Day 44 Blois to Strasbourg

Day 44. 25 kms cycled. Weather – wet and miserable in Blois. Overcast and threatening rain in Strasbourg.

Yes, you have read correctly I am writing this from Strasbourg on the French/German border.
With the weather going from bad to worse at Blois on the Loire River where I was camped, I made the not too hard decision to speed things up somewhat by catching the train to Strasbourg where I will complete my cycle adventure along the Rhine River to The Netherlands.
With about 25 days cycling left to complete the trip it was becoming increasingly obvious that there weren’t enough days left. And with about 700 km of France’s notorious roads and drivers ahead of me, it seemed to make a lot of sense to miss that part of the trip altogether.
And after seeing the countryside from the window of the train, I know I made the right decision. Lots of traffic-chocked roads and hundreds of kilometres of flat, much-the-same country.
So here I am camped about 3 km out from central Strasbourg ready for a big day of sightseeing tomorrow – weather permitting.
I must say that I am getting pretty sick of the constant cold and wet weather I have endured on the trip. I have enjoyed a few great days of weather here and there, but overall the weather hasn’t been great at all. I certainly haven’t had to use the sunscreen on too many occasions, that’s for sure.
I had been looking forward to sightseeing around Blois, another famous town on the banks of the Loire, however it rained all night and was threatening to do the same all day.
So rather than waste the day I jumped on the TGV – bike and all (that’s another story) – and five hours later I was in Strasbourg.
I rode all but 70kms of the Loire track and really enjoyed my time there. It is certainly on the to-do list to go back a third time, but next time with a camper van with bikes on the back!!
Anyway, it is now onto another stage of my cycling adventure, this time in Germany on the Rhine. I guess I had better start brushing up on my German words. Bonjour etc etc etc isn’t going to be any good to me any more.


It really is hard work travelling on France’s train system with a bicycle, 4 panniers and tents etc. The step from the platform to the train is close to a metre high and there is next to no time to get everything on before the train is ready to take off.
On the first section of the trip today on the local train I tried leaving everything strapped on the bicycle, but had hell’s trouble getting it not only up onto the train, but in through the narrow door.
The second time getting onto the TGV train I took off the back panniers, but once inside didn’t know where to put everything, so just left the bike leaning again a wall until a very business-like guard told me I was in first class and my bike and I should be elsewhere on the train in second class.
So I had to push the bike through 3 carriages while it was travelling along - getting some of the worst stares possible along the way – until I found my rightful place in second class.
Oh, the joys of travelling!!!!!!!!!!


caption: Try getting about 40kg of bike and luggage up that step by yourself!!!!!