The Old and the Restless

There were a lot of rolling hills today. Thankfully, when there was wind as we went up a hill, it was behind us. A French cemetery of people who died in World War I, had crosses and plaques to commemorate the fallen. We realized, looking at the names, that the plaques were for Muslim soldiers, probably from Algeria. Sometimes the plaques were backed by a cross because a Muslim was commemorated on one side and a Christian on the other side. Paul's summary of the third week of cycling up the Marne to Epernay: This was a new area of France for us - one that is historically and geographically interesting. The Marne is a main tributary of the Seine and was the site of great fighting in WW I between the French and German troops while the Commonwealth troops fought the Germans north of Paris along the Somme. The Marne valley is a broad valley with gently mounting sides perfect for growing the varieties of grape to make champagne. Of course, sleeping on a barge meant that every night w...

An easy start along the river for a few km. Then, inland up for a long hard climb. Most walked a good portion of the hill. After crossing a long plateau, we descended to the Marne again for our morning coffee stop before 11 am. Then, we entered champagne territory... and stopped for a champagne tasting at Charly. Many bought bottles and flutes (champagne glasses). Leaving Charly, we started anther long ascent. Paul's story is "I made it up the entire hill. Sandra needed to stop to rest (pretending to stop to take yet another picture of me climbing a hill slowly - but her excuse was transparently false!)." As we approached the high point of the hill, it started to rain. So,we sought shelter under a farm equipment shed to have lunch. The farmer came out to see what was happening, have a little chat and wish us "courage" (a prophetic remark)! Then, it was a pleasant ride to a village?.. from which there was a "short cut" to the American WW I war memorial...

Wednesday began with a long climb... (above photo - Roy walking, Paul riding) ... to a privately owned Chateau ruin... ... probably first begun in the XII century in the reign of Louis VII. In the XVI century it was given to Catherine de Medici by Henri II who had various architects (Delorme) embellish the architecture. Henri IV bought it for his mistress Gabrielle d 'Estrées. She envisioned herself becoming queen and had 3 children by the king but she died, rumored to be of poisoning, after a banquet in 1599. (In the controversial painting below which is in the Louvre, Gabrielle on the right is in the bath with her sister)) Henri IV then gave the chateau to his wife, Marie de Medici after the birth of Louis XIII in 1601. Therefore it is called the Chateau of the three queens. The official name is Montceaux les Meaux. The castle is in ruins having been used as a quarry. The current owners bought the grounds with two "servants houses", the castle ruins and th...

Paul was told that he probably should not do this because of the big hill so he stayed on the boat; however, two days later, on Thursday, we all met with a much bigger challenge. Unfortunately Paul missed the sculpture garden on this day. All the sculptures were made from the blocks of a bridge that was blown up in WWI. Nina, our guide, gave us the challenge of finding the statue with the bicycle but only one person, Monica, found it. I had taken photos of the statue with the "gear shift" but did not go around to see the bike. Then, it was the hill. I made it 1/3 of the way up. Most walked but 2 men made it. The visit to the house of Louis Braille was very interesting.  Born in 1809, he was blinded in one eye at the age of 5 while using one of his father's sharp, hooked tools which slipped as he was playing with it. He then got an infection which caused him to lose both eyes. Because he was very intelligent, he attended the local school, but he stayed in the same...

Our first 42 km ride out of Paris was cleverly routed to avoid hills. After crossing under the Peripherique, we visited Chateau de Vincennes the oldest remaining fortified royal residence in France. Then we cycled to the Marne for a picnic lunch followed by a viewing of the Nestlé chocolate factory. From there, we followed the Marne - passing our barge... ... just before arriving at Lagny sur Marne. An easy enjoyable day!

On Saturday we did jobs such as try to reserve for dinner for 8 of us at Bofinger. Since it was booked until 11:30 pm, we booked at "Baby Bo" across the street. Then we bought out train tickets for Neuchâtel at the end of the cycling trip. On Sunday, we went to a masse at St. Sulpice a large church in the 8e with the largest pipe organ in Paris. The attraction was the organ before, during and after mass. Our theory, like that of Henri IV, was that listening to the organ was "worth a mass"! The afternoon finished with a city bicycle tour to the north canal around Paris. It was the first sunny day for two weeks and all of Paris was out in the parks (often blocking the bicycle paths with strollers). In one on the parks, we saw 5 year olds conduct a "horse race" around a circuit.

How to sum up the trip to date after two weeks? Enjoyable bicycling with the highs on most days between 18 and 22 C (I.e. close to 70 F) with the mornings usually close to 10 C (50 F).  Trips were usually in the 45 to 55 km range with elapsed time of 6 to 7 hours of which 4 hours were bicycling and the rest sight seeing. Most nights there were village or town walks which I skipped due to my sore foot, but which Sandra took. Belgium was flat but windy. After the first day in France, the winds died down but the hills started. I had always known that the climb from Belgium into France would be a challenge from our previous trip to Vimy, but was surprised by the number of long hills in France. Still, by the end of the first week, my legs were in shape to handle all of the hills (if slowly). While it hasn't rained each day, there was rain forecast for part of each day except yesterday when we cycled to St. Germain above the Paris In the sun. All told, nearly perfect cycling weathe...

Another ride down with Paris in sight. (Note: Click on photos to see them. Blogpress on the iPad makes the photos blurry unless you click on them. If anyone knows how to solve this problem, let me know!) A look at the view... ... and then another up and down to meet the barge so that we. Old sail in style on the Seine viewing familiar monuments as we drank champagne... ... until the Elodie arrived at its berth near the Pace du Bastille in the Marais district of Paris.

Unfortunately with the Blogpress app on the iPad, the small pictures are fuzzy. If you want to see a picture better, click on it and you get a larger, clearer picture. Today, we are in sight of Paris with a scheduled visit to Versailles before we arrive in central Paris. Today is predicted to be all day rain (although with our max temperature of 22C is the warmest for the trip so far). Since we have seen Versailles several times before, I will be skipping the tour in the rain. Sandra had decided to take a rain day too (several times!) but has now decided not to miss any of the "fun" of the trip - even a soggy trip to Versailles. Sandra's note: The trip to Versailles turned out not to be soggy; however one look at the crowds convinced four of us to ride our bikes through the property and visit the Grand and Petit Trianon (part of Marie Antoinette's little village) There were very few people and no line-ups. Versailles at the front with crow...