The Old and the Restless

Once again, the day started with a long climb from the Óise River to cut cross country to the Seine. For the third day, one of our group had a flat after a coffee stop (with raspberry tart, of course). The delay proved to be fortuitous because, as we crossed the Seine, our barge came by. Without the delay, we would have missed it. There, sitting on deck in the sun was Roy Then, came a long traverse of the forest around Paris until we emerged at St. Germain castle (now an archeological museum). We lunched in the gardens with a good view of Paris from 15 km away. Then, it was downhill to the Seine with a 10 km trip along its banks to the Elodie.

Wednesday started with a a short (mostly uphill) cycle trip to Chantilly. Conscious of the need to keep his heart rate down, Paul dropped down to the second lowest gear to climb the hill - until he noticed Margaret walking her bicycle whiz by him on the sidewalk. Somehow, peddling like mad to be overtaken by a walker was so demoralizing that he decided to join the "parade of pedestrians". Chantilly is famous for four things - all four of which we experienced. First, is the castle of the Conde - a famous middle ages general filled with art work and rare books. Second , is the race track from which the jockeys have a magnificent view of the chateau. Third is Chantilly cream, which is obligatory on the "strawberry pie" (shortcake) with coffee after the castle tour. Fourth is Chantilly lace (black) about which no one burst into song (audibly)! From there, the day went down hill, literally and figuratively. First, one of our group took a tumble of her bicycle when an ...

This morning we rode through the woods to beautiful fortified town of St. Jean aux Bois. It is a gem hidden in the woods. Then, on another path we rode through the woods again stopping where we caught sight of Pierrefonds castle, high on a hill. Originally built in the 14th century, demolished in 17th and rebuilt by Napoleon 3rd in 1857, it had an underground crypt with effigies depicting those who contributed to"La Gloire de la France". Then it was back through woods to Compiènge and the Orange store so that three of us could recharge our SIM card (and I could continue my Blog). Unfortunately Paul's wheel twisted as he was going over the curb and down he went! Bruised feelings, skinned knee but no serious injury. It was a 15 km ride along the canal to the boat but the last 5 km was through mud, potholes and rain.

Because it was raining in morning Paul decided to have a rest day. Close by were the ruins of the Abbey of Notre Dame. Most of the ride was through the woods. It turned out to be sunny with little wind and was mostly flat. Wonderful! We visited the museum where they signed armistice of 1911. The French created a memorial of the German defeat of a fallen (Prussian) eagle. I wonder how the Germans feel about the fallen eagle statue? Rain arrived just as we entered Compiègne.

Noyon dates from the Roman era and has had successive cathedrals rebuilt over the millennia after fire and battle damage. Charlemagne was crowned here in 768. The cathedrals were destroyed many times by Burgundians, Hungarians and Spanish. In the French revolution some statues were beheaded, horses were stabled in cathedral and the choir was used as a caberet. Many buildings and the cathedral had bullet holes in them. The earliest Gothic Church in France. Paul in the cathedral cloisters. Above is a statue of Joan of Arc being canonized. It was not allowed in cathedral for years because the face of Joan of Arc was of the wife of sculptor. She was rehabilitated after the German victory of 1871 as a symbol of resistance and revenge by the French nation against the Germans.

We left Peronne in the sun and had a gently rolling route down the Somme following the Canal du Nord towards Paris. The path beside the canal was bumpy. We passed the Elodie a couple of times Lunch was in Nesle. Often we bought something at a patisserie or boulangerie and then took it to the local café to have a drink (coffee, beer, or wine) with it. On the road again, we visited a German war cemetery of 1242 soldiers, all of whom died in July 1916. They were plain graves with no flowers. Officers were not buried double as were lower ranks. Again, the German Jewish soldier's grave is marked with a tablet, not a cross.

A rest day. No riding. Above is a picture of the museum dedicated to World War 1 which we visited in the morning. After lunch we went for a walk around the town. Above is a photo of part of the wall and moat which used to be around the town. I did this using Blogpress, a downloaded app. Although it is much easier to use, the pictures are fuzzy unless you press on them. I think I'll do the Blog the regular, complicated way next time.