. The next two days cycling further up the valley were inspiring and relatively short, so allowed for plenty of time to stop at sights, take photos, and bask in our positive attitude!

The ride out of Grenoble was flat but pleasant along the Isère River and valley.

But soon heads up some small hills into the Coeur de Savoie.

The Savoie wine production region near Chingin.

Views and history at Chateau LaViolette, a very friendly and lovingly restored B&B in the Porte-de-Savoie. This magnificent cypress tree was over 200 years old.

Views from LaViolette of vineyards famous for Mondeuse Noir and Jacquere. The infamous land sliding Mt Granier is obscured by clouds.

Our next day was greeted by spectacularly blue skies cycling the D201 road to Albertville. We passed on the steep climb to the historic Château de Miolans.

A wonderful day rolling through the tidy and historic villages of the Savoie.

Usually there is a great water source in these mountains…just need to make sure you see the “Eau Potable” sign.

The D201 road rolls up and down along the edge of the valley towards Albertville and is a great alternative to the flat V62 route in the bottom of the valley.

We found a nice little apartment in Albertville to spend the first two nights of the long Corpus Christi holiday weekend, as Albertville is actually not much of a tourist town, despite hosting the 1992 Winter Olympics. It’s pleasant enough and was a good place to relax, do laundry, and explore a bit, but otherwise would recommend other places in the Alps for scenery and charm. It has the old Olympic park and a small medieval town, Conflans, on an adjacent bluff. We realized all the charming Olympic shots you saw in 1992 were probably of Conflans, not Albertville per se.

Our cozy apartment in Albertville had convenient balcony drying

The medieval village of Conflans is just a short walk up the hill from downtown Albertville. We really enjoyed learning more about life and history of the Savoie at the small museum.

La Bicyclette in Albertville is a great bike themed bar with craft beers, a very pleasant garden, and of course, wine -:) .

Heading out of Albertville for a short day to Annecy. How can we make this longer and more fun?

Taking the rolling side gravel and dirt paths instead of the paved cycle path.

Happy to snag a lunch bench on this busy holiday weekend.

Another side excursion to get some views and hills.

Oops, too much hill and wicked steep in parts! A bike push assist.

Yup, the trail goes through this farmhouse. We’ve learned that France is quite liberal with protecting historic rights-of-way and unless there is a clear Privé sign, we press on.

Cheryl enjoying the side excursion downhill.

Fun descent in a bit of mud. First one to fall down buys the wine!

After Albertville, we had an easy day to Annecy planned, but I did my best to make it a bit more challenging as we couldn’t get into our apartment there until 5:30. But the weather was spectacular and the route a joy, minus a few rough patches off road. We got to the south end of Lake Annecy just after lunch, where our route joined the 40km lake loop. It seemed that most of France was outside that day as the weather was finally warm. We merged into the pathway mix of fast and slow, families and dogs, and racers kitted out still thinking they might achieve their personal Strava best weaving around thousands of people. It was fun and the scene was memorable as we got closer to the center of Annecy.

You can circle Lake Annecy on cycle routes which is a very popular day trip.

The lake path was full on France the Sunday of a long holiday weekend (Corpus Christi).

We were waiting for a mishap in the Sunday spring fever and lakeside chaos, but it all seemed to work out.

So this is what cycle touring in warm weather is like! We felt the joy of everyone as well, since we’d been experiencing the same wet and cold spring across France.

Chillin in the lake on the hottest day of our spring trip.

Annecy’s lakefront has the historic aire of a long visited and cherished place for relaxation.

The enchanting crystal waters of Le Thiou, a short river that flows out of Lake Annecy and is one of the clearest in the world. It eventually flows into the Fier and Rhône.

Annecy is a lovely French city with a great density, beautiful lake front, summer swimming, boating, and strolling. It benefits from easy access by train including daily direct TGVs to Paris. For our California friends…imagine a 2 hour train from San Francisco to North Lake Tahoe. We can only dream.

New play space for people as Annecy had recently expanded the car free core.

Bollard access again keeps the lakeside traffic out of old town core.

We stayed another night in Annecy after the holiday rush to enjoy a more tranquil experience and more swimming!

Beers with friendly British cycle tourists we met on the path. Greetings Clive and Alan!

Our final route from Annecy to the Vallée Verte included a morning train hop as the V62 route is sadly incomplete and we’d been warned about the road near Cruseilles. The terrain is steep and rugged north of Annecy and it would be too long to do in one day as well. So we enjoyed a scenic hop on Line 2 of the recently upgraded and completed Léman Express system centered around Geneva. The trains are modern, frequent, and bike friendly. Bike space is somewhat limited, so we imagine at peak times it could be challenging, but we had a very peaceful ride on the 10am train which starts Annecy. Note that you need to buy a Swiss bike day pass if you stay on the system into Switzerland. (we did not.) The fixed price Swiss bike day pass (regardless of distance) is not a cycle friendly solution for short hops and really should be revised by SBB.

The final day push up the Col de Perret. Cheryl climbing with little effort and record speed; a testament to our almost 3 months on the bikes

France does fresh vending like no others. This wonderful 24/7 farm shop had artisan yogurt, cheeses, eggs, and a wide variety of vegetables.

Biggest farm vending ever near Reignier. We got fresh broccoli and some yogurt. A great solution for staffing costs while still providing access to fresh foods.

Feeding our kitchen scraps to the neighbors pig; strangely they don’t like cabbage.

Reunited with our great friends and their visiting family for a spectacular day hike in the Alps.

Happy to be back in the Vallée Verte after another successful bike tour.

We shaved over an hour off our last time climbing up the high valley route and felt a strong sense of accomplishment as we rolled into our friend’s house again. We appreciate everyday of our freedom. Happy travels!