frankreich ist gross.
mittlerweile radeln wir ein bisschen schneller,
deutschland ist in sicht.
zwischenzeitlich hatte wir das gefuehl, nie durch frankreich durchzukommen.
der gegenwind und die kalten tage und naechte trugen dazu bei.
wir freuen uns darauf, bald unsere zweite grenze zu ueberqueren,
und einige freunde zu treffen.
bis dahin knabbern wir noch einige baguettes, von gleichbleibend ausgezeichneter qualitaet.
Monday, 17 May 2010
Thursday, 6 May 2010
We have just left the Cafe Bergerac in Tours where we will take a day off. Battling against a strong headwind for the last 4 days has worn us out a little and we have not got so far along the Loire. Camping at night has been easy enough and some nice spots have been found but we have had to check out the health of the trees before we shelter behind them. Many have been blown over the wind is so strong.
The Loire so far has been wide and shallow looking with changeing sandbanks. The locals are proud to point out the high flood marks on some of the buildings and we please them by being suitably impressed.
The Path we have followed is pretty well surfaced though there have been a few rough sections and some roads which are nice and smooth though it is always a shock to be back in the land of the infernal combustion engine. Though we will be along time through France following the rivers and canals the pay off is the possibility to travel in the off road world.
We have met a few cyclists coming the other way. Notably some English Folks Who used to all work at Seal Hain agricultural research in the sixties. Before your time Pop, and they didn't know you and I have no Idea how to spell the place.
Have seen some Chateaux along the way and some remarkable churches, my favorite being at Cande st Martin where this interesting (as they all are I suppose) saint met his end. He was born in Hungary and was a soldier in the Roman army.
We have been woken each morning by a good amount of birdsong but what is noticably lacking is the profusion of waterbirds whose ideal environment we are daily travelling through. There are Herons and we have seen a couple of swans but I can only conclude that everything else that goes here under the title of 'Gibier de l'au' has been shot and gone for the pot. Perhaps some rule might be made in Brussels sometime bringing European hunting practices into line when they have finished making more important rules and regs but until then it seems 'La Chase' will continue to obliterate both native and migratory waterbirds.
We have had no mechanical problems so far, the bikes are doing well under all the weight of our bagage. I am compiling a list of things we can shed before we hit some hills. Cold weather clothing is not on it. It has been pretty cold for May In France.
Tuesday, 4 May 2010
Saturday, 1 May 2010
03.04. bis 01.05....und endlich ging es los
Ein wildes Durcheinander!
03.04. bis 01.05.
..unser erster eintrag...
leider gibt es heute noch keine bilder,
denn wir sind gar nicht richtig vorbereitet,
wollen euch aber nicht so lange auf infos warten lassen.
in den warttetagen in england wurden wir von toms mama mit englischem fruehstueck, cream tee, pasties usw. koerperlich weiter aufgebaut, den grundstein hierfuer hatte meine mutter schon in deutschland gelegt.
wir haben aber auch eine schoene wanderung ueber dartmoore gemacht und immerhin ein paar kalorien verbrannt.
wunderschoene und karge landschaft, bilder folgen.
das wetter in england war die ganzen 3 wochen blendend, keiner konnte sich erinnern, wann es je eine so lange schoenwetterperiode gab.
am 22.april sind wir dann zum ersten in die pedale richtung welt getreten.
und das war richtung plymouth, um die faehre nach frankreich/ roscoff zu nehmen.
unterwegs haben wir uns noch bei toms papa verabschiedet.
nach einer angenehmen faehrfahert dann nach sued-ost um am kanal brest-nantes richtung nantes zu radeln.
wunderbar, meistens flach, gruen, sonnig.
fast nichts los, wild zelten kein problem.
und der fruehling hier ist schon so viel weiter.
seit unser ueberfahrt haben wir eine sprung von mehreren wochen gemacht, was das wetter angeht.
leider gibt es in frankreich nicht allzuviele tiere,
dort wo in deutschland wahrscheinlich ein vogelparadis waere, gibt es hier nur ein paar reiher, 2 stockenten, 2 eisvoegel einige tauben und mehrere schiessstaende.
aber der kukuck scheint unser begleiter zu sein, unermuedlich kukukt er.
heute haben wir unser erstes groesseres etappenziel nantes erreicht.
nach immerhin 540 km.
10 englische fruehstuecke sind nun ungefaehr abgefahren, doches gibt noch viele reserven...
For the non German readers amongst our multitude of followers here is a short version of our progress sofar. Pictures will follow soon when we find the camera cable.
We left Bradninch in Devon on the 22.04.10 and cycled via Pops house in Sampford to Plymouth following the Granite way which I reccomend to everyone; lots of steep Devon lanes,(the small cog at the front is renamed the Devon cog); and the old railway along the Plym where we watched Peregrine Falcons with the local twitchers.
At the ferry port our first border crossing went with a hitch as the not so high security team decided my pocket knife was a hazard to shipping and confiscated it. I was still cussing as we pulled up next to two other cyclists, 'New Zealand' I snapped to the now common Question. 'Oh' said one abashed 'better than us, we are only going to Australia'.
Gary and Sandy were the names of our new cycling friends who we have now lost somewhere on the Canal de Nantes a Brest but are hoping to see again in Nantes where we are now.
The canal was a beauriful corridor thtough Brittany, no cars and great camping spots by the water, though our progress is slow.
Next the Loire.
..unser erster eintrag...
leider gibt es heute noch keine bilder,
denn wir sind gar nicht richtig vorbereitet,
wollen euch aber nicht so lange auf infos warten lassen.
in den warttetagen in england wurden wir von toms mama mit englischem fruehstueck, cream tee, pasties usw. koerperlich weiter aufgebaut, den grundstein hierfuer hatte meine mutter schon in deutschland gelegt.
wir haben aber auch eine schoene wanderung ueber dartmoore gemacht und immerhin ein paar kalorien verbrannt.
wunderschoene und karge landschaft, bilder folgen.
das wetter in england war die ganzen 3 wochen blendend, keiner konnte sich erinnern, wann es je eine so lange schoenwetterperiode gab.
am 22.april sind wir dann zum ersten in die pedale richtung welt getreten.
und das war richtung plymouth, um die faehre nach frankreich/ roscoff zu nehmen.
unterwegs haben wir uns noch bei toms papa verabschiedet.
nach einer angenehmen faehrfahert dann nach sued-ost um am kanal brest-nantes richtung nantes zu radeln.
wunderbar, meistens flach, gruen, sonnig.
fast nichts los, wild zelten kein problem.
und der fruehling hier ist schon so viel weiter.
seit unser ueberfahrt haben wir eine sprung von mehreren wochen gemacht, was das wetter angeht.
leider gibt es in frankreich nicht allzuviele tiere,
dort wo in deutschland wahrscheinlich ein vogelparadis waere, gibt es hier nur ein paar reiher, 2 stockenten, 2 eisvoegel einige tauben und mehrere schiessstaende.
aber der kukuck scheint unser begleiter zu sein, unermuedlich kukukt er.
heute haben wir unser erstes groesseres etappenziel nantes erreicht.
nach immerhin 540 km.
10 englische fruehstuecke sind nun ungefaehr abgefahren, doches gibt noch viele reserven...
For the non German readers amongst our multitude of followers here is a short version of our progress sofar. Pictures will follow soon when we find the camera cable.
We left Bradninch in Devon on the 22.04.10 and cycled via Pops house in Sampford to Plymouth following the Granite way which I reccomend to everyone; lots of steep Devon lanes,(the small cog at the front is renamed the Devon cog); and the old railway along the Plym where we watched Peregrine Falcons with the local twitchers.
At the ferry port our first border crossing went with a hitch as the not so high security team decided my pocket knife was a hazard to shipping and confiscated it. I was still cussing as we pulled up next to two other cyclists, 'New Zealand' I snapped to the now common Question. 'Oh' said one abashed 'better than us, we are only going to Australia'.
Gary and Sandy were the names of our new cycling friends who we have now lost somewhere on the Canal de Nantes a Brest but are hoping to see again in Nantes where we are now.
The canal was a beauriful corridor thtough Brittany, no cars and great camping spots by the water, though our progress is slow.
Next the Loire.
Sunday, 18 April 2010
Monday, 9 March 2009
We are still undecided on the most important part of the trip: the route. Anja would like to go through both Italy and India in particular but is not so keen on Iran because of the possible problems cycling through as a woman. We have talked to friends that have been through Iran and they say it might be difficult particularly as we are not married.
I am inclining to a more northern route through Eastern Europe, the Ukraine, Russia and Khazakstan. This though would be a very different trip to Turkey, Iran and Pakistan to India.
I feel we must decide on the route soon as this is the biggesd ponderable and getting visas etc is for me the most boring and possibly troublesome part.
The bikes we also need to decide upon. Anja is keen on having a Rohlhoff hub and I think this is a good idea as it is supposed to be reliable and virtually maintenance free. We will take steel frames and 26" wheels as we will be quite heavilly loaded with the camping gear and all so strength and repairability is important.
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