Day 9 - Bordeaux, France to Santander, Spain

 

After five amazing days in France we would move today to Spain. We were looking forward to that indeed as we can understand and also speak the language quite fluently and as we have found there is much more intimacy in a conversation when you are able to converse in local language. We were also looking forward to visit Basque country and specially see the high mountains. Up to now we had not encountered any real mountains in our trip and today we would see the Pyrenees and the next day the Picos de Europa. And of course looking forward to the Spanish cuisine, paella ... tortilla ... chorizo ... gazpacho ... jamon ... dulce con leche and many other delicacies.

But I am moving ahead too fast. As we had arrived very late in the evening at our hotel the night before we were not able to admire the country side or the actual hotel we were staying in. This hotel we had chosen using the Logis site (highly recommended way to find accomodations in places you do not know) and this was how they characterized our hotel "a charming place, with a lovely garden, providing ten very comfortable bedrooms. As soon as the nice season arrives, you can take your breakfast or have lunch outside on the terrace overlooking flowers and trees."

 

I was looking forward to the breakfast part which turned out to be even better than I had anticipated. Quality of food was excellent and couple who owned the hotel were very service oriented.

 

As we were having breakfast we heard someone shout "Portugal, Portugal ..." (as a painful reminder Portugal that evening would play Spain in the semi-finals for the European cup). It turned out a young lady that worked in the hotel was Portuguese and was very excited about Portugal chances that evening. So we chatted a bit.

We had planned to do the trip into Spain hugging the coastline and stop for lunch at Biarritz but plans sometimes are made to be broken we threw that plan to the wind and changed our route to go through Lourdes, France. Paula was very excited to go see a town where Mary appeared to Bernadette Souberiois on eighteen occasions and it has become a major place of Roman Catholic pilgrimage and of miraculous healings. I was excited when I read that Lourdes is a commune in the Hautes-Pyrénées department in the Midi-Pyrénées region in south-western France, the word Pyrénées doing the trick.

I also knew of this area quite well as it is usually used as stage/s for the Tour de France. This year there were two stages (15 and 16) that would use Pau as the main town around where the stages would be finishing and starting. Stage 16 would be specially difficult with two Highest Category mountains, Aubisque and Tourmalet and two Category One climbs, Aspin and Peyresourde. The Frenchman Thomas Voeckler would win the stage and take the polka dot (king of the mountain) jersey which he would wear until arrival in Paris.

 

 

The ride into Lourdes is very beautiful and the closer we get to the Pyrenees it just gets better.

 

The day was very hot at 100F (38C) and while Paula visited Lourdes I baby sat the bike and had lunch just outside. There were a lot of people on the streets and as the town is very charming we took a number of interesting pictures.

 

 

 

We also had lunch in Lourdes and then we saddled up and took a nice winding road next to the river northbound until we got highway and then turned west towards Saint Jean-de-Luz as we had heard this was a very nice town next to the sea.

 

It was quite late so we could not stop and just drove past the town towards San Sebastian then Bilbao. As we were leaving Bilbao, the heavens opened up and we had to stop in a tunnel to put the rain gear on. After being there for about 5 minutes we were told (through the loudspeaker closest to us) that we should not be stopping in the tunnel (although we were out of traffic's way) to change clothes. As it was raining quite hard and we did not dare to go out there without the proper clothing, we accelerated the process and got ready.

The riding into Santander was quite technical and we found a car that was going at acceptable speed and just shadowed it until the outskirts of Santander. As we were arriving and Portugal was playing Spain that evening for the semi finals of the European cup we listened for hooting and noise in the streets. As we heard nothing we assumed Portugal had won. As it turned out, game had gone into penalties and it was still going on. As we parked at the hotel and took off our helmets we heard a lot of commotion coming from the bar and then a loud shout immediately followed by clapping and more shouts. Spain had just won by penalties. We were happy to have arrived safe and sound after a very long day but quite sad that yet again we could not beat the La Roja. Spain went on to eventually win the cup and to all La Roja fans ... Muchas Felicitaciones !

We were allowed to leave the GSA just in front of the hotel for the night. We were very happy we had chosen a good hotel with room service which we used that evening.

As we arrived on Day 9 to Spain here is the original Eviva Espana performed by Belgian singer Samantha in 1971.

 

For the next days we would be in Spain and we were looking forward to ride the Picos de Europa and El Camino ... Ole !

Click HERE for all pictures of Day 9

 

Posted by Armando

Day 8 - Paris, France to Bordeaux, France

 

After an excellent 3 days in Paris, time to go South in our trip towards Lisbon, Portugal. Today's destination would be Bordeaux, France with main objective during the ride to travel through the Beautiful French countryside. There are just too many things one can do in these trips and deciding what to to and not to do is always a nice and tough exercise.

I had visited many years ago the Chateau de Versailles and fell in love with the whole area and wanted Paula to see the palace but most important the beautiful gardens. Up to 1789 it was home to the royal family which had to move to Tuileries Palace due to the French revolution and the Chateau lost its pre-eminence. Due to the perseverance of a number of curators, it was restored to pre-revolution times and is today one of France's foremost tourist attractions.

Speaking to some French friends of ours they suggested we do the Loire Valley. The Loire Valley is referred to as the Cradle of the French Language, and the Garden of France due to the abundance of vineyards, fruit orchards (such as cherries), and artichoke and asparagus fields, which line the banks of the river. In 2000, UNESCO added the central part of the Loire River valley to its list of World Heritage Sites. It is also home to some of the most beautiful castles in France.

There was not much time to visit many other chateaux so we chose the Chateau de Chambord (constructed in the 1500's) which is the largest chateau (best for bike staged pictures ;-)) in the Loire Valley and is one of the most recognizable châteaux in the world because of its very distinct French Renaissance architecture which blends traditional French medieval forms with classical Renaissance structures. As a 16th century chateau, it departed from castle architecture; while they were off-shoots of castles, with features commonly associated with them, they did not have serious defences. Extensive gardens and water features, such as a moat, were common amongst châteaux from this period. The château features 440 rooms, 282 fireplaces, and 84 staircases. The roofscape of Chambord has often been compared with the skyline of a town: it shows eleven kinds of towers and three types of chimneys, without symmetry, framed at the corners by the massive towers. An impressive sight and one of the most beautiful ones we would see in our trip.

 

After doing a number of dubious maneuvers and ride where probably we should not we were able to get very close to the chateau and take some very nice pictures.

 

The valley includes historic towns and we rode through Amboise, Blois, Orléans, and Tours always following the river Loire which acts as a line of demarcation in France's weather between the northern climate and the southern.

As it was getting very late and we still had a very long way to go we could not do a lot of other things worth doing during this day and sped south towards Bordeaux and we arrived in our hotel at 11:30pm.

Time to sleep and get ready for Day 9 where we would go to Spain and ride the northern part and visit Basque country.

Click HERE for all the pictures of Day 8

Posted by Armando

Day 7 - Paris, France

And just like that one week has gone past. We have travelled thousands of Kms and we find ourselves in Paris, France. Today would be our last full day in Paris and we plan to visit a number of well known Paris landmarks. The day will finish with a barbecue at a friend's house.

We wake up and weather is much better than 24 hours ago which is great for the day we have in mind. While Paula is getting ready I go out to the corner brasserie and buy 2 baguettes and a couple of French pastries and we sit down in courtyard enjoying our breakfast. Paula also takes some time to prepare postcards to send to family.

We then saddle up and start our tour of Paris taking pictures of some of the very well known sights.

 

Paris is divided into a number of different areas or as the French call it ... Arrondissements.

The city of Paris is divided in 20 arrondissements. The first one is in the center, the following ones spiral outwards in a clock-wise direction. Most of the famous tourist attractions can be found in one of the central 8 arrondissements.

The arrondissements are encircled by the périphérique, a ring highway. Outside the périphérique are the banlieues, the suburbs of Paris. Here is a concise overview of the 20 arrondissements and their most important sights and attractions.

 

At the Trocadero (this is an area in the 16th arrondissement, across the Seine from the Eiffel Tower) we were able to stage the bike in a great location and take some very nice pictures.

 

 

You see and meet the most amazing people in trips. As an example here is a picture of a couple of the Harlem Globetrotters. The Harlem Globetrotters is an exhibition basketball team that combines athleticism, theater and comedy. The tall one is Tiny Sturgess. Tiny was born in England and is the tallest globetrotter ever at 7 feet and 8 inches (2.36 m) and guess what is his signature move ... the no jump dunk, obviously !

 

For lunch we went back to the Champs Élysées and looked for another esplanade so we could eat and also experience this beautiful street.

After lunch we got back on the bike and braved the Parisian traffic towards the The Île de la Cité which is one of two remaining natural islands in the Seine within the city of Paris (the other being the Île Saint-Louis). It is the centre of Paris and the location where the medieval city was refounded. Our goal ... visit Notre Dame.

 

Notre Dame is a Gothic, Roman Catholic cathedral and Is one of the largest and most well known cathedrals in the world. For me though it is the home of Quasimodo (the deaf hunchback bell ringer) and his adoptive father Frollo (the Archdeacon of Notre Dame) who both fall in love with Esmeralda, the beautiful Gypsy who has a kind and generous heart. She wins Quasimodo's heart when she shows him human kindness when she gives him some water when he is being whipped and jeered by the crowd. Esmeralda who scorns Frollo's attempts to win her love and she herself falls in love with Captain of the King's Archers, Phoebus (who is engaged to the beautiful but somewhat spiteful Fleur-de-Lys). In a series of events too long to go into, Esmeralda is set up for murder attempt of Phoebus and becomes a fugitive. As Frollo, torn between his obsessive love and rules of the church, is not able to get her to love he betrays her and hands Esmeralda to the troops and she is hanged. Quasimodo's love and devotion for Frollo does Frollo no good when he is seen by Quasimodo laughing at Esmeralda death, and Quasimodo throws him down from the cathedral to his death. In a major show for love, Quasimodo dies of starvation as he lays next to Esmeralda's body. If you are asking yourself about Captain Phoebus, he goes on to marry Fleur-de-Lys. Victor Hugo wrote this novel between 1829-1831 and as you can see the plights of human nature have not changed much. Notre Dame was central to this novel for both the main setting and the focus of the story's themes. With the notable exception of Phoebus and Esmeralda's meeting, almost every major event in the novel takes place in the cathedral, atop the cathedral or can be witnessed by a character standing within or atop the cathedral. The Cathedral had fallen into disrepair at the time of writing, which Hugo wanted to point out.

We are happy to report that the Cathedral is not in despair and that over 13 million people visit it every year ... nearly 40,000 per day !

 

 

After spending time in Notre Dame (Paula was able to attend a mass that was going on while I waited outside looking at part of the 40k for that day and looked after the bike), we sat down in a typical French cafe and had some crepes ... ooh la la !

For the evening we went to have dinner at the home of one of my colleagues. He had invited two othe couples and the 8 of us had a great barbecue, spoke about living in Paris and in France. It was a great evening ... Merci Alain !

We then made our way back to Paris and Studio Amelie (our quaint apartment). We needed a good night sleep as we had a long way south the next day to Bordeaux and we still wanted to visit the Palais de Versailles and some castles on the way.

 

Our time in Paris was magic. A number of times I asked Paula, as this was her first time, if Paris was below, at or better than expectations and every time the answer was better. As I know that expectations have a strong tendency to adapt very fast this was an amazing answer and one I was very happy with. Paris had become my partner in making a special time for my life partner. For that I salute you Paris and as a special tribute to you, who better than Edith Piaf to sing about your many talents and beauties ... Merci Paris !

 

 

Click HERE for all pictures for Day 7

 

Posted by Armando