/ richard cross

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I was insistent today would start with ‘cafe express’ in the town square, and so it did. The ‘centre ville’ of Briare providing the backdrop. An efficient shop and visit to the ‘office tourisme’ saw us on our way, but not without stopping at the impressive Pond du Port (the aqueduct carrying the Canal de Briare over the Loire) to munch the pain au chocolats we had just bought. Food was becoming a major theme of this trip!

From there we had 20 delightful kilometers cycling along the banks of the canal, along tree lined boulevards listening to the rich bird song that seems to accompany us everywhere we have so far been.

The last few kms of the cycle route were quite sketchy, rough dusty tracks in the baking midday sun. We were glad when we reached metalled road again.

All this time we had the two towers of the nuclear power station of Neuvy sur Loire in our sights, but I was surprised when the cycle route took us right up to it. The scale was breath taking, like one of the great cathedrals of Europe, which I guess it is. We found some shade in a picnique area nearby and ate our lunch, but with an ear out for sirens or other worrying noises.

We pedalled on in increasing heat, Helen’s thermometer read 38 deg on the road and we had to stop frequently to drink and gasp. Having decided earlier to call it a half day we rolled into Saint Satur at about 4pm, set up the tent, then rode up the hill to Sanscerre – hot work!

Sancerre is a beautiful medieval village perched on a hill surrounded by vinyards and full of great wine houses. We pedalled around and cooled off with a ‘demi pression’ in the square having learnt the lesson of Fontainebleau not to have pints. After fixing the worrying noise coming from Helen’s back wheel (slightly mis-aligned top gear guard – phew!) we headed back down the hill to the ‘supermarche’ to stock up for sunday closing. We are probably being paranoid but would rather carry the extra weight than not be able to find anywhere open! Not quite decided the route for tomorrow, a job for the morning.

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The day started brightly with sunrise across the lake and breakfast on a concrete table tennis table. We were packed up and on our way by 9, but by 9.30 I was faffing with my brakes again.

The highlight of the morning was passing through Lagerville, sadly the hadn’t realised the visitor appeal of such a place and there wasn’t a bar to be found.

We stopped in Ferriers en Gatiniers to stock up on provisions and as luckily caught the end of the market. Pate de Lapain and local cheese were the order of the day, consumed under a tree by the abby sheltering from the thunderstorm which had at last come to a head. We waited till the worst has passed before heading on, but soon caught it up again, it’s forks of lightening picking out our intended route through the forest. As it seemed to be moving away we progressed, onto the big town of the day – Montargis, where we stocked up on food for the evening.

About 20km south we found a Roman amphitheatre by the side of the road, remarkably well preserved but with little fanfare, it seemed just part of the landscape. At this point we decided to press on to Braire a further 30km south. Our route took us through Rogny with it’s amazing seven lock gates (sept ecluses) and along some very straight roads, which at the end of a long day become quite trying.

We had what seems to be the usual struggle to find the campsite but at last we did, tucked on the banks of the Loire. We had made our first major milestone and celebrated with a shower, good feed and some wine. I’ve just found the flask of Highland Park I tucked in my panniers at the last minute so thought I’d post today’s progress. Funny, I think it does taste better with scottish water added. Tomorrow a shorter day, with perhaps some wine tasting as we start our journey down the Loire.

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The first full day of cycling was long but very satisfying. Some bike maintenance first thing saw us set off about 9am, just to stop 5 mins later for breakfast. Then the mission was to it was to get out of Paris, not as easy as one would think, made harder by roadworks and half built cycle ways through industrial estates. But slowly (and with a lot of reference to google maps) the character of the roads changed, buildings were replaced by trees and the traffic thinned out and by mid day we saw our first Chsteau – surely a sign we had made it which we celebrated by eating the baguette we had strapped the pannier rack (French style).

From there our route took us through the Foret de Senart to meet up with the Seine which we followed on small roads lined with grand houses and then into open country. We felt we had truly left Paris behind as we passed fields of thousands of tiny lettuces, enjoying the soaking form the water sprays.

Babizon is a small village on the edge of the Foret de Fontainebleu, it reeked of expensive luxury. Classic car showrooms and art galleries lined the streets along with boutique hotels and stylish restaurants. We didn’t linger! Instead we plunged into the forest and quickly found lots of strange rock formations, some like mushrooms, others like waves. These were the boulders of Fontainebleau I’d read about in climbing magazines as a teenager and now we were here. After a few minutes clambering around I remembered I’m not a very good climber so we pressed on, up and over then down into Fontainebleau itself.

Apparently it’s not a palace, rather just a chateau! It looked like a palace to my untrained eye. Even an expensive beer didn’t convince me. A sketch 30 min search for a supermarket resolved itself (thankfully) as we had another 10kms to go to the campsite we had spotted. Except when we got there it looked shut! Disaster, the next was another 20kms. While we tried to work out what next we heard voices, so asked – result, it was open, we has just arrived at the side entrance. 5 mins later we were pitching the tent by a lovely lake and all was right in the world. Food, wine, shower, bed. This looks like it may be the pattern for the days ahead.

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A day of three halves!

Firstly to London, watching the green English landscape roll by while fielding questions from clients.

The second on the Eurostar to Paris via the refurbished St Pancras, now with more in common with an airport than a Victorian station.

The third from Gare du Nord to a campsite to the south east of the centre – and so it begins. We were lucky enough to spot our bikes being unloaded from the train and were able to retrieve them without trekking to the baggage depot (hard to imagine being allowed to in the UK). This saved us a good half hour but meant we were plunged straight into the streets of Paris at rush hour!

By stitching together cycle and bus lanes we made it to the Pompidou Centre and then Notre Dame. We felt conspicuous amongst all the other tourists, but they didn’t seem to notice. From there we cycled along the southern bank of the Seine, trying to find a suitable bridge to cross over to the promise of cycle lanes. We eventually found one and were rewarded by the first stress free pedalling through Bois des Vincennes. Google maps on the phone came in handy negotiating the one way system around Joinville and steered us to the campsite by Champigny sur Marne.

Pitched the tent, grabbed a shower, then back to the river Marne and a restaurant we passed on the run in for ‘moules et frites’ and a bottle of wine. Cycling the rush hour in Paris was one of the most daunting things I’ve ever done on a bike, that said the drivers were courteous and gave us lots of space. The scooter riders are a law unto themselves though.

Back at the tent I can here the campsite bar blaring out beats and the rumble of the Perifique is constant, not totally dissimilar from the first night of Glastonbury which also started today. But for us the road to Fontainbleau beckons…

On June 24th 2009 Helen and I set off to cycle from Paris to Barcelona in aid of WaterAid. Our route will take us 1500 kilometres south from Paris into the centre of France, before heading south west towards the Pyrenees and a rendez-vous with the Tour de France as it crosses the mountains back into France from Spain.

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