La Ville Lumière
Everything is illuminated
In Paris on Bastille Day
Week Two
The ride from Brielle to Bruges was beautiful. We took a bike path along a canal lined with trees (on which we were smoked by a team of very fast tots). Bruges is a lovely city in West Flanders filled with medieval buildings and old stone streets. Outstanding ice cream in front of the Belfry. We stayed at a hostel in Bruges where we met some neat people from Austria. One of them told us about the time when he and a member of Jurassic 5 did graffiti. After describing soul food to him, he said we have to try the schnitzel in Austria. We can't wait.
We put in two 90-mile days after leaving Bruges and reached Paris on Friday. Before crossing into France, we rode through the town of Ypres. During WWI, Ypres was heavily damaged by artillery fire. It also became one of the first places where chemical weapons were used. There are war graves all along the surrounding countryside, which made the history very real for us. The town has since been rebuilt and was full of life as we passed through.
The roads have been mostly flat so far, aside from a few brief climbs in northern France. We arrived in Paris on July 14th, Bastille Day, and sat on a bridge of over the Seine river to watch the evening's fireworks. On Saturday, we visited Napoleon's tomb and the military museum at Les Invalides. Today, we bummed around at Shakespeare and Co. (mentioned in Hemingway's A Moveable Feast, although at a different location at the time and then owned by Sylvia Beach) then visited the Musée d'Orsee. We had dinner at Les Argonautes, a great Greek restaurant on Rue de la Huchette complete with live bouzouki music, traditional dancing and plate smashing. Paris has been fun!
We're heading farther south now towards the Massif Central region of France, where we will take on some substantial mountains. After reaching Clermont-Ferrand in a few days, we will climb the mighty Puy-de-Dôme, a dormant volcano that pushes cyclists to the limit every few years in the Tour de France. After that, we press on into the Massif Central passing through towns like Conques, Aubrac, Millau and Florac before reaching Arles, where we take our next rest day. So long for now!
In Paris on Bastille Day
Week Two
The ride from Brielle to Bruges was beautiful. We took a bike path along a canal lined with trees (on which we were smoked by a team of very fast tots). Bruges is a lovely city in West Flanders filled with medieval buildings and old stone streets. Outstanding ice cream in front of the Belfry. We stayed at a hostel in Bruges where we met some neat people from Austria. One of them told us about the time when he and a member of Jurassic 5 did graffiti. After describing soul food to him, he said we have to try the schnitzel in Austria. We can't wait.
We put in two 90-mile days after leaving Bruges and reached Paris on Friday. Before crossing into France, we rode through the town of Ypres. During WWI, Ypres was heavily damaged by artillery fire. It also became one of the first places where chemical weapons were used. There are war graves all along the surrounding countryside, which made the history very real for us. The town has since been rebuilt and was full of life as we passed through.
The roads have been mostly flat so far, aside from a few brief climbs in northern France. We arrived in Paris on July 14th, Bastille Day, and sat on a bridge of over the Seine river to watch the evening's fireworks. On Saturday, we visited Napoleon's tomb and the military museum at Les Invalides. Today, we bummed around at Shakespeare and Co. (mentioned in Hemingway's A Moveable Feast, although at a different location at the time and then owned by Sylvia Beach) then visited the Musée d'Orsee. We had dinner at Les Argonautes, a great Greek restaurant on Rue de la Huchette complete with live bouzouki music, traditional dancing and plate smashing. Paris has been fun!
We're heading farther south now towards the Massif Central region of France, where we will take on some substantial mountains. After reaching Clermont-Ferrand in a few days, we will climb the mighty Puy-de-Dôme, a dormant volcano that pushes cyclists to the limit every few years in the Tour de France. After that, we press on into the Massif Central passing through towns like Conques, Aubrac, Millau and Florac before reaching Arles, where we take our next rest day. So long for now!
posted by Tom & Mats | 2:03 PM
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