2. Vacations

France-2013

Our really big deal for 2013 was our September bicycle riding trip to France. No, we didn't ride to France; we flew, and boy did our arms get tired! (Sorry, that was uncalled for.) Anyway, it was a really excellent adventure. Not being regular bike riders, we were a bit apprehensive. But it was fantastic! Our long-time friends Mike and Kay Hurtt had arranged the trip and invited us. It was actually a gourmet biking riding tour in the Loire Valley emphasizing easy riding. Six days and five nights, staying in the most fantastic chateaux, eating the most amazing food, and drinking the obligatory quantities of great wines. We simply rode bikes from one indulgence to the next. Life is good! It was a small group of seven, including ourselves and some very neat friends of Mike & Kaye. Before the bike ride started we all spent a couple of days in Paris and after the ride most of us car-toured the beaches at Normandy and Mont St. Michel (southeast of Normandy).

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To get to Paris, we (Diane and I) flew first to Brussels. A bit out of the way, but the good news was that we then got to ride a high-speed rail to Paris which only took an hour and twenty minutes. European trains are so very cool
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To get to Paris, we (Diane and I) flew first to Brussels. A bit out of the way, but the good news was that we then got to ride a high-speed rail to Paris which only took an hour and twenty minutes. European trains are so very cool

  • To get to Paris, we (Diane and I) flew first to Brussels. A bit out of the way, but the good news was that we then got to ride a high-speed rail to Paris which only took an hour and twenty minutes. European trains are so very cool
  • We had a day to look around Paris before joining up with the others for the bike riding tour. This is one lucky picture. We were riding the metro (the only way to get around Paris) and when above ground going over the Seine River (the metro is usually underground) I grabbed this pic from the moving train. Just dumb luck that it turned out.
  • Our hotel was just a block off the Champs-Eltsees and maybe two blocks from the Arc d' Triumph.
  • One evening after rendezvousing with the "bike gang" for dinner on the Left Bank, we rode the metro back to a station very close to our hotel and did the tourist thing, walking the Champs-Elysees.
  • Like I said, the "tourist thing." "OK, honey, now you take my picture." Hey, we <U>are</U> tourists.
  • Like a moth drawn to a flame, that evening, right on the Camps-Elysees, there was Peugeot dealership and this great old Peugeot race car from the '30s was in their showroom. Neat.
  • Beautiful.
  • A big "tourist thing" in Paris was the obligatory visit to Versailles. What can you say other than a truly amazing place to visit. The only wonder is why it took the French so long to revolt against the wretched excess of their leaders. Oh well, lesson learned.
  • Beautiful and contributing to the fact that Paris really is the most beautiful city in the world.
  • The gardens at Versailles.
  • One of the great Halls. Note the bizarre art work hanging from the ceiling. There were a number of these very large, very contemporary pieces of art thruout. Great art, but. . .. such an odd setting to display.
  • What can you say?
  • The Hall of Mirrors.
  • MOTS
  • After Paris we took a train down to the city of Tours where the bike guides picked all seven of us up to begin our excellent adventure. While this train was not high-speed, the trains continue to impress. So nice, quiet, and civilized.
  • The tour was made thru an outfit called DIGnGO. The van and our two guides met us at the train station in Tours and we were taken to our first night's accommodation in the town of Amboise and welcomed with Champagne. Left to right, Mike Hurtt, Kaye Hurtt, Diane & Bob, Gerry & Mary Pat Sweetman, and Denny Chalus. The first night's lodging was at the Le Manoir St. Thomas in Amboise, a town on the banks of the Loire river. . I'll try to provide links to the places we visit. <a href="http://www.manoir-saint-thomas.com/#/en/accueil/" target="_blank" >Here's a link to their website.</a> For more info on DIGnGO, the providers of our bicycle tour. <a href="http://www.digngo.com/" target="_blank" >HERE's a link to their website.</a>
  • This picture was taken in front of our first night's lodging. After checking in and a champagne welcome (about 10:00 in the morning) the guides took us on our first short afternoon of bike riding, returning back to the hotel. <br /> <br /> After freshening up, the van took us to a restaurant for what would be a series of fantastic gourmet evening meals. FYI, all of our lodgings were in amazing chateaux which had been converted to high-end hotels. We rode six days and had lodging provided for five nights in four different hotels. <br /> <br /> These two guys were our guides for the bike tour -- Simon & JB (John Baptist). Simon is a Brit and JB a Frenchman. Simon leads a rough life. He does bike tours in the summer, then off to the Greek isles for scuba diving tours, then to Switzerland as a ski instructor in the winter.
  • This is the view of the courtyard from our bedroom window.
  • The routine was that Simon and JB would alternate each day, driving the van one day and bike riding with us on the next. Most mornings we would start riding right from from our hotel, ride for a while, be met on the road by the van with some refreshments, have a nice lunch at a small cafe, ride in the afternoon and maybe take in a tour of the many massive chateaux, then arrive at our new hotel. "Hotel" doesn't quite do the term justice. As you'll see in subsequent pics, all our accommodations were in various wonderful private chateaux which had been converted into a 5-star B&B (for lack of a better description).
  • Not a particularity great photo, but instructive since it is typical of some of the countryside. This is on one of the a more busy "urban" roads where we might spend a mile or two. As you'll see later, most riding was on smaller, almost carless, country lanes and roads.
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