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
No comments:
Post a Comment