Day 86 - Interlaken

After Kev had been struggling with the flu on and off over the past 2 weeks it was my turn to feel like I couldn't break out of a paper bag!

Never the less hunger took over and with no Swiss money (yes those canny Swiss still have their own currency) we set about changing some euros, booking Kev's Jungfrau trip, finding the local Market and applying to the IMF for a loan like most countries in Europe have!

With the days chores completed and even the washing done we dusted the bikes off and went in the general direction of a big block of rock with snow and ice on it called the Eiger!

Although we did only 10kms this was enough to indicate that the cycle route up through the valley could be a stunner with lovely Swiss gingerbread houses set against the imposing giant.

We changed direction and this time cycled to the other side of Interlaken for a fabulous all round view of the Brienzee. On yet another magnificent weather day the aqua sea shimmered surrounded by mountains. Locals took advantage of the unseasonal warmth and sat by the lake or set up beach umbrellas and took in the sun.

A ride back to our hotel gave us a look at this unusually designed town well spread out, 2 railway stations but somehow by not being on the sea lacking substance other than being the so called adventure capital of Switzerland!

With time on our hands we put together a slap dash meal in our appartment talked footy with the Grand Final a couple of days away and considered our journey given we areonly 7 riding days from completing this epic adventure!

Distant view of the Eiger !

Day 85 - Faido to Interlaken - 45 kms

It was after 8am the sun had yet to clear the Mtn tops and Henley despite me deflating a tube in his ear, (normal banter for persons who have spent 3 months together) continued to sleep at least until I mentioned that breakfast was on the go!

Our climbing started immediately leaving Faido and the 20kms to Airolo provided for some steep pinches as well as spectacular gorge like scenery. We were following the old road over the top since replaced by a freeway and a massive road tunnel 16kms the longest in the world completed in 1980 - in discussion the night before KH thought we were riding through it !!!

Even the railway tunnel completed over 100 years prior was a marvel although costing over 200 lives. This pass is one of the most famous and important of Europes alpine passes linking Nthn and Sthn Europe with the pass itself being a crossing point since the 13th c.

Kev with the big climb in the background !

Approaching Airolo and already sweating from our effort in the higher altitude sun we saw for the first time a mass of roads climbing steeply out of the valley in switchback fashion. Our road signalled the start of the steep climb with a sign indicating a 900 metre gain over the next 12kms. While not overly steep when you factor in panniers, the sun and the fact that we were climbing on cobblestones you get the picture that this was no picnic!

Half way up the switchbacks tightened to the point where they doubled back on each other giving a magnificent view back down the valley.

One of the 37 switchbacks !

Having stopped to refill my water supply I could see KH about 5 switchbacks behind and boomed "put in Henley" - I'm sure Kev though God was communicating directly with him!

Finally we made the top (2100 metres)a touristy type place and desperately sought out a coke zero and some food -according to KH we were ripped off but I for one wasn't complaining as options were few.

The boys' triumph !

The 9km downhill was unbelievable in terms of spectacle and riding. At times we flew over the cobblestones noting not all corners had barriers - this was certainly not a good time to be taking in too much scenery!

The plan to head to Interlaken was pretty light and simply included catching a train, how, where and when had yet to be determined. Thank god for a lovely lady at Hospental who got us
on a train, thank god for the conductor who accepted Euros and all our change to pay for our tickets as we had no Swiss francs and thank god for the Swiss family man who helped us after 3 hours and 2 changes get on to the right train with our bikes in the right compartment to Interlaken - this was travel stress at it's worse and proves that having some plan is a good idea!

We arrived at our hotel just after 7pm showered and had one of the best Thai meals ever congratulating ourselves on our cycling achievement and the fact that we'd somehow ended up in Interlaken!

Day 84 - Luin to Faido - 94kms

A big day! We started off lateish after little sleep from traffic buzzing past our window. Some video taken by the lake showed Henley head butting and king hitting me and I expect him to get a Phil Carman like sentence when I present the evidence to the AFL tribunal on my return.

Some mire great lakeside cycling took us to the Swiss border and with the border police showing little interest we cycled with all our contraband into Switzerland !

Almost immediately you could feel / sense a difference - places looked cleaner, the bakery smells were more pronounced and the prices had just about doubled!

We cycled on to busy roads to Bellizona and picked up the Swiss cycle velo route that would hopefully guide as over the Alps. Kev got immediate first hand experience of the cost of living in Switzerland with an $8 salad sandwich despite his protests

The cycle route on small roads and paths would have been scenic if not for power lines, cement factories and quarries which seemed to block any shot of the mountains. My 2nd puncture on the trip occurred soon after but with KH's help we were soon back on the go with some real

climbing (10+% in small sections) that gave for great views of the massive freeway system high up that seemed to run around and through the mountains

Massive Freeways !

With light fading because of the high sided valley we were in we settled fir overnight accommodation at Faido just 20kms from the big climb at Airolo. We ended up sharing our hotel with half the Swiss Army and made a mental note not to upset them during our stay.

Finally a dinner with some meat - Schitzel x 2 had us feeling part satisfied after way too
much pasta of late. We went to bed realising that tommorrow would bring us to face what we'd come for the 34km climb over the St Gotthard pass hoping our 3 months of cycling would help us endure!

Climbing the valley !

Day 83 - Milan to Luin - 67 kms

We made up for last nights lousy dinner by attacking the hotel's buffet with a frenzy before "team magnifico" sprang into action!

KH set about assembling the bikes (only partly destroying the hotel room this time) while I headed off to the airport to hopefully obtain maps thar would get us out of the busy precinct and on our way to the Italian Lakes.

About to try and navigate out of the Airport area ! 

With both missions accomplished it was a lateish start on a fine morning before we jumped on our bikes. I nearly made it out of the hotel car park before realizing KH hadn't tightened my head stem, "it's not important he said"! Another 200 meters and KH's bush mechanic skills came to the fore when he used a small piece of discarded electrical conduit to fit through the head of my brakes split pin which was annoyingly catching on my rotating spokes - it now matches the cable ties holding my pannier arm and the occy straps holding my panniers and front handle bar bag in place !

The maps were perfect and soon had us cycling beside an isolated river / loch past nearby forest and towards the lakes as confirmed by a helpful 1000 word to the minute Italian cyclis

We hit Lake Maggiorgore at the 25km mark and what a site it was with a never ending sea, hills with villages hanging on precarious high points on the hills, mountains in the distance and a great hazy smog that I remember so well when journeying this way 20 years ago.

The cycling took in roads with little traffic right on the lake which made riding an absolute delight. The numerous tunnels though were a different matter with noise amplified even a 1 litre citreon sounded like an approaching b double !

A side tripe to a cliff hanging monastery gave close up views of this beautiful lake.

Magnificent lake panaorama !

Another 30kms if lovely cycling and we called it quits at Luin only 20kms from the Swiss border and our hotel looking directly over the lake.

Famished we raided the local supermarket (this time KH did weigh his fruit) before going out for yet another pasta meal "don't they serve anything else in this country" quipped KH missing his salad sandwiches!

After dinner we took in the old town and it's narrow dark alleyways with even KH a but nervous before marvelling at the night time view of the lake - what a beaut spot !

Day 82 - Barcelona to Milan

With bikes packed and appartment cleaned we farewelled Kim on her way to Santorini Greece no doubt to recover from her near nervous breakdown from having to drive the team "bus" in France while Kev and I headed off for our next leg to Milan.

Arrival at Barcelona airport brought a few challenges and interesting sites a) finding our terminal b) Henley trying to steal a workers trolley to transport the bike boxes c)me panicking because I couldn't find our flight listed thinking I'd done a Viv before realising I'd got the flight time wrong
d) Henley spending 1/2 hour taking on a coke machine that wasn't co-operating

While our flight was uneventful getting our bikes to our hotel was not! We'd officially listed our bikes as missing after waiting for a good 30mins - when asked to describe them we just said "bloody big" cardboard boxes!

They turned up eventually at the entrance to the baggage terminal - apparently flying a low cost airline means as long as throw your bags anywhere that means we've delivered!

After KH spent an age trying to work out how to get his 1 euro back from his returned airport trolley we bordered an bus towards our airpot hotel getting off one stop too late and faced with a 500 metre carry of boxes and luggage back - "stuff that " Henley so we caught the bus back one stop the other way and this time ended up with only a 300 metre carry- by the time I arrived at the hotel I looked back to see Kev still arguing with his bike box so I went back to help.

Pretty tired we soon set about finding food and with little open we settled on a restaurant at s nearby hotel which easily succeeded in achieving our worst meal on trip so far - KH's spaghetti bolognaise included a small mound of spaghetti with a tiny topping of tomato based source that wouldn't have fed a mouse!

Back to the hotel it was crash time hoping that the seemingly hundreds of planes landing and taking off would take notice of our hotels blinking red lights and continue to fly over rather than through us!

We're finally in Italy and our challenge will be how to get out if the damned airport as we have no local maps .... one to sleep on !!!

Day 81 - Barcelona

After so many great weather days in Europe the rain finally arrived In Barcelona restricting our movements for the Sunday.

Viv & Linton made the most of their final morning of their trip by catching the metro out to the suburbs for some last minute shopping but had to settle just for a coffee with the shops closed.

Self and Kim took in Gaudi's wonderpiece and like the guys yesterday were gobsmacked by the design and scale of this cathedral called by some to be the 8th wonder of the world.

Gaudi's masterpiece !  

Our time as a group had come to an end and we sadly farewelled Viv & Linton as they departed to the airport for their long journey home by way of London and Hong Kong - so many great memories to add to our collection of joint holidays - thx for your fab company and for being great friends!

Kim, Kev and self spent the rest of the afternoon exploring the side alleys of Barcelona in parts narrow enough to be mugged by someone who wouldnt have to leave their front door.

This place has so many unique bars that a pub crawl would see you incapable of getting out of a street let alone an area!

Our last night was spent searching for the music as every street was set up with a stage you kind of figured that a party was about to happen but no we had no luck and thought maybe the
rain had put a halt to the festivities ( how wrong were as revellers were still going home at 730am when we were getting up!)

We settled instead for a spectacular light show in the city's constitution square that had thousands jammed packed watching a homage to arcade games and visual effects done exactly to the shape of building that the light was projected upon giving the impression that the building itself had come alive!

What a great way to finish our time in Barcelona - its time to move on for our final leg cycling the Italian lakes and heading over the Alps into Switzerland by bike !

Just a laugh !

Some of the more recent significant moments on tour !

Mega - When asked by KH about conditions in the Outer Hebrides to Stornaway said "that was the day we had the headwind behind us"!

KH - "This is bullshit" when he had to leave all his fruit behind at the checkout in Barcelona when he didn't realize you had to weigh and wrap the fruit yourself prior to the checkout!

Linton - his magnificent impersonation of Michael Caine in the old film the Italian Job when driving the van at speed down footpaths in Figueres!

KH - having succeeded in ordering a salad sandwich or baguette in every place we've visited by using complicated hand charades and quasi English!

The sight of the 5 of us looking at a guy putting in petrol in his car in France with us tring to work out how to use the fuel pump - we scared the hell out of the guy!

Linton - accidentally putting the car into reverse at a traffic light and heading off backwards as he accelerated the van!

KH - the sweep on our out of control canoe zig zagging down the Dordogne saying - "I've got ut all under control"!

Kim - Doing us all a favor by whacking KH on the head every time she tried to stroke her
paddle in the water!

France - The land of com ce com ca - wins the award for the most number of shops on consecutive days not open - what the hell are they doing !

Kim - Successfully blocking the equivalent of the M1 ( for carts and horses) in St Sulspice when she got the van stuck on an impossibly steep corner -in the hour she was there we did
not see another vehicle !

Viv - having to run uphill to get into bed in Carennac with the steeply sloping uphill floorboards from the 15th c

The boys - having to carry bike boxes through Barcelona for 5 kms after finding our one and only bike shop - if the first box missed we usually got people with the 2nd or 3rd!

KH - convinced on descent in a cable car that lights on a nearby sports field were in fact the lights for Barcelona Airport - directing air traffic into a hill!!!

Linton - philosophical when told Collingwood down 3 goals at 3/4 time and absolutely orgasmic when Jonesy's text told him about their 3 point win!

The green walk lights at Barcelona pedestrian crossings that go red after just 2 flashes
requiring pedestrians to run or be run over!

Viv with her flashing red love glades (bought for 3 euro) telling Linton he was in for some fun if he put on his matching ones in bed!

Life you've got to laugh !!!

Day 80 - Barcelona

Despite the throngs and close proximity music during the night we all slept pretty well during the night thanks to the apartment being well insulated against street noise.

As mentioned we'd arrived smack bang in the middle of Barcelona's main week long festival where it's already densely populated city becomes am amazing mix of tourists, the beautiful and thousands of street performers.

While the girls were on a mission the boys walked and walked and walked some more to obtain cardboard bike boxes for the packing of our precious "treadlies"! Getting there was hard enough but coming back even tougher as we tried while carrying the boxes to avoid people in the street a near impossibility!

After a round trip of 10kms and with Henley still crying foul reckoning his box was 2 grams heavier and hence the reason for his precarious state we set off to do some more walking this time by funicular and cable car to a nearby fort that provided for spectacular views of the Meditteranean and the densely packed skyline of Barcelona.

Linton and Kev overlooking Barcelona

We finally woke up to the fact that Barcelona has an incredible underground system with trains departing stations every few minutes which was cold comfort to KH who looked like he was ready for the knackers yard.

Kim returned from her own walkathon having seem most of Barcelona's sights while Viv and Linton decided on punishing KH some more by taking him to the 8th wonder of the world Gaudi's inspired the "Famalia Sagrada" a cathedral of astonishing design and detail and a work in progress for over 100 years!

Cable Car with Barcelona in the background 

The Cathedral had to be seen to be believed with an interior design that more resembles a forest of nature based shapes than a church

The streets were again packed at night although restaurants and character filled bars every 10 metres made it possible to sit down and watch the world walk by.

To top off the day we were treated to a night displays by various marching groups complete with local bands and 15feet high effigy's ( KH is talking to their agents to check availability for the Doggies in 2012) this was almost Rio Carnivale like as the effigy'a accompanied by performers weaves their way across the crowded Barcelona streets.

Tired, foot weary but a great night to be in Spain!

Day 79 - Figueres to Barcelona

We got under way at 10.30 having packed up our two appartmenrs with Linton taking control of the "big bus" on the 2 hour journey to Barcelona.

Linton, Viv & Kev oustide the amazing Dali Museum !  

Our GPS obviously had fond memories of Figueres as it resisted our first two attempts giving us left, left and left directions!

KH conveniently slept through most of the tollway points until we threatened to leave his bike in lieu of the 2 euro payment!

Entering Barcelona was one of those OMG moments with freeway lanes going everywhere and a vista of wall to wall buildings for as far as you could look! Somehow we made the main section the La Rambla off which our accommodation lay. We only had one small problem the La Rambla seemed a never ending street and there was no where to park. Linton negotiated a couple of laps of the area and some massive roundabouts before we parked in an underground car park that seemed about an inch wider and higher than our van!

Our apartment was in a building right over a series of small laneways just off the La Rambla. To everones delight it contained 4 bedrooms with 3 bathrooms and individual air con and for the first time a kettle!

With all our gear painstakingly moved it was time to return our hire car complete with the few extra marks and scrapes we'd added.

To Linton's horror finding the car hird return was harder than finding our apartment and after a great display of nit losing it we finally drove into the Avis depot and set about walking down the La Rambla to our apartment.

We'd arrived in time to co-incide with one of Barceloba's major festivals and the streets were absolutely teeming with people what a buzz after a few weeks in the quieter areas of France.

Dinner was in a nearby square with outdoor settings fir probably 1000 people. Our full on day ended with us listening to bands playing as part of the festival and taking in our stunning surrounds in this amazingly vibrant city!

Day 78 - Figueres - 25kms

Kev, Linton and Viv headed out on a planned cycle to the coast while Kim and I took the lazy scenic option by driving first of all to the very beautiful Mediterranean village of Cadaques and then over the hills to the Gold Coast like town of Roses.

Stunning seaside village of Cadaques !

The cycling gang got no further than the Figueres car park trying without luck to pick up the coastal cycle route despite asking about 100 locals. Why they just couldn't navigate by using the map given which showed an aerial view of the roof top of buildings is beyond me.

Kim and I settled wandering the lovely shores of Cadaques with it's beautiful waters and it's beautiful women who seemed to enjoy sun along in various forms of undress. The narrow cobble stoned back alleyways of this town (one of Dali's favorites) were a delight!

Roses on the other side of the hills on the Costa Brava was a place largely devoid of soul although having a good beach and many sun worshippers. This was so much like the Gold Coast and so very missable.

With today being young Linton's birthday young Vivian took him out to a recommended restaurant in Figueres while Kev self and Kim journeyed 30kms out of town to a magical place called Besalu.

The town with Roman origins had amazing back street laneways with leaning medieval buildings and one of the most fantastic bridges complete with huge gates and drawbridge that you will ever see! Settling for pizza and beer in the quiet market square we took in the local ambience while in our own way celebrating Linton's birthday from a far!

Amazing medieaval bridge at Besalu !

Day 77 - Figueres

Awoke to clear skies a big city feel and just
relieved to be in a bed after last nights experience !

We stocked up at the nearby supermarket realising that while we could understand the occassional word in French (Vivs expertise excluded) we were going to have no hope understanding Spanish!

We had only 500 metres to walk to the highlight of Figueres the Salvador Dali museum. What an amazing place, the museum itself was partly created by Dali himself and shows a life time of works from this incredibly talented "nutcase"!

Dali's depiction of Pablo Picaasso

Every room had character, intrique and eccentricity stamped all over it. To picture the museum building consider this - external walls with hundreds of "dog turd" like designs. A roof with giant egg shells, an interior with giant bronze academy award like statuettes etc etc

The fact this guy was painting surreal art as well as mainstream art in the 1920's made it more amazing!

With our artistic spirits enhanced we settled for the most basic of human needs food !

On the recommendation of a local who claimed to have met JFK we had dinner in a marvellous outdoor setting on the Rambla Figuere's main street in the centre of town just watching life go by while partaking in Spanish Tapas cold food entrees of local delicacies a la yum cha!

With a couple of beers and some local Sangria had by the gang, well at least the alcoholic contingent, life was pretty good !

Dali Museum

Day 76 - Foix to Figueres (Spain) - 86 kms

It was drizzling as we set off for a brief circuit ride in the foothills of the Pyrenees before our planned drive to Figueres in Spain for the next leg of our adventure

Linton was in trouble early forgetting his jacket and the weather obliged soon becoming officially consistent rain. Climbing out of Foix past yesterdays caves we followed a recommended route in the Cylce France book that took in the best of the local countryside which would have been terrrific if any of us had looked up through the falling rain to see it

Chateaux overlooking Foix

At the 30km mark we called it quits and cycled back to Foix or so we thought until we came to an intersection and realised  we were closer to our original planned destination of Le Mars or something like that than Foix.

We decided on cycling forward and looping to Foix which took us on the only road in Europe that goes underground through a cavern - this was an amazing ride 500 metre road mainly in the dark with the cave descending until the road re-emmerged on the other side

Kev and I road back to havre another go while Viv and Linton pressed on keen to get back to Foix. As it always happens the rain then teemed down on our return although Kev and I secured some shelter until the worst had past

Back in Foix we caught up with Kim, dripped our way into a nearby coffee shop, changed out of our wet clothes and set off on the 3 hour as it tuned out journey to Figueres Spain by way of Perpignan running parrallel to the magnificent Pyrenees. A quick dinner in Perpignan and 50 kms later we arrived with an unfolding nightmare about to occur

Figuesres streets in the old town are an amazing series of narrow one way streets -  Linton drove our bus like vehicle a la theItalian mob with wheels up on the footpath and at times almost on the wall to avoid parked cars - we soon found though that we could not find our appartment

After endless circling and Vivs persistence in asking dircetiosn we finally made it at 11p,m now to realise there was no one to let us in. To compound matters most of our phone were flat excecpt for kim´s and in one final try to she got through to the owner to come our and let us in

This was travel stress at its best and to give credit to the crew was well handled or will be well handled when we start talking to each other again in a week or two

With a little "ole" when crossing the border we are now in Spain !!!

Day 75 - Foix

The rain in Spain stays mainly on the plain ... so the story goes or in our case the mid Pyrenees in France with Foix having it's fair share of precipitation on this Sunday.

With cycling off the agenda we spent a good hour in the morning wandering around town trying to find a cafe that serves breakfast. Anyone that has ever been to Europe would know that you have more chance of finding gold than finding anything open on a Sunday and even Maccas are hard to find.

After finallly ending up back at our Hotel we stetted in for a leisurely breakfast with our restaurant beautifully siutateded over the main river in Foix

Streets of Foix

The days highlight was our drive to nearby Labouiche site of the longest navigable underground river in Europe. Near hystseria (claustrophobia) gripped the group getting in though as a man made entrance to the underground river consisted of an incredibly narrow spiral rock staircase that had the girls at one point racing back to the surface and the boys (Kev excluded) sweating with indecison about whether to continue

Finally we all made it on to the subterranaen boat for a pleasant 70 min ride through the low roofed caverns marvelling at this beautful site. The moment was spoilt by two ignorant french people who in scenes from the Blair Witch decided to use their videos cameras and non stop. The standard of filming was so poor that even Steven Speilberg couldnt edit it to a watchable outcome

Despite the guides instruction not to film they continued until we collectively threatened to deck them - Aussie diplomacy!

A journey back to town saw us take in a beaut intimate retaurant for dinner where Linton and self made the mistake of sampling the local wine of the region including a magnificent smooth merlot type from mixed grapes that after two bottles had Linton singing with the local guitarist and me seeing triple.

A great way to spend a lazy Sunday withyout cycling - look out tommorrow as we tackle the Pyrenees or at laest the flat bits!

Kim looking down at Foix

Day 74 - Carcossone to Remes le Bain - Foix 60 kms

Exiting the metropolis of Carcossone we dropped off Viv, Linton and KH to cycle to the French spa town of Remes les Bain in the mid Pyranees.

Inside walled city of Carcossone

While the crew cycled through the countryside Kim and self did some forward reconnisance to look for potential accommodation options that might be more scenic than our planned route to Perpignan.

We eventually settled for the town of Foix at the foothills of the Pyrenees as it provided a number of cycling options (some mountainous)as well as local attractions and an abundance of local eateries and cages. The town also had a beautiful old section with narrow winding lanes overlooked by a towering chateaux.

Meanwhile back at the ranch things were getting critical with the humid weather depleting the crews water supply requiring them to door knock in desperation. A text from Linton also confirmed their dire predicament - according to his text he was on the verge of starving after only having had a pizza, fruit and lollies and could we consider driving the 60kms back to deliver his baquette that he'd left in the van when we dropped them off !!!

We eventually met up in quiet Remes la Bain with an on the spot medical (while Linton was eating another pizza) confirming that Linton was in good enough condition to travel the
winding road back to Foix.

In some amazing driving down narrow and blocked lanes Viv was eventually able to get us to our hotel in Foix with the car in one piece!

Dinner capped off a great day , an intimate restaurant, some magnificent regional red wine and (after a couple of bottles) Linton and a French guitarist serenading us with an Elvis Presley number - what more could you want ... maybe Henley accompanying on bagpipes!!!

Day 73 - Carcossone

Despite our long drive the crew were into action early Viv and Kim with shopping agendas Linton and KH on a mission for a baguette and self in search of breakfast supplies and taking it easy with the heat of the morning promising the day to be a hot one.

Carcossone is famed for it's walled fortified old city a Unesco world heritage site that looks like it is straight out of the middle ages. For all it's fame and external beauty the old city can be a tourist nightmare with restaurants and trinket shops littering the narrow streets. Nice to visit but also nice to move on.

Some afternoon entertainment was provided by Kims (thankfully unhurt) 180 slipping on water on the units floor from the leaking fridge. Additional slip hazards caused by the leaking air conditioner and the absence of a shower curtain meant that walking around the unit was treated with the same caution as walking in a field containing land mines!

Linton excelled with a magnificent home cooked seafood meal before we journeyed back to the ramparts to see the walled city by night light a much more enjoyable experience with the hordes having disapated.

To cap off an incident filled day both KH and Viv suffered injuries KH when he jumped off one of the small ramparts forgetting that he'd left most if his ligaments on the forty field many years back and Viv who according to reports went to jump lovingly into Lintons arms who wad momentarily distracted by the wafting smell of a nearby bakery!

We everyone limping back to the unit we agreed that while Carcossone was nice to visit it was also nice to be moving on.

Beautiful by night - Carcossone

Day 72 - Carennac to St Cirq la Poppie - 65kms

We packed up our beautiful and antiquated house in Carennac and drove 50kms to Figeac in the Sthn Dordonge area to cycle the pilgrims route to St Cirq la Poppie.

The pilgrims trail is one of 4 in France that join the famous 1000 + year old pilgrims route to Santiago de Compestalla in Spain. Even cycling todays short section we saw evidence that the pilgrims route is still in use.

Villages en route on quiet roads all appeared to have a medieval feel to them

The town of St Sulspice gave us a close up view of cliff side dwellings
Kim following us was so entranced by the scenery she attempted to turn the van around on a steep impossibly narrow corner in the village leaving the van momentarily stuck with a sign wedged against the mirror and the prospect of a drop off the cliff side road if the Van got away from her.

Linton, Kim & Kev - prior to the dramas at St.Sulspice !

Linton cooly reversed the vehicle in an 80pt turn and then calmly stated that it was time for a group beer !

The remaining ride to St Cirq was amazing with every corner on the traffic deserted roads revealing even more scenic villages than the one we passed buried into the cliffs and rock overhangs

Stunning - St Cirq la Poppie

Emerging from a tunnel St Cirq provided s stunning view from the opposite side of the river
with it's church defying gravity and the village of terrocatta tiled houses clinging to the hill

Our climb to this tiny medieval village was 2kms steeply uphill providing for amazing valley views. This was one of the best riding days on tour.

Time for a drink, some Viv shopping and time for Kim to de stress from the scenario At St Sulspice.

Cliffside village on the way to Cirq la Poppie

The 300km drive to Carcossone completed our day with Viv driving on the French expressways that seemed to have a toll point every 50kms (amazingly KH slept through every toll point!)

Tired we caught sight of the impressive lights of the walled medieval fortress of Carcossone. Finding our apartment was more of a challenge though with reception closed. Thankfully an arriving couple helped solved the Dan Brown mystery by pulling out keys from behind a painting in the lobby!

A rush to Mcdonalds to beat it's 11pm closure at least meant we went to bed with something in our stomachs albeit something that would sit on our stomachs al night!

Day 71 - Carennac to Souilliac - 85kms

What a glorious day (weather and scenery) to help mark the birthday on tour of young Viv Sandler who turned 30 something ...

Still buzzing from last nights incredible spiritual experience and still aching from yesterdays tortuous canoeing expedition, we set off cycling alongside the beautiful Dordogne through fantastic medieval villages some set back into and om top of the cliffs of the Dordogne valley.

Each village in this part of France eeks history with even the newer buildings date stamped early 19th C. Crossing the Dordogne we cycled under overhanging cliffs reminiscent of Tiger Leaping Gorge im China into the large town of Souilliac having lunch in a small cafe in the old part of town where KH kept his record intact of having salad roll or a variation of it in just about every place we've been to!

Taking a climb out of town after lunch gave us a magnificent downhill ride on to the Dordogne by way of St Sozy. The last 12kms back to Carennac were spent with self and Kev riding at full speed enjoying the short time we have left before the panniers come back on!

For our young Viv it was a romantic dinner with partner Linton in town which coincidentally is one of the most beautiful towns you'll ever come across!

When suggesting that dinner might be the extent of the evenings romance as a Japanese house with rice paper walls has more sound insulation than our 15th C Villa, Viv said she'd consider taking up the challenge.

Watch out for the follow up G" rated report!

Day 70 - Carennac to Rocamadour

Have you ever had a day when traveling that you turn round and say "it can't get any better than this" - well today was one of those days!

It started with hilarity in the morning as we attempted to canoe 11 kms along the Dordogne from Carennac to Gluges. Viv and Linton in their 2 man canoe effortlessly steered their way along this beautiful river while the 3 stooges self, sister Kim (more intent on wacking KH on the head than putting her paddle in the water) and "Wrong Way" Henley in our 3 man canoe added 4 extra kms by zig zagging hopelessley out of control down the river, backwards down the class 1/2 rapids and even successfully grounding the boat in the middle of the river where we
would of stayed until I courageously got out in the 3 inch deep water to free the boat!

It seemed every stroke I took did nothing other than turn us in circles while "I've got it all under control" Henley acting as the boats rudder would have been more use as the canoes mast head as we remained out of control for 99% of the journey!

After 3 hours exhausted we dragged ourselves out of the water promising never again to set foot in a canoe without first getting some instruction!

After recovering from the physical trauma we were exposed to one of the most magnificent experiences you can get!

Journeying to the ancient pilgrimage site of Rocamadour we arrived on sunset to view this
stunning location with chapel, church & monastery built into and on top of a cliff overhanging the village of Rocamadour.

Sunset at Rocamadour

After dinner in the village we ascended the 200+ steps to the Chapel the same way that perhaps millions have done before including Kings and Queens of France and England.

Having climbed the steps we were rewarded with an incredible view of the cliffs and backlit
structures complete with a magical full moon.

Stunning view at Rocamadour

We took in the view comprehending in silence this incredible spiritual setting ... until Henley broke the silence indicating that the Bulldogs would have won this years premiership if ....

Pilgrims have come this way for over 1300 years to praise God in an incredible show of faith which regardless of ones belief is amazing!

Wow what a day - this will live on in our memories for a lifetime to come for all of us!

Day 69 - Carennac to St Cere - 52kms

Waking up brought all sorts of stories from the crew about the fitful sleep caused by the unusual bed angles of the sloping bedrooms.

Viv, Linton and KH (intent on getting some easy kms) headed off cycling through nearby hills and valleys for an exploration ride and touched on some beautiful scenery riding through villages that were not only 1000 years old but provided for sweeping panoramic views of the Dordigne area.

Kim and I took in the nearby spectacle of Padirac a giant sink hole that required descends 75 meters below ground to almost another world! From there it's a 700 metre boat tour through an amazing cave complex with massive stalactites some up to 70 meters in length. You ride awestruck looking at the caverns roof in parts nearly 300 meters high hoping like he'll that today is not the day that a chunk of it decides to let go!

It's a long way down !

This was a perfect intro day with both cyclists and selves reporting on the beauty of this region once the forward battle line between the French and the British during the 100 year war.

We're all looking forward to more exploring!

Kim, Mike, Linton and Viv in beautiful Carennac  

Day 68 - Amboise to Carennac (Dordogne)

We packed up our homely farmhouse villa and said goodbye to Mick Jagger well at least his letterbox and headed off on the next leg of our journey to the Dordogne by way of the French town of Oradour sur Glane.

Oradour near Limoges is an incredibly moving experience being a town that in 1944 was basically wiped out by German forces during their retreat in ww2 in a barbaric act that saw the slaughter of some 650 men, women and children.

The town has been preserved as it was left as a memorial and the walk down it's tram track lined streets with ruined buildings and burnt out cars is an unforgettable reminder of the horrors of war.

200kms further on we reached our destination of Carennac in the Dordogne and what an amazing entry to the village it was stepping back in time with 15th c buildings lit up by the towns night lights.

Our 3 storey house hidden down a narrow alleyway was also 15th C with exposed leaning timbers, bedrooms that were on various slopes and our own medieval toilet as a display piece.

This was so perfect (apart from the fact that we had only 3 beds for 5 people and there was no way I was sleeping with KH) a look out of our back door entry had us all believing we'd been transported back to medieval times with hardly a sound from anywhere except our own creaking floor boards!

Our 15th Century accommodation in Carennac

Day 67 - Amboise to Chenonceau - 93 kms

On a beautiful morning Viv, Linton and Kev set off to cycle to the medieval village of Loches and then on to the timeless beauty of Chennonceau a three storey 16th c chateaux built across a river in the Loire region.

The cycle and the drive by Kim and self took us first of all to the magnificent fortress town of Loches as someone had read the word "Saturday market" in the travel literature!

Loches on record since 500 AD has this incredible 3 concentric defensive walls that protect it's inner town, castle and chateaux. To walk where the the Kings of France and Joan of Arc had frequented certainly was a buzz in this beautiful place.

Mike in Loches

The girls were disappointed to find that the market was mainly a food one so vowed to double their shopping efforts in future. Linton found as head navigator of the cycle group exiting Loches to be a nightmare and after a few circuits without proper maps of the area was finally able to find a way to Chenonceau.

The Chateaux upon dusk without the hordes was a beautifully serene experience and topped off our journey to the Loire!

We took in a fabulous last look of Amboise eating and drinking at a restaurant overlooking the Loire and the chateaux of Amboise. This couldnt get any better the colourd on sunset the same that have inspired painters in this area for hundreds of years, what a great way to end our time in the Loire valley !

Dining by the Loire !

Day 66 - Amboise to Azay le Rideaux - 65kms

A delayed start after I mucked around in Amboise fir an hour trying to get a problem sorted out with my French sim card sold to me the day before in Blois. I would have had no hope other than the presence of an English born employee who patiently raised my concern through the myriad of bureaucratic layers before an answer was received an hour later!

Taking to the road we cycled into Tours a city of over 150,000 requiring good navigational skills and some hands over your eyes to get out safely on the other side.

Sublime riding described the flat section through open fields and villages alongside the Loire to Azay. Villandry in particular was a gem with it's main street running alongside the Loire.

We arrived at Azay near 4pm after telling Kim between1-2 so some urgent groveling had to be done. A quick visit to the Chateaux and the nearby Trogladyte caves, home of inhabitants some 600 years ago were the highlights of this pretty area.

Taking advantage of the support vehicle we piled the 4 bikes and 5 persons into our 9 seated Renault Traffic for the seemingly endless journey home advised by our resident on board gps equipment!

Another late dinner washed down with a few beers with more adventures to come

Day 65 - Amboise to Chambord - 122 kms

With the fine weather continuing Kev, Linton and Viv put to the road cycling to the massive chateaux at Chambord by way of scenic Blois on the Loire. Blois proved to be the ideal stopping point with Viv and Kim and even Linton taking advantage of the French fashions and ridiculously low prices to pick up a bargain or two. Gasps and stares by locals at our unique worn lycra look would seem to indicate that KH and self are already deemed to be be fashion savvy and without need for further enhancement!

Picturesque Blois

Linton soon found out after crossing the bridge from Blois that cycling in France without a cycle map, a road map or a cycle book (I had all of them in the support car) made directional cycling challenging to say the least.

In a remarkable show of perseverance the troupe made the magnificent 16c renaissance chateaux at Chambord a massive structure completed initially to satisfy the hunting desires of the kings of France it's area larger than that of Paris.

Chambord

With our jaws put back in place I rode the return leg (61kms) with KH who completed the return
circuit of 122kms showing that without hills, without weight and without wind he could ride like the speed demon his CV indicated

I asked upon setting off whether Keb remembered the way in and true to form after indicating
yes we were lost! Add in some rain and the return journey was not as pleasant although KH set a cracking pace with the two of us averaging 26km/hr.

Some left over pasta served us well as did the few bottles of Lefer beer which retailed at approx 3 dollars a large bottle compared to the 9 dollars back home - may not be heaven but it isn't far off !

Our great accommodation near Amboise ! 

Day 64 - Amboise to Chaumur sur Loire - 62 kms

A mornings journey to nearby Blere was an ideal opportunity to sample baquettes from the local pattisiere while also testing out our 9 seated vans clearance on Amboise's narrow roads where the scream factor (from passengers and pedestrians) became an important navigational aid to the driver!

With the girls teeing up additional car hire arrangements the boys took to the road cycling through beautiful back road villages to the magnificent chateaux overlooking Chaumur sur Loire. What an idyllic setting with the Loire landscape and lighting resembling a Monet painting with it's prominent pastel colours.

The ride, part road part bike path, was largely free from traffic with good surfaces making cycling enjoyable and holiday friendly. With KH and self tour seasoned, Linton was having to ride his mountain bike at a high cadence and did well with limited training to get the 60kms in.

Kev & Linton - Chaumur sur Loire

The ride was uneventful save for one intersection near Amboise where KH's sudden braking mixed with some roadside gravel conspired to put him down on his back in the middle of a small intersection contemplating the sky and profusely apologising to motorists looking on with bemusement!

A top up of supplies at the local supermarket allowed us to enjoy a pasta meal and some of the wide range of local wines. At this rate there's a good chance that we will all end up in wheelbarrows by the time we get to Barcelona!

An outdoor meal at our accommodation near Amboise   

Day 63 - Amboise

A mid morning call from Paris airport allayed our fears. Viv & Linton had finally arrived albeit a day late after getting their days mixed up and were driving down to Amboise. The fact that Kim (a non cyclist) was the only one amongst us to turn up on the due date (2early 2late) made me think that research may one day establish a close link between ones rear end, excessive cycling and dementia - i'll let you know if I remember !

With Viv and Linton safely arrived (apart from the few bruises we gave them) we took in Leonardo's Close De Luce for a fascinating insight into this genius of a man philosopher, inventor and painter who although living in the favour of Francois I ended his life with few worthwhile possessions.

Back at the Villa it was time to celebrate with a local wine and plan some cycling activity (absolutely essential with so many beaut bakeries) taking in this beautiful region of France!

Day 62 - Amboise - 30kms

After something resembling a full nights sleep, a shower and some morsels of food (called a continental breakfast) we set about exploring the picturesque town of Amboise while awaiting contact from the incoming Aussie contingent.

Amboise on the river Loire is dominated by it's imposing Chateaux home away from home for previous Kingd of France. It's medieval streets provide for a perfect setting for it'd most famous inhabitant Leonardo Da Vinci who spent the last 3 years of his life here at the impressive Close De Lucey.

Meanwhile back at the ranch another drama was developing when my sister Kim rang from Paris airport to indicate that despite waiting for 8 hours Linton and Viv (friends and fellow cyclists) had not arrived nor had the hire car been collected.

Advising Kim to journey to Amboise by way of train we set about riding to our rented Villa at Poce de Cisse
some 4kms coincedentally as it turned out neighbors to Mick Jagger's French retreat.

The Villa turned out to be a classic 2 story French house with exposed 15thC timbers 5 sleeping areas and it's own billiard room. Having established it's location we rode back to Amboise to get supplies met Kim and with the absence of taxis walked with bike and luggage the 4-5kms back to the Villa. Kim after an exhausting day just about fell through the door!

Beautiful Amboise

With 2 men in control dinner was pretty simple although satisfying and the nights conversation centers around concern for the non arrival if Viv and Linton. I'd suggested that maybe their plane had crashed (some might say uncaring but hey you need to be practical) while KH renowned for his compassion said "well they could have at least rang us in the way down"!

Only tommorrow will provide an answer!

Day 61 - Stuttgart to Amboise (France) - 26kms

It sounded like a good idea at the time heading back by train from Heidelberg to w
wait 7 bum numbing hours
in the dilapidated Stuttgart railway station awaiting the arrival of our 1.30am train to Paris.

So much for reserved seats, not only was someone sleeping in our seats when we got on there were also people sleeping in our bike rack! Once we moved them on we were soon sweating sitting in the sauna like compartment - lasting only 30 mins we took the option to sleep outside lying down in the aisleways like everyone else!

Delays en route saw us 3 hours late getting into Paris where we were faced with making a connection to the Loire from the other side of Paris at Gare Austerlitz and we had only 60 mins to get there!

After tearing a couple of muscles trying to take our bikes down the steep steps to the metro to be told "cest impossible" we rode like madmen with a rudimentary map and guesswork through central
Paris (not for the faint hearted) eventually making it with 5 minutes left to buy our ticket, race down the platform and search for the non existent bike carriage and then jam our bikes and bags into the tinniest of spaces lifting our gear up near verticsl steps on to the train!

The train took a further 2 hours to get to beautiful Amboise on the Loire where wed planned to meet up with Viv, Linton and my sister Kim

We felt pretty chuffed finally finding the accommodation place (near Mick Jaggers French getaway)on 30 mins sleep only to realise we'd arrived a day early!

It wasn't all wasted though as we were befriended by a couple of locals who took us back to their cave like holiday home to sample some local wine - great hospitality!

Great hosts !

We are both in desperate need of sleep so its odds on we'll take advantage of arriving a day early to have some big zzzzs tonight !!!

Nearby Chateaux