The end

Roissy is a brand new town with free shuttles to the enormous shopping centres . Clothes shopping is usually a most boring chore for me but the Volkswagen combi / clothes rack made it bearable .


We knew we'd need the bikes cleaned and bagged in case the bad news from home came through. The best we could find was this fountain that was turned off.Commuters coming off the nearby train were having a giggle at us ,I bet they were hoping the fountain would turn back on again!


Then back to the hotel to bag them up
Sure enough, we got the bad news,David had died 10pm the night before. Darryl our travel agent got into top gear and had us booked on the early flight the next day.





I'm writing this, the last post (no pun intended) at LA international airport . One more leg to go.
We'll come back one day to start this trip again where we left off ,but right now we want to be near family.
I've always considered myself pretty lucky to do some of the trips we do, but then ,
I have been incredibly lucky to have had a brother like David

Roissy CDG

Now I know this is a budget hotel and it must have really struggled to get its one star ,but leaving a dog to discourage you from revisiting the breakfast bar ?
REALLY 😳





It's nice and sunny this morning. We aren't game to ride yet as it's morning rush hour (and it's frightening ).We're going to follow the canal de L'Ourcq most of the way north to Roissy


Another deceased plaine tree that needed to be cut down


This is the Bassin de la Villette and the sea scouts are off for a morning paddle. It's so peaceful now! So hard to believe that the other rat race is just 10 minutes away





That's the canal St Denis coming in from the west


A barge full of sand for the cement plant almost soundlessly slides in to the wharf


While another one unloads roading metal. You hardly notice them they are that quiet and yet they're each taking about 50 trucks off the road


Another cement plant in the next town. This is my idea of scenic touring !


It's 29 degrees today so we were glad of the water stops. Look how low in the water that barge is. NO freeboard at all !
The last 8kms into Roissy was through some pretty shady looking areas and we were glad the GPS knew where we were going.
I've booked us in to a much nicer hotel for the next week, with lots of shopping centres to explore

Both sides of Paris

We couldn't stay in the same hotel unfortunately. The city is full of soccer fans and we were very lucky to get in to this one. A bit rough but clean at least


We needed a hardware shop to make some bags for the bikes so off we went for a good walk.


"There's a person under that "
"Watch the dog shit !"
How's this for real life drama. A woman had just been pulling money out of an ATM when this black fella snatched her purse and took off. She ran after him screaming her head off then they turned a bend out of our sight ,BUT, straight into the arms of a bunch of firemen out for a jog. I ran up, camera ready but they'd already pinned him down


This cop was just passing at the right time. The one on the left is the woman having a panic attack
Anyhow on with the walk.
Things have definitely got seedier since we were last here. The famous statue in the place de la Republique ....


We found our bike bag material then went back to the hotel for our bikes. Oh boy ! Have we been spoiled in Scandinavia and Germany
The driving here is diabolical and NO ONE stops for a pedestrian or cyclists.





My favourite view of Notre Dame. Christine likes it because of the tennis rackets . See them ?





These tourist traps were everywhere, driven mostly by Eastern Europeans .


Romanian Roulette! They were doing the old slight of hand , working in a group of 4. I watched them scam a couple of mugs then the police would approach and they'd be up and GONE.





But things I did like, in the Jarden de touleries they have little quiz's for children .The centre of Paris is one huge museum and this made the kids look at the statues and learn a little.
The green building is covered in NZ native plants. It's beautiful!



Since the cars won't stop for you Christine would put her hand up like a policeman and just GO. The guy behind us tried it and the taxi driver leapt on his brakes ! Wham , the car behind ran into him. I pulled the guard off the wheel and we got her off the road.
Anyway it's been a fun day. I'll let these guys have the last say

4 trains to Paris

We had walked over to the station and found that we couldn't take our bikes on the TGP, (the high speed train ,)to Paris unless they were taken down and boxed. As we would still need them in Paris we decided to take the long way round on the national train system. We wouldn't need to box them, in fact in France they were free. ( all countries up to now charge a child's fare, half price)


Leaving Liege. This is the smartest Gare in France or Belgium. First change of train at Kortlejt where we had to carry the bikes up a flight of stairs to another platform.
Second stop Lille in France








What a great atmosphere . Police everywhere, still on terror alert, a musician on a piano, foos ball and games for the kids , and this gadget for charging your phone. I sat there for an hour happily peddling away while I did a sodoku.. No hills or head winds here ! Bought tickets for Gare du Nord in Paris , one more change of train in Amiens








This station was destroyed in WW1 and again in WW2. There are these huge photos of different nationalities who helped defend France. One was of some Maori lads


We had to stand in the bike cubicle on the last train in to Paris. It was only for an hour. I've booked a hotel 200metres from Gare de Nord as we don't arrive until 7.30


Finally ! That was exhausting! I'd sooner bike 😀

Belgium🇧🇪

Perhaps it was the huge breakfast ,bacon and eggs , the works ! But we decided to take the train the last 20kms into Aachen.


Sharing the bike carriage were these three lovely ladies from Germany, (on their way to bike in Luxembourg ) and an English lass heading north. We had a lot of fun explaining to the Germans what a SKI holiday was .
SPENDING KIDS INHERITANCE
After waiting until 10 for the information centre to open ,we headed for Liege


You can hire this beer bike. Takes 12 pedalers and 3 passengers


About 8 kms out of Aachen we crossed the border into Belgium
The difference was huge. Roads weren't bike friendly, nor were the drivers. (German drivers are so courteous ) mostly though was the culture change. I thought this area would be Flemish speaking, even German for a while, but no, it's entirely French. Language , signage__.


Cars !! Don't you love it?
We climbed up the dividing range for about 3 hrs , I was buggered !, and then at Herve we discovered , quite by accident , a cycle way that ran for 25 kms down into Liege😝😛









And to make it even better, the sun came out and we were soon stripping off.


This would have to be the best 25 kms we have ever ridden . ALL downhill. Many parts needing our brakes .


Liege . This is where the trail follows the Meuse and will follow it well into northern France





Signage is even very French-like ( bad) but we eventually found the Gare ( station). I made enquiries about a train into Paris and then went and booked in to a nearby hotel