Blogs from Picardy, France, Europe - page 2

Wednesday 24th April This morning we boarded our coach for the trip to Amiens for Anzac Day. We first went to the town of Corbie to find some lunch. Before the French Revolution Corbie was a very important place, with a large monastery which had been there for centuries. It was a centre for writing, transcription, etc. Most of the monastery has been demolished, but a large church which was once part of the complex remains. After lunch we visited the Victoria School in Villers Bretonneux, which was rebuilt by Australian soldiers after it was destroyed, along with most of the village, in 1918. Funds were raised in Australian primary schools (particularly in Victoria), and even materials were sent over. The school hall is lined with Victorian timber. The attic of one wing of the school ... read more

Back in the saddle again!! After a delightful but moving day yesterday, it was back in the saddle again today for the ride from Peronne to Marquion. The day started with the transit of a couple of locks and then we offloaded the bikes and headed upstream along the Canal du Nord, pausing briefly on a bridge to take photos of Elodie as she passed beneath us. The riding today was at a very pleasant pace and the weather was kind, with light winds and scattered cloud. Temperature of around 15C. We rode through picturesque village after picturesque village. Very quiet as it was Sunday. Henry found a café open for morning tea and we stopped in a lovely picnic location in Moeuvres for lunch. We made such good time that we arrived at Marquion at ... read more

Today reminds me of that Beatle's song "Long and Winding Road". 55km of long slow inclines and short whizzes down hill, all into a 20km/h head wind. Those with battery power were certainly at an advantage today. Not a great deal to see today other than the gothic cathedral at Noyon. Built in 1140 to 13th Century with various additions over the centuries including France's oldest religious library built in the 1400's. Noyon had its first Bishop in the mid 6th Century and a Pope came from Noyon in the 14th Century. The other significant feature of the ride today was our first Commonwealth War Cemetery near Brie. A small but very moving tribute to those that gave their lives for our French colleagues in the Great War. When you read the ages on the tomb ... read more

Can this be possible??!! Yet another great day. 45km ride of pure bliss, mostly along the banks of L'Oise, mostly flat and mostly on quiet bike paths through farmland and forest. And the weather - perfect!! Life doesn't get much better than this!! Along the way we witnessed the Thalys high speed train from Brussels to Paris whizzing past on an elevated track at around 300km/h. We saw farm animals (horses, cows, chickens), plenty of swans on the river and ponds, ploughed fields and vegetable patches. We even had time for a coffee break (tea for Warwick) and we still got back to Elodie in time for a stroll through the beautiful town of Compiegne (how many times have I used the term 'beautiful' in these travelblogs? I'm sorry if my use of this superlative is ... read more

A good drive up from the Loire today on a route we’ve never used before. Pretty directly North avoiding motorways and going through some nice towns and villages along the way and round the ring roads of others where the town centres looked a bit inaccessible to Tandy. Some towns looked worth a visit but those were generally the ones we had to drive round rather than through. Through the extensive forest of Fontainebleu then due north until we picked up the N104, the 3rd outer ringroad of Paris. That one was a challenge, manic but the traffic did keep moving. We did try to stop twice at services and followed the caravan signs for parking but oddly there was nowhere to park and we found ourselves back out on the road again. Quite a relief ... read more