September 2024
Sep 2, 2024
Bonjour! Ranjan and I arrived in Geneva yesterday. His bike didn’t make it with us in the flight, though, so rather than setting out for Lyon today, we have to wait for it to arrive in the next few days.
Sep 3, 2024
Ranjan’s bike arrived! No doubt due to him constantly calling the airline. We’ll head out this morning once I find some rain pants—the weather turned drizzly after a thunderstorm last night.
Sep 4, 2024
Our first day of riding was gray, but not bad. We stopped at Seyssel for lunch where we met another cyclist heading for our campsite, and caught up with her there in Culoz. It began to rain a little in the evening, and by this morning there is a steady downpour.
Sep 5, 2024
Spain aside, the rain in France fell mainly on us. After an hour biking through a downpour, we found a cafe in Belley to wait out the rain. Then we got lost on the way to Morestel, and had to ride a rough gravel road to get back to the trail. After Morestel, Ranjan did a front flip over a barrier (somehow he was fine). And when we got to our campsite at sunset, we found the office had closed 30 minutes ago. Nevertheless, the scenery is beautiful and the people are very kind. We found a hotel north of Montelieu-Vercieu, which served the best meal of the trip so far.
Sep 6, 2024
Friday was much better. We met an old German named Michael who was also touring to Lyon. He seemed to be in much better shape than us. His advice was, “white wine during the day, red wine with dinner.” We reached Lyon, wandered, had dinner. In a few days, we’ll set out again for Montpellier. More then.
Sep 9, 2024
Au revoir, Lyon. After a few days of cafes, thunderstorms, and basilicas, we’re “on the Rhône again.”
Sep 10, 2024
A tailwind carried us south to Saint-Vallier, a town that seems to have had better days. On Tuesday we continued to Cruas, a charming little village with an old monastery perched above it. The sun has finally come out.
Sep 13, 2024
Wednesday we stopped by Montélimar, the capital of nougat. We had a very dry steak there. We’ve decided that France has no mediocre food—it’s either delicious or terrible. That night we stayed in a medieval-looking hotel overlooked by a castle-topped cliff. The steak at the local bar was amazing. On Thursday, we stopped for lunch in Sorgues, where we both ordered the “Andouile Aaaaa”. The waiter spoke little English but warned us that it was “strong”. It was probably the worst tasting thing I’ve ever eaten—a very traditional sausage full of who knows what animal parts. The taste stayed in our mouths for miles afterward. Later that day we arrived in Avignon, the old seat of the Catholic Church (half of it, anyway). The pope palace was pretty interesting.
Sep 15, 2024
Friday we battled gusty crosswinds from Avignon to Saint-Gilles. Ranjan got a flat when I was too far ahead, but got help from another traveler. In Saint-Gilles the bartender at the local bar looked exactly like Freddie Mercury. We didn’t hear him sing. Saturday we had lunch in Aigues-Mortes, a little walled city with lots of touristy shops. I wonder what crumbling aspects of American towns will seem so cute in a thousand years. At Le Grande-Motte we stopped to take a dip in the Med. In the afternoon we reached Montpellier, had some duck breast with foie gras, and had a long rest.
Sep 16, 2024
On Sunday in France, everything is closed. We went to the flea market in Montpellier. On Monday we headed south to Sete along the coast. Sete is the end of the Via Rhona, and we switched to the Canal du Midi trail, which will take us to Toulouse. We made it as far as Béziers, where we had some amazing North African food and found a really cool light installation in the park.
Sep 19, 2024
From Béziers, we continued along the Canal du Midi trail, which runs right along the canal. We quickly abandoned the trail, though, since it’s all gravel. Instead we rode along winding roads through farms and vineyards. Tuesday night we stopped at a village called Homps, but found the hotels full. We camped in the park at the town entrance. Wednesday we visited the castle at Carcassonne and rode on to Castelnaudary. We’re learning that hotels along the canal sell out frequently, so we’ve started booking them further in advance. There seem to be a lot of English tourists that rent boats to take along the canal—we’ve seen more than one inexperienced sailor badly navigating the tiny locks. We’re eating cassoulet, the local specialty, which is basically a hearty bean soup with various cooked meats. Mine needed more salt.
Sep 22, 2024
Thursday morning, before passing through Molleville, we climbed a small mountain. After that we returned to the Canal du Midi trail, which is now paved to Toulouse. This stretch was one of the prettiest so far. We stayed for a few nights in Toulouse, mainly resting and sampling the city’s restaurants. We saw the Capitole building, which outmatched all previous old pretty buildings. Its simple halls are covered with huge, floor-to-ceiling impressionist and romantic paintings. We returned to our favorite restaurant on the final night to share a full breast of duck and potatoes.
Sep 25, 2024
Sunday we started along a new canal, the Canal de Garrone, which shadows the Garrone River between Toulouse and Bordeaux. At a campground in Moissac a shirtless man covered in tattoos gave me two cans of corn and a can of tuna, explaining that his bottle of olive oil was stolen so he had no use for them. Monday, at lunch, we talked to an English widower named Bob, who told us a joke about chickens. Later we camped with some chickens in Sérignac-sur-Garrone. On Wednesday we finally left the canal and rode the Piste Roger Lapébie, a railway converted to a bike path, the rest of the way to Bordeaux. The last two nights my sleeping pad slowly leaked, and I woke up every hour or two to re-inflate it. After 750 miles we’re finally in Bordeaux, and the biking is done, the camping is done, thank god.
Sep 30, 2024
In Bordeaux we ate like kings. We had foie gras next to the opera house, octopus overlooking the Garonne River, and salmon filet in the old city. Kings also eat street food—burgers, kebab, bahn cuon. And lots of wine and espresso. After eating and wandering for four days, we’re finally flying home. Au revoir, France. Thanks for following along!
