We spent five days in Paris,
which we feel was some of the nicest on the trip. Paris is a wonderful,
beautiful city, with so much to see you could spend a month there and not see
it all. It was lovely to show Wendy some of the places I had visited on my
previous trips. After a couple of days in Paris on our own, Rob & Tinkie
(Wendy Mum & Dad) and Jen & Nigel (friends of the family from way back)
joined us at the same motel in Paris and we had a great time exploring the
restaurants and sights. Paris
is great for food, but it is fairly expensive, but what the heck you only live
once.
From Paris we caught the train (about 90 mins south-east) to
the Burgundy Valley, (renowned for French wine) where we picked up a houseboat.
It was a lovely boat, air-conditioned (if you wished but we didn’t need it)
three cabins (all with ensuites), a great galley, dual controls and plenty of
deck. You could just tie up anywhere; however, we tended to stay out of the
towns away from the other boats. We certainly weren’t alone but we never felt
crowded. When we parked up of a night, we never had anyone near us. There were
plenty of locks to go through. Everyone helped out, in between having a glass
of vino or two.
Of course the Tower is lovely (and romantic) especially at night when they switch on the 100,ooos of lights. The photo above is on the very top level, bloody high up! We had a bit of rain that day, hence the jackets (it was also a tad fresh).
Eglise du Dome and Napoleon's Tomb
Gold, gold, and more gold!
Luxembourg Gardens and an ex-palace
Fountain in Luxembourg Gardens
Notre Dame
Rive Seine
Champs Elysée and Arc de Triomphe
Our houseboat for the trip on the Yonne River
Me picking wild blackberries
Delivering fresh bread
Underground winery in Caves de Bailly
Yonne River from Caves de Bailly
In a lock, waiting
Wendy on rope duty in a lock
A Town Hall somewhere on the Yonne
Nice flowers outside the Town Hall
There was always a lovely house to view
After the houseboat Wendy and I caught the train to
Brussels, Belgium. The others went off elsewhere. Brussels is a grand old city
with some wonderful ancient architecture and home of the EU Parliament. While
in Brussels we took a day trip to Bruges, (about 35 mins by train) a very old
city. Horse and carriage rides, lovely cobbled streets and ancient buildings
etc. From Bruges, we took a train to Blankenberge
to see the sea.
Manneken Pis (Peeing Boy)
Grand Place
Flower display in Grand Place
Bruges
Blankenberge
From Brussels we caught the train to Cologne, Germany, yes,
the birthplace of “4711”. Cologne is known for its enormous
churches/cathedrals, great walks/bike rides along the Rhine, a chocolate
factory and bread shops you could die for. While in Cologne we took another
train to visit Bonn, where we did a self-guided walking tour to see Beethoven
memorial and house, Bonn Opera, Bonn university and Bonner Munster (Catholic
Church).
Dom (Cologne Cathedral)
Cologne
Cologne Botanical Gardens
Beethoven, Bonn
From Cologne we caught a number of slow trains to Calais and
then the ferry to London, UK, to catch up with Rob & Tinkie at Dale’s
(Wendy’s little brother) place in Putney, London. It was his 30th birthday so we gathered there
for a couple of days for some fairly serious celebrations.
White Cliffs of Dover
Big Ben and Houses of Parliament from the London Eye
Unfortunately, Wendy had to return to Australia after five
days in London, so whilst she caught a plane home, I caught the train to the
Port city of Harwich (via a change a Manningtree, a very pleasant name but not
much to see) where a ferry would take us to Denmark. I ended up killing a bit
of time in and around Harwich on the bike waiting for my tour buddies, Graham
and John Hutchinson. They arrived on time and after a coffee we boarded
our very flash and quite large ferry which would take us on an overnight trip
to Esbjerg, on the south/west coast of Denmark.
After boarding the ferry by riding our bikes up the ramp and
securing our bikes with cargo straps amongst the cars, trucks and buses, we
made our way to our cabin, dropped our gear off and then went to dinner. A
simple but tasty meal, washed down with a beer or two, made me quite relaxed.
We had a good wander around all the shops and entertainment areas. The crossing
was great (17.5 hrs) as I spent most of it catching up with some sleep in my
bunk. I had never been on a ferry this big before with all the bells, whistles,
shops, bars and restaurants, although I’d been on the one to Tassie from
Melbourne and Dover to Calais. We woke up in time to enjoy the last couple of
hours of the journey on deck. We saw huge numbers of Wind Turbines in the
ocean, a great place to put them in a country which hasn’t got much spare land.
In 2006 they produced nearly 50% of their electricity from wind power.
Upon disembarking at Esbjerg, we rode away with
a brief foray around the city. Nothing flash so we didn’t linger very long, and
I did notice that there was a lot of glass from broken bottles laying round the
streets. Not a good look when you are on a bicycle. It didn’t take long
and we were on the west coast cycle route heading north. Our first photo
opportunity was four large statues called Man Meets Sea, just out of town, not
surprisingly they were overlooking the sea.
Ferry from Harwich, UK to Esbjerg, Denmark
Loading and securing the bikes on the ferry
Man Meets Sea monument near Esbjerg
As we ventured up the west coast Graham picked caravan park
cabins or Hostels for our accommodation and they were all great. However,
the nights were a bit cool so with not much bedding provided in the caravan
parks, I was sorry I hadn’t brought along a light sleeping bag. Most evenings
we purchased supplies at the local market and prepared our own
dinner. During the day Graham organised us to gather wild fruit like
plums, berries, apples and pears and Graham cooked them up in a saucepan for our
desert. Very tasty with cream or yoghurt. Graham certainly knew his wild
fruit and we ended up eating a lot of it fresh too.
The terrain was fairly flat most of the way but
the relentless northernly wind tended to get on our goats
occasionally. The weather was very pleasant, but never too cold and there
were a couple of overcast but fine days. I was expecting quaint little Danish
villages with lovely old coffee shops and buildings, but alas I was
mistaken. I thought all of Europe was similar to what I had seen down
south in 2003 (Exercise Long Look) and the cycle tour in 2005. I had a
false idea of what to expect in Scandinavia. The towns and villages were mostly
new and quite uninteresting. That’s not to say that I didn’t enjoy the
cycling, it’s all about the ride and not the destination as far as I am
concerned. We did come across some lovely old churches and their cemeteries
were stunning but in the main the architecture was modern until we reached the
very tip of the country. Most of the riding was on off-road sealed cycle
paths so I couldn’t fault the Danish cycling infrastructure. They are a cycling
nation, and it seemed that half the population were out on bikes, especially
during the weekends. Graham and Hutch were great ride buddies, pure gentlemen
and very relaxed. Hutch was a real character who lived a frugal life despite
the fact that I suspect he as very well off and owned a couple of houses in
Oxford.
Denmark
With John
There were some long, boring stretches of cycle paths
Inside a cabin
1767 Church in Oksbol
Cemetery next to the 1767 Church
Typical summer house on the West coast of Denmark
An enchanting forest
Big crabs in Denmark!
Gravel path in NW Denmark
15km beach ride from Blokhus to Lokken
German WW2 bunkers on the West coast of Denmark
Upturned boat restaurant
John and Graham at our cabin at Hirtshals
Lovely houses in NW Denmark
An old windmill
NW Denmark
Skagen was a real
highlight, with its stunningly beautiful little cottages, beaches and amazing
light. It is very popular with the artists apparently due to the perfect
light for painting. After Skagen we had a short 40km ride south to
Frederikshavn. Here we took the ferry across to Gothenburg, Sweden. A couple of
hours later we were in Sweden, my first visit. Graham had a long-time friend
there, Torun, who lived right in the middle of the city in a lovely old
apartment. We stayed about 7km out of town in a caravan park cabin. Torun
invited us to dinner one night and it was so nice to meet a real Swede, eat
traditional food and get their take on the world. On the way back to our cabin
we were pulled up by the Police who were checking our bikes for lights etc. We
were okay but others were being booked for lack of proper gear. Lots to
see in Gothenburg, great Botanic Gardens, Museums, Art Galleries and
interesting shops, the Old Town and city centre.
Skagen
Gothenburg, Sweden
Our cabin
Fish Market Hall or 'Fish Church'
Poseidon statue in State Square
Gothenburg harbour with the Lipstick building in the background
Amusement Park
Botanic Gardens
We were taken back a bit when we went to book our train back
to Copenhagen, they said we couldn’t take our bike on board Swedish
trains. However, as we didn’t have an alternative plan we persisted and
kept trying different officials. Eventually we were given the okay and survived
our trip back to the Danish capital. Here we spent another couple of days
exploring this amazing place. The cycling infrastructure is second to none,
even better than Amsterdam in my opinion.
Copenhagen
Nyhaven
Fort entrance
Botanic Garden
Bike traffic
Italian restaurant
Tivoli Park
All alone on the train to Puttgarden
From Copenhagen, Graham and John went home while I continued
my cycle tour in a third country, Germany. From Copenhagen I caught the
train to Puttgarden, the very top of Northern Germany. It’s the first time
I had caught a train that actually drove onto the ferry in Denmark and off in
Germany. From Puttgarden, I rode south and found a nice little hotel with
lovely friendly owners who looked after me very well. They were so interested
in this guy from Downunder.
Next stop was Lubeck, which was a lovely old Northern
Germany city full of very old and interesting buildings and sights. From Lubeck
I headed South to Hamburg. Most of this ride was on a great canal path in a
rich agricultural region. I arrived in Hamburg late in the afternoon and went
directly to the Tourist Information Centre where I booked a fairly cheap hotel
room a little out of the city. The next few days were spent exploring the
city and I found it really nice. Like a lot of Europe, a lot of the streets
were being ripped up and rebuilt. However, as my flight back to Oz was out of
Frankfurt I had to get there eventually.
So, after a few days in Hamburg I jumped on a
train, or three, to Frankfurt. No problem about bikes on German trains, in fact
they welcome you with open arms and have a great booking system for you and
your bike. They only restriction was that it was on the slower, local trains,
not the intercity fast trains. Four hours later I was there and settled in my
hotel nearly right in the city centre. Besides exploring all the sights in
Frankfurt, a city I’ve enjoyed many times, I did many day rides (some on trains)
to all points of the compass. There’s some fantastic villages, cities and towns
not far from Frankfurt so it was a great region to explore on the bike.
Hotel south of Puttgarden
Cycling through the forest in Northern Germany
Canal path from Lubeck to Hamburg
Travemunde
Lubeck
Hamburg
Frankfurt
Old Town
Main River
Old Opera House
Eurobank
Church
Central Hotel
Mainz
Rudesheim
Alas it was time to go home, so I cleaned my bike to an inch
of its life and headed for the airport. I had checked and luckily, they sell
bike boxes at the Frankfurt Airport, a massive hub for Europe, so I got one and
packed the bike for the flight home. Back in Canberra I was collected from the
Airport by Wendy. Nice to go away, but really nice to be home with my Loved
One.
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