Day 2. Rising at 6:30 and on the road by 8:00. Today, our destination is the city of Troyes, billed as the most beautiful urban centre in the region. After about 15 miles we cut off of the main road onto a lovely country byway. We are traveling today through the "champagne region" of France aptly named after the bubbly that was developed in the local vineyards by accident as legend has it.
Vineyards line the roads on either side - although Henry, delving into some bushes at one point, is gleeful over the discovery of another tasty fruit - wild black raspberries. He turns up at the Orient Express lunch wagon parked in a quiet village, hands scratched by black raspberry thorns and tinted purple from the juice, but immensely pleased at his discovery. The afternoon is again flat and relatively easy as we make our way for another 35 km more into Troyes.
As we enter the city, the last section of highway turns out to be heavily trafficked. However, Randy has meanwhile scouted out an alternative route great for any subsequent tour. It follows the river Seine through a chain of old villages and back roads, and leads directly to our campsite on the north edge of Troyes. Despite being on the urban fringe, the camp again is quiet and green.
Tim and Ronda, easygoing but rugged Tour d'Afrique veterans, known for their tendency to diversionary adventures show up in camp just before dinner, and just as we are beginning to worry that they were possibly lost. Naturally not, they had simply located a good French restaurant along the route and stopped for a four course lunch; beginning with pate delicacies and finishing up with a traditional cheese platter. They sit down, nonetheless, with pleasure to an evening meal of curry stew and barbecued chicken prepared by Genevieve, our cook from Kitchener-Waterloo, Canada. After a long day in the saddle burning up as many as 4,000-6,000 calories, everyone eats to their fill.
Since today was a relatively easy run, those with energy still to burn head for the city center; a 2 km walk up the road from the campsite.
Troyes is an urban treasure known to the French but undiscovered by most foreign tourists: A former capital of the Champagne region in the middle ages, it became a prosperous commercial and artistic city, as a result of its popular annual summertime fairs.
Timber framed stone and brick buildings give the town's architecture a distinctively northern European touch. Floors and beams of many buildings lean at irregular angles because of their age, so that at dusk at least you have the feeling of traveling into a gingerbread storybook. But when we returned the next day to photograph, the houses seemed somehow more upright! At night streets here also buzz with life from the many restaurants and cafes. Along with a number of large and extravagant cathedrals reflecting the city's medieval prosperity. Troyes also is the birthplace of one of the most famous Biblical commentators ever - the Jewish scholar popularly known as "The Rashi" - after the letters of his full name. He lived and died in Troyes during the 12th century. A modernistic monument to the scholar stands in a garden on the edge of the old town - a large round white ball engraved with a single letter of the Hebrew alphabet - "Shin" - or "S" - a mystical reference to the name of God.
Day 1. It’s Sunday morning and the city is still sleeping as we depart in the saddle from Hotel Mercure around 8 a.m. The streets are pleasantly empty of traffic; a perfect morning for a brief cycle tour of Paris before setting off across northern France, on the first stage of our journey. Snapshots at Notre Dame, the Eiffel Tour, and finally, Arche de Triomphe. Setting out of the city following the Seine River, we follow a section of Parisian highway that is expressly closed to traffic Sunday morning so that cyclists may "roule" freely on the streets. We joke that Henry has arranged this street closure with the mayor especially for the Orient Express.
Further down the highway however, the bike lane ends. In Africa it was sand and stones, but here in Europe road conditions are favourable but there is of course traffic, especially leaving Paris. On the plus side however the weather is pleasantly cool and there is no headwind to slow us down on what is to be a 110 km day. We cross the flat Ardenne region of France. The route is easy and thus excellent conditioning for the rest of the journey - at least for the riders who have not been regularly cycling 50 km every weekend.
Our destination is the medieval town of Provins, and after the leisurely tour of Paris in the morning, the main goal of the afternoon is to make tracks, those coming so equipped monitor odometers to see what kind of speed we can make down the road - seems to be anywhere between 15 and 25 km an hour, depending on the bike, the biker and a range of other factors. This is not a race, but fairly early on in the day several veteran Tour d'Afrique riders take the lead among the men in the group, disappearing into the horizon. Among the women, two triathlon athletes; Joy from California and Sheila from Sudbury, Ontario take the lead.
We arrive at our destination, the medieval town of Provins; just as a colorful summer festival is underway in the famous hilltop old city which is a UNESCO World Heritage site. Some members briefly tour the ancient walled city ramparts gate and market area while others head straight for the campsite tucked in a pleasant corner on the edge of the town. A savoury meal, some wine, tales swapped of journeys through Africa and Asia lace the cool European evening.
Paris is a lot of fun, very hectic but fun. Henry and I have been scouring the land for a roof rack for the van and also picking up supplies, drinks, food, maps etc.
There are several interesting streets to wonder around with pedestrian only setup...tons of cafes and bars. Last night we dined at a piano bar and had a menu of sirloin, frites, and Italian mozzarella salad and pear pie (custard and pears).
Breakfasts at the hotel this morning was croissants, jams, fresh bread, ham, cheese, cereals, orange, apple, and grapefruit juices. Good coffee and cheeses and yogurts. We pigged out so we can last until the afternoon because today we are doing a dry run of the route out of Paris after we reassemble all of our bikes.
Saturday, the eve of the journey, tour members arriving from Canada and the US gather together for their first briefing at the Parisian Hotel de Mercure, Gare d'est. The elegant 19th century rail station is the traditional departure point for rail journeys heading eastwards from Paris; including the fabled Orient Express and our hotel is just across the street.
Bicycles are assembled and readied for the journey by the skilled hands of Randy; tour guide and a veteran of two Tour d'Afrique voyages. The briefing Saturday evening by Henry Gold tour founder, and Randy, the co director is followed by an African meal in the lively St. Denis quarter of Paris, a neighborhood filled to the brim with people eating, drinking and just standing around until late in the evening. Some of the group members are Tour d'Afrique veterans, for others this is a first-ever bicycle journey. Walter, a Vancouverite seeing Paris for the first time, makes a summary remark about the merriment in St. Denis. “never, never seen so many people out on the streets at night.†And this is only one tiny taste of Paris.
This trip has certainly been going by in a whirl wind already...
Randy and I had impeccable timing as we both arrived in Munich on Tuesday morning within minutes of each other. Unfortunately for Randy, his luggage and his dear girl Lizzy [his mountain bike] didn’t arrive with him but British Airlines were quite helpful and promised to deliver his precious bike, unharmed to our pension later that afternoon.
Satisfied after a short nap to catch up on some lost ZZZs, the hot weather and cool shady beer gardens in the heart of Munich called out our names. Amongst the obviously touristy crowd, we wandered along the cobbled streets stopping for photos of massive castles, courtyards and churches. Of course, we graciously embraced the local cuisine of full pints of beer with a side of sausages and sauerkraut to join in with the flavour of Germany.
A comfortable night sleep and a warm breakfast were certainly enough to keep our minds focused on the tasks at hand.
1. Locate the VW Van [that will be one of our support vehicles on the Orient Express] and
2. Head for Paris to meet up with the rest of the crew and make a flawless exit in our full loaded, suped-up camper style ride.
As we scouted the cycling route on the way to Paris along rolling farmers fields, across beautiful mountain passes and into bustling little towns and into the major urban cities, we encountered only a brief glimpse of the scenic and wonderful adventure of a tour that will certainly prove to be a memorable one.
Genni.
It is only a matter of days now until the start of our inaugural Orient Express Bicycle Tour from Paris to Istanbul. I am beginning to finally catch my breath after the many months I have put into this project. It is now quickly becoming a reality, and I am so excited for the start. My reward for all the hard work will come when I arrive in Budapest and help to lead the group the rest of the way to Istanbul.
Henry Gold, (the tour’s founder), and Randy Pielsticker (the tour leader for Tour d'Afrique) are both on their way to Paris to prepare for the departure on Sunday July 31st.
Slowly the office is again looking like an office; no more bike boxes piled to the ceiling, patiently waiting to receive our crew’s bikes, no more stacks of maps, guide books, documentation and emergency information; no more phones ringing off the hook with last minute details to work out. Just me and a map of Europe on our wall, with a line jaggedly cutting across Europe from Paris to Istanbul.
In 56 days, in the pioneering spirit of the Orient Express trains, our riders will travel by bike through France, Germany, Austria, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria and Turkey. The distance to be covered is 3700 km (2300 miles), and along the way the riders will experience a whole range of culinary delights, architectural wonders, cultural diversity, and an amazing adventure.
I hope you enjoy the journal entries as much as we enjoy sharing our stories with you.
