Category: Bike Touring
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Crossing in and out of Switzerland
If you look carefully at the map below, you will see a thin grey line squiggling around which is the border between Switzerland and Germany. We crossed between the two countries several times today, not always knowing exactly which country we were in since the border crossings are not always obvious. We decided yesterday we…
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Onward into Germany on the Rhine
We’ve switched rivers again! We are now on the Rhine, which is a beautiful river: clear and fast flowing. The Rhine defines a good portion of the border between Germany and Switzerland. As we follow the Rhine, we are mostly on the German side of the river, with Switzerland just across the river. It was…
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Arriving in Basel Switzerland!
We rode 64 miles yesterday, our first day over 100km! The weather was fine and we had generally favorable winds. We have crossed France and explored some of Brittany, cycling 1,375 miles (2,200 km) so far! Yesterday was a longish day, but both Chris and I felt good all day. Only in the last few…
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Towards Basel: Day 1
Our next major stop is Basel, Switzerland where we will stay for a couple nights. Leaving Besançon, we have about 115 miles to ride to Basel. Leaving Besançon, we had a nice view of the eastern ramparts of the citadel. The ride was predictably beautiful! I found a campsite about half-way, which ended up being…
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A day in Besançon
We took the bus into Besançon today to give our legs a break. It’s a short distance but uphill on the way back! Speaking of the bus…the whole ticketing system is cool and touchless. You tell the driver what you want (for us a day pass) and then we tapped our watch to pay using…
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Riding to Besançon
We have ridden about 280 miles in the last week and both Chris and I feel like we need a break for a day. We both feel a general fatigue, a need to get out of the sun and heat for a while, and simply take a break from being on our bikes. So we’ve…
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The road to Paradise
Along the way, we frequently pass houses on the canals where the lock keeper stays or lives, frequently decorated beautifully and with a resident lock keeper. This one had a sign which said Rue du Paradis, which means Paradise Road, a sweet name that really fit this place. Today had its share of riding along…
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Chalon-sur-Saône! Festival in the Streets!
Little did we know that our destination of Chalon-sur-Saône today would be hosting a Festival of Theatre the weekend (day) of our visit! Leaving the quiet of the Camping du Lac at Palinges with nothing around it, we traveled about 58 miles to Chalon-sur-Saône where thousands of people milled in the streets and 250 exhibition/performances…
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Moving on to Macon (wines) and the donkey
The last couple of days we have been cycling in Burgundy, and the landscape, architecture and wines have changed. So last night we drank a very nice bottle of Macon recommended by the bartender at the campsite we are staying at Palinges. Yes, there’s a bartender at the campsite. 😎 Beer was good too. We…
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Nevers to Bourbon-Lancy
It’s about 55 miles from Nevers to Bourbon-Lancy, and the majority is on canal paths. It’s relaxing and easy to pedal along, but we also enjoyed getting off track and going cross country up actual hills! We took one wrong turn (well, maybe 2) but all was good. Despite there only being two pictures of…