Revisiting Past Journeys: Vézère, Dordogne & Lot 2012
Vézère, Dordogne & Lot
In August of 2012 Werner and I took a two-week tour of the Vézère, Dordogne & Lot valleys in southwest France. Vézère, Dordogne & Lot August 9-25, 2012 Route München – Bordeaux – Les Eyzies – Souillac – Lot Valley … Read More
Night Train to Paris
Day 1: Wednesday/Thursday, 08./09. August 2012 For various reasons, we ended up taking the night train to Paris to start our vacation. We arrived at the Munich train station with our fully packed bikes at about a quarter past 10. … Read More
Memories of the Past
Day 2: Friday, 10.08.2012 We took our time getting ready and eating breakfast and when we got to the station we realized that the trains to Arcachon ran every two hours and the next one was an hour and a … Read More
“Let’s Take the Long Route”
Day 3: Saturday, 11.08.2012 Words to regret: “Let’s take the long route” First of all, whose idea was it to take a train leaving at 8:13am on the second day of vacation? Oh yeah, mine… We had prepped as much … Read More
Romantic Magic
Day 4: Sunday, 12.08.2012 What a luxury – our hotel was so quiet and we were soooo tired, that we slept in until 9:15. When I realized what time it was, I gave a yelp and jumped out of bed … Read More
The Perils of Wine
Day 5: Monday, 13.08.2012 We were up and at ‘em fairly early but our exit from town was delayed by a visit to the weekly farmers’ market. A gourmet picnic was in order and this was the perfect place to … Read More
The Road Less Traveled
We had trouble getting up and getting moving (it was vacation, after all) and we didn’t get on the road until 10:15. Due to the lack of real bike routes, the plethora of hills and the predicted hot temperature, we had decided on a short route that looked fairly flat on the map.… Read More
An Official Bike Trail!
Day 7: Wednesday, 15.08.2012 We were sad to leave our beautiful hotel, but the next part of our adventure was calling and so by 9am we were on the road headed for Sarlat. The first 19 of the 21 kilometers … Read More
Sarlat up Close
Day 8: Thursday, 16.08.2012 This place is so quiet, we slept incredibly deeply, woke late and staggered down to breakfast at 9. Ah, a lovely little buffet with OJ, ham, cheese, lovely bread (I particularly liked the moist raisin bread) … Read More
Southern France 2021, from beginning to end
Countdown to Takeoff
The clock is ticking… Less than two weeks to go and the countdown has started. We’re making lists, studying maps and reading guidebooks like mad. It’s stressful but we are extremely happy that we’ll soon be able to travel.
The First Course / Vorspeise
A taste of what’s to come… After a somewhat hectic two weeks, today we picked up the RV and were able to finally get a taste of what we’ll be experiencing over the coming 4+ weeks. We spent the afternoon … Read More
On the Road at Last
Everything takes longer than planned… I naively imagined that we would get on the road at 11 at the very latest. By the time we got the apartment tidied up, the rest of the stuff in the RV, the bikes … Read More
Finally in France
Day 2, 05. June Happily, we discovered that our RV bed is very comfortable! This morning was about getting into our routines for the month – how to dance around each other in the small space, how many scoops of … Read More
Ooo la la, dinner out!
Day 3, Sunday, 06.06 Thankfully we had thought to pick up a baguette and croissants in Lyon, so we could celebrate our first French-style breakfast. Not quite fresh, but still it’s hard to beat baguette and butter with some of … Read More
Establishing Routines
Day 4, 07.06, Monday It’s vacation, so sleeping in and having a relaxing morning are part of the routine. We had a leisurely morning, breakfasting on fresh croissants and baguette, then slowly got the bikes ready for our chosen outing … Read More
Vacation Begins
Day 5, 08 June, Tuesday About an hour ago as I dipped into the pool, I finally had the feeling that vacation has begun. At 3:30 we arrived at our very lovely campground. It’s located 500 meters from the Rhone, … Read More
An Outing to Orange
Day 7, 10 June, Thursday Leisurely starts to the day are certainly our trademark… by the time we got on our bikes it was shortly before 11a.m. Our chosen outing of the day was to ride to Orange and back … Read More
The Ants Shall Inherit the Earth
Day 8, 11 June, Friday We had decided to take a day off from vacation, that is relax around the campsite, swim and visit the town and I was looking forward to a nice sleep-in. Way too early (at 6:45 … Read More
Flexibility
Day 9, 12 June, Saturday The plan from yesterday evening was to get an early start as possible and ride to Avignon for a visit and be back before the greatest heat in the late afternoon, then packing up and … Read More
The Unexpected
Day 10, 13 June, Sunday We were up an at ‘em early, waiting to hear news of the dentist. The evening before we had loaded the bikes and tried to be as ready to go as possible. Shortly after 9am … Read More
Tourist Magnets
Day 11, 14 June, Monday In Fontaine-de-Vaucluse we packed our things together and before we drove away made a quick visit to the river that flowed by the campsite. We were almost sad to say goodbye to this sweet little … Read More
Surprises and Disappointments
Day 12, 15. June Tuesday Shortly before 11 we were on the bikes for the short (3.5km) ride into Arles. A few hundred meters from the campsite was a sign for a veloroute into town so we followed, only to … Read More
Flat as Far as the Eye can See
Day 13, 16. June, Wednesday As usual it took us a while, but by noon we were checked out of the campsite in Arles. It was actually a fine campsite with good showers and a nice pool but somehow I … Read More
Stormy Weather
Day 15/16, 18. June Friday / 19. June Saturday When you take a trip you always hope that the weather is going to be perfect the entire time. Unfortunately, it doesn’t always work out that way. We’re fortunate on this … Read More
Rainy Drive to the Olive Oil Mill
Day 17, 20. June Sunday We were up early (for us) and packed up and got out as quickly as possible. After the usual stop for ice for our ice chest (our beverage supply doesn’t fit in the teeny fridge) … Read More
Carcassonne & Curvy Roads
Day 18, 21. June Monday Werner had the idea of not making breakfast so that we could get on the road more quickly. Sounded like a good idea – we were sure that at the big grocery store 10 minutes … Read More
Beyond Magnificent
Day 19, 22. June Tuesday After a couple of weeks of slightly warm to lukewarm showers, finally we had campground showers that were blissfully hot. What a treat! We got away at noon for the very short ride into the … Read More
Making the Best of a Rainy Day
Day 20, 23. June Wednesday Today we had a short but scenic drive from Albi to Millau. Although the weather wasn’t spectacular (cloudy/overcast the entire day) the scenery was so interesting that we had to make several photo stops along … Read More
Architectural Elegance
Day 21, 24. June, Thursday In spite of the fact that the weather was overcast and on-and-off rainy we decided to visit the Viaduct de Millau viewpoint. I mean, who knows when we’ll be back? It was a good decision. … Read More
Natural Grandeur
Day 22, 25. June Friday The day started a bit grey, so we took our time getting moving (so what’s new) and during our leisurely breakfast decided to ride up the River Jonte to the town of Meyruies, 22km away. … Read More
Exceeding all Expectations
Day 23, 26. June Saturday We had a lot of plans for the day so we got up at 8, didn’t linger over breakfast and by 9:45 were on the bikes heading out for a short ride. For years, we’d … Read More
Bridges and Villages
Day 24, 27. June Sunday In the middle of the night we were awakened by a loud “thwap/crack” and saw the light flash immediately thereafter. We were in the middle of a thunderstorm! We laid awake listening and noticed that … Read More
Curves Without End
Day 25, 28. June Monday We set the alarm for 8 and were breakfasted and out of the campsite by 10:30, pretty early for us. Our main goal for the day was “Point Sublime” the lookout over the Tarn Gorges. … Read More
Back to the Sunshine
Day 27, 30. June Wednesday We hit the road at 11, anxious to get to another climate zone where the sun would shine with more warmth. This drive took us through the Cevennes National Park, an area of verdant hills … Read More
A Full Program
Day 28, 01. July Thursday Aarrgh, the alarm went off at 7:45 and we got ourselves ready for the first event of the day. I made breakfast as Werner got the bikes down and ready (put in the batteries and … Read More
The Elusive Lavender Fields
Day 29, 02. July Friday We hit the road at 11, heading roughly northeast towards the town of Crest, where lavender fields were supposedly abundant. In 45 minutes we reached Crest where we were both expecting to see the fabled … Read More
The Heavens Wept
Day 30, 03. July Saturday For breakfast I took a quick ride to the artisan boulangerie around the corner. Oh, yum, the best bread and treats yet! And the pastry selection looked divine – I held myself back. It started … Read More
Biking in Switzerland
Day 32, 05. July Monday As we awoke the sky was grey, but at least it wasn’t raining. Dressed in our bike togs, I prepped breakfast while Werner got the bikes down. We didn’t linger over our fruit, müsli and … Read More
Homeward Bound
Day 33: 06. July Tuesday We decided to pack one last touristic event into our final day on the road. As we were out riding on Monday we realized we were very close to the Rhine Falls, which I had … Read More