1000 KILOMETERS - DONE

Upon our arrival in Bordeaux, we celebrated, with a glass of pineau, the completion of our 1000th kilometer biked in Europe. It took us three weeks and one day of off and on biking to get to this point. We are quite proud and look forward to the next 1000. The next blog entry, which we will post in a few days, will recount this most recent leg of our trip, but we wanted to make a special entry about achieving this landmark.

Here are some stats that paint a bit of a picture:

• 18 days of riding (30-100 kms/day)
• approximately 250,000 rotations of each of our bike's pedals
• over 6.5 kilometers of ascent (each)
• almost 59 hours of riding time (each)
• over 38,250 calories burned while riding (Peter)
  

• 1 helmet cracked (in transit)
• another helmet lost (don't ask...)
• 1 broken front derailleur
• 2 tune-ups
• 1 tilting bike stand
• 1 broken GPS mount
  

• 7 books read (total)
• more than 10 bike maps bought
• over 50 stickers affixed to the bikes
  

• 1 fight

• countless baguettes, cheese, mussels, wine, beer, patisseries and spoonfuls of nutella
• 2 falls at less than 3 km/hr (Alice)
• assorted physical ailments - heat rash, numb bum, pulled toe muscle, more numb bum, oddly-placed callusses
  

• And some of the oddest tan lines we have ever seen

There it is. It has been a fantastic experience for us.

Come join us for the next adventure, which will be through the Dordogne Valley (where wine is everywhere as are the famous prehistoric cave drawings). But that's for another time...

Salut!

Peter and Alice

ATLANTIC COAST - NANTES TO ILE-DE-RE (JULY 20-26)

July 21 - In recent days we have left the Loire Valley for the Atlantic Coast. The former proved exactly as was described to us in terms of the gorgeous chateaux and villages, but after the more challenging rides of Switzerland, the French landscape in this particular region seemed rather bland. We are eager to see what else France has in store.

So we boarded a train in Blois, destination: Nantes. No particular reason to go to Nantes save for a good starting point to get in a couple of long riding days en route to La Rochelle, a spot that has been recommended to us by many people (e.g. Alice from Tours, Sarah & Steve from Guelph, and Nathalie & Christian who we met at the Loire gites).

Nantes is an interesting city in itself: nothing touristy about it but rather it is a bustling urban centre that has an interesting mix of people (most very attractive, stylishly dressed and still very friendly). Peter and I took in some fabulous people-watching while enjoying a couple of drinks (Muscadet is the local fave white wine here and it is spectacular) before enjoying a seafood-fest - we are into moules et frite (mussels and fries) these days and we're looking forward to more and more seafood as the coast approaches.

And by the way, we have heard remarks from a number of you about the extent to which Peter and I are getting along. Seems that the one time we wrote about having a challenging day has had numerous people talk about the challenges of traveling together. Yet other than that one day Peter and I have been getting along well and we are wonderful travel companions. Rest assured that the "off moments" are happily few and far between (but those "off" moments are interesting to blog about!). Certainly traveling brings out so many sides of one's personality that it can make or break a relationship (no doubt). Happily there is no sign of breakage!

Today we changed up our routine by (gasp!) getting out on our bikes (breakfast finished, bikes packed, rarin' to go) by 8:15am from Nantes. It was really great to be up earlier than our usual 10am departure times thus far (I used to be a morning person but somehow have found it really difficult to open up my eyes any time before 8am). And we put all of our faith into our Garmin (GPS unit), which easily and with little (read no) stress guided us through the city and into the more diverse and interesting landscape of France.

Beyond the urban and suburban scenes, we finally passed through what I had always imagined the French countryside to look like: rolling hills of vineyards under sunny skies followed by patches of grazing land for dairy cows (sans the Swiss cow bell accessories), and accented by stunningly old villages of concrete and stone houses with colourful shutters and gardens (and oddly few people around).

And it was a monumental day for me as we managed to cycle 100km (yes, that is 100km!) with all of our gear. Over five hours on the bikes, burning some 2600 calories for me and 3400 for Peter (yes we can eat whatever we want). I am so excited and proud of myself! Who knew I had it in me?! And I am (we are) not really overly spent or exhausted. A very exciting day, made even more interesting when the front derailleur (thingee attached to the pedal that changes the big ring of gears) on Peter's bike broke off, meaning that he could only cycle in one of his three big rings (the bottom one generally used for climbing mountains). Yikes. But somehow luck was on our side - within ten minutes at our destination (La Roche sur Yon), we had identified and cycled to a bike shop (that manufactures and sold bikes: Arcade), and within a couple of hours the bike was fixed and we had even managed to secure a hotel room using their phone. Whew. That could have been a really bad scene.

July 22 - Aujourd'hui, now avons bicycle grand distance encore. Par the fin du jour, nous avons covert 90 kms. Alors, en deux jours consecutif, nous avons cycle 190 kms. Fantastique!

Aussi, il y avait deux fois quand Alice a passe Pierre a la velo sur un montagne (sacre bleu!).

Hier, quand nous etais a le magazin pour velo, un gens a suggester aller a un place avec des canals ou nous pouvons faire le canoeing, appeller 'Le Venice Vertes'. Alors, nous avons decide d'y aller et alors passer la nuit dans une chambre d'hote en la ville Maillezais.

La pluie commencais juste apres que nou avons arrive et continue pendant toute la soire. Bonne nuit!

July 23 - We woke up this morning expecting the rains to be continuing, but it was cloudy and dry. So we decided to rent a canoe and boat through the canals (described in the brochure as "at the heaart of an exceptionally rich nature area, harvested by man" - by monks, hundreds of years ago, to be exact). We could barely see the water for all the little green plants (seaweed-like, but more leafy). The shades of green were totally awesome!

We decided not to follow the serene routes laid out for us and instead head up a narrow cannel of canals. Well, a one hour tour then became more than two as we got lost, stuck in thorns from overhanging trees, and soaked by the rains. then the lightening and thunder started. It was particularly odd to be started down by bulls and cows as our path lead us through their grazing territory. We were below them in the canal and they all came to watch us (somewhat aggressively we thought. as we got more and more lost. But we soldiered on...until, that is, we reached the dead end! F**K! Then we re-traced our path and eventually made it back to the start. It was still raining and so we decided to stay in this little town one more day before heading off to Ile-de-Re, which is a little island right off La Rochelle right on the coast.

After relaxing for the afternoon, we wandered over to the village's touristic/historic highlight, the Abbaye from the 900s. There was some gregorian chanting and the ruins were spectacular.

Then it was off to the L'Auberge d'Abbaye for some regional cuisine: four courses of the most divine food yet (here is a sampling of what we had... escargot in creamy mushroom sauce, fresh green salad, white-fish, eel and frogs legs (after some debate as to whether or not these were actually fitting within our "vegetarian" label), dreamy cheese and bread, follow up with chocolate mousse and the lightest of yummy cheesecakes). Wow. But Alice still has the heeby-jeebies from the eel and frogs, and has decided to take them out of the "vegetarian" category and place them firmly (slimily) and absolutely into meat (and stuff that she really does not care for). Oh and the regional wine here has been superb: Mareuil.

July 24 - We completed our journey today, from Maillezais through La Rochelle to a small island on the Atlantic, Ile-de-Re. The ride was a tough one - 75 kilometers of wind, broken up roads and emotional tumult (on Alice's part - never again do we ride without a coffee first!!).

Last part of the ride - the bridge to Ile-de-Re

We arrived in time to enjoy the town we are in which we are staying - La Flotte. It is a lovely seaside resort(ish) village, with the smell of the ocean, perfumed tourists, and our slighty soiled clothing all around us (tomorrow we launder!!). The chambre d'hote in which we are staying is a higher-end one run by Jean-Pierre and his partner, Christian. Quite refined with a sense of taste and decor we have not yet experienced in France. We wandered a bit, caught up on emails and banking, and hung out. Alice stayed in our lovely room for the evening, while Peter wandered about the night markets and had a late dinner.

Views from our Chambres d'Hotes:

Our arrival here signaled the end of a three-day biking journey of which we are quite proud. We travelled over 260 kms in three days, at speeds, ove hilly landscape and with an ease that is new to us. We are now looking forward to longer jaunts from here on in, with a confidence we have not yet had.

July 25 - We woke to a beautiful warm day, perfect for our seaside location. A lovely start to the day with Jean-Pierre's meticulous, candle-lit and classical-music-accompanied breakfast, complete with freshly squeezed juice of carrots, orange, papaya and tumeric, homemade nutella and jams, fresh breads, creamy cheeses and rich coffee. We spent the day happily going to the local market, having our laundry done (Wheee!) and biking to the lovely larger town on the island, St-Martin-de-Re. Alice managed to find two new fetching outfits and Peter bought a new shirt. After three weeks on the road, we were pleased to buy some new clothes and dress up a bit. Tonight We are going to a dinner/dance in the village square and will partake in some more seafood and other tourist activities. Although only here for a short 36 hours, we feel refreshed, relaxed and happy.

During our weekend we have had thoughts of our Guelph friends taking in the annual Hillside Festival: Happy Hillside everyone!

Happily we had our own Happy Re-side as Peter and I took in an outdoor "fete" complete with moules et frites (of course), cheese, pineault (cognac with grape juice) and vin rose. The entertainment was a rather hokey band playing everything from French nationalist songs to Duffy (?!). We were seated at the "rowdy table" (okay, perhaps we were the ones to make it so) and a great group of people (Carole & Sean from La Rochelle and Frederique and her Mom from Toulouse). We all took in the cheesiness of the band and Peter and I launched in to our own rendition of what we thought were the lyrics of "The Ballad de les Champs Elysee"... at first the table looked at us in stunned silence and then laughed hysterically and chose to join in with our version. It was a classic moment and we still do not know what the actual lyrics were! It was a lovely way to end our time on Ils-de-Re.

St-Martin-de-Re

Tomorrow we head back to the mainland and on toward Bordeaux, about 200 kilometers away.

Nantes to Ile-de-Re grading:
- weather (A) – except for the rain-out on one day, perfect for biking, though still a bit cool. The best weather of the trip came on the best day possible, during our break on Ile-de-Re.
- landscape (A+) - hilly and diverse. Great!
- cycling challenge (moderate to hard) - hilly and far and fast. Our best yet!
- physical and emotional response (A-) even though Peter's bike broke down, some how lost his helmet and Alice pouted for a half day...we did great and met the challenge we set for ourselves.
- our relationship (A) Steady and holding (still))
- food (A+) - Outstanding experience of regional food, though Alice still has the creeps from the eel and frogs' legs...
- accommodations (A) Beautiful gites in Maillezais and luxury in Ile-de-Re
- other people – (C) mostly stuck to ourselves... (A) after our Re-side evening!
- entertainment – (B+) lovely locale and market and weather and food and music.

Overall Grade: A

Pierre et Alice

LOIRE VALLEY, FRANCE (JULY 16-19)

Reflection of the finer things (Alice and Peter, we mean...)

July 16-18 - We arrived in Tours, France following our travel day from Switzerland, and quickly settled into an urban experience including glasses of red wine and superb chocolate gateaux. The next day was trying for Peter and I. We had intended to spend a nice day "touring" the area but ended up angry at one another (for various reasons) and the landscape west of Tours proved entirely boring (given the flat route and lack of sites within the 50kms we rode). So despite our excitement of waking up in France and ready-to-explore new sites, we had a crap morning and afternoon.

The laundramat in the early evening proved most enjoyable, however, as we met Alice, a lovely 21 year old art-history major at Tours University. She gave us some great tips, which we took advantage of, including dinner in the Old Quarter of Tours - definitely the most sumptuous meal of seafood salad and mussels in cream sauce (oddly served at an Irish Pub) - that we enjoyed while being entertained by a reggae band in the square.

The next morning we experienced difficulty (yet again) at leaving the city (seems that our orientation truly sucks and often brings us much stress before we settle in to our day) but we found ourselves in a cycling "zone" averaging some 23 km/hr and even hitting around 30km at some points. The bicycle routes remain inconsistent here in France (stark contrast to the impeccable organization of Swiss bike routes) and we have ended up preferring the roadside despite the traffic. Plus the pavement is such that you can hit your stride super well and pick up a lot of speed. The day's weather was rather ominous, and even rainy at times, which kept us motivated to keep moving. We did until Amboise where our new found friend, Alice, had recommended we take in a Chateau where she works.

It was nice to see Alice again and we wandered around the grounds together, including taking in Leonardo da Vinci's grave (he died at Chateau Amboise in 1519 after taking an appointment there to focus on his drawing and teaching of architecture and urban planning).

The weather improved slightly for us to be motivated to continue our journey - we did so at a similarly quick pace until the weather (read very dark clouds) forced us to take refuge at a Tourist Information office in Chaumont-sur-Loire. We dawdled until finding accommodation (which proved slightly difficult given the timing of being in Loire for the weekend) at a Gites in Monthou. A gites is accommodation for cyclists and other travelers who do not mind sharing common areas with others; what a lovely time we had that evening with our new friends-en-la-gites! Christian, Nathalie and their two kids, Emma and Antoine, from the North of France, plus stephane and Marie-Laure from Toulouse, were lovely. Peter and I had a fabulous time getting to know them and really putting our French to good use. We will definitely seek out more of these gites experiences - not only was the setting bucolic in its rural character but getting to know some local people has been a lot of fun.

This morning we all moved on to different destinations after exchanging contact information and offers of places-to-stay. Peter and I continued our route through chateaux and vignobles (wine) region towards Cheverny. And while we were discouraged by the local tourist official that hotels would be few and far between, we found vacancy at the first one. We dropped off our paniers, got on the bicycles and took in chateaux, gateaux et vins.

Second runner-up in the Miss Teen Ohio beauty pageant posing for us...wtf?!?

Auto-wine tasting in Cheverny

And our final day in Loire ended up being a nice tour through the countryside, including a stop at Chambord Chateau where we witnessed the bourgeoisie taking in their sunday horse exercises (okay, so these were actually riders getting ready for the exotic horse show but we liked our interpretation better). We put in some solid biking - 60km - which really satisfied both Peter and my itch for longer rides. We are definitely trying to balance more lounging days with fuller cycling days to get in both the tourist and athletic aspects we had in mind for this adventure. We ended up in Blois, a town suggested by our friend Melanie as a highlight in the region and we found it to be yet another lovely, historic site. This time we took in the Son et Lumiere (sound and light) show during the late evening hours - basically a touristy historical-overview of the Blois Chateau paired with the most spectacular light projections thrown up onto the chateau walls. Really quite breathtaking as you can see from the photos to give a sense of the spectacle.

Blois during the day...


And Blois Chateau during "le Son et Lumiere"...

Beyond the play-by-play above, we have had some first impressions of France that are worth sharing. First, the French are extraordinarly friendly, welcoming and approachable. Absolutely everyone greets one another with a simple bonjour, and in many instances this is followed by small talk, sharing a laugh or helping out with directions or suggestions of where to go and what to do. French hospitality completely debunks the stereotypes and it is a pleasure to be surrounded by so many lovely people.

Second, the food is truly superb. Even the most seemingly non-descript restaurants (an irish pub for goodness sake) prove to have the most sumptuous food and drink.

Third, on a personal note, being able to put our languages into practice continues to be, even more so now in France, a lot of fun. Amazing to realize how much I have retained from my junior and high school French classes, and Peter's French is impressive. Plus people understand us!

Fourth, we have deemed the Loire Valley a tour through the lives of the historically-rich-and-famous. Wandering through Chateau Cheverny this afternoon, it struck us just how history is dominated by the winners (or in this case the rich); there is really nothing historically significant about many of these chateaux and the tour-cards instead read like a whose-who of high society, filled with details of who-married-whom and who-became-angry-with-whom-and-ousted-them-from-the-grounds. The tourism industry here is defintely, in part, based on "society pages" and purposively removed from any political or socio-economic context. Interesting to reflect on the values that are passed on through such heritage sites and the ways in which "value" rather than "values" rises to the surface, reproduced through time. While the grounds are certainly beautiful, and the buildings impressive, there is a sense of superficiality here that gives rise to questions as to what-has-been-left-out of the "story". The opulence and grandeur of these chateaux provide a quick snapshot of why the French Revolution took place... A cynical viewpoint - perhaps. But not necessarily off base.

Random views along the way...

Loire Valley Section of the Trip - Grading:
- weather (B-) - cool but good cycling weather; little rain; not much sun
- landscape (C) - Chateaus and villages were magnificent but the cycling landscape was booooring...
- cycling challenge (too easy) - who knew any terrain could be 'too easy'...?!?
- physical and emotional response (A-) - confidence builder and Alice’s knee problems are GONE!
- our relationship (A-) - s/b A+ but for the one rocky day
- food (A-) - Every meal in France has been an A, but the local wine was nothing special at all... meal highlight was seafood in oldtown Tours (Irish pub...?!?)
- accommodations (B+) - highlight was the rural Gites in Monthou with the lovely people and homey feel
- other people (A) -really clicked with Christian, Natalie and their kids - may actually go and visit them later...
- entertainment (C+) - Conversations in French and Blois Chateau 'Son et Lumiere' show were highlights, but people seemed to go to bed very early...including us...)

Overall grade: B- (the biking was a bit of a disappointment after Switzerland in terms of landscape and we are still finding our groove in terms of distances we can cover. We are developing a good routine, but it is still developing...)


Next section...The Atlantic Coast of France.

Love,

Alice and Peter

LAST DAYS IN SWITZERLAND - AUF WIEDERSEHEN (JULY 13-15)

July 13 - Today we biked for more than 65 kms from Thun, through Bern, to Murten. We didn't mean to stop here, but couldn't quite make our ambitious goal of Neuchatel, which would've been 100 kms in total. It may have been ambitious anyway, but especially as the weather turned hot and sunny today. It was over 33c and humid. We did good though...

Here are a couple of pictures of Murten, at night... a lovely stop-over that we enjoyed very much with an afternoon swim in Lac Neuchatel and strolling through the medieval town.

But we decided that today's blog was not going to be a list of the places we went and the biking experience; rather we thought it was time for some stories and reflections on our first full week of cycling through Europe, mostly Switzerland.

1) Alice embodying Farley the poodle. As many of you know, our pet poodle Farley was a skittish being, often seen shivering and cowering in corners at the thought of being scared. Well, I (Alice) seem to have embodied our dear poodle, and find myself shaken by the most innocent of terrain - slighlty loose gravel makes me cringe; a bump in the road causes white knuckles; and steel see-through grid bridges me make get off the bike and walk across, tentatively at best. Not to mention the fall I took the other day, at an alarming speed of 3 kms/hr. More dramatic even, then the wrist-shattering fall I took last year while at a stop. But, to be fair, I am a new cyclist and but a few years ago, even the thought of being on any two-wheeled vehicle was incomprehensible. SO I pat myself on the back, embrace my inner Farley and ignore Peter (as did Farley) when necessary. There actually have been a few days where my confidence has allowed me to ride like Lance, zooming down hills, around cars and pedestrians, with nary a care. And those days are increasingly in evidence. I am enjoying biking and meeting the challenge.

2) Peter's frenzied attempt at getting 'in the kilometers'. I (Peter) fully understood Alice's ability and 'Farley-ness' even before the trip. Yet I am a bit obsessed about getting in the 60-100 kms/day I set out as a goal (without any reason or rhyme). This has been hampered by my lack of ability to follow bike path signs, an alarming number of Swiss villages in close proximity requiring direction changes, and a desire to go faster and further than I am able. Patience is my lesson to be learned.

3) The Swiss experience. A) Okay, so Alice speaks German, English and some French and I speak English and French. These are the official languages of Switzerland, yet we cannot understand or communicate in way with any one in this country. HUH?!?

B) Everybody here must be rich, cause everything is at least double the price of Canada. True We have been eating at restaurants (all are $30/entree; coke 4.50; coffee $4.00, etc.). So this evening we decided to buy our own food (prepared) at the grovcery store and have that for dinner, and then perhaps treat ourselves to a beer and ice cream. Well, $75 later, we had 2 buns, goat cheese, some olives, potato salad, pop and fruit. And the beer and ice cream added the extra $25 to our dinner. Hmmmmm....

C) We have travelled a fair bit in our lives and have seen a variety of ways that people manage themselves, their landscapes and their physical environments. We are absolutely astounded at the cleanliness, organization, and the lack of a building or village with any need for any repair whatsoever. For example, they sweep rarely used roads and bike lanes. Nice but a bit overdone. And we kinda missed all those falling down barns that are evident everywhere in Ontario. Nothing similar here. Peter spit (out a bug) the other day and we both felt guilty for it...

D) We have biked through farmers fields, the Alps and many meadows and, trust us, we have seen a lot of cows. One thing we have learned for sure about Switzerland is that they need (no) more cow bell... ;-)

4) How high maintenance we really are. This might be best illustrated by our complaints about the weather. For the first week it was cloudy, cool and threatened rain constantly. Peter and Alice complained, to who ever would listen (a=even though they didn't understand what we were saying). Now today it is hot, sunny and humid. Guess what?!? Yes, we are complaining... We would like a weather bubble that would guarantee partly cloudy, 24c, wind at our back, no UV rays, and an air conditioner at each stop. Not so far...

5) How we miss the everyday lives of our friends. Through this blog we hope that our friends and family are kept up on our lives as we experience new things. But it occurs to us that we don't know what is going on in everyone else's lives. So please, email us and keep us in touch. We love you and don't want to lose any of the closeness we have by not being around or knowing what is going on.

Ways to keep in touch with us:

email - Peter: pwolf@uoguelph.ca Alice: ahovorka@uoguelph.ca
blog - aliceandpetersbigadventure.blogspot.com
Facebook - 'friend' Peter Wolf (Kitchener)
Skype (internet phone) - search for Alice or Peter

Boy are we connected!!! So now help us keep on top of your lives...

Love

Alice and Peter

_____
July 14 - Today was a momentous day in that it was the 2nd day in a row we biked more than 65 kms. Yayy! And Alice is still feeling no pain, so it's official - She is okay and we will not mention it again, unless, of course, her knee acts up in the future. But that seems unlikely... hopefully.

Alice loved her breakfast in Murten, which I ruined by wanting to get going. Eventually, we did leave, amidst some bickering. We rode on flat terrain through farmers' fields as we left the Alps, a bit sad about our leaving but with high hopes of a return one day soon. We biked alongside Lac Neuchatel, across the lake from the Jura mountains. We had a lovely lunch in this charming little village, Estavayer-Sur-Lac.

And then we rode downhill all the way to our destination, Yverdon-Les-Bains.

As you might guess from the city name, it was all about getting to "Les Bains" - thermal, spring-fed pools of lovely water. This site was suggested by our Swiss friend Markus who we met during our fab lunch at Iseltwald (the fishing village on Brienzesee) a few days back.

We arrived hot and a bit dishevelled, and settled into a below average hotel (carpet on the door...odd). We quickly made our way to the thermal pools which did not disappoint. We soaked for several hours and were relaxed and rejuvenated when finished. We were unimpressed with the city itself, however, and over a nice simple meal at an outdoor restaurant, we decided to take the next day off riding (after 5 days straight), and take a train to Lausanne on Lake Geneva).

Overnight we had the biggest and loudest and longest thunderstorm either of us had ever experienced. But we survived.

To give you some stats on our riding to-date, we have ridden our bikes on 8 days, for a total of about 450kms. We have averaged just under 20kms/hour and I have burned over 13000 calories during this time (offset by the estimated 20,000 calories we ate in bread, cheese and Nutella... ;-)

Peter (and Alice)

_____
July 15 - As we write this entry we are still experiencing our day. We started by taking the train to Lausanne, as planned. However, when we got there, we realized that there were no rooms available (at least, not for under $350/night). So we decided to get back on the train and end our Switzerland portion of the trip and head to the Loire Valley. This meant two other train rides and a whole day of travel. We are expecting to arrive in Tours, France at about 10pm tonight. Tomorrow we will scout out the area, likely bike just a bit and then take it from there. So our next entries will be from France. that's all that happened today...

Observationally, on two of the last three days we have noticed that getting (appropriate) accommodations has become harder. We aren't sure if it is coincidental or that this region may be busier and therefore more booked. We are resisting, but we may have to start reserving accommodations in advance. Drag.

As we ride the train, it is also noticeable that the terrain seems flatter here than in Switzerland. So may we will cover even more ground. Or, Alice says, "Maybe not."

We'll see...

Peter (and Alice)