Where were we? Quimper. Another one of those amazing French cities where we get to be the only American tourists. As far as we can tell, anyway. One of the best things about visiting non A list sights is how friendly and nice and patient the locals are with tourists. A nice city for a rest day after a cranky ride from our last stop. You never know when the moodiness will hit. Sometimes it’s obvious, long ride in the rain or wind, sometimes it’s just bad luck of the day. Quimper was definitely an antidote to travel moodiness.
Le Steir, a canal off the Odet River in Quimper. That turret is part of the old wall of the city.So many half timbered buildings in Quimper. Beautiful old wooden carved figures still adorn some of the buildings.Nice pantaloons!Examples of different Breton regional wear in the Breton County Museum .We saw depictions of this ceremonial hat in carvings, paintings, and even stone as we rode the countryside of Finistère. Apparently it is a fairly recent adaptation from the early 1900s.
It’s easy as a tourist to focus only on the quaint history of a place and forget to look at the modern life. Yes, this is our fun vacation, but people live their modern complicated lives here as everywhere.
Street art in Quimper. I love this one.Smurf beating up Mickey while Mario … watches? Tries to stop them?Cubist cool French woman with ubiquitous vape?Selfie rat!
As usual a rest day involves taking care of business. This stop in Quimper allowed us to have our front hydraulic brakes looked after. The kind man in this shop installed new pads and rotors on both of our front wheels. Good timing as Rich’s really needed replacing. A big Rich plus a loaded bike means serious wear and tear on the brakes.
We rode the bikes over in the morning and got them back that evening. Phew!Rich searched on line and picked a shop fairly close to our hotel that specialized in pretty high end mountain and gravel bikes. And of course e-bikes.And I did some laundry! Fun fact, both laundromats I’ve been to include the laundry detergent. Lessive Incluse. I was worried it might be scented but didn’t notice any strong smell so all was good.
It was a bit rainy/misty/mizzly during our time in Quimper, which was fine since I’d rather walk around and have a rest day in the rain than ride in it.
Tucked up in a cozy crêperie drinking La bolée de cidre. Still catching the spring blooms in parks.
Then where did we go? We headed out to Brest after two nights in Quimper. It was still raining lightly but since the route from Quimper to Brest isn’t completely bike friendly, as we were warned by on line resources and a fellow cyclist we met waiting for the train, we rode a fairly short ride to Châteaulin, 26k/16 miles but with 480m/1600ft of climbing. There we would catch a quick train to Brest, as the V45 route that traverses most of the Finistère coast had a gap here. It’s one of the few places we’ve encountered in France that has no bike routes marked and online forums confirmed parts of the route were on steep and often busy roads. No thanks.
Quéménéven chapel. The color of the granite stones continues to fascinate me. Worn from sea wind and rain, speckled with lichen and moss, but not blackened by city pollution, they have a unique look.Climbing the final ridge to Châteaulin. Two things cheer me up on this damp climb: 1) I know wind turbines are always at the crest of a mountain or hill, and 2) The way the turbines are facing means we have a tailwind. Some curious horses and the storm being pushed our way by that lovely tailwind.Top of the climb! And still a tailwind. The rain is chasing us. Châteaulin. L’ Aulne River and some more pretty flowers. Yes! We’re getting on a train now! Not so fast, says Rich, the train station is up a decent sized climb above the river.Now we’re at the train station. And relaxing on our well timed train ride as the storm caught us and started pouring down rain.
By the time we got to Brest, about an hour and a half later, the sun was out and who cares about the wind when your hotel is only about 500 meters from the train station? Brest has been a ship building and important military port and harbor since the 1600s. It served as a crucial embarkation point in WW1. Thousands of US troops came through Brest heading to the front lines. And WW2 saw Germans use it for submarine and ship docking and repair. Which made it an important target for Allied forces to destroy. Only a tiny number of buildings were left standing after 1944’s Battle for Brest.
On arrival we pedal out of the Brest train station on a lovely bike lane. Look at that beautiful tram.I lobbied for a rest day in Brest to visit the Musée National de la Marine. 400 years of navel history in a castle! It was supposed to be open the Thursday we were there. It was not. Extraordinary closure. That face says, I plan and I plan, and still. Denied the Military Museum we had to take a deeper dive into Brest attractions.Off we went to Tour Tanguy museum. Which turned out to be a charming museum.It’s full of dioramas of old Brest, pre 1939. all created by a local artist Jim-E. Sévellec. (1897 – 1971)Each has detailed information on what you are seeing, in French and English.Such detail. Humor and nostalgia.The dioramas show and tell the story of Brest and helps you realize what got destroyed .But as we explore the city more, we are reminded what hardy and innovative people the Bretons are. Here is the Téléphérique De Brest, which crosses the Penfeld River harbor area.Huge dry docks.Riding the Téléphérique back across the harbor.This mural does not lie about the blue water and white sands of Finistère. And yes, there have been cats too!What a great storefront celebrating the sights of Brest.
Even though the Maritime Museum was closed, we still had a good rest day in Brest. The city is different than the rest of Finistère. Wider streets and more car traffic due to post war rebuilding. No half timbered buildings as we’ve admired in other Breton Cities. But nice tram lines and good bikeways, as we’ve come to expect from French cities. In fact, our ride out of Brest was one of the more pleasant rides leaving a city.
First an avenue of trees.Bike path, tram tracks, sidewalks. I think there is a car lane far left.Now that’s a protected bike lane. The bikes get to do what cars do, cross a valley on a road. When I see something like this I say with envy “Oh France.”And another bike ped bridge saving us from a down and up.Reading some WW2 history and the resistance in Gouesnou, not far out of Brest.
Well designed and comfortable bike paths are very welcome on this day since we have 85k to ride to Roscoff, and the English Channel to greet. We’ll finally be leaving the Bay of Biscay.
So far so good.You got this, says the glamour pony.On days of long rides it’s best to eat early and often. Our favorite Gazpacho flavor, cucumber and mint.Champagne gravel. Such a pretty path. Such blue skies.Fields of shallots. It took us a minute to remember what they are called so from now on we will call them scallywags. The style of chapels and steeples in this region is called Pont-Croix school style. Nothing exists to document if this style was the work of one architect or a guild of workers versed in specific techniques. The steeples look noticeably airy and with distinct buttresses.The English Channel! I texted this photo to a friend in Wales “We’re waving to you!”Made it to the Channel. Plouescat and the dramatic rocks of a low tide.Now get back on that bike and keep pedaling.Fields of artichokes. Another stop for food. I think this is our third lunch. And we made it to Roscoff. 85k later.The fearless tour leader. Successfully getting his one client (me) through a long day.The port of Roscoff was more charming than we anticipated. The big ferries from Ireland and England stop a bit further north, saving the historic harbor from the deluge of cars and trucks.A peaceful evening stroll after dinner.Some of my favorite things: pretty gate, blue shutters, and a well behaved gull being picturesque.It can be difficult to tell if buildings are inhabited. Shutters in disrepair, but curtains in the lower window. Rolling out of Roscoff the next day. Église Notre-Dame de Croaz-Batz behind me. Headed to Morlaix.Église Notre-Dame de Croaz-Batz has a very unusual and distinctive steeple.We had been joking about not seeing high tides as we always seemed to leave harbor towns at low tide. Finally – a high tide! Sweet chapel on a hill outside Roscoff.We’ve ridden a lot of places. I can be forgiven for sometimes forgetting for a moment where we are. In this lane I looked up at Rich and thought- Wait, are we in Wales? The narrow lane up a hill brought back strong memories of Pembrokeshire.But this allée of trees says France to me.And I will definitely remember the coast of Finistère. The marked cycle route took us down along a boat ramp which made for a perfect break spot.Our much loved and well ridden Koga World Traveler S bikes. Taking yet another break in Penzé. A picnic table! Perfectly timed for lunch.
Next post will continue the ride to Morlaix and on.
Getting sick while traveling. It’s inevitable, especially when eating and staying in so many different places. And when you are sick bike touring, it can feel particularly dark.
Just one of the risks of bike touring. Big wind, tides, and storms are part of life in Finistère, the westernmost department in France.Taking a walk along the bluff south of the hotel. Feeling a bit better after 24 hours…Leaving the lovely Les Sables Blanches Hotel where I spent the better part of 36 hours in bed with a lovely ocean view as my body recovered from a stomach bug. It could have been worse-:) The coast around Concarneau is part of the famous GR34 long distance walking route, which covers an incredible 2000km along the coast of Brittany. Much of our coastal bike route ( V45) covers the same zones, but not always as close to the sea.
You generally don’t know where you caught a specific ick, but this time we definitely have our suspicions. The lovely Chambre D’hôte we stayed at in Josselin had two visiting grandchildren, both of whom served us multiple courses by hand at breakfast. It was very cute, (and I guess France has more lax labor laws allowing 3 and 5 years olds to work!) but as we left, we were told the younger one had a stomach bug so was staying home from school…oh? It will be fine, since we’re tough.
First meal after a stomach ick is always the exciting and a bit daunting.
Well, luckily it’s 36 hour incubation period got me perfectly through our final two pleasant days of cycling as we headed to the coast. But then I got hit hard by a stomach flu type illness and I missed 4 meals, with a day of rest, saltines, hydration tablets and watered down apple juice. It always amazes me how strong our bodies are, until they aren’t.
Cheryl loving the unique designs of every cidre “coupée” in Brittany, and the fact we were eating together again. Cheryl’s pick with spring white asparagus and even some greens!My choice of classic emmental, egg, and a touch of andouille sausage went down ok (and stayed down, yea!).
But luckily the worst resolved fast and we were able to enjoy a lot more of our second day in Concarneau. But it would linger in my system for a few days more, making everything a bit tougher. And I suspect Cheryl also had a milder case, but she will never admit it. But ha, as we’ve been travelling together for almost 5 years straight, I know -;) She was slower too for a number of days. I know.
Cheryl ready to explore the walled city of Concarneau
So one expat somewhere recently commented to me about Concarneau with “Well, the French seem to like it”. Now I kind of get it. It’s pretty from above and famous in France, but super touristy and honestly, a little Disneyland like with a crammed single street of tourist shops inside the walled city. And the adjacent town itself is also fairly plain and lacking in character, with a frustrating layout of unimproved streets with narrow sidewalks. Not really much charm, but the coast and area surrounding Concarneau are beautiful. If you travel about Brittany, you will experience 100 more scenic and authentic places, maybe in a single day.
I’m ready to walk after a day in bed, and the lunchtime crowds are thin.You can walk the ramparts for free now as there used to be a fee, but I suspect too many people complained, as it’s a bit overrated, even when you explore at peak French lunchtime (12:30-1:30), a great travel hack anywhere in France.The ramparts take you behind the Main Street and restaurants, complete with Medieval plastic skylights and vents and exhausting fried food smell….Ok, I’m a bit crazy as my second meal recovering was a fairly spicy Thai curry. But it tasted so good. That look from Cheryl is “Are you sure about this?”Meeting this friendly cycle tourist Lukas leaving our second hotel in Concarneau cheered me up. He is Czech but lives in Italy and is currently circumnavigating the European Coasts to raise awareness for organ donorship. @ Wild.lukaas . The owner of our hotel had comped him a room and we gave him a little dinner money too -:)
So to facilitate another rest day and allow us to explore the walled city, we moved just 800m down the road, as unfortunately our lovely sea view room hotel at Les Sables Blanches was booked up for Friday night. But the other hotel was just fine and actually had a decent view, kind staff, and nice covered pool that had just opened for the season (most are covered here as it’s never that warm!). So we walked quite a bit, took a refreshing swim, and I even managed two meals successfully. So I was really looking forward to getting back on the bikes.
Swerving a bit to get up a 15-20% slope. I would pay for this early effort.Cheryl more sensibly hiking her bike up the same long grade out of Concarneau.
But despite being only a mere 35k from Concarneau to Benodet, and starting out feeling pretty good, my body started to revolt at about km20, as I realized that I still wasn’t really recovered and my body was not producing normal energy. I could eat, but it would take a few more days to get back fully to normal.
I was still on the mend, but the Boulangerie stop is still essential.The route swerved and weaved from dirt to pavement through a beautiful stretch of the Finistère coast.Every turn was a new view and perspective on this jagged coast.A lovely stretch of coast near Near Cap Coz. Here they did exactly the street treatment that Concarneau needed. Turn the two lane road road one way, and make a wide bike and walking space.Then through marshy backwaters with a ton of birdlife. (Cheryl’s intense look BTW)My intense look as the face actually matches how I felt… crampy and weak…but it was beautiful.Happy pastry break with a view.Smiling through adversity (really?!)It went from sun to wind to rain to all at once every 10 minutes or so. The weather can be crazy here at the ends of the continent.So as we approached Benodet, we decided it was now or never for lunch at 2:30p, so of course it was crepes, as they are everywhere here and a staple. Also, it’s pretty hard to get a bad crepe in Brittany, sort of like pizza in Naples.The lighthouse at Benodet. A very tidy town with lots of nice vacation homes and beautiful coastline.
Benodet was a fancy coastal town that didn’t really grab us, and we had to force two pizzas down quickly as the one Italian restaurant was booked (my fragile stomach really wanted pasta) but we agreed to take an early table, only order pizza and finish fast. You have to eat, but sometimes it’s tough in France given the rigid schedule and reservation culture. We often do make reservations, but the town didn’t feel busy on this slow Saturday night.
Lots of warnings and rules in Benodet.
The next day to Audierne promised some winds and a surprisingly varied route. It proved to be challenging but very rewarding with historic sights and an overload of scenery.
The smiles were authentic the next day as I paced myself better and felt stronger.The somewhat forgotten Pont L’Abbé, a once strategic control point for commerce and defense, including a stone bridge first built by a monk in the 14th century, complete with buildings atop.Chapel at Pont-l’Abbė.Our route included a gravel section on the old “Carrot Train” route, a small railway that brought goods to sale to and from Pont L’Abbé but was abandoned in 1935 with the rise of truck transport.A perfect lunch spot at the Church ruins along the Route Du Vent Solaire. The “Solar Wind Route” is named after the work of Pierre Jakez Hélias, a writer born in the Pays Bigouden region, the Solar Wind Route is like the wind: it often changes direction. Lots of 15th century ruins to explore all to ourselves
The next day was a hilly 55k from Benodet to Audierne. It was absolutely brilliant as I was filled with that post sickness euphoria that heightens the senses and makes you appreciate every mile, or kilometer. The weather also cooperated to keep the rain at bay and the strong winds only from the side.
A few free range chickens crossing the road. We don’t know why.The ruins, sky, and sound of the crashing ocean in the distance is inspiring, and reminded us of Ireland…really not too far away and another Celtic culture.Inspired to pilgrimage Breton flags and language are ubiquitous. Many kids now attend bilingual schools in this area, keeping the language alive.Breton flag and typical ceremonial dress, which often varies even from village to village.Blue is the color of the region and buildings take a beating along the windswept coast.Spring marks the start of festival season and small local events. The Sunday Microbrasserie event was tempting as we passed within a km but a break is tough to get restarted from and my stomach probably didn’t need an afternoon beer!?The Bay’of Audierne is vast and exposed.Rows of breakers from strong west winds. We quickly realized why the more popular swimming beaches are in less exposed areas of Finistère.Neolithic sites are dotted throughout the region, including a cave indicating habitation over 400,000 years BP. Yes, you read that correctly. See the amazing Menez DréganThis dolmen is new compared to the cave site below on the coast and only dates back 2,000 to 4,500 years BP.These Neolithic burial sites still feel awe inspiring, and put today’s troubles in a bit of perspective. Time will pass and it will all be ok. Or it won’t. But time will pass.Up and down relentlessly as we approached Audierne.Destination reached! Another spectacular corner room over the beach at the friendly and nicely renovated TY YS Hotel in Audierne. Swing season is great.The light of Brittany is both soft and ephemeral.Rolling out of Audierne for the interior on another beautiful day.Audierne is built on a major inlet for protection and reminded us of Scandinavian ports such as Bergen.So psyched to be riding and digesting again!These small hearts on the road signs were unique
We arrived to the city of Audierne, which feels like an outpost near the ends of the continent, because it is. No one passes through here on a whim, and the people seemed extra hearty, even for the Bretons. We loved our small modest coastal hotel, and another night of ocean waves breaking to lull us through a solid night of bike touring sleep. We headed out the next day on an route that arced to the northeast and then back into Quimper, the cultural heart of Finistère.
Heading up Le Goyen from Audierne. A spectacular morning. The tidal reach up the river is extensive.Finally heading upland towards Douarnenez.The architectural church style here is the “Pont Croix” and sure enough, you can walk all the way to Santiago de Compestela from here if you have a few months and good shoes.The beautiful Chapelle Notre-Dame-de-Kérinec, literally in the middle of nowhere. Why?Water was definitely a reason for this Chapels Location. Calvary cross and outdoor pulpit. Oh, and an access point to get up there….Apparently in the 1700s, the occasional Sunday Pardons (religious festivals) required an outdoor venue as crowds gathered from the countryside.Perhaps the spring was a draw here and motivation to build a church. It may also have been the drive to override the pagan Neolithic sites of the area.Speaking of Neolithic sites….Another cozy dolmen just down the road.And onto the Menhir with my spring camouflaged panniers!This is a big one.Big sky and sea.Oops, how’d this get here?
This day of riding summed up bike touring perfectly as we started out blissfully into the morning sunshine and a beautiful interior trail along the Goyen River. We then explored empty chapels and Neolithic sites as we crested the hills toward Douarnenez. But the afternoon was a drag a Cheryl had a somewhat unexpected hangry meltdown after we bought groceries at a crowded supermarket, and then couldn’t find a place to eat for miles…it still stuns us how moody bike touring can be. But what always helps is a bit of patience and understanding as we’ve all been there and we have to remind each other, it will all get better. And it’s all worth it.
And after a brief afternoon meltdown (Cheryl’s turn) on a somewhat dull gravel rail trail, the happy bike travelers make it to charming Quimper.
Château de Josselin in the flattering sunset light.
An Irish ex-pat couple we chatted with along the canal path told us that we would love Josselin. Very very pretty town, they said. Rich does a lot of research about distances, what we can reasonably ride in a day, places to stay which are bike friendly- and that generally means an enclosed space where we can lock the bikes – and grocery stores and bakeries to fuel us up for the ride. That means he, or we (I’m not super involved in that part of planning), don’t look at a lot of online photos of the actual towns and villages. Which means we get to be surprised! And that’s often a total treat.
Our lovely room in Josselin at 14 st-michel chambre d’hôte. A super well run place.Josselin has 54 half timbered buildings. Some date back to the 1530s.How are you still standing?And the super helpful and informative history plaques add to our enjoyment.A small cafe run out of one of the historic buildings.So well maintained. And some work going on right nearby.Cat shaped bell. Doorbell or bell to call the cat home?Rolling out of Josselin. It’s a warm day and we’ll be shedding our jackets after the downhill.What a fantastic bike route. Complete with comfort stops.It’s going to be another warm day so we’re happy to refill our bottles and use a toilet (instead of a nature break.).Approaching another écluse.Warm weather and sunshine means another helmet cover comes out, the hat! Perfect for the sun phobic cyclist. We’re crossing a ride we did in Brittany in 2023, we visited L’orient and Pontivy on that ride.How many cute lock keeper houses did I photograph? A lot.Bingo. Juice with Jesus. We love the small roadside shrines to Mary and Jesus because they frequently have shade and a bench. Outskirts of Pontivy. A town we stayed in and I cannot remember. Rich remembers it.Farm fields and sunshine in Séglien.Guémené-sur-Scorff, our next stay. Aux Sabots Rouges, a hôtel and restaurant in a stunning old building.It’s now Tuesday and a lot of the restaurants in town are closed. After taking a walk around to make sure we’d get food somewhere- we sat for an aperitif while we waited for the crêpe restaurant to open. Hopefully.The town had recently lost its Petites Cités de Caractère status, which was upsetting for the owner of our BnB. It sounded as if it was an administrative lapse on the part of the mayor. We found Guémené to be loaded with character.Cider at the crêperie .Delicious goat cheese, mushroom, walnut and greens crêpe.Flower beds of character. Another stunningly old house of character.And the best addition to any town, a cat of character. Very petable. Purring like crazy.Rich named him Gravlax. After his slightly salmon tinged color. Murder mittens of character.My new favorite yogurt flavor, lime.We have a long ride ahead of us, so a grocery store stop is the first order of business. Tonight, we sleep at the coast!Back to the land of cartons of Gazpacho! Yum. Bingo. Cheese with Jesus.And making bike touring nachos. Laughing cow cheese (kind of sacrilegious in a country with so much good cheese, but it goes down easy and travels well), tortilla chips and guacamole.
Eat early and often. That’s a bike touring rule. Especially on a hot day. And a long day. We had 85 kilometers to do which is a long day this early in a bike trip and half on dirt and gravel. So, lots of snacks, electrolytes in our water bottles, and pod casts and music in our ears.
Meslan. The color of the stone houses and blue shutters. Adorable.Another food break in Le Faouët. The 16th-century timber market hall behind Rich is still used. It’s a rare surviving example of a large timber structure from that period, per Wikipedia.We left the canal and were on small roads, complete with farm vehicles.Uh oh. Rich flagged down a passing car to ask the driver if they thought we could get through. Yes. So on we went. We always say to each other “they don’t mean bikes”. Bingo.We’re on a rail trail for the last 30 kms or so. Which is nice. It’s hot and we’re getting tired.Still smiling.When it’s hot and you need energy? Ice cream bars. Magnum Mini scene of destruction. Yes, we did feel a bit ill a few miles later.I had just enough mental and physical energy to stop and snap a picture of this leopard Appaloosa horse. I had to check with my sister that it was an actual type of horse, not a genetic accident. It’s rare, she said. And beautiful.We made it to the North Atlantic Ocean. The Bay of Biscay, actually. Our nice big room for two nights at Les Sables Blancs. Big deck and nice view.Our trip so far. The far right hearts are our friends near Geneva, and Lyon. The long gap was the 6 hr train from Lyon to Angers.And a closer view from Angers to Concarneau, where we are now.Unfortunately, since this nice sunset photo on the beach was taken, Rich has been felled by a stomach bug.
There were other Bike Touring Bingo moments, the well dressed gentleman strolling the canal path while reading a book, the small river otter darting out across the path and then changing their mind when they saw us and darting back to the canal bank. A farmer in a beret leading his draft horse along the Loire River path. And this is also a form of bike touring bingo; who will get sick? This time it’s Rich. Usually he has a stomach of iron and it’s me who gets an upset digestive system. In the midst of his illness he is still travel planning, trying to figure out where we go next as this hotel is full for the Friday night.
A sunny day with a tailwind on Nantes Brest canal. One of the many écluse buildings. Lock keeper houses.
The Nantes Brest canal, conceived by Napoleon as a strategic inland connection of two important ports to avoid the British controlled ocean, is 390 kms long. That’s a good distance for a nice long game of Bike Touring Bingo.
Leaving Nantes. The canal starts a bit outside of Nantes proper, and the leaving of cities is frequently a bit of a jumble.Pastry break! At 17 kms. That’s a chocolate babka from marguerite Boulangerie du coin in Nantes.
Bike Touring Bingo is an adaptation to the office game BS Bingo, where you and your co-workers would have made up Bingo cards on the xerox machine of all your boss’s favorite and overused phrases, to be checked off during interminable conference calls.
Babka ready for its close up. Hazelnut and chocolate.
Bike touring bingo is much more free form. It’s any bike touring eventuality – such as having to open all four panniers to find the thing you’re searching for. Or getting stung by nettles. It can also be any French cliche, for example an elegant French woman bicycling by with a baguette in her basket.
Finally out into the countryside. Canal this way! Oddly named snail restaurant also this way? That sign deserves a bingo square.It’s steadily getting warmer and the day is calm but with a nice tailwind. The travel planner stops to admire a helpful map.Lunch break in Nort-sur-Erdre. We’re appreciating how well benched and picnic tabled this route is. So many benches.We’re on a Camino de Santiago trail. We chatted with one pilgrim and saw two others. They had 1,200 kilometers to walk to Santiago de Compostela, Spain. We’re headed the opposite direction from the pilgrims so merrily we roll along.Bike touring bingo square! French gentleman in striped shirt smoking a ciggy while piloting a boat. I got bonus points the next day when I saw the same guy (I think) having a wee by the side of a marina.Our first night on the canal in Blain at a lovely Chambre d’hôte, Le Nid d’Omer. We’re trying to remember to take photos of our rooms before we dump our panniers and make an ugly mess.Bingo! Well behaved chambre d’hôte cat observing breakfast.
The canal links up four rivers, so it’s fascinating to see the change from canal to river. It was quite a clever engineering feat as only 20% of the route had to be made from scratch.
Here’s a tiny Rich riding past a boat in a canal section.And here he is waiting for me to catch up in Fégréac on a section of L’Isac River. So many birds!Between those two photos was a coffee/tea/Easter chocolate break.And a lunch break. Although the path was busy this Easter Sunday, we always found places to stop and sit.The back of my bike. The front of Rich’s bike.
In our travels around the world we’ve always felt welcome as Americans, or at least not disliked. We always say people are good at distinguishing between a person and the country’s politics. But these are different times. Awful things are happening and the USA is responsible. We questioned if we wanted our American flags on our bikes at all. But we are American, we have to own it. Rich has a French flag to show our affection for France, and my No Kings flag hopefully conveys our lack of support for the current administration. We’ve had quite a few conversations so far and no French person has been anything but kind and understanding and as upset as we are about the war.
“I’m a little potato and I believe in you.” Thank you little potato at the crêpe restaurant in Redon.Crêpes and cider. The Breton stand by for dinner. Delicious. Dessert crêpe with caramel beurre salé. Salted caramel sauce. Yum.
No photo of the hotel room in Redon. It was adequate. And small. We thought Redon would be a bit of a nothing town, and quite empty on Easter Sunday evening, but it turned out to have a lot of half timbered buildings and some fascinating historical plaques to help tourists understand the history of the buildings.
Half timbered building from the 1600s, now with shops on the ground floor, as many were originally both businesses and dwellings it’s fitting.Sunset over the canal in Redon.Nettles. Rich won that bingo square with a “shortcut” suggested by Komoot. Thankfully it was a small nettling. Person traveling with a donkey? Is that on my Bingo card? It is now.I forgot his name, but he had just bought the donkey and he was headed out for a ten year ramble! With his cat too, who is wearing a GPS collar and was not happy about the crazy cat lady wanting to get her hands on him.Lunch. Smoked salmon for Rich and peanut butter and dried cranberries for me.Crossing through Malestroit. This is perhaps one of the most interesting and beautiful canals we’ve ridden.The écluse houses are adorable. The riding surface of the path is mostly really smooth fine gravel.My ongoing love affair with French bike route signage.Château de Josselin. On the Oust River. Still the residence of the 14th Duke of Rohan.
Rich at the Quai de Versailles of the Erdre River in Nantes.
Yes, I admit straight off that we will need to visit Nantes again. We first came through in September 2023 and spent two nights mostly taking care of business and exploring the old town streets. We went to Les Machines de l’Île which is a fun steam punk type attraction. This time we spent two nights mostly taking care of business (laundry, blogging and travel planning) and exploring the new transit and bike improvements, and a trip to Trentemoult, a small fishing village turned art village.
But first things first. A beer and a glass of wine. Le Chemin De Traverse Bar à Bières. In the USA, beer focused places frequently do not have wine, that’s almost never a problem in France.
After a good night’s sleep, despite some fellow hotel guests being inconsiderate until a big American opened the door and scowled at them, we headed out to visit Trentemoult. Best part? You get to take a little ferry boat across the River Loire.
So much work going on in Nantes. A new bridge, the Anne de Bretagne bridge, is being built for two new tram lines, bikes, and “Beyond its practical function, the bridge was primarily designed as a place for strolling.”!The towers of the new bridge, connecting the city to the Île de Nantes.Our ferry terminal.The N1 Navibis.Yes, it’s raining a bit but that doesn’t stop anyone.Electronic ticket validation.The new ferry terminal on the Trentemoult side. It’s a short walk to the town from the new terminal and you have a few things to see. La Pendule. Yes, that pendulum is swinging – except in high winds.Ador, a Nantes street artist with a lot of works in Nantes.Good thing about cloudy skies? Nice light to take photos. That’s the river Loire, we’ve now cycled our missing link of the Loire and we can head off the river.The narrow car free streets of the little village are very atmospheric. Especially in the mist.Our bright cycling jackets fit right in.I looked at this photo about five times before I realized it’s the zebra’s stripes hanging on the laundry line. Around every corner- more murals.Steampunk seahorse.Yellow submarine, or bathyscaphe?Coffee and hot chocolate break. Heading off to walk back to town.
Our day in Nantes was technically a rest day. But with so much to see and do we end up walking about 20,000 steps anyway. Is that really a rest day?
Crossing the construction zone and seeing that Nantes is working on three new tram lines. Go Nantes!Tram construction is catnip for the engineer and the transit advocate. Street art and a bus built into this building.The Île de Nantes is full of fun artistic delights.
An afternoon of laundry and chilling left us needing more walking, so off to the Jardin des Plantes we went. One advantage of early spring bike touring is the blooms.
Peak bloom.Tulips in time for Easter.I love these flame tulips.
The tram system, which Nantes is expanding, is already quite impressive. Not only for its free flowing movements, unhampered by car traffic, but also for the fun color schemes on the trams.
Colorful tram number one.And another great artistic tram.Rich added for scale in front of yet another patterned tram.
We were also very impressed with the intersections on one of Nantes’ main streets, Cr des 50 Otages. The name of the street is another reason for us to come back to Nantes, to visit the history museum. The name of the boulevard pays tribute to the 50 hostages or victims of a WW2 event.
The intersections along this street have been redesigned with traffic circles unlike anything we’ve ever seen. Almost zero markings. Here it is from the view of a cyclist biking through.And from the Google street map view of a double circle. Tram tracks and pedestrian plaza space to the left, Bus and car lane, bike lanes in the middle, another bus car lane, and then more sidewalk space.
We rode this street on our way out of Nantes towards the Nantes Brest canal. It took us to an area we hadn’t visited and gave us another reason to come back to Nantes- the basin of the Erdre River with the Île de Versailles and live aboard boats and loads of quai side attractions.
Leaving our hotel. The Best Western Nantes Hôtel Graslin, with good nearby bike parking.Yes, there was the obligatory boulangerie stop.So many pastries, so difficult to choose.Always a sucker for a cute bike. Rolling out of town. Happy travelers sitting on the steps of the opera house enjoying the evening scene.
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.
Wednesday Morning leaving Angers, France
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.
A nice walk with friends to fight off the arrival jet lag in the Haute Savoie.
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.
Snow and sun in the Lower Alps.This is a bike tour?Hannah and Cheryl at Hirmentaz.Some of our friends skied, but we opted for snowshoeing, as didn’t want to risk our 6 weeks on the bikes, especially when we haven’t been on skis for years!
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!
Strike a pose Cheryl!
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 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.
Are we really heading out on our bikes again in this weather?The calendar says spring, but the plants say winter.
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.
Finally loaded and heading down the valley below the snow line ~800m.Cheryl getting used to her loaded touring bike again, but as they say, “it’s just like riding a bike” -;)But first, mandatory stop at the boulangerie in Boëge for pastries and Poulet Curry Sandwiches for the train, tastier and only half the price of Geneva Station.Cheryl staying warm on the platform in Geneva as it was a very cold and windy day. And no, the TGV/Lyria train which runs to Paris was not ours as it requires you to dismantle your bike as baggage.Villages and historic sights abound.Ready to catch our local train to Lyon, but alas, it’s 30 minutes late.
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.
I had to try the new circular bike ramp to bike parking at the renovated Lyon Part Dieu A tidy photo of our upgraded room at the bike friendly and well located Best Western Pont de Wilson in Lyon before we spread out our junk. If only all rooms bike touring were this spacious.
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).
Cheryl was looking forward to her Pot Lyonnais, a slightly reduced carafe size with extra thick glass on the bottom, a relic of the owners cheating the silk weavers (Canuts) out a bit of weekly wine ration in the 19th century.This was one of our favorite takes on Sichuan food we’ve ever had, Frites de la maison à la sichuannaise. Crispy red peppers and toasted sesame seeds clinging to all.Enjoying an aperitif on the sunny and lively Quay de la Rhône in Lyon.The beautiful new welcome cyclists get at Lyon Part Dieu after traversing Lyon effortlessly on new separated bikeways that feed into the station area from all directions. Ah France, je t’aime.
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.
Cheryl at Lyon Pernache making elevators look easy. This one was roomy, but the previous one down closed on my back wheel!
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.
Our Chateau view from the super friendly (and bike friendly) Hotel Marguerite D’Anjou in Angers.A stark reminder to us that our presidents used to help and inspire people globally. Angers has a lovely old town and dozens of half-timbered houses dating back more than 600 years.And colorful and extensive trams.…Eco landscaping companies.The majestic Cathédrale Saint-Maurice d’Angers.And even big pink doors.
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 it 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.
Angers is a center of urban horticulture for France.Lovely spring gardens and a defensible space.Clean, green, lively and full of endless pedestrian space, Angers is very pleasant to wander for a day or two.Another dream of the past 9 months was a proper French Breakfast, and the Hotel Marguerite D’Anjou did a very nice version, with perfect croissants and baguettes from the bakery next door, local yogurt, and Museli.This picture ca. 1962 in the history and Art Museum showed the threat of redevelopment on the historic city center of Angers as the French emerged from the economic challenges of WWII into a period of prosperity. The contrast of old and new is stark.Heading down the Maine River to the Loire.Our ultimate destination was Nantes, but in two leisurely days of riding.Cheryl on the gravel in her pink wool racing jersey.In the chaos of USA news this year, we somehow missed that the Department of the Maine et Loire had some of its worst flooding in 25 years in mid February. These historic markers in La Pointe don’t yet indicate the 2026 flood.This friendly man was tracking every cycle tourist through town with push pins on a world map. Seattle, WA is now represented for 2026!We were actually the first cycle tourists of the season at both our hotels in Angers and Saint Florent Le Viel, as it was a rough winter with 43 days of rain out of 48, record flooding and continued cold last week. First pastry break along the Loire.A reminder of our home neighborhood cat Charlie looking for the start of lunch in Savennières, but alas, a few minutes too early.We mostly had the Loire to ourselves so early in the season…just the way I like to wander.A separate bike path on a bridge is always appreciated as you can stop to enjoy the view.Along a pastoral section of road, I was suddenly shocked to see the 2026 flood height indicated in blue chalk ABOVE me, outside this farm house!To Cheryl’s disappointment, the yurts and bar are not yet open for the season. Babacool heaven.A gray first day with a bit of mizzle reminded of us of our new Seattle home.So you take some chances on your first full day out on tour.But Pork Rillettes are officially off the lunch picnic menu forever.A great room overlooking the Loire in Saint Florent le Viel. Swing season score.And short days on the bike means plenty of time (and energy) to explore the cute little town.Not our Chateau.Dinner at the little family run hotel was very good, especially the home made smoked salmon, which tasted more like fine sashimi.Cheryl’s white wine glass choice, an adjacent appellation of Savennières, recieved high marks.And another new Loire appellation (maybe?) for us was our red choice with dinner.Family run for three generations…first cycle tourists of the season! There will be many to follow.The second day on the Loire started to brighten up.The path pleasantly followed the north bank of the river, with an occasional train whirring by.Nearly our entire 110k between Angers and Nantes was on path, bikeway, or extremely quiet road. Spring was following us to Nantes and time to shed some layers.
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.
Bikeways greet us into beautiful Nantes.
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 -:)
Sunshine and feeling back in the swing of things. Vive La France!
Hiking along the middle fork of the Snoqualmie River.
Now that we have a home base again, what is it going to be like to travel? We spent four years with only a storage unit in California, so there were no worries about a house, or about things and stuff. We had with us what we had with us. It all got packed up and moved with us every time. A lot of thoughts and worries can now swirl around our brains. The house. The small garden. Our friends and neighbors. And, an even bigger worry is how will we be greeted in the world now that American leadership has lost even more international credibility and respect?
After seven months of no international travel – except one fun train trip to Vancouver BC – have we lost our nomad travel mojo? Well, we’re about to find out. We’re headed out for seven weeks of bike touring in France.
Cheese puff mimicking a rocky ridge.
One big thing we don’t have to fret about is boxing and flying with our bikes. Our wonderful Koga World Traveler S bikes are still in France at our ‘What Did We Do to Deserve Such Good Friends’ place. We don’t really have to worry too much about our home either, since another set of WDWDDSGF will be checking in on it when house sitters aren’t in residence. We don’t need any new vaccinations or visas. So, any real worry is all in our heads.
Every heart is a place where we’ve slept.
But the biggest cloud over our American heads is what our country is doing to the rest of the world and ourselves. We always bike tour with small American flags flying from our bikes. We know that everyone’s first question about travelers is “Where are they from?” The flags answer that question and start a lot of fun conversations with folks. This time we’re adding a No Kings flag to show our dismay over our current leadership.
No Kings.
We can’t hide our nationality, we don’t pretend to be Canadian- which is always silly but particularly rude these days, in light of how we’ve been treating our lovely neighbors to the north. We’re American. It’s obvious in so many ways. So, we’ll see how the conversations are going to be different on this trip.
Riding the Centennial Trail out of Snohomish. Trying to get myself in at least a little bike touring shape. That’s my new US touring bike. Rich is already in shape, he just has to practice waiting for me!After a final cold snap and snow, spring is here in Seattle. Cherry trees on the UW Campus are a good indicator of spring. Spring fever and cherry blossoms.
What is our basic itinerary? A fun meet up with friends in the Haute-Savoie, and sort out our bikes, then Brittany and Normandy, and Paris. The travel planner (Rich) has many ideas and tricks up his sleeve. And, since he’s actually had time to travel plan, bookings for the first week or two! Our usual fly by the seat of our pants travel isn’t necessary when he has time on a laptop to research and plan. His one client (me) has absolute confidence in him.
Headed to the Seattle airport on Link light rail.
So here we go! More from the roads of France later. As our SF friend BikeDave always said: “Have a nice ride home.”
We continued our Northwest summer ramble out of Seattle and headed up I-5 about an hour and a half to Bellingham, WA.
Emerald or « Toad Lake » near Belingham, Washington.
Closer to Vancouver than Seattle, Bellingham frequently appears on “Best places to retire is the USA” lists or click bait, and for good reason. It’s a small city (90k) on Puget Sound in a beautiful natural setting, kept vibrant by the constant youthful churn of 14,000 students at Western Washington University. This was our third visit to Bellingham, but the first time we had spent a week.
My summer bike at Clayton Beach, part of Larrabee State Park and the Chuckanut Mountains
Our house sit was across from a small lake at the edge of town, but amazingly secluded up in a steep vale in the local foothills of the Cascades. Our responsibilities included a very sweet outdoor dog and seven chickens. The dog was reportedly standoffish but we soon bonded with him and enjoyed some fun walks around the lake and woods.
Lake loop with an enthusiastic leader Our dog letting me know he was ready for a walk!Our house sit included all the fresh eggs we could eat!
House sitting is great for really trying out new locales to see if it a place we may want to spend more time or even settle for a time. We really liked Bellingham in the summer and had considered settling here at one point, but think now that we still need a bit more city in our next home.
Downtown Bellingham is in the process of reimagining its industrial waterfront with popular interim uses as a wild bmx track, shipping container bars and restaurants, and summer festivals.
The Pacific Northwest and Seattle in particular are so different than the Bay Area we called home for most of the past 30 years. We are used to the pace and competition of dense SF living and you really notice the difference in the Seattle area. We are the angsty rushed city folk here. The massive amount of wealth and economic prosperity generated in San Francisco and Silicon Valley has put pressure on every aspect of living; cost, housing, services, transportation. We lived a great life in San Francisco by keeping our work and home close and cycling, walking, or transiting most places.
Riding the #40 bus in Seattle. It’s fairly extensive, clean and reliable, but can we live comfortably without a car here?
And our double income, no kids (DINKS) life kept us comfortable financially. But we could feel the strain the past 20 years on services and the vast gulf that was growing between “knowledge workers” and those in service or more traditional blue collar roles. San Francisco and California has tried to fight this trend with social programs (minimum wage, city health plans, affordable housing, etc) but it can’t keep up with the demand for housing. It’s a global problem in wealthier areas of the planet, but especially evident in California.
Cycling the boardwalk to the Fairhaven neighborhood of Bellingham, arguably its most charming area.The Bellingham area is unrivaled for mountain biking, including expert crazy bike only downhill runs
So back to Seattle. Seattle has a lot of the same challenges as the Bay Area, including tech wealth and escalating housing costs. But as we noted in our winter visit Seattle blogs, they ARE building more and have looser zoning laws near transit by right. (meaning NIMBYs can’t stop it) DADUs (Detached Accessory Housing Unit!), townhomes and condos are sprouting all over the city in almost every neighborhood.
Great to meet and chat with fellow nomads at a meetup in Edmunds, WA
All this fairly random looking new housing looks strange to us as we’ve hardly see any housing construction in San Francisco, except the thousands of units concentrated South of Market, Mid and Upper Market Street Areas, and a few other pockets and buildings. But they are often not in the areas where most people want to live.
Great Pho at Miss Pho in Crown Hill. The diversity and quality of the food in Seattle is first rate, but unlike SF, you may need to search for it in strip malls.
Seattle is building more where people want to live, as well as very dense high rise residential in First Hill, and the South Lake Union edge of downtown. Add to this an ever expanding light rail metro system (thanks to a $54B 2018 bond measure) and you have a fairly dynamic feel to the City. It’s almost twice the size of SF, and feels more spread out, especially from north to south. It generally doesn’t have the magical density and intimate feeling walking from neighborhood to neighborhood as San Francisco and many more trips are by car. This is a big difference for us to adjust to if we settle in Seattle.
Golden Gardens Beach Park; beautiful and swimable, if you don’t mind chilly water!The Puget Sound beaches are more for exploration than swimming
SF is dense but could and should be denser, with more new buildings all over the western half of the city, where the weather and transit are great. But NIMBYs, Prop 13, and zoning keep the city at a relative standstill. It’s created a bit of a housing doom loop, since new housing construction is so expensive, that it’s not even affordable for developers selling condos for 1-2 million each. We’ve blogged on this on our past visits, but the issue just gets bigger and bigger and plays a big role in our decision on where we might settle down next in the World (if we do -;).
« Bruun Idon » at Lincoln Park, one of Thomas Dambu’s six troll sculptures in the region and made entirely of recycled/reused materials.The wooden boat center on Lake Union.
But to be honest, the biggest difference we noticed in Seattle this stay was the pace of life and what I like to call the “expectation of goodness.” People here are more patient and expect that you are, and are acting honestly and in the public good. A friend of mine in SF noted to me that Seattle today is what SF was like in the 80s and 90s. A bit slower, more provincial, and where everyone was not quite so full of themselves. It’s a cutthroat world in the Bay Area…not quite New York City levels yet, but noticeably more manic than the Pacific Northwest cities. Seattle’s slightly slower pace is attractive to us in our early retirement.
The Iconic Aurora Bridge built in 1932 connects Fremont to Queen Anne
So after a pleasant week exploring the trails and cycling paths of the beautiful Bellingham area, we headed back to Seattle for our final house sit of the trip in the Ballard/Sunset Hill neighborhood. We loved the area as it’s very quiet traffic wise and has a nice grid of roads cut off on the western side edge by a bluff and Puget Sound. There are some views toward the Olympic Mountain Range that allows you to get out of the trees.
Cheryl tending our house sit Pea Patch, a community garden system throughout Seattle’s neighborhoods. Garden fresh tomatoes and beans from the Pea PatchWatch Kitten in BallardSampling some beers at Lucky Envelope, one of over a dozen craft breweries in Ballard alone!Another magnificent troll outside the National Nordic Museum in Ballard Cheryl contemplates how to get some of the endless driftwood to our future garden.Our house sit kitten testing breakfast table boundaries.
The grid layout of most of Seattle makes walking and biking very tenable, but the hills are a challenge, even coming from San Francisco!? Why? Because the large masses of each neighborhood often rise up and fall over long distances, meaning a trip back up to your house can mean climbing up gradual hills for 10, 20, or even 50 blocks! And much of the east-west geography is steep, so cross town journeys can be steep in places.
The Neighborhood Greenways are a nice way to get around by bike in Seattle. The hills and rough pavement mean that wider tires and electric assist would be a great addition for getting around realistically by bikeEnjoying Ballard’s Scandinavian roots with good friends Cecily and Christine at Skål Beer Hall.
Oh but the trees, mountains, and water interplay are so nice! And there is a good bike network with some famous long distance rail trails, such as the 20 mile Burke Gilman, which links up much of the interior shoreline of North Seattle. I was able to do a 35 mile north Lake Washington loop from North Seattle almost entirely on separated paths…very nice.
Saying goodbye to Seattle summer for now with one final swim in Lake Washington….so nice and different from the always cold S.F. Bay.
So we loaded up the rental car and headed early out of Seattle for the 2 day drive back to San Francisco, again with an overnight in Ashland. The drive is possible in one long 13+ hour day, but we never like to drive more than half of that in a day. Heck, we don’t like to drive to the grocery store, but sometimes a car is the most convenient way and it is a chance to listen to some good podcasts and music!
Enjoying a road bike ride back in the Bay AreaAnd saying hello to some UK friends Frank and Liv in Alamo Square on a lovely fog-free evening.
Our four days back in the Bay Area were busy with sorting gear at the storage unit, haircuts, finances, Covid/flu shots, etc. but also some nice time with friends. But we now just arrived back to our euro-base in France after a successful and fairly pleasant one-way journey on Condor Airways. (SFO-FRA-GVA)
So happy to be back in the Vallée Verte
Now we’ll relax a bit, get over our jet lag, sort our gear, and get ready to head out on the bikes for another fall bike tour adventure in a few days. More on that soon. A Bientôt!
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.
Jardin Darcy at sunset.Le chien de la Tabac.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.Spring really is here!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 breakWe 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.Hills, rain, and another forced smile.
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 dayA 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.Hey, Grenoble is cool!Love the green tram tracks (but not all the rain).Next level cargo bikes in a seriously green city.Trams and bikes, what’s not to love?!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.Cheryl heading to the wine!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.Spring fragrance in Conflans.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.Postcard shot, Annecy.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.The lake and mountains are omnipresent.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!Swimming with the swans.Big hair on Lake Annecy.
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.Vallée Verte welcome committeeFeeding 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!
Although we’ve spent a lot more time in the peaceful countryside over the past three years, we still love cities. We know the potential benefits of proximity and convenience. We love efficient transit and the embedded health gains offered by traveling on foot to a myriad of urban destinations.
Petronas towers in KLCC. Where can we walk from here?
So after our Borneo adventure, we decided to return to Kuala Lumpur (KL) after 10 years and spend a week soaking up its multiethnic mix, food, and smattering of sights. It’s changed and grown a lot, and mostly for the better on the transit and walking front.
Indeed, KL has developed rapidly
So this post is about our brief experience getting around only by foot and metro for a week. First. we choose to stay in a centrally located high rise apartment complex in the KLCC (city center) that had pools, gym and was close to two major transit lines. The amenities at KL apartments and hotels are nice, and relatively affordable. And pools and a gym can be an effective way to avoid the heat of the day.
Fenced and hemmed in on a major street. It’s often single file and one way jockeying. The newer sidewalks are better.Sidewalks are often used for other uses than walking.But the food in KL is awesome, such as this curry laksa, and great food courts hidden away in shopping centers and office buildings
It’s key to note that as KL has proudly developed from a swampy tin mining village over the past 100 years into a city of over 2 million, in a region known as the the Klang valley that has over 7 million people. Its human scaled grid of walkable Kampungs has mostly been replaced and overlain by a network of developments, asphalt and slip ramps and arterials designed to move people around (almost) solely by automobile. This is a very different trajectory than some other Asian cities such as Hong Kong or Tokyo that have had layers of transit systems functioning for over a hundred years and never lost their core walkability. It’s much smaller than Bangkok and has developed much later when the automobile has been king.
The 57th floor sky pool at the Ascott Star was an experience and great way to beat the heat. We were not suffering this week.Buildings are often wrapped in one or two additional asphalt lanes for “local circulation”Masses of people fighting for measly sidewalk space near the Petronas Towers. Did I mention the food? Old school KL open air Indian Food at the Sai Hills CornerPedestrian pain by design. A ridiculous 15 second crossing at the major intersection of Jin Sultan Ismail and Jalan P Ranlee in KLCC.
This continued mega development has been masterminded by leaders, designers, and developers that see a vision of auto-only travel. But there are changes afoot as the realization that moving EVERYONE in a car is not possible with the sort of real density being built in much of KL, and especially the KLCC. We noted at least a dozen new high rise buildings under construction in the core. And they are big and tall, and often have a mall or retail.
As somewhat overwhelming and dystopian it feels at times, I think it’s really an amazing city center as the lack of a grid makes a random, somewhat circular pattern of buildings swirling around the hub of the city at KLCC Park and the beautiful Petronas twin towers. And you can walk on most streets and get between sites via transit and foot. But it’s not always easy. Cars are always first priority.
But to be fair about walking, we have to talk about the heat. My god the heat! It’s hot most of the time and only mildly dips in the evenings and early mornings. The lowest temperature EVER recorded in KL is 64F (18C), a temperature our native San Francisco barely exceeds on average day! March starts to get hotter in KL and it topped out at 95 (35C)for much for our stay. It did cool off the last few days and some rain and cloud cover kept it to 32C/89F which makes waking more bearable from midday onwards. With full sun, the vast stretches of asphalt and concrete heat up and limit the cooling possible at street level, even into late evening. But anywhere with trees is pleasant and notably cooler.
Cars blocking both ends of a bus stop in KLCC.Crossing the Saloma Link pedestrian bridge, a beautiful and critical link between KLCC and Kampung Baru that opened in 2018.Crossing the highways and Klang River to Kampung Baru.Walking through Kampung Baru makes you appreciate the immense urbanization that has occurred in the rest of KL.Old school Malaysian life in Kampung Baru.More people walking and biking in this human scaled and gridded neighborhood.
And other issues wear you down. The ubiquitous forecourts, now even more essential for ride hailing trips, dominate the streetscape. You must cross or share the space with moving cars, And slip, frontage, and garage access ways define the pedestrian environment. As a lifelong advocate (and sometimes designer) for better walking environments, KL offers a huge opportunity. Sidewalks come and go, curb heights are massive (perhaps for storm drainage?) and pedestrian crossings few and far between.
But from what we’ve experienced in our brief week, you CAN walk in a lot of KL, especially in the city center (KLCC) and adjacent dense neighborhoods.
What else do you do in KL for a week? Get a haircut at the mall!
Mass rail transit started late here, but is now starting to change the center of gravity of movement. We especially loved the new Yellow line which opened in 2022, and has excellent design standards for comfort and station access. The older lines (such as red and blue) are have lower capacity and get packed at rush hour; even requiring guards to monitor and control platform crowding from the mezzanine or concourse levels. Clearly, people want to take transit or are choosing it over the congestion and cost of car ownership. But capacity and design have not matched road building to date; but with two more metro lines being built and set to open in the next 10 years, things may get even better.
There is some tropical randomness and greenery at street level which keeps things interesting and cooler. This is Ficus racemosa, the cluster fig. Edible. Macaques eat this and humans make it into chutneys.
The City leaders are now recognizing that walking trips are essential in the core and in station areas. But outside the center neighborhood, most areas are still designed as disconnected nodes of business or residential developments with masses of parking.
Bikes are decorations only in most of KL.Bukit Bintang is another refreshingly human scaled neighborhood.The 1km pedestrian skyway links a few malls and buildings south of Petronas Towers. It’s nice to have a somewhat cooler walkway, but not a great overall solution to lousy streets.
The inefficiency adds cost to everything and may be an extra reason why KL is such the labor draw. It’s one of the few places in Malaysia where you can live and work without a car. Car ownership is a huge burden on a striving lower and middle class. All of the Borneo cities we spent time in had virtually no public transit and were fairly spread out. With modest wages; car transport and maintenance is a huge part of the monthly budget.
Some riverside amenities- like the mist cloud- make taking a walk more appealing.The boardwalk was fun to explore.
Interestingly enough, scooter culture is small in Malaysia. It’s hot, distances are far, and there is a long rainy season. It’s also further along the development scale than its neighbors like Thailand and Indonesia, where scooters are still huge. But an average car costs 5-10x more than a scooter.
This is a disease all over the developing and developed world. Many cities and suburbs in the United States lack a good walking environment and culture, so I’m not singling out KL or Malaysia, for a unique deficiency, just noting that it could be so much better with some real focus on pedestrian access, comfort, and connectivity. Wider sidewalks, more crosswalks, and more trees and canopies. New buildings need proper pedestrian access. Pedestrian signage and more dignity for pedestrians. It won’t be easy as most of the built environment of KL was really (and sometimes comically) built 100% for cars.
The colorful steps to Batu Caves – part natural wonder, part Hindu temple Sure, it’s really touristy, but at least we could take the metro here!
But we enjoyed our time in KL and managed to do everything we wanted by walking and metro, except our airport Grab trips (you can take a train from KL Central to the airport!). You need to be patient, plan your walking as early in the morning as possible, and navigate on the shady sides of major streets. KL is not going to crack any top ten walkable cities list soon, but we hope when we return again in 10 years that it has realized even more of the promise we saw on this trip.
Perhaps a Taylor Swift Fan on the MRT in Singapore?This super friendly superfan from Bangkok was ready with smiles and friendship bracelets!
After leaving KL, we got to spend part of a day in Singapore as we connected late back to Europe out of Changi Airport. We had originally planned to spend a few days in Singapore, but the Taylor Swift effect was strong and hotel prices crazy surrounding her 6 sold out shows. The only shows in SE Asia.
The beautiful Park Royal Hotel in Singapore doubles the green growing potential of its site with vertical gardens.
Singapore is a testament to dense, but livable urbanism. It’s eminently walkable and pedestrian friendly, with very little traffic. It’s achieved this by famous green design and a transit first policy. KL should strive for some of the success of its tiny neighbor.
Enough tine for a fix of delicious Chicken Rice at the Maxwell Street Hawker Center.The Singapore National Gallery is worthy of a half day exploration and made these layover travelers very happy -:)
So it’s goodbye to Asia for now. We’re now back in Europe and have started our late winter bicycle adventure…more on that soon…
Less Car, More Life 