The closure dyke

or (in Dutch) de afsluitdijk. Built in the 1920's and 30's to a design by Cornelis Lely, this 30km long dyke sealed off the former zuiderzee and created the rather impressive IJsselmeer. And we cycled across it today!

Day 4 – to Orleans!

Hurrah and huzzah! We broke our slow pace with an amazing 89.5km; howzat!! It went really well and we averaged around 15km/h with stops in Méréville with its picturesque wash-house and breathtaking medieval wooden marketplace) and just outside Toury.














There by a giant haystack we had our lunch. We also had to make way for a bunch of race cyclists, but the going was very good.

On the in-road to Orleans we picked up a stray cyclist (French) who was a bit annoying (and drunk) and who volunteered to lead us to the campsite. I was not sure if he was going to ask for money, but we shook him off by doing some groceries. Arriving in Orleans itself, we were at a bit of a loss to find either of the campsites in our guide, so we asked a (non-drunk) French guy on a mountain bike who, having nothing else to do, promptly led us to the door, Never let it be said that the French are not capable of courtesy. This campsite was the cheapest so far, so we decided to stay an extra day to have a look around this historic city. I want to do the following tomorrow:
- check e-mail
- update blog
- buy spanner (for the back wheel) and bike computer

Camp site: Orleans St. Jean
Tariff: €8
Daily distance: 89.5km

Day 3 – shopping in Villiers, French style

We took leave of our American friend but not before he took a photo of us, put us in his address book and promised to send a postcard before reaching his final destination of Madrid. Nice bloke!

We proceeded to spend the rest of the morning looking for a supermarket – over the motorway, lots of km to a very uninspiring shop. Why do the French build these monoliths which more or less force car ownership on the masses?

Further along the road we met two Belgian lads cycling the same route as us, although they claimed to be managing a staggering 130km per day! They were the second set of people we had met following the same guidebook, the first being a Dutch couple and their grandson who we met in the train on day 1 on their way to Compiegne to begin their tour.

Due to the complication with the supermarket, we didn’t manage to cycle that far today. We did, however, camp in a beautiful campsite in Omory. The campsite office was a splendid building with a large pond and lawns in front. We had made a bit of a detour to get to it, although I had seen the pond from the road, but not the campsite. Anyway, we were allowed to camp on the lawn in front of the office, so we picked a spot right next to the pond.

There was another Dutch couple staying on the campsite and you will never guess which route they were doing – the same one! Three in one day looked a bit too coincidental to me, so I expect that this will be quite a busy route. The couple had cycled this morning from the campsite in Paris where we stayed two nights ago and were averaging about 60-70km per day since leaving the Netherlands. I was really put out and felt a bit of a weed because we should at least be able to go at that pace. The American and the Belgian lads were just plain out-of-our-league km-eaters, but this couple were older than us. My ego was very seriously bruised.

Camp site: Omory
Tariff: €9
Daily distance: 45km

Day 2 – leaving Paris

Cold, wet and windy! We lost our way and spent the whole morning trying pick up our route according to the guidebook. Apart from that we didn’t get too far. We met an American guy who claimed to be doing 100+km per day! He looked a bit battered (a student, what else!) but he was very friendly so we led him to the campsite in Villiers where we were the only two tents. He ate non-stop for a about an hour, drank a cup of tea with us and went to bed at around 8:30.

Had to fix my bike which was playing up a bit: one of the back wheel nuts was loose, pulling the chain to one side and making uphill going very difficult. The chap at the campsite rather sportingly loaned me the requisite spanners, so now it’s ok.

Camp site: Villiers
Tariff: €12.50*
Daily distance: 35km

*based on 2 persons, 2 bikes and one tent (not sharing a pitch with others)

Day 1 - Paris

So, despite the fuss about the trains, we arrived in Paris to bright sunshine: yes, that's why we came all this way. We had met a couple with their grandson on the train who were also going to cycle the same route, but they were starting in Compiegne because they wanted to cycle into Paris. For me, cycling from Gare du Nord is just as good, because that is where Paris for me begins; the endless suburbs remaining a testament to the French habit of building beautiful houses and letting them fall into rack and ruin.

We cycled from Gare du Nord against the traffic, past Gare St. Lazare onto the Champs Elysees and then onto l'Arc De Triomphe. It felt a little crazy and heady cycling under this great monument to Napoleon's ego but watching everyone clamour for photos (us included) detracts from the experience somewhat.

Onto the camspite in the Bois de Boulogne, via the long route; it took us almost two hours to cycle the 10 km from Gare du Nord. The campsite was expensive camping, although at €16 per night for two persons, still the cheapest way to legally spend the night in Paris.