Pastries – Less Car, More Life

After barely getting all our wet gear dry in a hotel room with no heated towel rack, and only barely warm radiators, we loaded up and took the train for a boost from Aurillac towards Issoire.

Even after a long date with the hair dryer my shoes are still a bit damp.

Ready to roll off the train in Brassac-les-Mines.

Our train ride took us through a tunnel and got us past the Parc naturel régional des Volcans d’Auvergne, a mountainous area with ski slopes. Looking out the train windows as we emerged from the tunnel I was quite thankful to not be pedaling, although the area was gorgeous.

The Allier River was still raging from all the rain.

Raging muddy rivers were starting to seem normal.

Now we’re on the Via Allier. The French regional routes are super scenic.

Riding through Orsonnette. We’ve entered the Puy-de-Dôme department.

“The love is in the Fields.” We needed help with this translation, thank you Finn.

The look of the buildings has changed. No more slate roofs and buttery yellow stone buildings, now it’s red roofs and more of a grey or brown tone.

The cats are still cute in this new region.

Climbing up a ridge towards Lamontgie. Grey skies, but still dry.

Lunch stop at a bench with a lovely church view. And the rain started.

Quick, stop in front of that beautiful gate at Château de Parentignat.

It will come as no surprise to Europeans and perhaps a medium to big surprise to Americans what an impactful holiday May 1st is in Europe. May Day, Labour Day, or Fête du Travail will see shops and museums closed, and many restaurants as well. We planned two nights in Issoire since the weather on May Day was scheduled to be rainy again. We cozied up in our hotel room after dinner on April 30th and planned to rest, read, travel plan and blog. We went out to find lunch and see what might be open for dinner. Lunch was a Chinese restaurant, and we saw a few other places open, brasseries and cafes mostly. However, when we ventured back out in the rain for dinner, we were having no luck. Those businesses which had been open for lunch were now closed. Uh oh. Panic setting in. Rich spotted a restaurant whose hours on line proclaimed a 7pm opening. The metal shutter was half open and people were inside! Success? Not exactly. The four guys inside were staff having a Fête du Travail celebration. When the Manager, Hugo, figured out we were Americans he hustled us inside for a drink.

Enjoying a Fête du Travail drink and camaraderie.

They may have been a few drinks ahead of us but we had a fantastic 45 minutes talking and laughing.

What had been a slight stop of desperation in Issoire turned into a memorable experience. Towns with fewer tourists seem to lead to fun interactions. No one in Issoire is tired of American tourists clumping around town.

Abbatiale Saint-Austremoine which has uniquely painted walls and columns.

Rainy streets on our way to an Indian restaurant for dinner. We ate there both nights, it was that good and open!

Farewell Issoire, thanks to the hospitality of a crew of celebrating workers we had a memorable time. But, May 2nd and we’re back out into the rain to ride to Clermont-Ferrand. We’re timing our train from there to arrive in Paris for a four night stay to catch up with friends, so we have a two night stay planned in Clermont-Ferrand. The amazing travel planner Rich figured out the puzzle of loaded touring bikes/trains/Paris.

Nothing like a climb to warm you up on a chilly morning. Col de la Croix des Gardes.

From here we get a lovely decent to Clermont-Ferrand.

Dramatic volcanic mountains with a dusting of snow.

Equally dramatic Pain Suisse enjoyed in Vic-le-Comte. My favorite riding snack in France.
Pain Suisse is brioche dough filled with crème pâtisserie and chocolate chips.

Some lovely new pavement on the cycle track.

An old water mill on a side street of Les Martres-de-Veyre.

This signage was worth making Rich turn around and come back for a drama shot.

We didn’t expect much of Clermont-Ferrand. Rich had read that it wasn’t that charming a town. It’s funny how quickly and easily we can have our minds made up, or changed about a place. Coming in up a climb up a commercial street, grump grump grump. Construction zone, grump grump. Oh! A plaza. Oh, street cars. Hey, we’re really liking this town.

Drying out our fluorescent yellow shoe covers after another day of rainy riding.

Fascinating rubber tired single rail streetcars.

The town is bordered by the volcanic Chaîne des Puys mountains.

Which makes for some fantastic views, like this one of the Puy-de-Dôme.

And the stunning Notre-Dame of Assumption Cathedral? Not dirt or soot blackened as you might first assume. Carved from black lava stone! It really stands out from the red roofs when viewed from Parc Montjuzet.

Very dramatic, the black spires against a grey sky.

The black stone makes for some fantastic contrast.

This building is like a giant pumice stone. Well, not exactly. It’s made from scoria which is denser than pumice.

Inside the cathedral. The black stone makes the lighting and windows really pop.

What else did we enjoy about Clermont-Ferrand?

Fountains which had drinkable water were clearly marked with this symbol.

L’Adventure Michelin. A museum all things Michelin here at the headquarters of the company.

And we learned why the streetcars are rubber tired. Yup, Michelin money.

It’s a university town. With 140k students come some good restaurants. We had Mexican food. The best we’ve found in Europe so far.

The graceful Pl. de Jaude, just outside our hotel, had a statue of Vercingétorix. He was a Gallic king and chieftain.

The statue is by our old friend
Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi, who also created *Liberty Enlightening the World* (the Statue of Liberty) and whose own statue we saw in Colmar, France.

And yes, the weather did dry out for our day of fun in Clermond-Ferrand. It got a bit windy but our next mode of transportation was a train to Paris so no worries about wind. Rich booked us on a train that started in Clermont-Ferrand and ended at Gare de Paris Bercy. With loaded touring bikes end to end trains are so much less stressful than trying to board and disembark mid line. One more story about how wonderful people are in cities that aren’t overwhelmed with tourists. We got to the train station super early, as we do, and as we stood staring up at the big board, waiting for a platform to be listed for our train, a station police offer came over and asked where we were going. When we said Paris, he leaned in and told us it would be platform H. The doors won’t be open yet, he added, but you can go to the platform now. The train is there. Super grateful to get a jump on the eventual platform rush we headed to the elevator to do the one by one transfer down and back up. The elevators barely hold one loaded touring bike, so we’re slow, taking turns in the elevator. Once out at the platform an SNCF train worker helped us find the bike car, and our seats. By the time the rush of passengers got to the platform we were settled in.

We were as chill as this little guy on the train.

He developed a bit of a fascination for Rich.

The happy travelers thinking ahead to Paris and friends to visit!

The vista from a Medina rooftop in Tetouan.

Our first stop in Morocco was Tangier for two nights. Our friend Dan (Hi Dan!) provided great advice – don’t book your first night in the Medina – so hard to find and if you arrive from the airport via taxi they can’t drop you at the door of your place. Finding your way to a location in the Medina can be hard/impossible/frustrating/overwhelming.

On the edge of the Medina in Tangier. The 15th century Portuguese fort wall looking nice in the sunset. This was the view the from our guesthouse terrace.

Moroccan people are super friendly and feel a particular bond with Americans, the diplomatic history goes back to the 1786 Moroccan–American Treaty of Friendship.

Tombeaux Phéniciens, Tangier. On a bright, windy Sunday.

One day in and I already felt that I was 10% mint tea. And I was happy about that.

Upper left corner and work our way along. All delicious.

Oh yes, there are many cats in the Medina.

Lunch time and juice time. Mint citron on the left, orange on the right.

After two nights in Tangier we hopped a bus to Tetouan, about an hour away. We had to take a taxi to the bus station and we were reminded of a valuable travel tip in Muslim countries – Friday is the holy day when the afternoon prayers are a huge draw, emptying the streets of men and therefore taxi drivers. We left a lot of time to get to the bus station via taxi, and with some unsolicited help from a local (small monetary tip, why not, he did help) we got a taxi and made our bus with plenty of time to spare.

Tetouan is not a big tourist town, and the locals, for the most part, seem to take pride in not making a big deal about tourists. You can stroll the ancient Medina with only the occasional accidental tour guide, and get genuinely helpful directions. The best tip we were given was to look for the center stones in the narrow alleys for some guidance: 3 stones is a main street leading to a gate where you can exit the Medina, 2 stones means a lesser street leading to a main street, 1 stone – dead end residential street. I say street, but they are small alleys, no cars here.

Children run free in the Medina streets. Note the 2 stones in the center. Small street which will lead to a main street.

And those accidental tour guides? They sometimes are focused on getting you to a shop, sometimes really just helping. But you do end up seeing some interesting things when you pick up your accidental tour guide. Being firmly polite and friendly works just fine when you’ve had enough and want to leave. It may take a few tries to lose your new friend but they will ultimately say goodbye after you thank them.

Men working a loom. No hard sell from anyone, just a slice of life thanks to our accidental tour guide.

Guided through the ancient tannery by our ATG.

A pharmacy in a lovely old building. Thank you ATG.

Even if you come to Morocco with zero intentions to buy a beautiful Moroccan rug you will end up in a rug shop at some point. We did, thanks to our ATG. Since we have no home right now and all our worldly possessions are in a storage unit we did not succumb to the temptation. But I can understand why people buy rugs here: they are gorgeous. I’m partial to the flat weave rugs, and who knows – a small rug may end up in our luggage.

Rich and our friendly accidental tour guide. He took us to a great view spot, tried to get us into a closed museum by knocking repeatedly on the door, and we finally said goodbye, happy to have met.

We think we hit a sweet spot here in Morocco when locals are happy to have tourists back, there are not many of us yet, and not yet tired of the problems that tourists can bring. We are happy to be here and the locals seem happy to have us here.

Category: Pastries

Issoire to Paris, surely the weather will improve?

Morocco, four nights in.