TWO 'BENTS AND A BOB

SOME BACKGROUND

Ken and I have been partners for the last 5 years, and have a mutual love of recumbents. He built his (a SWB) and I have a Haluzak Horizon. We are in our late 40’s, and live in the foothills of the coastal range outside Corvallis, Oregon. Ken’s a potter transitioning to printer; I’m an assistant fire chief/fire marshal transitioning to retirement in a couple of years. We love our bikes. And we love camping out in beautiful spots, visiting bakeries for a pastry or two, or -depending on time of day - the wonderful Northwest brewpubs to slake our thirst. Combine this with a desire to learn French, a love for museums and antiquities and a feeling that we were due for an adventure - and it led to planning for a trip to France with our ‘bents and a Bob trailer in tow.

We spent a year planning and scheming for the month-long trip to England and France. There were unending questions we needed help with: Should we take camping gear, or forego camping and stay in chambres d’hotes & cheap hotels? How hard would it be to get our bikes, a Bob trailer and all our gear overseas? What was the best airline to take our bikes on? Should we start and end at the same location, or start in England and end in France? Could we depend on trains to take our bikes? Were we taking chances not reserving accommodations, or having a firm itinerary? Would September be a good month to go?

Many of our answers came from theailing lists (both touring and hpv). We read all the touring reports we could get our hands on. I used the Net to round up lodging and other tourist information. I spent week-ends sewing up a wardrobe (to save a few bucks): lycra & coolmax for biking wear, and wonderful, light-weight quick-drying supplex for my other-than-biking clothes (I made many visits to the Rainshed outdoor fabric store in Corvallis - how lucky we are to have that close by!). I scoured suggested packing lists (I think it was Judy Colwell’s that I used as the basis for mine - thanks, Judy!) Slowly, our plans and itinerary - as loose as they were - came together.

GENERAL OVERVIEW OF TRIP

We decided to fly into Gatwick Airport (more bicycle-friendly than Heathrow), S. of London; staying at Goffsland Farm (a B & B), just outside Horsham. From there we would commute by train to London to see the museums, etc. Then we would bike south to Portsmouth, take the ferry to St. Malo in Brittany, travel south to the Loire Valley, and east along the Loire Valley to as far as we could go in three weeks. We would end the trip with a week in Paris, without bikes, staying in a recommended, inexpensive hotel with cooking facilities.

We booked our trip with Continental Airlines (because they don’t charge for bikes), and arranged to spend the night at a motel just outside Portland Airport so that we could leave our car there for the month. Even with paying for the accommodations, it was cheaper than paying the airport parking fee. (They had a complimentary limovan service to the airport, which worked great). We left on a cool, misty Oregon morning: September 4, 1997.

PORTLAND TO GATWICK TO HORSHAM

Our flight left very eary in the morning - the limo dropped us off shortly after 5am, and we staged in front of the Continental checkin counter with our three boxes (two bikes and the bob trailer), the bob trailer bag full of our camping gear, 4 panniers and a backpack with our personal belongings. Our goal was to NOT pay anything extra for the luggage, and we succeeded. We took our panniers as carry-on, and checked the 3 boxes and ‘bob’ bag. The only hitch: Ken’s campstove (a Svea) was confiscated at the baggage security check because it still had some ‘hydrocarbon’ fumes. The security guy advised us that butane stoves are less likely to be a problem, because once you remove the butane cannister the gas evaporates quickly leaving no fumes. Ah, well....we would have to buy a new stove in England - butane!

After many cramped hours in the DC-10, we arrived at Gatwick, early morning of Sept. 5th - coincidentally, the day before Princess Di’s funeral (which screwed up our plans to do London museums - but provided other interesting opportunities!). Our bike boxes arrived safely, and we quickly scoped out an ‘out-of-the-way’ service corridor where we could lay out the tools, unpack the boxes and reassemble bikes.

It took 4 hours & several latte’s to get the job done. Finally, we were ready to find our way out of the terminal and on our way to Horsham. But wait: people are driving on the wrong side of the road! More time spent reconfiguring our rearview mirrors and our brains so we wouldn’t become road-kill, and consulting maps & people to determine the best way out of Gatwick and through Crawley.....which turned out to be no mean feat. But finally, after riding along remote trails in Tilsgate Park to ‘Pease Pottage’ (love those names!), we found our way to Horsham and to Goffsland Farm (close to Itchingfield!) - a delightful B&B in a 1600’s farm home. Exhausted but very happy.

HORSHAM & LONDON

We rode our bikes back into Horsham on the day of Lady Di’s funeral (foresaking London because of the crowds). Folks lined up in Horsham square to pay their own tribute to her - flowers and sentiments were everywhere, and there was a solemnity and sadness that pervaded the scene. We had dinner at a local pub - and ordered ‘Spotted Dick’ for dessert (turned out to be a custard and cake affair with raisins). Downtown Horsham is a city planner’s dream - pedestrian mall, with a carpark on the outskirt -lovely square for people to congregate in, with little restaurants, cheese shops, bakeries, etc. We highly recommend this spot as a place to stay - West Sussex, in general, was lovely to bike in. The next day we took the train into London - rode our bikes to the train station in Horsham, locked them up outside with some trepidation (they were there when we got back). London, again, was full of very solemn and sad people - and enough flowers to fill at least 3 football fields.

HORSHAM TO ARUNDEL (22 miles)

West Sussex is a very pleasant place to ride, and Arundel was a wonderful spot for our first night of camping. Definitely a tourist town but with old world charm and a lovely castle to explore, and restaurants galore....the Arun river graced with swans...and a comfy, modest campsite ($6) for our first night on the road. Dinner at Cafe Clemence - an excellent French restaurant reasonably priced (Castle Mews, Tarrant Street).

ARUNDEL TO PORTSMOUTH (39 miles)

The Brittany ferry left Portsmouth at 8pm, so we weren’t able to dawdle as much as we would have liked in Havant and Chichester (definitely worth another trip back to England!). The information center in Havant recommended a nice route into Portsmouth which kept us off the main roads. Head southto Hayling Island - take the Hayling Billy footpath to the southern end (an old RR bed, unpaved but in good condition) where you can get on a passenger ferry to SE Portsmouth - it is then an easy bike ride along the esplanade to the continental ferry dock.

The Brittany ferry cost us $50/each - overnight sleeping accommodations in recliner chairs (better than the DC-10, for sure!). If you have a sleeping pad you can somewhat furtively stretch out on the floor after the attendants have done their rounds. They provide blankets. The ferry was large, with several choices for restaurants and bars, along with a discoteque and live music. However, food was on the expensive side and not that good, and the disco was smoke-filled. We opted to watch the wonderful shimmering city lights as we left Portsmouth, while drinking a couple of beers out on deck, then curl up with our books in our recliner chairs.

ST. MALO

It was a spectacular sight to sail into St. Malo at dawn - beautiful sunrise over a lovely, walled city on one side, and Dinard on the other. From the ferry it is an easy ride (back on the ‘right’ side of the road!) to a wonderful campground overlooking the bay and the walled city - definitely a campsite and a town to fall in love with. Plan to stay for a few days if you go here. For dinner, we ate at “La Cardabelle”, 14 Rue Georges Clemenceau - the proprietor was the chef, waiter, dishwasher, bartender, and entertainer - delightful small place, superb food, and modest in price.

Everywhere we biked, people gawked at our bikes, and asked questions about them. The British had also been very interested in the bikes, but nothing compared to the French. Perhaps there are fewer recumbents in France than in England. One should definitely know some French - otherwise you miss out on wonderful conversations and potential friendships - we always attempted to speak, even though our French was mediocre at best. And people were wonderfully supportive, simply because we tried.

ST. MALO / MONT ST. MICHEL / DINAN
(bus to Mont St. Michel - 20 miles on bike to Dinan)

Took a bus (not a tour bus, but regular transport) to Mont St. Michel, to save on time. Worth a stopover, even with all the tourists - busloads of tourists! Back to St. Malo for one more night, then on to Dinan the next morning. This was our only rainy day, and it’s amazing how the spirits dipped with the weather. Dinan is a wonderful old town, but very confusing. We had a hard time finding the municipal campsite, but it was a very picturesque spot.

DINAN TO VITRE (54 miles)

Via D794, thru Combourg, St. Remy du Plain, St. Aubin du Cormier - though a long day, this was a wonderful route through lovely small towns. We were falling into a routine of making tea for ourselves in the campground before we left, finding pastries at the nearest boulangerie (love those pain au raisins, with the custardy raisin filling, and the special Brittany flan), cycling for a couple of hours, then stopping in a small village to have coffee at a "bar tabac" (store selling cigarettes, newspapers, phone cards, lottery tickets, beer and coffee - and a gathering spot for the townsfolk to talk over latest news/gossip). We would buy provisions for lunch: bread (pain cereale - a whole grain loaf, for those who like a bit more substance than the typical baguette), cheese, apples, and perhaps stop at a charcuterie (deli) for some carottes rapees (shredded carrots with light vinagrette dressing) and tabouleh. Both of these salads were a standard at charcuteries, and cheap, good road food for veggie folks like us.

Once we made the mistake of actually stopping for lunch at a restaurant - it took 2 hours to get back on the road, and it cost way more than picnicing. Of course, there are always sandwiches available in larger towns at boulangeries or charcuteries - mostly baguettes with ham and cheese, but if you searched them out, you could also find "thon et salades" (tuna and salad greens), or fromage et salades (cheese and salad greens) - with lots of butter! The biggest disappointment for me was being too thirsty most of the time to want to drink the wonderful wine. We drank mostly bottled water - and beer ("un pression" would get you a very cold draft beer - generally an Amstel, Heinekin or Kronenburg)) at the end of the day.

Anyway, as we approached Vitre we saw the signs for camping - the French are very good about signage - and circled around Vitre via a "beltway" to D.88 upon which the municipal campground was located. Very nice, again inexpensive campsite.

We rode into the centre of town - another great spot, with medieval buildings, a large cathedral, and good restaurants. Lots of curiosity about the bikes. A woman with her teenager chased us down - she had done bike touring and wanted very much to try out a recumbent. She wanted us to ride out to her house and stay the night, but we had already pitched our tent. We helped them ride the recumbents around the town square parking lot - and gave her some internet sites to access for more information.

VITRE TO CHATEAU GONTIER (38 miles)

Via D.88 to D.25 to Craon, then D22 into Chateau Gontier. The first 2/3 of the trip were on pleasant roads. Stopped for coffee around noon in a very small village (Cuille?), where church had just gotten out (this was Sunday) and the locals were playing a card game very similar to hearts - we had fun trying to figure it out. As we left the bar, several of the women came out with us, and clapped and laughed as we got on our bikes. The great appreciation folks have for the bikes continued to overwhelm us - motorists would roll down their windows and yell "bravo" or “superb velos” and clap, then pull over and wait 'til we caught up so they could speak to us. If they were tourists and had a video camera with them, inevitably they would be poised with it waiting for us to pass. It was great fun; though at times a bit inconvenient if we were in a hurry to get somewhere, as you didn't want to be rude.

Chateau Gontier was a superb campsite right on the Mayenne River. It had a great footpath along the river into town. The campsite was obviously a "destination" site for several campers. They had caravans set up with all the conveniences; folks were playing "boules" and drinking wine, and we met a fellow bike-tourist from Australia named Carrie who was on her way to Spain (she had started in Canada).

The only problem was that it was Sunday - and Sundays can be difficult sometimes to find restaurants open. (Monday nights, too!) We finally found a pizza bistro and had a pleasant dinner.

CHATEAU GONTIER TO LE LION d'ANGER (17 miles)

A very lazy morning. Went into town for coffee and pastries before taking down camp. Bought a Herald-Trib to catch up on news and wondered why after we finished reading it. Left camp around 1:30pm, and followed the Mayenne down stream, on small roads (D.267) through hilly farmlands. Cornfields mostly (all the way down from Dinan, actually), with occasional pig farms and other livestock. Hardly ever saw the river really. We SHOULD have tried going through Daon (via D.22) instead, so we could have had a bit more exposure to the Mayenne. Daon offers houseboats on the river, so it might have been picturesque enough to divert over to. However, La Jaille Yvon was quite picturesque and the ride was enjoyable.

We got into Lion d'Angers and were treated to yet another very lovely municamp. Each camp has nice hot showers, with the only drawback being that you have to punch a button every 5-10 seconds to keep the water flowing. Good laundry facilities (tubs and generally clothes lines), and dressing rooms. BUT never any picnic tables. This was the only drawback. I was very happy to have our thermarest chairs so at least we could eat on the ground in comfort.

Being Monday, no restaurants were open so we headed for the bar for cold beer and ate leftover baguettes and snacks.

LE LION TO ANGERS (approx. 18 miles)

We are touring very leisurely because we have no real set agenda. When it is time to go to Paris, we will pack up our bikes wherever we are and hop a train.

Angers is a large city (200,000) and we had to make our way straight through it. We heartily recommend having maps of the larger cities before you get into them (again, you can buy them at tabacs, or at a "biblioteque" - bookstore). Since we had the map, we navigated quite well and found our way to a suburb on the South side of the river called Ponts de Ce, where we got our first glimpse of the Loire. The campground was adequate, but small spaces and rockhard ground with little vegetation.

We stayed in Angers 2 days, leaving our bikes and taking the bus into town. We hit our first market day, and were treated to wonderful sights and smells: lots of "chevre" cheese stands, galettes & crepes, breads, wonderful shell fish, vegetables, fruits and various and sundry clothing/household items. It actually was nice to be off our bikes, and to be able to blend into the scenery.

Angers has wonderful sights, the fortress, the chateau, tapestry museum and a medieval oldtown.

ANGERS TO SAUMUR (27 miles)

This part of the ride is wonderful - small, little used roads (D.132 along S. side of Loire) thru St. Sulpice, St. Remy la Varenne. We lunch at an ancient abbey - and spend a leisurely afternoon viewing "troglodytes" - caves being used for growing mushrooms, aging wine, and plain old living. This route is very picturesque, and provides frequent opportunities for sampling wine at various vintner "caves".

We get into Saumur and our campsite around 3. This was quite a fancy campsite, with a restaurant and bar and other recreational offerings. Lots of vacationing Brits who were renting fully furnished tents and having a wonderful time.

Saumur was lovely, and we had a wonderful tour of the 13th c. chateau by full moon. Very romantic spot. The weather continues to be perfect.

SAUMUR TO CHINON (22 miles)

We travel down D.145 to Fontevraud l'Abbaye, picking up D.117 into Chinon. Though the Abbey is a lovely 1200 a.d. compound with lots of history (largest remaining medieval abbey in Europe) the ride is not very picturesque and the weather was hot. We were travelling mostly through lands that were military training grounds - lots of hills and not alot to see. I was happy to pull into Chinon and set up camp along the Viennes River - and to walk into town to discover what turned out to be our favorite town. So much so, we spent another day exploring it. Joan of Arc is big here - it was at this chateau that she persuaded Charles VII to defend France against the British.

Lots of little, narrow roads in the old town to explore, and lots of good restaurants and bars to find sustenance and perform our favorite pastime: people watching.

CHINON TO ST. AVERTIN (outside Tours) (37 miles)

Sadly, our last day on bikes. And it's a Sunday. We get up early and take a straight main road to Azay le Rideau, through a national forest with lots of hills.

It turns out to be "Day of Patrimony", which we understand to be an opportunity to celebrate France's heritage - so all national and regional museums and tourist sights are free. We tour the chateau at Azay le Rideau, then head down the Indre river valley toward Montbazon. If we had had more time, the Indre valley would have been a wonderful spot to explore. Very picturesque villages and riverfront. Another spot to go back to. At Montbazon, we head north to St. Avertin, just outside Tours. We took D.27 through Chambray les Tours. The campsite in St. Avertin was easy to find, and was quite convenient to getting in and out of Tours.

PACKING UP THE BIKES

We did not want to deal with bikes in Chartres and Paris (our hotel was reluctant to have us ship them there, as they did not have room to store them), so we decided to tear them down, pack up the two, stripped frames together in one long box, and pack up the bob trailer, camping gear and components into other boxes which could be mailed home. UPS won't mess with non-commercial packages, so the post office was our only option. We scrounged enough cardboard boxes from a nearby shopping center to pack everything up - borrowed a wheelbarrow to get the boxes to the post office, and mailed them for a total cost of just under $500 (including the insurance). It seems extravagant, but - what the heck - this was our honeymoon, and we HAD saved alot on hotels by camping out.

We checked into the Hotel Le Faisan, a very friendly and acceptable 1 star hotel in St. Avertin. The proprietor family were extremely helpful.

Our luggage consisted now of one, long box for which we had strapping and handles left over from the beginning of the trip, along with our panniers. We maneuvered quite easily onto the trains - but were not able to check the box all the way to Paris, so had to deal with it in Chartres where we wanted to spend the night enroute to Paris.

We observed others with their bikes - and think that given enough time and flexibility, you could travel on the trains with your bikes without too much of a hassle. However, the 2 'bents and Bob would have been tricky.

CHARTRES AND PARIS

The trip changed flavors without our bikes - all of a sudden, we were able to blend into the stream of tourists and were no longer a curiosity. It had its advantages along with its disadvantages. Without the conversation piece, it was much more difficult to strike up conversations with people. On the other hand, sometimes its nice to blend....

The Cathedral at Chartres was magnificent, our favorite by far. We stayed at Hotel Le Boeuf Couronne, and had a very pleasant stay. I could see the cathedral from the bathtub, all lit up - quite a sight!

In Paris, we stayed at the Hotel des Trois Poussins - which had cooking facilities - in the 8th arrondissemont - quite nice 2 star hotel - but noisy at night w/ windows open. We used earplugs and got along just fine. $50/night. It was great to have a neighborhood bar/brasserie to hang out in - and we heartily recommend it: Le Clauzel. It felt friendly and the food was quite good.

A fabulous trip! A honeymoon to remember.



Claire Keith and Ken Pate
clairek@peak.org
patek@peak.org