The Tour has ended

Sal enjoying the sunshine in France

Now that we are back in the US, we are reflecting on the tandem tour with great pleasure but sadness that it is over - for this year!  We chose the name of this blog with "tongue in cheek" since this was obviously meandering along the rivers and canals of three countries and NOT a race!  We began on July 31st with eight days in Paris enjoying as much of its culture as time allowed. 

Versailles

Cafe on the Left Bank 

Route:  We departed on the tandem on a perfect path along the Canal de l'Ourcq in the direction of Charleville-Mezieres as shown in this map: https://mapsengine.google.com/map/edit?mid=zEOdD001aE5g.kthx0vW-0tRU.  This was the hardest part of our tour since the route didn't have designated bike paths so Ken had to "navigate" for us. We chose not to ride along some of the canal or river paths which were gravel, and not to continue on some of the more beautiful small roads because they were too steep. If in doubt as to where we needed to go, we would dismount the bike, and bring up information on the devices that Ken had prepared, or paper maps when we had them. After Charleville, the paths were mostly very easy riding and scenic all the way to Amsterdam.

Our hotel was near the Vondelpark and soon after we arrived, our Dutch friend rode his bicycle into the city to spend a day showing us "his" Amsterdam on the quieter streets of the more local Jordaan district.

We had fun trying on hats, selecting books and listening to street music at the Flea Market.

Then, of course, it was time for coffee and appelgebak.

We managed to find some places without any help in Amsterdam, like the bike shop, the flower market and our daily barista who lent us his best umbrella one day!

Since some have asked for our thoughts about this trip, we had been inspired to do this journey by our "Biking Boatie" friends, Gayla and Steve, and although we followed a similar route to theirs, there were several differences. One difference was that, being a little older than they are and liking comfort, we stayed at hotels and B&B's. Camping would have been much more affordable, however we didn't have enough space on the tandem to carry all that equipment.  We even mailed off some of our guide books and clothes from Epernay to lighten the load, which did help!  Here is a map of our stops during the whole journey and if you zoom in and click on the dots, you will see descriptions.  The B&B's were our favorites since we so enjoyed meeting local people. 
https://mapsengine.google.com/map/editmid=zdVEmloB2kHQ.k4hJeOm6N-rI

 

Chez Camille in Epernay

M. Turquin's in Margy Viel-St. Remy

On reflection we got along quite well with the languages since, of course, so many people speak English in Europe.
There were many who didn't though, and Sal was delighted to find her self-confidence return in speaking her no-longer fluent French, receiving many compliments to her surprise! Ken did very well, too and French was spoken in the part of Belgium that we rode through.  In the Netherlands, when English wasn't spoken, gestures and smiles seemed to get the point across since we could speak no Dutch at all. Sal could sometimes recognize some words that were similar to the Afrikaans she used to hear in southern Africa.


Laundry was a challenge - mostly finding the time for it!  Sometimes our charming B&B hosts did some for us at no charge, leaving it by our door beautifully ironed and in a pretty bag.  

Photographer unknown

A funny experience was during torrential rain before we left Paris, Sal found a laundromat around the corner.  The machines were quite different to operate, however a man explained how before he ventured out into the deluge under his umbrella.  After getting her machine under way in the empty laundromat, Sal was startled to see a man stripping off some of his sodden clothes and tossing them into a dryer while covering up with his jacket!  Ten minutes later he dressed in his now dry and warm clothes and hurried out...  

Condition: since this was the first long tour on our trusty tandem, we were very pleased to find out that, apart from some fatigue and an occasional sore back or bottom, we must have been fitter than we'd thought.  Despite a few hill climbs with too much baggage at first, we still had enough energy to explore once we reached a town. It was key for us to take breaks for a brief rest, water, snacks, or coffee with a crepe or apple pie and the ever-present adventure of finding a "loo".


Favorite things, hmmm?  For Sal it was the hot air balloon flight which was a bucket-list, truly awesome experience! A close second was riding on narrow unmarked French roads in high farm country in the hot sunshine with open fields and wildflowers beside us - and not really having any idea where we were.

 

Alien scribbling viewed from the balloon's basket?

For Ken,  his favorite was the Voie Verte bike path

Least favorite things were discovering that most French people including some B&B owners take August off for "vacances" and that everything is closed on Sundays, even shops and restaurants! We needed to think ahead and be prepared...  


The most fun things for Sal - buying some lacy lingerie in France.   Darting in and out of the clever fountain at the Rijks Museum delighted her too.

The most fun for Ken was ballooning, even though he could not be the pilot.

Our pilot Amandine and Ken

Silence above the treetops

We rode the tandem the whole distance, no cheating!!  The only other means of transportation we used were in towns by foot, and once by tram and bus.   We got very good at using the Metro in Paris, too!  On arrival in Maastricht in the Netherlands, we took a fast train up north to Alkmaar, leaving the bicycle at the hotel and returning to it by train three days later.

Maastricht Train Station!

We loved our R&R in Amsterdam, and so did our mascot!

So now we look forward to next year's tandem adventure with the cry, "Un, deux, allez" as we pedal off somewhere less remarkable in the meantime...   We thank our most hospitable Dutch friends (three kisses on the cheek in the Dutch tradition) and those who have watched the blog and enjoyed our journey along with us.

Wendy's photo...

Au revoir, and Tot Ziens!

Arrival in Amsterdam

We arrived in Amsterdam after a fast ride on another questionable day. The early morning showers passed and we set off for our hotel in Amsterdam with more clouds threatening.
The rain held off long enough for a great ride into the city on a delightful path through wooded areas and quiet streets. We ended up finishing our quest riding through Vondelpark among the throngs of Amsterdam cyclists and pedestrians.

We arrived a few minutes later outside our hotel in Amsterdam, tired but happy to have completed our trip.
We were fortunate to be treated to one of Europe's best summers on record. We spent our days riding in sunny and pleasant weather, the days of rain or wind and clouds being few and far between and often providing us with an excuse to rest and explore some towns along the way.

We had departed Paris starting near the Museum of Science and industry in La Villette along side the Canal de l'Ourcq.  And, followed the river  valleys to the east and north first the Marne and then following the Meuse which becomes the Maas in The Netherlands.

Our quest finished in Amsterdam not far from their national museum The Rijks Museum, so we took our Bike Friday tandem to the Museumplein.  This is a large square where the most important museums in the city are located, and we posed for a photo in front of the Rijks museum.

A few days later we managed to spend our morning visiting the newly reopened Rijks Museum. Eight years in the process of restoration, the Dutch have done an amazing job preserving the historical building and displaying their collection of masterpieces. 

The Rijks museum is not all serious art. In the gardens we found this interactive fountain designed to engage the adventurous.

FUN!

A change in the weather

After weeks of blue skies and glorious weather, we begin to see a change.  We left Utrecht in bright sunshine

and by the time we reached the nearby Castle De Haar, the temperature was dropping and clouds were building...

A flower-bedecked carriage pulled by four magnificent black horses led us into the castle, obviously part of a private family wedding celebration judging by the smartly dressed drivers. We decided to stop in the castle's stable-yard coffee shop for a pot of tea and our almost daily apple tart but were soon on our way again.

Along the bike paths, we encountered a 100 year old Dutch barge, a wooden lion with a golden mane on the rudder post. The proud owners spoke no English but we carried on a good conversation with gestures and smiles. It is also a region filled with pear orchards, the fruit looking ready for harvesting

We were on our way to Alphen aan den Rijn and had to pedal faster and faster to stay ahead of the weather.  Just as we entered the city, lightening and claps of thunder announced our arrival and the skies opened!  We quickly took the best shelter we could find after covering the red panniers, standing under some balconies of an apartment building.

Suddenly the locked door behind us opened and a lady who had seen and heard us from her balcony invited us into the lobby to wait out the storm.  She even suggested we bring the tandem inside too while she went upstairs to make coffee for us!  Note, hotel shower caps make wonderful seat covers if it rains...

She was so kind and interested in our trip since, at the age of 78, she and her husband had just returned from a two-week bicycle trip to Friesland in the norther part of the Netherlands.  Their bikes did not have the electric option than many use nowadays, either! 

Our stay in Alpen included a visit to the large and very impressive Avi Fauna Bird Park next to the hotel where we stayed.

We also visited our Dutch friends with whom we had stayed last year, a friend of Sal's from school days in Africa.  After fond farewells, we are off to dodge the raindrops again and take our best "weather window". Whilst our trip is nearly over, we are bundling up (or Sal is) and feeling the chill of autumn and the rustle of falling leaves...