Biking to Paris (deuxième partie)

August 14, 2010 to August 25, 2010

The Photos

August 14 ~ I’m gonna kill a rooster (and the noisy neighbors near us)!  Early start, LONG day and we didn’t let the afternoon drizzle slow us down.  Almost forty miles, with two miles OFF track.  It is determined that Gregory has to sleep O-U-T-S-I-D-E, outside.  It is not determined if he gets to sleep on the ‘porch’ and out of any potential rain or plain old outside.  It is determined that he does NOT get a sleeping bag as I plan to mold it into a boy shape and cuddle it.  Finally see sixth gear (and 26 mph!) on some long swooping downhills followed by not terribly strenuous uphills.  A really great stretch of road which we enjoyed so much, we completely missed the turn leading to the 2 miles offtrack.  We hit France around 6pm almost immediately after we got back on track.  It is pretty wild NOT to know when you change countries as we are not using a map, per se.  We stop in Maubeuge for dinner at one of the busiest eat in/take away places I’ve ever seen.  They have a kriek, St. Louis, despite 2 previous bad experiences I take a chance and order one.  It was very tasty and I really wanted another one, but the service was slow enough that it was easier to pay the bill and leave then try to order another beer.  Gregory noticed a fellow patron was inspired to try the kriek also.  I hope he enjoyed it as much as I did.  Camping appears to be nearby so we head that way after food and find a quiet spot to pitch our tent.

August 15 ~ Resting day, both knees really hurt.  I’ve quit griping about it in the journal but it’s definitely a hinderance.  We have a weird wet walk to find almost nothing open on a Sunday.  Have my first eclair and if France doesn’t have eclair rehab, it should.  Decide on sandwich makings from a mini grocery and hope for dinner at last nights place.  It continues to rain to varying degrees so we ‘campout’ in the reception/lounge area of the camp ground.  A woman comes in offering cakes to the receptionist and then to us.  We decline but then end up at her camper for a cup of coffee ... which turns into 7 hours of talking over coffee, tea, dinner and more tea.  They are Janet and Sydney from Manchester (or thereabouts).  We talk about everything from all of our histories.  Sydney gives Gregory an atlas for France, where he becomes completely immersed in the awe of cartography and the places we can see.  Janet commiserates with me about my knee as she had twisted hers getting out of her camper not that long ago.  She offered me some of her anti inflammatory gel, so I gave it a shot.  An absolutely wonderful couple who brightened a really dull grey day.  Gregory and I do the dishes and then depart for home to baby wipe showers immediately followed by breaking of tent supports and two punctures in our rain fly ... did I mention it rained all day, was still raining and seemed like it might continue raining indefinitely.  Gregory rigs it so that we won’t drown in the night and we worriedly head to bed.

August 16 ~ Gregory, in my slightly less wet shoes, bikes to the local ‘Home Depot’ for copper tubing to fix the tent supports while I use the hair dryers in the shower room to dry his totally soaked shoes and socks.  Once he finishes fixing the tent, we switch shoes and I work on drying mine.  We spend the rest of the day charging computer batteries, reading and resting my knees while it rains and rains and rains.  We venture out into the rain for the dinner we planned the night before, lasagna, steak and more kriek.  Gregory says it can rain till 5 am then it has to stop and I think it pretty much does.

August 17 ~ Up and mostly packed by 9:30, but then spend an hour eating left over groceries so we don’t have to carry them.  While packing and eating we meet a guy from Antwerp who repairs hail damage to cars.  An extensive traveler and one of the few people we’ve met who had been to Dallas.  The day starts out with a sprinkle, which becomes a deluge, petering out to a sprinkle ramping up to a deluge ... are you noticing a pattern.  Very few stops today because not that many things are open for business on this particular portion of path.  In the end we bike 55 miles, wear out 3 knees and Gregory is amazing at my stubbornness concerning deviating from the trail for food, warmth or shelter.  Eventually he puts his foot down that we have to stop.  So we end up on the edge of a field overlooking a construction yard and the road for tomorrow.

August 18 ~ Day of REST.  Gregory goes to the nearby town and luckily finds provisions.  More reading than either of us has done in a while and a very early bedtime.

August 19 ~ Standard start time, up by 8 (or so) on the road by 10 (or so).  Send Gregory to town for breakfast fixing with the plan to pack up the beds while he is gone.  He does his before he leaves and I’m nearly done with mine when he gets back, good thing he helped.  The store isn’t open so we make do with what little we have, six pieces of Melba toast, a Bounty bar (like a Mound) and four Ibuprofen, split between the two of us.  Stop for tea at the first place we see that is open and are told that food is just around the corner, but off the trail.  I leave the path under duress to find a decent mini grocery around two corners where we acquire great sandwich makings and stock some provisions for later.  Arrive to Noyons around 3, make our way to the tourism office asking for a cafe with internet and recommendations for camping.  We get info for both, but the internet cafe doesn’t pan out.  End up at a Turkish grill room, where a friendly but extremely lonely guy somehow recognizes we are ‘from’ Amsterdam.  The food is good and plentiful, especially since we ordered one meal to share and ended up with a meal each.  Initially the bill was more than Gregory expected, but once I told him we got the drinks for free (a beer and a coke) he stopped griping.  Since the tourism person had been wrong about the internet cafe, we decided against her advice on the camp ground.  The booklet, she provided, listed two in Carlepont, one mentioned having internet and the other didn’t.  Completely led by our desire to FaceBook and catch up on over a week’s worth of e-mails we head down a quiet road ending in a nondescript camp ground.  We ring the bell for service and immediately ask about internet.  We are told that the book is in error.  Since the grounds weren’t that appealing and we had passed a sign for Les Araucarias not very far back, we decide to take a chance on it instead.  So glad we did because we got a great tent space with a picnic table, free WiFi and hot showers for a mere 4 Euro each.  We internet till it’s dark and we are cold, grab quick warming showers and watch half a movie before drifting off to sleep, forty miles closer to Paris.

August 20 ~ Rest day and catching up on internet.  Camp ground cafe has satisfying breakfast, lunch and dinner so not much movement today.  Finish the second half of last night’s movie followed by sleep.

August 21 ~ We thought we ordered breakfast the night before, but it got lost in translation.  We need to work on the definite sound of our voice.  Fortunately we had chocolate croissants from provision buying on the nineteenth, paired with large cups of coffee, just about enough to get us moving.  However, we don’t move far.  A planned trip to Noyons for groceries turns into only buying fruit and 3 hours at the sporting goods store for unplanned upgrades to the bikes.  We were specifically looking for stronger longer (harder faster) rear tire racks to better support our panniers.  We ended up with new front tires, new valve stems on front and back*, clip-less pedals and bike shoes.  Altogether an expensive day ‘in town’ and a giant increase in my worry about being able to bike any real distance literally stuck to my bike.  Dr. Gregory assures me that the change in my form will “help disperse the load of peddling over more muscles hopefully helping my knees.”  I especially like the hopefully in that previous medical statement!  After spending so long at the store, we opt for a Mc Donald’s lunch nearby and then bike home with my feet incased in ‘tiny prisons’.  More internet followed by a delicious roast chicken and giant bowl of green beans, YUM!  While we were eating, a German family came to see if the cafe was still open.  Once they established that food was obtainable, we chatted briefly with the mother about biking around Europe.  She has plans to bike for half a year, but the ages of her children and taking the time off from work have kept her from doing it ... Yet!  Also when we were in town today I bought a hat, promptly tore it apart to make it better and hope to get it put back together before we leave which will be who knows when!

*Not sure how it escaped our notice but we had been traveling since Minderhout on the ninth with mismatched valve stems and absolutely NO way to air up our back tires.  Fortunately, this information came to our notice and we changed them all to Schrader before it became an issue.

August 22 ~ We are so close and yet so very far from Paris.  It’s only about 2 days ride and we seem to be stuck mentally and emotionally in Carlepont.  Neither of us can figure out our lack of forward progress.  I spent the day transcribbling this journal into blog material and Gregory spent the day working on bike routes from Paris, France to Piedmont, Italy.  It would have been a great day to move forward, but we just didn’t have any momentum.  We do get early showers complete with hair washing so that both heads have as much time to dry as possible.  After dinner, Gregory strikes up a conversation with a Dutch couple, Joost and Damiët, who are camped near us and are also biking.  I interject sparingly as I am still pecking away on the computer.  Eventually, we all head to our various beds as it begins to drizzle.  We still have NO idea what tomorrow will bring.

August 23 ~ Tomorrow brought rain, pain and hunger.  We laze in bed till nearly 11, trying to let the rain finish and figuring out the plan for getting to Paris.  We can’t tell how much rain is to be expected and eventually decide to stay one more night with an alarm set for an early start tomorrow.  I decide we should bike into Carlepont (approximately 4 blocks away) for breakfast items from the bakery.  However, the bakery had other ideas as it is closed up tight.  Gregory meanders over to a place where several cars are parked and I attempt to follow him, with disastrous results.  A simple move into the parking area turns into falling off my bike, hitting my right knee HARD and having a concerned old French man peer out at me from his car window.  I attempt to assure him that I’ll survive and he drives off as Gregory comes back to check on me.  No blood, no foul.  We start back towards home, when alas, our short ride in drizzle turns into a slow ride in the rain, thereby soaking our pants.

August 24 ~ Early Wake, Early Start.  Practice release of clips without falling down.  Start out going the wrong direction because I didn’t understand that our camping spot was ‘on the path’ and because I thought we would go by the bakery on our way out of town.  We missed a turn for a beautiful forest path because it looked like a residence, fortunately we didn’t have to backtrack too far.  Twenty miles into our day we arrive in Pierrefonds and get to wander around the Château de Pierrefonds.  A beautiful castle that Gregory refused to buy for me.  After NOT getting our bikes stolen, we stopped for lunch.  Gregory orders the second item on the menu, Andouillette (which we have since decided is French for do not order).  The server tries to warn him off the idea, but Gregory adamantly states he’ll be fine ... he wasn’t.  It was GROSS and completely inedible.  It tainted everything it touched and some of the things it was only in the proximity of, including poor Gregory’s upper lip.  So we end up sharing my Croque Monsieur, which wasn’t exceptional or big enough to share.  Back on the road and French farmland BLOWS!  And the wind is an awesome power against two little bikes and their drivers with no trees or foliage to break the current.  Stop for dinner sandwich fixing but wind up with pizza and wine in the bellies instead.  No luck finding camping so we pitch our tent in a field beside a forest right in the flight path of Charles de Gaulle airport and a big full moon overhead.  Only one more day of cycling expected.

August 25 ~ Fitful sleep for me but Gregory says he slept fine.  No lazing in bed today so I pack away the sleeping bags and pads (see I helping).  Immediate start cycling UP a long tiring hill followed by a fast, fast 28.6 mph downhill.  Stop for eclairs and coffee.  I do way too much walking in my new cycling shoes!  Some wind (but not nearly the gale of the farmland).  Gregory predicts rain an hour from Paris and I threaten to run him over if it does.  It sprinkles on us a little, but not enough to make me run him down.  Oh and yeah, we made it to Paris.  Heading to see Gregory’s friend Jordan, we cycle through the courtyard of the Louvre and take a gander at the Eiffel Tower.  Jordan and Annie, who just got back from vacation in Finland, welcome us to Paris and Jordan walks with us to a nearby hostel pointing out shops and places of interest along the way.  After finding out the hostel price, the plan is to find camping tomorrow and camp until my mom arrives (more or less).

*I’m now up to date (kinda, sorta, but not really)!  It is weird to have the ‘blog’ so current.  I’m not sure if I will continue writing the day to day recap, either for myself or for the blog.  We’ll have to wait and see.