3 days catch up

26/06/09 St Quirin to Ban de Laveline
A mere 71 kms today, but a little bit of rain to contend with. From St Quirin, we started climbing immediately then descended into the next valley for a slow steady 18 km climb to Col du Donon. Coffee there, then a forestry road descent of 13 kms - one car passing in the whole descent. The weather forecast was for thunderstorms in the afternoon and, sure enough, the first clap of thunder was dead on 12:00. It was a damp descent, but warm and no drama. Our usual lunch plan is to buy some bread, cheese, fruit and yoghurt to picnic on, but today we had a menu du jour at a Michelin recommended restaurant for 12 euros - salad Lorraine, filet de ling, dessert - then more light rain for the climb over the col d'Hermanpaire for an early arrival at Auberge Lorraine in Ban-de-Laveline. We usually arrive between 5 and 6 pm, but today we were showered and ready for a walk around town by 4. Alas, rain once again intervened, so it was books and TV - lotsa Michael Jackson stuff - before dinner at 8 pm - crudities, roast pork in mustard sauce, and dessert.

Couldn't help but be impressed by the conduct of the drivers of the big logging trucks on our tiny roads, never a close call and no intimidation, just skilful, courteous driving. Too bad we don't see that at home!

Tomorrow will take us over the Grand Balloon d'Alsace if the weather is reasonable and back into Alsace.

27/6/09 Ban de Laveline to Vieux Thann

81 kms today with lots of climbing and a soupcon of rain. Very little traffic as we climbed up forestry roads over 3 passes in the area between Col du Bonhomme and Col de la Schlucht. Beautiful swooping downhills again with a series of laces (switchbacks) to test the braking. We usually picnic, but it was threatening rain again at lunch time, so we stopped at Auberge du Lac, overlooking Lac de Kruth-Wildenstein. Very animated place with lots of hikers and cyclists and good, plain country food plus an inexpensive carafe of red wine. We may have been a bit wobbly when we cycled away, but we were warm and invigorated.

Instead of booking into a hotel, we stopped a the tourist office in Thann and asked them to book us into a Chambres d'hote (bed & breakfast). They booked us into a delightful maison about 3 kms from the town, the proprietress of which had spent 6 months in Christchurch in 1983! That was before Drexel's and even before we arrived in Christchurch. She was unable to find a job at the same time we were desperate for staff at Vacation Hotel Fox Glacier. We'll have a lot to reminisce over about the old Christchurch.

We've booked in for two nights so that we can do a loop including the Grand Ballon without baggage tomorrow, before we move on towards the Jura and Switzerland. For dinner tonight, Madame Schneider has recommended at cute little bistro in the town, so we will be biking in and hoping it doesn't rain before we get back.

28/6/09 2nd night at Vieux Thann

A misty but warm start for a 105 km loop into the Ballons (high rounded hills, the result of the weathering of volcanos that last erupted before NZ emerged from the sea.) At about 1000m we emerged from the fog into perfect sunshine, with just wisps of cloud about the hills. Lots of bicycles and motorcycles out enjoying the twisty roads, along with a parade of original Fiat Bambinas at least 50 strong, followed by a modern Bambina towing a trailer, not doubt full of spare parts. We had dessert at the top (tart au myrtille) and lunch at the bottom of the descent (top speed 81 kmh) in Munster. One more pass, then via flat roads through vineyards on the side of the Rhein Valley back to Vieux Thann.

Tonight will be dinner with family at the Chambres d'Hote. We know she's a good cook, we enjoyed homemade honey and jam and spice cake at breakfast!

29/06/09

So the Table d'hote dinner cooked by Madame Schneider wasn't terrific, it was still good dining with the family. It was fresh river trout with a cream sauce and rice, preceded by pumpkin soup with comte cheese, followed by tart au myrtille - myrtille being a berry found for the most part only in France. It's English name is bilberry, but I can't say I have ever seen it in an English restaurant or cook book. Madame Schneider reminded us so much of our Lois - cute, blonde, petite, with a gorgeous smile and charming manner.

The weather was fine and hot today for our 108 km hilly bike ride to St Hippolyte in the Franche-Comte region. Plenty of variety - railway bike paths, rolling country roads, steep climbs over relatively low passes. We passed through a tiny slice of Switzerland on the way, but finished up with a rollicking 8 km downhill to the Doubs river. Our usual picnic lunch of bread, cheese, and fruit was not really sufficient today so we were fading towards the end. I'm sure they are making kilometers longer these days!

Staying and dining tonight at a Logis overlooking the Dessoubre river.

Strasbourg to St Quirin

On the road again! It feels like real life now. As always, the bike path was hard to find from the city, but led us along the canal of the Bruche river to the foothills of the Vosges at Wassalone, then the hills started with gentle climbs up to Obersteigen, past the magnifique Rocher de Dabo with a church perched high on a plateau of red sandstone, overlooking the Col de Valsberg and the valleys cleverly named by the Germans Grossthal and Kleinthal. A nice swoopy downhill followed before the 2-fleche-worthy but unmarked climb to Hommert and Walscheid and more swoops to Abreschviller for refreshments and on to St Quirin. This town is another of the Most-Beautiful-Villages-in-France with stone buildings the colour of, though hopefully not the dissolvibility of the sandstone. Also lots of new wooden chalets built with the windfall of the huge storm of 1999.

A nice first day on the road, away from moaning Aussies and busy city streets with only minor sunburn and bum burn.

Dinner tonight at our Bib-rouge restaurant then an early start tomorrow to get over Col du Donon (1000m) before the predicted afternoon thunderstorms. We'll probably stay in tiny Ban-de-Laveline, close to St Die des Vosges.

Some are further from home than others

A fine day yesterday, spent mostly assembling the tandem (Norm) and talking (Vee). Producing a tandem from a suitcase always attracts attention, so Vee's role is to keep the curious at bay. NZ provenance was the primary talking point with an older French gentleman, along with the economic situation in general and the inadequacies of the younger generation. We then chatted with a mature Australian cycling couple who were not having a great time on their first OE for all the usual reasons - difficulty navigating & being understood, not knowing how to find a good meal for not much money. We took them under our wing and had dinner at a charming, reasonably priced restaurant (Au Dauphin near Strasbourg Cathedral) and offered them sage advice. Wasted I suppose, as they have already decided to quit France for Germany and they were more intent on telling their war stories. Hope they find the Bett und Bike system to make their German sojourn better.

Otherwise the first day was spent on purchasing the usual minutiae and connecting Vee's cellphone - +33604039387, and a short spin over the Rhein for a pint of hefel-weisse, followed by explorations and photos of old Petite France in Strasbourg. The tandem is talking up most of the available storage space in the foyer of the hotel but they were very appreciative of the quality of the machine. They'll store the suitcase for us until we return July 23.

It's a bit cloudier today, but we are looking forward to an early start for the climb into the Vosges, heading for St Quirin. Lots of gorgeous green mountains ahead!

Nous arrivons en France (sp?)

Ca commence! At last we are in France. It seemed like it wasn't gonna happen this year, but thanks to Vee's hard work, as well as that of Lizzie, Caro and Nicki, with supporting roles by April, Mami, Letitia, and John, we are again in France.

The flights from Christchurch were less stressful than usual, just long. A few good movies on offer, a nice rest by the pool at Singapore Changi, and copious coffees at Charles de Gaule while waiting to transfer from plane to train meant we arrived in Strasbourg tired but unstressed. Met a very pleasant Belgian-born Aussie biologist on the train who was visiting with his Polish wife and two children who knew some of the same people and places from Antarctic programmes. Small world.

We are ensconced in a humble but adequate hotel next to the railway station and will spend tomorrow assembling the tandem and acquiring minutiae before the cycling begins on Thursday. Previsiones meteo are a bit dodgy, but at least it is warm - 16 deg C at night. Light meal (pork cheeks for Norm, Filet de Sandre for Vee) at a winstub than off to dreamland before 11 pm.

We'll be more coherent tomorrow, I promise!

A la prochaine,
Norm & Vee