Monday 14th October
John had a message on his phone to ring home about Pat. Wasn’t
sure who it was from (turned out to be Liz) so I rang Catherine and Pat had had
a stroke – discovered by Angela’s carer as I had rung for Pat’s birthday in the
morning from the camp and no reply so I had just by chance rung Angela, in case
he was there – so told her to tell him we had rung for John’s birthday. Luckily
Denise went up there and with Kerry the neighbour found him and he had had a
stroke. It was so hard to be so far away but he had at least stabilised from
the life-threatening stage by this time. He had been doing so well but I am
grateful at least he is in the hospital now. Very upsetting for everyone – most
of all him. He is on my mind constantly.
Rest of the day was a bit of a blur. Hugh had his last Crema
at the bakery and then continued on to Ventimiglia but it rained heavily so we
had to shelter in a café – no hardship really - and then a great ride to the
border at Menton where we had lunch. After that it was a bit of a climb to get
to Monaco and discover that we were on the wrong road completely – felt that
that was the case with the amount of traffic. Were a bit fed up so descended
into the centre ville of Cap d’Ail and went to the bakery there for a snack. It
was coming out about 4pm where we met a lovely woman who told us about her
daughter and her children cycle-touring and that we should come and stay with
her for that night. We were quite overwhelmed with her kindness and accepted
her offer gladly when the alternative was to bike in and out of Nice and chance
to find camping.
Walked with her around to their beautiful apartment in an
old hotel which had been beautifully kept and was gorgeous! Hugh called it a
palace! Met her husband Jean-Paul and settled in. Had a gorgeous walk to the
stunning beach where the children swam and then their grandchildren, Enzo and Eliza, arrived. They were great kids
and it was lovely for the children to have other children to play with. Their mother, Paula, picked them up at 7pm
and then we had a lovely meal with them and bed later. Talked on the phone with
their daughter Celine who gave us some good advice about our trip. Relaxed and
had some wine and a lovely time.
It was truly a treat to be taken in like that – especially
on a difficult day. A day of unexpected eventualities – bad and good.
Tuesday 15th October
Cap d’Ail to St Laurent du Val. 40kms.
Made a good departure
from the lovely home and headed west. Spectacular to Nice and easy getting
through Nice to the bikeshop – when we finally saw it. The people there were
great and we left John there with the mechanic for 45 minutes and went and had
a coffee and croissants. Afterwards we rejoined John and went into the square
for siesta and had Socca on the bike guy’s recommendation – a Nice specialty of
pancake-type eggy crepes – very delicious and only 3 euros. Went back to the
shop at 2pm and transferred the problem of Hugh’s linked pedalling to Lyon and
departed about 3pm. Trying to get Hase to send the part there.
Carried on out of Nice – cycleway for much of it. Overcast
and threatening a shower so decided to cut our losses and stay at St Laurent du
Val. A bit of a busy 6km detour but found it easily and it was great. Had table
and chairs and Wi-fi. Happy. Lots of sports gear for the kids.
Wednesday 16th October
Anxious to ring Catherine and she reported some improvement
with Pat, though some concern about him swallowing and still no speech or right
side movement. Quite serious as he can’t eat and can only sustain that a couple
of days. Speech therapist working hard on it. Was good to talk and get an
update. Just hoping the swallowing thing can come right. She did see a big
improvement even over the day so that was great to hear.
Kev rang after that and he also had been down to see him so
again was good to hear and was impressed he had made the drive since it was his
birthday as well! Good to talk to him.
Packed up and got away a bit late but made a good start and got to Antibes quickly. Held
up there by coffee (so we could use the toilet) and looking for gas and maps,
and the kids had a swim and we had lunch there! Carried onto Cannes where we
googled at beautiful architecture and yachts and superyachts. Frustratingly
slow progress but camping at Mandelieu so cut our losses again and stayed here.
Nice. Had a quite cold but refreshing swim in the pool with the kids and did
laundry. Bed now. We think Herman the donkey is missing which is actually a
worry….
Thursday 17th October
Mandelieu to Frejus 54kms
Rang Pat at 7am and had a lovely chat with lots of noises of
response from him which was lovely and I could tell he was glad to hear from
us. Still very concerned about his progress – especially the swallowing but I
am hoping it improves with time. Slow packup but got away at 10am and went to
the Sports Megashop before leaving town about 11am. ABSOLUTELY glorious ride
and much more of a sense of progress. The coast was magnificent and lots of
gentle hills to make it interesting. Really was beautiful. Lunch by a rocky
coastline – some nude bathers across the way but managed to be just far enough
away to avoid a full view! On to a short paddle/swim at another lovely beach
and then a stop at St Raphael to make a plan and eat gelato – yummy. After two
tourist offices and a supermarket we found camping but the first one was too
five-star to take us in saying they were closed (though we saw campervans
camping there) we must be starting to look really homeless! It was getting late
so we quickly carried onto the next camp
arriving there on dark. All good as found a stone platform for a table
and hung the lanterns and it was good. Bit of a rough time between Pat, the
lost Herman and the bike dramas.
Friday 18th October
Frejus to Brignoles
– Rang Catherine first thing and then
just as we left Kev rang as well and had just seen Pat. Good to hear that he
had been okay. Had a coffee on the outskirts of town as all hadn’t slept well
–hot at night at the moment and a lot on our minds. Left the camp in overcast
weather and it was a bit of a full-on ride with challenging traffic and a lot
of rubbish on the sides of the road and not too much to look at though Lucy and
I enjoyed getting some good kms mileage after the coast. Made it to a park for
lunch. Got into Brignoles late and went to the visitor centre but zero luck
with camping and getting late so in the end we went on booking.com and booked The
Lemon Hotel. It was pretty budget and we had to be in two rooms but we didn’t
care as it was a roof over our heads. Had salad and baguettes and salmon for
dinner and collapsed into bed though didn’t sleep so well.
Saturday 19th October
Rang Pat first thing in the morning but he couldn’t hold the
phone and the nurse was busy and so I just said it was my birthday, that we
were all thinking of him and lots of love. And that I would ring again in
a couple of days. Hard to ring him later
in the day with the time difference. The rest of the day turned out to be
fabulous which I hadn’t expected. Left the Lemon Hotel and had breakfast outside
at a patisserie which was fun. Got away and the biking was simply superb
through into the most beautiful hills around Saint Victoire and we made superb
progress. Stopped for lunch on the side of the road and ate grapes from the
vineyard and we had already cracked out about 50 kms so we stopped further on
at a random vineyard and did some winetasting to make up for the lack of it in
the Napa Valley when it had been too hot to bike and drink wine as well.
The Grand Boise winetasting was a resounding success with a
lovely Frenchman welcoming us in with water glasses and we tasted three
gorgeous roses and two reds. John bought me a lovely bottle for my birthday and
the children gave me a cool scooter wooden keyring from Aosta.
Continued on to our destination of Bastide de Roy Rene in
Aix-en-Provence and found it after some tricky navigation but it was truly
gorgeous and such a luxury to have an apartment with tables and chairs and
dishes and outdoor furniture and actually everything I could ever want for a birthday.
Were settled in by 4pm and had done 65kms so pretty pleased with that.
Biked into Aix-en-Provence about 2kms for dinner and lucked
in again to find a restaurant that was lovely. We were the only ones there at
first at 7pm but there was a queue outside by the time we left. Gorgeous meal.
Lovely time. A nice reprieve from our worries.
Sunday 20th October
Aix-en-Provence to St. Remy de Provence. 80kms.
Rang
Catherine anxious to get a report on Pat and it didn’t all sound good but all
stable and we then packed up and left for St Remy. The weather was a bit rough
and threatening rain but carried on and branched off onto a side road and found
a beautiful road and a tail wind so made great progress. Lunch at a
playground near Salon de Provence. Rained as we approached St Remy but didn’t
last. The usual story with navigation but found the equally stunning haven of
La Ballances – and were overwhelmed to meet the owner Stefan who had put up a
welcome sign for us and immediately returned with two glasses of beer!
It was a beautiful place and it was there that we received
an email from Sue to say that she had visited Pat and talked about perhaps
coming if I felt I needed to. We had made the decision to fly home a month
earlier than we intended but quickly decided that I would fly home from the
States as soon as we got there and the others would go to Vegas to Peter and
Monique’s and I would come back.
Monday 21st October
La Ballances, St Remy deProvence
We rang Kev early next day to talk to Pat while Kev was at
the hospital with him. It was difficult to talk but I managed to just say lots
of love many times over and that we were all thinking of him. We had booked
another day at the apartment luckily as an hour later Liz facebooked to say
that Catherine was on her way down and later Catherine texted to say he had
deteriorated dramatically. They had told her that they weren’t expecting him to
survive the night. Decided to go home as soon as I could – by train to Lyon
then fly from there.
Unfortunately it was daytime here so very hard to go all day
with no news. Went for a half-hearted walk and coffee in town and a
half-hearted 3 or 4km bike ride to Van Gogh’s cloister where he painted the
irises and self-portrait – and it was gorgeous and peaceful but our hearts just
not in it. Came back. John went to the supermarket and got lost and I was sure
there would be a text by when he got back much later but there wasn’t. Had a
lovely meal in our beautiful villa apartment and our beautiful Grand Boise
wine.
A little time later
the phone rang, it was Catherine and she said that Pat had passed away. I never
would have got there anyway. I first had a flood of relief and peace for him and
then a flood of tears, Lucy and Hugh were so upset – we all were.
Later I rang Tony Boomer (our travel agent) as soon as it
was 9am in NZ and we slept poorly waiting for a reply from him. His reply crystalized
that just I should go home and the plan was for the kids to go to Vegas early
with John. Then Lee rang and said they were welcome to go to Annecy and stay in
her and Mondhers house in Dousardand, that seemed more logical as their flights
would stay the same. We ran through at
least ten plans prior to this! We even had Hugh and I going home and Lucy and
John biking on to Paris at one stage – the problem being how to get two tandems
to Paris with only three drivers!
Tuesday 22nd October by John
La Ballances, St Remy deProvence to Lyon
Before we could train to Lyon we had to get to a station,
this required a 20km cycle to Avignon. It was a easy ride through what was
mainly flat but pretty landscapes crossing the Rhone (the river we were going
to cycle up when we were going to ride to Lyon). Navigating into Avignon was simple with us
stopping at a small bakery on the way in for lunch. This stop gave us a lot of
heart as they gave the kids some cakes and while we were sitting outside eating
our lunch the owner came out and offered us coffee! Its small acts of kindness
like this that can make all the difference.
Two hours later we were back in Lyon. The start of our circumnavigation of the alps where we finished 200km short! Found our hotel and Bridget began to get sorted for her trip home.
Lyon
Bridgets flight was due to depart that evening so we spent the morning organizing three hire bikes for Lucy Hugh and I as we decided to leave the tandems in Lyon and we needed transport in Annecy. Mainly to get from Annecy to Doussard which is 20km). That afternoon we saw Bridget leave on the Rhone express to the airport. A sad farewell indeed, especially for poor Lucy as her being on the tandem for all that time, just the two of them.
Thursday 24th October
Lyon to Doussard by train
Lucy and Hugh handled riding around the streets of Lyon with ease. We had the morning in the city so did a few things before getting to the train station. This time the door of the train opened like it should and we had no problems all the way. Was nice to hear the kids point out all the landmarls the cycled passed all those weeks before, lac du Bourget, the Chambotte pass and the mighty Rhone, each time waking me to point them out. A lovely day greeted us in Annecy and we got on the cycleway for the 20km ride to our accommodation for the next ten days, its such a nice spot doussard and will be an ideal base for the time we have before we return to San Francisco on the 7th of November.
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| Ventimiglia |
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| Cycleway heaven |
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| The magnificent Cycleway on the Italian riviera |
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| Last impressions of Italy |
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| Looking toward France |
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| Arriving in France |
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| Monaco |
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| Walking with Katrina to her Apartment |
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| The old foyer of the apartment in Cap D'Ail |
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| The beach behind the Cap d'Ail apartment |
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| Lucy and Hugh with Enzo and Eliza |
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| Cap d'Ail apartment |
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| With Katrina and Jean-Paul |
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| Stand clear, the boys will handle this (putting new brake pads on) |
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| On the road to Nice |
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| Villefranche-Sur-Mer |
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| Nice |
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| Campground outside of Nice |
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| Looking back to the maritime Alps |
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| Man of the riviera |
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| We farewell the coast |
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| Breakfast on Bridget's birthday |
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| St Maxime Basilica |
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| St Maxime Basilica |
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| St Maxime Basilica |
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| Provence |
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| Bridgets birthday lunch in Provence |
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| Grand Boise winery |
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| Aix-en-Provence |
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| Aix-en-Provence |
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| Bastide de Roy Rene |
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| St Remy de Provence |
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| La Ballances |
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| Avignon |
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| Arriving in Lyon |
Thursday 24th October
Lyon to Annecy to Doussard by Hugh
Lyon to Annecy to Doussard by Hugh
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| leaving the Lyon hotel |
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| Fountain in Lyon |
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| Boulanger in Lyon |
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| In the train |
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| At Annecy train station |
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| In Annecy next to the station |
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| Start of the Annecy Albertville cycleway |
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| Lucy on cycleway, me in the distance |
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| Arriving in Doussard
Friday 25th October
Settling in and rest day. Did laundry and Hugh and Lucy went down on their own to the bakery. Settled into Lee and Mondher's lovely apartment, relieved to be here. Saturday 26th October by Lucy
50kms
We left the apartment at 10.30am. Our first stop was the bakery for baguettes. Then we continued towards the cycleway. we rode along it (the cycleway) to Ugine where we had lunch next to the small lake.
We advanced towards Albertville, via Mentens and other small villages. We saw an open campground, coming into Albertville, it made us very excited.
We spent the next half hour pushing our bikes around Albertville, looking for glaces (icecream). Wesettled the glaces at a little bar in the centre of town. We had the glaces and headed back to Doussard.
The ride home was a fun one with "Hellos" to cows from Hugh and Donkeys for me. Dad disn't say hello to anyone but cyclists.
We had dinner and a famous bakery tart each before diving into bed.
       
Sunday 27th October by Lucy
The day started well. We had breakfast and rang Mum on Skype.
Hugh and I then set out on our daily trip to the local A. Martin Bakery. We bought our prix and Sunday special baguettes before heading off to Shoppi for milk. We arrived, but Alas! The shop opened at 8.30am. We checked the electronic billboard. It read 8.40am. "It must be opening soon", we thought. We waited and waited till 9am (by then a crowd of 20 had arrived) before deciding to head home.
We were halfway back when a clap of thunder roared and a downpour started! We ran to shelter, a walnut tree, we waited there for 10 minutes before the rain lightened and we made a dash for home. Luckily we met Dad just round the corner with coats.
Later on Sylvie rang saying she had games and activities for us, and that she'd bring them over. We had an afternoon of building Lego pirate ships and reading.
We next watched our favourite TV programme, Bewitched, on youtube.
We continued the exciting day with a trip down to Shoppi to get dinner. But yet again Shoppi let us down.... Ferme! (closed) on Sunday afternoons. We rode around town empty-hearted. We finally found a dairy which luckily had the medicine for our needs.
We ended the day with the old classic frys and fishsticks, for dinner.
Monday 28th October
  
Tuesday 29th October
Waterfall Walk
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Visit to Doussard Bike Shop
Trip to Sylvie's Day by Lucy. 2kms.
We arrived at Sylvie's right on 11am. We met Sylvie's kids, Leah and Tim. We were then introduced to Victoria, a little girl who lived down the road.
Hugh and Tim shut themselves in Tim's room playing video games, while Leah, Victoria and I played with the rabbit, did tricks on the trapeze swing and helped Victoria build and play Playmobile - all the while struggling to communicate.
Meanwhile Hugh and Tim had thrown Tim's ball into the stream. They looked and looked but the ball did not appear.
We had lunch, a special potato and cheese dish, before taking Victoria home. We tidied up and said goodbye and thankyou before heading home.
The day was fun and hard, trying to communicate.
Friday 1st November
7.5kms
by Lucy
Today was great. Hugh and I spent the morning by finding a brilliant mountain-bike circuit going through lots of walking tracks and public farm roads.
We had a lunch of cheeses and baguettes, before taking Dad along the circuit, turning off at the 'Exit' to Doussard for groceries.
We returned to the apartment, but not for long. We set off again, this time towards the tunnel. Wearrived to a few people rockclimbing on the rocks.
We walked up the ridge a little way to a grotto where we had a brilliant viewpoint all the way down to Annecy. We continued walking, we saw views from many viewpoints and clearings. We reach a 'crosstrack' and decided to walk back down to Duingt from there.
The walk down was fun. We slid and slided on Autumn leaves on the ground. We finally arrived in Duingt and before long were riding on back to Doussard. We said goodbye to an amazing day and headed into bed.
Raining so did schoolwork and started to think about packing up.
Sunday 3rd November
Went to Sylvie's house for cake in the afternoon at 4pm.
Monday 4th November
Doussard to Annecy to Lyon Hotel part-Dieu
Lyon Hotel Part-Dieu to Ibis Airport Hotel, Lyon
Wednesday 6th November
Lyon to Paris
PARIS (coming soon....)
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