Cycling trip to France
On May 4 we, my wife Betsy and I, began our 5-week bicycle tour that took a large detour to Paris, where the tour finally ended. From Uden we cycled to the village of Kessel to go along the Meuse River to its source at Le Châtelet-sur-Meuse in northern France.
This route went via Elsloo, Maastricht, Dinant in Belgium and Verdun in France. In the Netherlands we enjoyed the beautiful bike paths and the many spring scenes such as flowers, foals, sheep. In Belgium, the "paved" Dutch path turned into cobblestones, industrial sites and cart tracks. This was less fun, but arriving in Huy, Belgium, was enjoyment at one of our best B&Bs of this trip, Hotel - Ferme du Château d'Ahin. All our "cycling woes" of the day were forgotten.
The landscape further south in northern France is generally very pastoral with many small villages, which can also be called sleeping villages. During the trip we also passed through the birthplace of Joan of Arc, Domrémy-la-Pucelle. At the source of the Meuse, we were not the only visitors. We met four other long-distance cyclists there. A couple on their way to Barcelona, a German lady who had been dropped off at the source by her husband to cycle alone along the Meuse to Rotterdam, and finally a lady cycled in from the UK. She had taken the train to Langres and then got on her bike in the morning to pedal along the Meuse to Maastricht via the source of the Meuse. Very handsome, considering the age of these ladies, which must surely have been above our age of almost 75!
From the source, the tour continued through Burgundy to Nevers, located on the Loire River. How we enjoyed the coffee and carrot cake at the Vélo Café in Nevers. Definitely worth a stop if you are in the area. In Maslives, we took a rest day to visit Château de Chambord, an impressive castle with large gardens located on a vast estate. The bike path along the Loire led us west to Amboise. After a nice stop in Amboise, we began our journey north through Chartres to Paris.
Our trip went so well that we took an extra rest day in Chartres to be tourists. Again, beautiful buildings such as the cathedral, which is well worth a visit. Our last big day of cycling was to Saint-Germain-en-Laye, 20 km outside of Paris. With the help of Jan, a friend who lives here, we cycled into Paris once for photo shoots. Cycling in Paris must be experienced once, but not to be repeated. Bike paths start and stop suddenly, or have to be shared with buses. The trip back to the Netherlands was by car. The total length of the trip was almost 2000 km. During the route we stayed in small family hotels and sometimes in a chambre d'hôte.
