Le Tour de France

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Le Tour de France Grant Newton Stage 1 After flight delays, Shane and I finally arrived in Marseilles at 10.30pm, much later than the scheduled 1.30pm arrival and with no hope off finding our way to a campground. Would we have to biwy out at the airport or would suitable accommodation be close at hand? Ashort phone call and we were on our way to a nearby hotel and a chance to forget the hassles of air travel and take our travel destiny in our own two hands, or should that be, our own two wheels. nine-week cycle tour off France and Switzerland be- Entry to the Massif Central region was delayed by angan with our first faux pas, forgetting the siesta other two pit-bashes as we sat out more torrential rain. andl being stranded without fooda atl lunchtime. With The clouds finally cleared after a visit to the topof the first that lesson learned, we headed onwards in search of fuel volcano, Puy Mary. Some great weather followed as we for an MSR cooker, in what turned out tol be a 7-dayl hunt visited more volcanoes in the region before our arrival for the product named "Essence C" by the French; white in Clermont-Ferrand. spirits was their brand name for turps. We spent 3 days cycling from here to Lyon. Our stop in Pleasant countryside greeted us as wej pedalled our way St Etienne was one oft frustration as we sought to find the inland visiting manyl beautiful villages and enjoying pleas- campground to no avail. After posing for a photo for a ant temperatures. On night two, after several attempts to tourism reporter, we arrived at the information centre, cook food, wet found a restaurant and then proceeded to only to find the campground was 500 metres away. Our spend the next hour trying to work out the menu using stop in Lyon was brief: long enough to read our e-mail Lonely Planet's French Phrase Book! With the meal com- and then realise that Harry and Harriette would be arrivpleted the adjacent table was presented with menus in ing that afternoon. English! We then headed through the Gorges du Verdon (the Stage 2 French Grand Canyon) and on to Grasse, the perfume With Harry suffering from the flu (and no doubt a little capital, where thel heavens opened with some torrential jetlag), he was not too impressed at the prospect ofp pedalrain. A rest day before proceeding down to the French lingin 34 degrees.. well tough! The Beaujolais region Riveria andontol Nice and Monte Carlo, where those wear- north of Lyon was picturesque and allowed for pleasant ingl labels likel Hugo Boss and driving Mercedes and BMWs pedalling. met with those wearing labels like Ground Effect and rid- Showers at all French campgrounds proved an exercise ing Marins and Avantis. We completed a lap around the in frustration (stupid push-button designs to test one's F1 circuit at Monte Carlo, before heading back along the patience as thel hot water kept dying out), something Shane coast to Nice. It was then time to enjoys some easy riding and I had got used to, but something that was not going as we cycled along the coast, heading inland for al look at to get the better of Harry. Armed with a bootlace, Harry Aix-en-Provence. made an art out of "locking" the push button shower in The coastal scenery was behind us as wel headed inland the "on" position. Campgrounds were often judged by for the challenge of Mont Ventoux, a classic climb of the their showers. Tour de France. Two hours and forty-five minutes after The arrival of raingod Harry delivered the expected leaving Bedoin, having passed through bush and then weather, as we: struck some rain each day for more than a across a stark, almost lunar landscape, we were at the week. From the evening thunderstorms to drizzly days, top. A great descent was to follow - 21 km of uninter- we cycled over the Vosges Mountains to Strasbourg. The rupted downhill, reaching speeds of up to 75 km/h. weather confusedi Harriette as shet tried to determine which With the steep climb behind us the next few days were lens to use in her trendy new sunglasses! A rest day in easy; some flat riding interrupted by a rest day in Avi- this picturesque city was followed with the beautiful Algnon, where we visited thel Palais des Papes. In Avignon sace wine route, where villages had been rated by their we spotted the first other cycle tourists, amongst them a botanical beauty. It was late spring and the buildings of family - Mum, Dad and threel kids. Thel kids were getting Germanic origin looked quaint when accompanied by the thee easy ride, sitting backi in trailers being towed by some bright, colourful flower boxes. very hardworking parents we were now feeling lazy. Crossing into Switzerland, and the struggle with the Then the hills beckoned again as we headed into the French language was put on hold as we tried to tackle Languedoc region to the picturesque village ofl Florac where German, but with plenty of English spoken, getting by the sun shone - well, till the evening, then came torren- wasn't too difficult. We met up with former WT&MC tial rain (only a 15-minute breaki in the rain for the next 36 member, Matthew Craig, and traded thel bikes for his car. hours). With the Tarn River in flood, we: set off on a beau- Aweekendventure tot tourist town Interlaken offered some tiful day's cycling through the Gorges du Tarn. spectacular views. Tramping and Mountaineering 1999

Gorges du Tarn Grant Newton Upon returning to thel bikes, we cycledi to Lucerne and Leaving Chamonix, wel had out first serious crash, with thet following day, some tough off-road climbs (reaching a nose to tail and Harriette's wheel buckling beyond reas steep as a 20% gradient) led us back to Interlaken. pair. After Shanel had rebuilt the wheel, we headed for the Pedalling up a side (dead-end) valley led us to the beau- Olympic cityof Albertville, rising the next day to begin the tiful village ofl Kandersteg, set amongst spectacular moun- climb to the highest road in France. A one-night stop at tains. The next morning we cycled onto the train and Val d'lsere was required before we, made our final assault through the mountains to Goppenstien where we mean- on Col de I'Iseran at 2770m. Spectacular views and fine deredi back up another dead-end valley amongst: spectacu- weather made the climb a worthwhile experience. An inlar mountains. Harriette had made a veryclosei inspection teresting downhill followed with the temperature rising oft thewall ofc one ofthe many tunnels, having somel bruises rapidly as we descended into the sheltered valley floor. to showforl her experience. We then headed back towards civilisation and onto A steep train trip to Zermatt beckoned as we sought Chambéry for a night, before moving on to the beautiful views of the Matterhorn. The weather didn't disappoint city of Annecy. Our descent was marred by a tumble by and wee enjoyed a fantastic daywalk reaching an altitude of yours truly; a new helmet would be required, though a 3100 metres. couple of scars on the elbow were the onlyi injury. Two Our last full day in Switzerland was a flat easy ride rest days to take it easy and Harry's brakes failed on a down the valley through a very subdued Sion, whose resi- short ride this time the infamous bootlace could not dents had woken to the news that their town had missed repair thel brakes! out on the 2006 Olympics. Two days of easy pedalling led us back to Lyon, where A great day offered some final views ofSwitzerland as Isold myt bike, Harriette had hers stolen and we split comwe cycled over the alps to the French alpine resort of Cha- pany Shane was carrying on with cycling the Pyrénées, monix. Two rest days allowed for another great walk just to make sure he knew what a hill climb was; Harry amongst thes snow. We celebrated Solstice (well, actually a and Harriette were heading home to NZ and was catchbirthday) whilel here. ing a train to Paris. Tramping and Mountaineering 1999