Sancerre Sat 31 may

Woke up to glorious river mists a seriously warm and clean shower and a chair for breakfast. Operated mit leatherman to remove a splinter from the holy cross I must have found on the compostella. A touch of rosemary oil and bobs your uncle bejesus it hurt but. My punishment I guess for thinking bad thoughts. That's all I can do really.
Then hauled my bike fully loaded up 20 odd metal stairs to access the weird canal bridge. Tres dur.
All the moto cyclists ( musical cars really) passed me and are camped here with me tonight in Sancerre. They are very organized with cluub members at every difficult junction and a little horn for gatherings.. I have my little green signs for company.
They took me very close to a nuclear reactor today so no need for a torch tonight. I'm it. Lead suits de rigeur for my return ok?
Checked in to very nice camping 3 stars with papier de toilette and hot laundry but cold showers....haha. no chairs but but beautiful trees tennis and everything is drying wonderfully
Then took off bare biked to Sancerre tour which was spectacular and well worth the two fleche hill to ride there and the very steep set of 100 claustrophobic stairs within the donjon itself. Great view over old roofs and the chateau below...lived in...... and then far off the nuclear power station. Had a beer on the way down and watched passers by. The Francais definitely dress. Obvious fashionistas, heels well pressed. Germans do the leather...man bags boating shoes grey green glasses rims. The English do floppy hats and have their pant waists far too high. Must be the gravy.
On the piste I tailor my responses as to dutch german allo, francais bonjour except if they are running. ..then tis jour with no honourifics. English good morning afternoon etc...always gets a good look. If they are vieux francais I always include the mms. That can be like a question though as the french are really programmed to respond. But then it is only surface and mostly it is only a 2 second conversation anyway.
Man my samsung note 2 is a dream machine btw. Its hooked up to the solar charger which is really great too. Even after its 2 second immersion still yet to miss a beat.
The tent is wonderful also especially now I'm sleeping the right way and the door and pockets have luminous glow in the dark end lumps. No need now I guess I'm a great big radioactive lump myself.

Briare friday 30 may

Lovely days ride sur Loire. Now I'm on the eurovelo there are many more cyclists fully loaded like me. And consequently an impatience with us tourists. Many more electric bikes also. The bikers were in full voice last night. Chanson after johny halliday chanson until, and I mean, it exactly 10 when silence fell. Well human silence. Man them french geese frogs and birds can keep it up all night long. Yay for ear plugs.
Funny tribal stuff occurs. The bikers are all on very expensive harley tourers immaculate polish with side cars, radios blaring, the jazz and flags you know the type. Tres chic rockers with sharp boots. Then arriving late the Spanish couple on their super super fast ducatti. Little tent obviously young and in love. In the morning, and remember the bikers are all hungover and older, the tall very beautiful Spanish girl walks right through the middle of biker tent village getting the best river views for her photo's. Not a word from anyone . Just 20 pairs of leathered eyes but then as the couple roar off she sitting high clasping dark clad Senor the goss erupts. How could she be comfortable like that? the espangol da da da?, too fast to see anything...I laughed at their envy of youthfulness.
Met a dutch troop of oldies 50 waiting in the foret and had my lunch with them.
Briare is funny place. There is a canal bridge a k long over la loire. With tourists walking parasoled up and down on either side. Weird. I rode but had to walk after all their tut tut tutts. And of all things a world famous button factory. Apparently they are embedded into the church walls.
Had a cafe in a tabac bar. The chef was having a bier and his mistress who was mad as a cut snake about the washing up complaining piled up two huge trays of dirty crockery on the bar. Then when he protested she just dropped a handful of plates on the floor. Everyone was shocked at the bruit and quickly left. Unusually wild behaviour for french pub owners....
Anyway camping 3 etoile by la loire hoping that les ourages keep over the camping car types and leave me smalls to dry....

Sully sur Loire thursday 29 may

44ks of eurovelo 6 and the Loiret piste cyclable. Very beautiful ride today Ascension holiday in some regions of France.
The Jackhotel person not only prepared me a nice breakfast but then gave me a detailed route guide en anglais. Although now it is really simply a matter of au cote du loire and upstream without a paddle. Tres facile. With green embedded signs every 100 metres or crossing. Absolutely wonderful knowing that I'm on the right path and not lost. It really is a change bien sur.
Nice Italians made me a great pizza with chilli olive oil before I tramped up and down through the last of the Loire valee chateaux. Monsieur Bethune's place treasurer to Henri IV. Very clean and not nearly as interesting as Vincennes.
Then back across Loire to camping 3 stars 7 euros and 100 motorbikers on very big bikes with very big tents.
Sun all day with menacing clouds but so far dry. Patched the spare and changed the direction of the front tyre after finally spraying the bike down with A HOSE. tres rare en france they are.
Missing Sheila's wonderful cooking as I tuck into un repas froid of baguette, comte, un tomate, heineken, and persil. Lucky I've the multivitamin for + 50's.

Orleans wed 28 May

Orleans. Monsieur's place is grand with a huge cathedral like notre dame which befits the king's bro I guess. His dominiale foret was profound too. It was great to be among old trees again after two days head wind rain in exposed wheat fields. Bit cooma ish only fertile green and pig poo piles and water tours.
The bike's front axle got repaired today which was relieving. For €5 a youngster from Bourge tightened the bearing, another QANTAS mishandling. Then a sweet organic vegetarian bio lunch with surprisingly good coffee. Then laundromat with smoking teens as it was unattended. All the while rain so am drying 2 etoile watching taylor townsend big black and proud whump some pretty french thing in the face of a very unfriendly crowd. Supposed sun tomorrow so I may be offline again camping.

Toury Tuesday 27 May

76 ks and today was all about the riding. Wonderful diverse pretty French day. Started at 6 with a fine breakfast with sweet toasted muesli at the only hotel for miles as I discovered later. Set off in light rain hoping to find an elephante bleu to wash my bike. No luck despite an hours deviation. No car wash in sight.
Ended up I used a Petrol station window washer. I made the best of it without running water.  
I really hate looking like a hobo.
Enjoyed the country side today very beautiful old places beside the road. Then endless plains of wheat and wind turbines. Would have been better without the head wind all day. Those Compostela mob sure knoew how to suffer. Couldn't imagine walking all that way.
Searched 20 extra ks in vain for a hotel as it still looms rain but to no avail returned to camp municipal en Toury. The sheer wind in my hair riding pleasure was liberating today after all the city guff so far. Tomorrow Orleans where I will post this.

Arpajon monday 26 May

Was today good or bad? Started out wonderfully with beautiful tarred piste cyclable 12ks to Massey. Light rain easy to follow path.... then by the banks of L'Orge things began to fall apart. The route manual is compostella so assumes I devoutly need to see every eglise. Then we hit the dirt and je suis perdu all because I thought to skip church. Then the rain turned everything to mud or bou on francais. Mud fricking mud all over my nice clean life. Then a flat tyre. Back tyre monster piece de glas. Mud and grease now is my lot. So flat fixed we near our goal of breuillet when the gate appears. A weird cage on a post. Struggles for me with a wet vertical bike pretending to be a human then getting stuck half way. Buggared I was with no lunch and trials one after the other....so here I am 10 ks off my goal in the only hotel for ks around, freshly showered, hungry as the devil. Things are improving.
Mondays in France are special days. Ferme mostly so only the Turks are serving food at 4pm. Lettuce, ble, frites, tomato, my first coffee for the day was fresh and strong. I begin to recover my joie de vivre. Tommorrow we are going to hit the tar and leave behind the special piste de cyclable for dryer weather.
Perhaps the train to Orleans was the less tortuous tortoise option. Now I know.

Paris Sun 25 May Vincennes D'Orsey

Woke early to a parliament of crows and unhappy street gents yowling.
Then a delightful converse with my darling, catching her in the bath on this la jour des mamans en France.
Despite rain forecast rode to Chateau Vicennes louis 9 and charles v's castle. Took the tour and was impressed. This was the Paris donjon for centuries and yet the personality of its builder remains. It became over time the great prison with M de Sade 7 years and Henri IV 2 years its royal guests among others like Mirabeau and Raspail. A medieval walled town its church was plainly ancient. I was told they fitted a life size marble man through a small arched window to relegate his remains out if the main drag. Illustrated below. What an installation task I thought to myself.
I'm endeavouring to cycle all of the 13 main piste cyclables en Paris so took the long way to the musee D'Orsay where again I was overwhelmed by the  borrowing and I guess lending power quid pro quo of Paris.
Van Gogh's this time by the dozens. A creative premise and a well thought out exhibition if a bit claustrophobic.
The mega Courbet has returned from its sojourn across the creek at the Louvre and looks fantastic with his other hunting scenes. Man that guy, saviour of the Louvre and great hero could paint a dog. And to discover his wonderful portrait of Hector Berlioz has graced the cover of his autobiography all this time on the shelf at home without me knowing. That's why these holidays are so enlightening.
So tonight is again a semi last en Paris. This place could provide a lifetime of deciphering. Tomorrow I take the piste cyclable to the king's bro's place Orleans.....packing everything into 6 small panniers as we speak...
Wish me luck and ward off the predicted  rain for me will you? Ta. Wifi free despite hand washing now for perhaps a couple of days.

Paris Sat 24 May

Amazing art today at the Louvre. What a huge treasury it is. I've sore feet just remembering.
The new Islamic wing was simply tremendous. A lovely dune like golden mesh roof over one of Louis' courtyards. He's got so many he won't miss one. Lovely objects by the 100's. I liked the ancient glass.
Then onto visit all the other old romans. Antinous does outshine his patron Hadrianus, being sculpted as personifying beauty while old beardy H barely gets a mention. Simply staggering the amount in the Louvre. I was in two small sections and occupied for 4 hours.
Then grand palais again for Robert Maplethorpe which was a bit rich american for me. I really enjoyed his Patti Smith portraits and the one of Susan Sontag was great also. She's interred 100 steps away from where I write this.
Weathers a bit arthur and marther but I'm still outta this place after tomorrow via my own voie verte. 57ks to Breuillet.

Augustus and I'm straightened out

Woke early to cool sunshine and promptly rode for an hour to the very edge of Paris to find Thiery of Giant Paris XII at la Porte D'oree who brusquely told me to leave the bike and return at sieze heures.
So after a petit noir to discover which metro line we were on I went to Jeu de Paume (ferme) and then to a wonderful exhibition moi Augustus at le grand Palais.
What a powerful borrower to have all the best of Octavian. At last I got to see the prima porta which is of course in the Vatican dealing as it does with deification. Then the most wonderful busts of all the family, the pompeii paintings and winged tables, massive bowls made out of ancient blue glass, followed by coins, and satyrs erect holding up wash stands. All in a neo classicist palace emulating everything on display within.
The marbles must have taken 3 weeks to install. Excellent show. I'm really better for having been there.
Then home for a bite to eat and a rest. Trammed it back to Thierry and lo the wheel was true and he only wanted 20 euros for an excellent job at short notice so I bought 2 drink bottles.
Pedalled back home the long way through light rain bursts. Got home and it really poured so I rewarded myself with an Italian salade at the local tournesol. What a day. I'm so relieved to be riding a wobble free bike again thanks to a genuinely hard working mechanic.

Josephine's tiny feet

Woke up early to Paris pigeons cooing. After a good breakfast with real bread and the news of rain at 10.30 retrieved the bike box and put it together in the moist post rain morning. It rained hard overnight. Piled the old bike box on top of the pigeon man's cardboard home. Bike travelled well except for two things: a deep gouge in the paint on the cross bar and two bends in the front wheel. I straightened the wheel enough to ride it tomorrow to the bike shop. Then the rain came down in buckets. As predicted exactly. I decided to walk today.
Visited the local cimitere to pay my respects to Charles, Niki, and Cesar.
Then off to the muses de Luxembourg for an exhibition of Josephine Bonaparte, s stuff. An amazing bone carved tiara and a pair of really tiny boots. She must have been tiny.  A good portrait by Prudhon was a highlight. ICOM card gratuit. And my own lane in. Emerged from a very  good display albeit with grey carpets to bright sunshine.
Then found my way to St. Sulpice which was dim with big golden candlesticks. The Delacroix St Agnes was OK but being conserved so a little less visible.
Then off to le vieux campeur for camping gas and lo the map of the piste cyclable out of town to Orleans. Yes I knew it was possible and it runs next to gare Montparnasse. No need for a train and on my front door so to speak.
Then ome for monoprix tabouli to rest my worn out feet. I saw so many older tourists stepping gingerly. Moi aussi.
So all in all a very good day. Missing home but activities preclude.

Niki de saint phalle,s cat Ricardo in Montparnasse cimitere.

Dubai is posh.

Waiting for the plane en Paris in Dubai for 5 hours! Managed to sleep for 7 hours on the first leg...Dubai is very clean and polished with all humanity wealthily sweeping buy. Met a cool Cameroonian cab driver who took me all the way in the rain squeezing through the traffic with aplomb. Hauled the bashed up bike box down the stairs and into le cave. Beer and pizza with eyes half closed. Then a wonderful shower and sleep glorious and profound sleep.

Wish i could just ride out the gate....

Test ride and pack prior to leaving. Used my portable gas fired coffee pot to make my workmates a brew today over a farewell lunch.