Dienville - Florence (via Interlaken) 16th - 22nd September

After plenty of time resting, reading, eating croissants and wandering about in Dienville, I needed to get moving in order to make it to my meet up with friends in Florence. I planned a combination of little rides and big train journeys to get there, stopping off to spend a few days in Interlaken on the way. 

My leg seemed to be improving so it was time to get back on the bike and gradually increase mileage - with fingers and toes crossed that I wouldn't have a recurrence and go back to square one. The first ride took me from Dienville to Bar-sur-Aube. A great route between fields and over gentle hills following the Aube. It felt great to be back on the bike despite the first downpour of the trip. 

Back on the bike - made even better with croissant on the go

I had some time to wander and found Bar-sur-Aube busy with market morning. As I sat in the square to eat I realised they were playing jazz through the town's sound system. One of those schemes to stop teenagers congregating? …Or celebratory jazz for market morning?!! 

Bar-sur-Aube

Market hall

Next I was on to the train to Langres - a stop I'd planned as it looked lovely from the map. I'd pinned my hopes on a campsite just inside the city walls that notoriously filled up fast and happily got myself a perfect spot, looking out over the ramparts on to the valley below, sheltered either side by big Dutch campervans. 

Dreamy camp spot

View from my tent in the evening

Breakfast spot on Langres ramparts in the morning

Langres

The next day's train took me all the way to Mulhouse - the last stop before Switzerland. Leaving the station, I joined the canal and the Eurovelo 6 route along the Canal du Rhone which takes cyclists over the border and in to Basel.  Stopping before Basel, I was pretty unimpressed that this campsite just provided little patches of dust for cyclists to put their tents on and that the swimming pool was closed despite it being 32. Things improved when other solo cyclists arrived as well as a couple travelling for a few months in their jeep. We all survived the thunder and lightening storm that ran for a few hours overnight and drip dried the next morning together under a little shelter.

Arriving in Mulhouse

Canal du Rhone path

Torrential rain cycling

 

Drip drying

It was heavy rain the whole way in to Basel too, but exciting to cross the border by bike and to have a quick look at the city as I meandered through on the way to the station. No photos due to the heavy rain as well as the complex road lay out for trams, bikes, cars and busses - I had to concentrate hard not to get my bike stuck in the grooves. As expected, the Swiss rail people were EXTREMELY helpful and well organised, spoke impeccable English and charged me a lot of money to get to Interlaken and then on to Milan a couple of days later.  

Impressive train station in Basel

Arriving in Interlaken while I was still soggy, knowing my tent was wet in my bag and going out in to the rain again to find a campsite was not a high point. However, once I met Heidi at 'Camping Hobby', heard her long list of rules for her site and could see the mountains from my soggy tent, I knew I'd landed on my feet. 🏕️ Camping Hobby 3 | Unterseen-Interlaken, Switzerland  I had a dreamy three nights there, just outside Interlaken and spent the days walking, swimming in Thunersee and working in the cabin on the campsite. On Heidi's recommendation I took the train up to Schynige Platte and took a long walk on my last day. Hard to describe how great it was; best day of the trip so far.

Work spot on the campsite

The walk in to Interlaken from the campsite

Little local walk

The train that goes up mountains

Looking back at Thunersee from Schynige Platte

Happiest day up high

Following my Interlaken days, I planned to ride alongside Thunersee to Thun to take the train to Milan and then on to Bologna. Stunning ride. 

Lots of little tunnels on the way

Endless loveliness

Thun - a great town and definitely worth a visit

A lot less full of tourists than Interlaken!

Then a very long train journey squashed alongside a lot of others and feeling a bit sorry for myself that I wasn't able to ride this section over the alps that I had been so looking forward to. I stayed right in the centre of Bologna, ate some ragu for dinner, saw a late evening concert in the square and left early the next morning. Building on my leg's good behaviour over the past few days, I wanted to keep the momentum going without ruining my progress, so I'd planned to ride part of the way to Florence before getting a train for the rest. Ended up being pretty eventful with deep gravelly dust, extremely steep inclines that I had to push up and then another storm. I made it to my train very wet but with 2 mins to spare, befriended an Israeli cyclist on board (who was also on the train due to despair about rain, unexpected gravel and unrideable roads) and eventually I was in Firenze! More on Florence next time.

Essential Stats

Distance cycled: 90 miles

Mechanicals: slowly improving left leg. Bike still intact. 

Books read: 

- The bullet that missed - Richard Osman ***

Route:

- French bit (cycling in pink, train in blue, pink hearts going from left to right are Dienville, Bar-sur-Aube, Langres and Mulhouse)

- Swiss bit

- Italian bit

Épernay - Dienville 5th - 16th September

I was dropped off by my taxi driver at the Municipal campsite in Épernay. I ate at the campsite restaurant, feeling sorry for myself and icing my leg with ice donated by the restaurant. 

I deliberated overnight about next steps. I couldn't cycle, but also couldn't walk much without pain, I had a hotel room booked in Troyes for the following night, but there are no trains from Épernay to Troyes... Thankfully Dad found and recommended Bla Bla Car. I managed to book a ride with a couple and their van who were travelling that way the next morning. With the help of google translate we spent the journey discussing French politics, train prices and the importance of celebrating diversity in schools. 

Although I couldn't get around much to see the sights, I enjoyed the coloured buildings, the Cathedral, a glass of Champagne (in Champagne) and the library. I had a day of work to complete and was glad to have it as a distraction. 

View from the hotel in Troyes

Champagne in Champagne

Inside Troyes Cathedral

More of Troyes Cathedrale Saint-Pierre Saint-Paul

Troyes heart

Troyes Mediatheque

After three nights at Brit Hotel Comtes de Champagne I needed to get out to save my budget and to work out what was next now that my itinerary wasn't going as planned. I had noticed two lakes not far from Troyes and planned a short, flat ride to a campsite near there as a test for the leg. Over the next couple of days, slow and short rides still resulted in a lot of discomfort making me realise I needed more rest.. and that I needed to seriously consider whether I could carry on the trip at all. I certainly wasn't going to make the whole ride to Florence with so many days not moving. Finally admitting defeat for the time being, I settled in to a great campsite in Dienville and stayed put for 5 nights to rest the leg and to give me some time to decide on next steps. https://domaine-le-colombier.fr/en/home/

A favourite camp spot en route to Dienville

Le Velovoie des Lacs next to Lac d'Orient

Lac d'Orient

Once I accepted the change to my plans, Dienville was a great base for reading, swimming in the lake, walks through local fields and a daily boulangerie (morning) and 'Le Cafe du Centre' (early evening) routine. The campsite also offered me a yurt for my day of work - an unexpected but successful office for the day.

Camp spot companions

Camp spot - church bells every hour from 5am 

Dienville houses

Lac d'Amance

fields around Dienville

Last of the sunflowers

Chateau de Brienne-le-Chateau (through the trees)

Brienne-le-Chateau

Work in a yurt

Essential stats

Distance cycled: 38 miles :(

Mechanicals: none except ongoing leg issues

Books read: 

- The man who died twice- Richard Osman ***

- It's Complicated - Emma Hughes **

- A Room with a View - E. M. Forster ****

Route: 

London to Épernay 31st Aug - 5th Sept

Leaving Crofton Park

Send off party

I started my journey at Crofton Park (with a great send off from these two) and a train journey to Canterbury. My bike and I had a night in the Premier Inn in Canterbury and then I was off on the road! It was a lovely route to Dover along the Pilgrim's way, although I had forgotton to buy breakfast before I left, so tried to make up for it by feasting on late August blackberries and honesty box plums as I went.

Honesty box to the rescue

Emergency breakfast

It was a bit of a shock to the system needing to speak French and to cycle on the right and a lovely reminder of how much the French love cycling to be greeted with cycle paths and careful drivers. The first couple of campsites were full of Brits on their way home from holidays (families) or on their way to their holidays (retired couples). Happily, my friend Alice was one of these - she and her family were passing through the same area I was riding in on their way back from a couple of weeks climbing in the Alps. We met for food, she gave me tips on speaking French and we discussed the complexities of camping in the rain. 

First campsite

The riding was mostly flat, big open fields with occasional quiet villages. Plenty of opportunity to recover from a busy summer (and a busy few years!) with hardly anyone else in sight. A couple of days in, I was riding right through the WWI battlefields. Big, open, empty and sad... and so many graves. I listened to a couple of WWI podcasts in an attempt to educate myself about what happened there. It was quite something to see the huge expanse of land where the battles took place, the vast number of graveyards and as I moved further south, the individually named stones at the sides of the road - marking local young men lost in the battle. 

Lunch spot

Little roads, big fields. 

 

One of many war graves - all beautifully kept

It was super hot - sitting at 36 throughout the afternoons. I searched everywhere for taps to refill my bottles, but couldn't find any for a couple of days and ended up asking people in their gardens. Great opportunities to practice my French and to be reminded that most people are kind and do want to help. Eventually learned that you just need to go in to cemeteries (not the WWI War Graves- the standard village ones) and they all have taps for the flowers.  All the churches were open and cool - a welcome break from the heat and some very beautiful. I was particularly taken with this one. 

Church at Aire-sur-la-Lys

I camped one night on the Somme river and then was soon in to the Champagne region. Vineyards everywhere, more hills and more tourists!

Arriving in the Champagne region. Beautiful but intensely hot!

I started to feel a niggle that I've had previously in my quad but continued, knowing that rest days were just around the corner. Despite cycling at snail's pace the following day, it was getting worse and after many hours of deliberation, I realised I needed to bail. Some pleading with an uber driver to put my bike in the back of his car meant that I made it to Épernay safe and sound.  Turned out that he is a semi-pro footballer, so we discussed my quad problem in detail and he gave some great advice re recovery. 

Épernay - 'capitale du Champagne' is home to many Champagne houses as well as being very close to where Dom Perignon (the Benedictine Monk who made important contributions to the invention of Champagne) lived. I wasn't really in the mood for celebratory champagne due to my painful limp, but had a short wander up the 'Avenue de Champagne' before I traveled on to Troyes to rest and work out next steps. 

Town Hall in Épernay

Dom Perignon's statue in front of the Moët & Chandon Champagne house

Essential stats

Distance cycled: 225 miles

Mechanicals: none on the bike - 1 on my leg :(