"Tour des Patisseries" (a self guided 2000 km pannier cycling tour of France, Sept/ Oct 2006)

During the first week of the "Cycle Touring Assocation" (CTA) 30th Anniversary ride from Albany to Perth (in April 2004) I found I was cycling at about the same speed as two other participants (Grant Gregory and Terry Manford) and we enjoyed a lot of camaraderie. One lunch time, sitting together on a log in a gravel clearing surrounded by a parrot bush thicket, Terry pulled out a bottle of red wine. As we sipped it, I said that this would be like riding in France. Grant then said he would like to ride in France. Terry agreed. So it was decided there and then we would do a pannier tour in France sometime within the next year.

It was nearly two years before Grant and I organised seven weeks off work (Terry is retired) and booked our air tickets, with a 3 day stop over planned in Dubai on the way back. In the meantime, my oldest daughter Lisa (who had already trekked and climbed with me in Nepal) decided the trip sounded very adventurous and asked if she could join in as well, and took steps to increase her cycling fitness. Grant and Terry further modified their bikes for the tour. Lisa took over the bike I had used for the Albany tour and I purchased another second-hand bike and panniers. The Wilderness Equipment panniers I purchased belonged to a former CTA cycling stalwart and had already been around Europe three times!

We all met for a 70 km training ride between Fremantle and Sorrento (and return) only two weeks before we were due to leave. It was the first time Lisa and I had ridden a bike with panniers. Lisa and I found the bikes very stable and that riding with a full set of panniers (other than needing to drop to a lower gear going up hills) presented no problems at all. Fortunately it was also raining so this ride tested out how well we were prepared for this possibility as well.

So on the 3rd of September 2006, with our bikes partially dissembled to fit into cardboard boxes obtained from a bike shop, we left Perth destined for Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris via Dubai. On arrival, we found a couple of the bikes slightly damaged and Grant nearly lost our only set of bike tools as his box was broken open. All was corrected at the airport and we took the RER train from the airport to the centre of Paris. The adventures started when Grant could not get off the train quickly enough. The doors closed and Grant disappeared into the underground. Fortunately, Grant had forty arm waving Frenchmen shouting advice to him (in French) on how to get back to us and eventually he reappeared in the underground to join the other exasperated travellers.

Over the next few days, we cycled 80 km around Paris (armed with a cycling map of Paris) and also made a train trip for out to the Palace of Versailles (were we discovered Grant did not like spending the whole day on his feet and not the pedals!). When we could not find a reasonably safe bike route in Paris, we just followed other French cyclists. We saw attractive French women riding old push bikes wearing the latest fashions and high heel shoes! The climb of the Eiffel tower, and the bike ride from the "Arc de Triomphe" down the "Ave des Champs Elysees" to the "Place de la Concorde" rate as some of our highlights in Paris, but we were already discovering that every day touring on a bike was an adventure full of surprises!

It wasn't long before we had a new habit. Every morning, after an hour or two cycling, we would drop into a patisserie, nearly all of which had a huge selection of mouth watering pastries, cakes and fresh bread. We nearly always found a patisserie shop, even in small villages. We would often buy four different ones to cut up and share. Typically the pastries would be placed in a box which would be tied with my washing line onto the top of my front pannier rack, for safe carriage to a shady park bench where they would be hungrily consumed. Hence we called our trip "Tour des Patisseries".

Next it was a 400 km train trip to the stylish and cycle friendly city of Strasbourg, just near the German border. As we rode to the camping area 4 km out of town, we were hit by a violent thunderstorm with lightning striking all around us. We took refuge under a concrete bridge and joined about 15 local cyclists on their way home from work. After touring the town (including the beautiful canalled area of "Petite France") we rode across the empty border post to spend the afternoon at a large country town in Germany. We found that often in these densely populated European towns, there is very little parking spaces for cars. No problem with a bike though, you just cruise up to any spot in the town you wish and lock up to pole (or bike racks, where available).

From there, we commenced a 170 km "Alsace Wine Route", passing through exquisite country towns and row upon row of grape vines. The first day, we lost the bike route and went 24 km out of our way before we realised our error (it is easy to do), and swore we would pay more attention to navigation for the rest of the trip. At Molshiem, navigating through the large town was so difficult that we had to ask for guidance. A man who we approached for directions ran home, got his bike, and guided us right through to the start of the bike path on the other side of town! At the camping area in the beautiful town of Obernai (one of our favourite rural towns in France) we saw the notice about a Flower Festival (showing floats and bands) happening next day at the nearby town of Rosheim. So we immediately switched our plans to attend it (you will have to see our slide show at the forthcoming CTA social night to see what a fantastic event this was!). The advantage of not booking any accommodation in advance was becoming even more apparent and our itinerary continued to remain flexible for the rest of our trip (apart from catching the return flight at Nice!).

After we completed the wine route, we rolled into the city of Mulhouse, decided we did not want to stay there and within an hour we were on a 150 km train ride to the large city of Dijon. Next day we did 40 km riding around Dijon, and celebrated Grant's 60th birthday at Place Emile Zala there. From there we started our second big ride - the "Canal de Bourgogne" from Dijon to Migennes. Apart from the beautiful canal with its many lochs, loch houses and barges, there were many amazing things to see, such as one of the first hospitals in the world at Tonnerre (built in 1295, and still in remarkably good condition) and 14th century pre-industrial revolution iron foundry at Buffon (where we had a long chat with the 6th and 7th generation of the last owners, as their home on the grounds was open just for that day). We also saw where the canal, dug by hand, went straight through the mountain for 3.2 km at Pouilly-en-Auxois.

When we got to Migennes, we caught the train to Fontainebleau where most of the kings and queens of France once lived. Walking through the palace and the grounds was a full day trip - it has 1,900 rooms! Every room has a huge "Wow" factor - each one different, with exquisite artistry from the floors, to the walls, to the ceilings. Probably the most impressive building we had ever seen - we were blown away by the absolute magnificence of the building and its furnishings. Some of the big moments of French history have also happened here. Finding camping at Fontainebleau was impossible, but again, the French came to our aid. A cyclist guided us on her bike right through town to a road that led to an excellent camping area on the River Seine 4 km out of town.

From Fontainebleau, we had a 500 km train trip to Les Eyzies via Paris. At Paris, a kind passenger guided us from one large station to another one 2 km away through busy streets to make the connection. We had few dramas on the following train trip. After having much difficulty finding where we could place four bikes on this train, we got our bikes nicely in place across the end of a carriage only to then see the doors slide open with an arm waving Frenchman trying to get his food trolley through! After sorting that out, we found the section of the train we were on was splitting off at the next station and going in a different part of France.

FINALLY we got to Les Eyzies and started a 400 km ride through the Dordogne-Perigord area. This area had plenty to see - ancient castles filled with medieval armour, grand chateaux, ancient cave art and beautiful cliff top (or cliff over-hanged) towns. Here we were hit by a few days of seriously wet weather. After a evening setting up our tents in torrential rain, the next night we let our hair down a bit in a mid-priced hotel - complete with a hot bath, pre-dinner drinks, meal in the restaurant and brandies. Unfortunately, when presented with the bill the next day, we discovered it had cost us almost the same as a week's camping! Memorable though!

We made our way south to the city of Cahors (with its magnificent medieval bridge) then caught the train to Toulouse, where they manufacture the A340 planes. We arrived late in the day and had major dramas finding the camping area which was a long way out of this very large city. We spent the whole of the next day riding around Toulouse (with its grand Basilica Saint Serin, consecrated in 1096) then started our 4th major ride, the Canal du Midi.

When we started this ride, we thought we had died and gone to heaven - the canal was beautifully tree lined mile after mile, with a nice wide bike path, excellent scenery and a box of French patisseries strapped to the front pannier rack! We camped at many beautiful towns along the canal, including the town of Carcassonne with its medieval walled town complete with 52 towers spread over 3 km of ramparts. One night we camped "savage" (as the French say) next to the canal in part of the canal that was quite remote from civilisation (by French standards). The canal ended at an amazing seven lock system at Beziers, were we camped savage again because we could not find an official camping area. But we were up early to see many boats negotiate the lock system.

From Beziers, we caught the train to our 5th big ride. We arrived at Nimes to start a feast of Roman history - from the Arena built in 15 AD at Nimes (where gladiators fought) through to the Pont du Gard aqueduct built by Emperor Augustus in 19 BC (the camp area was only 1 km away) then to Avignon with its "Palais des Papes". At Domazon, at the "Musee Motor et Velo", we were treated to the history of cycling from the 1830's right up to the present day, with an amazing array of strange bikes and motor cycles.

Our final train leg was from Avignon to the Mediterranean city of La Ciotat (just east of Marseille, which we decided not to stay at on account of the tales of robbery!). More train dramas - the train was full of other French cyclists, so there was no proper place to put our bikes. When we got to La Ciotat, we were greeted with a high camping spot overlooking the Mediterranean Sea and city. We sipped wine and ate a hearty meal as we watched the sun go down. Next day, we started a 500 km ride along the Cote D'Azur to the Italian border (which we crossed), including a side trip inland to visit the perched medieval towns of Peillon and Ste Agnes with its spectacular lookout. Our time was spent gasping at huge power boats and maxi yachts in big marinas and the many beautiful towns with restaurant lined promenades overlooking the Mediterranean Sea. We found some excellent bike routes, including one where the dedicated bike path had its own tunnel through the mountain! Our high point was the Col de la Madone at 925m. We plummeted from this Col to sea level at Mentone, the brakes pumping all the way on the steep twisting decent in attempt to stay upright while taking in the views.

At places like Cannes, St Tropez and Monaco we mingled with the rich set - they walked around in designer labels, we walked around in cycling shorts. They ate at the numerous beach front restaurants whereas we sat on a sea wall or park bench cutting up baguettes and filling them with goodies from the local market. At Monaco, Grant was cheeky enough to park his bike between two Ferraris parked in front of the infamous Monte Carlo casino.

We returned to Nice were we booked a cheap hotel room near the railway station for the last couple of days. From Nice, there was a bike path all the way out of town to the entrance door of Terminal 1 at the international airport, where a baggage service wrapped our bikes in plastic for the return journey.

From there, we flew into the stifling heat of Dubai, and put our bikes into storage at the airport. The desert safari (which was really a hoon over the high sand dunes in an air-conditioned 4WD), followed by an evening meal sitting on acres of carpets laid over the sand, was the highlight. We saw how it was open slather on the roads, confirming our belief it was not a good place to ride a bike.

All in all, we had an amazing holiday at a bargain basement price. In 2000 km of cycling over six and half weeks, riding 30 km to 80 km per day, no one got sick or hurt, we had no major bike problems and nothing got stolen. Combined with 1500 km of train trips, our itinerary allowed us to see six totally different areas of France, and our trip planning had been spot on. We came back really understanding that if you have a moderate level of fitness and bike handling capability, and take basic precautions on the busier roads (which are sometimes unavoidable), travelling by bike with panniers is THE way to see Europe, and probably many other parts of the world as well.

Michael Norman is a member of the Cycle Touring Association of WA. For information and membership enquiries, go to www.ctawa.asn.au ."

MIKE NORMAN - SORRENTO, WA