Don't Worry Be Happy

Now that I've had a chance to do the laundry and say goodbye to jetlag, I'm going to post a few more details about the trip, much of it in response to questions I've had (and mostly so I won't forget). Although we had internet access on the boat it was not completely reliable and I was generally too exhausted from the day's ride to get into too much detail in my blog posts during the trip. The company I booked my trip with was not the actual company that manages the boats.  The company is an Italian company Giro Libero .  They run quite a few bike trips and another bike/barge from Venice to Mantova. The crew was mostly Italian, so I didn't get much chance on the boat to practice my French! The boat is a converted barge which was upgraded about 5 years ago. The name of our boat was Soleo and for this trip it housed 18 clients and our 2 guides. The rooms are below, each with ensuite and portholes. Though small, the rooms are very efficient - kind of like ...

Well at least we're learning the lingo - a nip is one finger and a dram is two.  A single malt is a whiskey made in one distillery unlike a blend which could come from 2 or more. And if you're having it before noon you're having a 'morning'. We had a morning yesterday because it was before noon when we travelled up some pretty narrow, windy paths to get to the Glenlivet distillery. We got a pretty good overview of the whole distilling process and a nice little nip at the end. Some of this terminology we also learned from a Scottish gentleman we met at lunch. Surprisingly he has travelled the entire route Alexander MacKenzie travelled all the way to Bella Coola. He worked in Inuvik and Tuktoyaktuk and wrote documentaries for the BBC. Very interesting fellow and very helpful when it came to informing us about Scottish ways. He also convinced us that we HAD to see the Isle of Skye. Dunvegan Castle has been the ancestral home of the Chiefs of Clan McLeod for over 800 y...

First the good news - Marj's suitcase has been found and retrieved and you might have heard her sigh of relief from there! Earlier today we walked around the old course at St. Andrews - they have 6 other courses as well.  And of course we got our photo on the Swilcan bridge - you might recognize it. Strange as it may seem you can just walk on to the course any old time you want - just watch for golf balls.  They must not have the same lawyers as we have in Canada. We're staying at a lovely farmhouse about 10 miles from St. Andrews surrounded by huge green fields that seem to go on forever. This is the view from our second story window and even though you can't see it in the photo at the bottom of the field is the Firth of Forth. I  think Marj may finally get some whiskey tasting tomorrow.

We've transitioned from sunshine, wine and croissants to beer, fish and chips, and a bit of sogginess. Only one unfortunate incident in transit yesterday - Marj arrived but her luggage didn't!  Fortunately it was a simple task to get a SIM card and a 'bundle' for my phone so we're better able to contact British airways for updates. As well as navigate after tomorrow when we get the car. We started the hop on hop off this morning while it was still sunny, then the rain started part way through our visit to Edinburgh Castle. We heard about all the ill-fated kings and queens of Scotland and which ones lost their heads and who tried to gain control of the castle. Some of it is vaguely familiar and Marj's knowledge of Hamlet came in handy. The oldest part of the castle dates to the 1200s. The rain dampened our spirits a bit so we returned sopping to the BnB in the afternoon, still no luggage has arrived!

I was surprised that I got a little emotional saying our goodbyes to everyone (fellow passengers AND crew) as we disembarked Saturday morning. We had a couple of hours to kill in Aigues Mortes before we caught the train to Marseilles so we stopped at a little cinema for tourists that showed a movie of the town's history.  Apparently this is where Louis IX began several crusades in the 13th century to 'take back Jerusalem from the heathens'. His attempts were not successful and thousands of men died trying (including Louis who unfortunately died of dysentery in Tunisia). Our train to Marseilles included at transfer at Nimes where we had a 1.5 hour stop.  There is a huge feria or festival in Nimes this weekend celebrating Pentecost (50 days after Easter) but mostly including a huge bullfighting competition.  We walked down a long boulevard to the fair and found a stall selling a very popular dish around here - moules frites - Mussels with fries - and the mussels were deli...

Well we certainly can't complain about the weather (not that that would do any good anyway) - it's been pretty well perfect.  A bit of overcast a couple of days, mostly sunny, a light breeze off the Mediterranean and 4 drops of rain in Arles (and I'm not kidding). Aigues Mortes is a medieval walled city (like hundreds of others in France) and one of the main industries is salt. There are 10,000 hectares of salt marshes and surprisingly they are pinkish due to the little shrimp-like critters that inhabit the waters - the same critters that make the flamingos pink. Marj and I did a little tour there after our short (35 km) ride today. We mostly just did a couple of loops out of the village of Aigues Mortes so it was a pleasant ride although for some reason I'm feeling the sun a bit more today - perhaps just cumulative. Here's a flamingo coming in for a landing. We saw hundreds today. This is the colour the salt marsh is at this time of year.  In the distance ar...

Today might have been long (67 km) but the elevation (0) was quite favourable! And the scenery spectacular. This entire area is really one big marsh with many birds and of course the horses and bulls. There is a surprisingly big Spanish influence here - right down the to bull demonstrations and the paella and sangria in the restaurants. There are a lot of rice fields and they also harvest the salt. For lunch we stopped at Sainte Maries de la Mers, waded in the Mediterranean and climbed to the top of a church to eat lunch. Could it get any better? Tonight we've stopped in Aigue-Mortes (pr. egg-mort) which is literally 'dead-water' where we'll stay for 2 nights.

By now we’re completely familiar with the routine of the boat.  At 8:00 breakfast is served which consists of cereals, yoghurt, some cheeses, meats, fruits, bread. Coffee is available from about 7:00.  Yesterday we had croissants for a treat.  By 8:30 we start taking the bikes off the boat and getting ready to ride.  After a couple of hours of biking there is often a ‘coffee’ stop when Marj and I try to find a patisserie (bakery).  Along the route there may be several stops to explain a historical site or to take pictures of something.  Lunch is usually in a little village.  After breakfast, there are baguettes, meat, cheese, lettuce, etc., for us to pack our own lunch. If we prefer we can visit one of the local restaurants.  The afternoon will often include a longer stop for beer or coffee as well.  We usually meet up with the boat by around 5:00.  The bell for supper rings at 7:00 at w...

After we completed a tour of the city of Arles, complete with Roman amphitheater and forum ruins, we had a short (20 km) bike ride that led us past “Carmargue” horses and bulls, and many rice fields. We then had our first actual ride on the boat, down the Petit Rhone – a western branch of the Grand Rhone – before docking for the evening.   We are now in the Camargue - an area of the Rhone delta that has been preserved as a botanical and zoological nature reserve. The horses are born brown but turn white within a few years. Each little village seems to have a carousel. Our 'guide-in-training' Bert, decided to buy a ride for the whole group. Marj picked the tiger. Marj’s contribution to today’s blog: “Roman ruins and Van Gogh’s madness – that pretty well sums up our day.  Croissant for breakfast and bruschetta for lunch – can’t get much better than that.”

Wow and I thought yesterday was rigorous – today was longer and steeper than yesterday but very enjoyable. Again, the weather was glorious and the reward of a fabulous 3 course meal at the end (ending with mousse au chocolate!) was enough to keep me going. Our 65 km trip today took us to St. Remy de Provence, the home of Nostradamus and the place where Van Gogh painted Starry Night (and many others) when he was hospitalized for mental problems.   Following that we had a 4 km ascent to the village of Les Baux , perched at the top of the hill.   We entered a light display of artwork by several Austrian artists, none of which I had heard of before.   It’s hard to describe in words but imagine huge 50 foot walls of a vast granite quarry on which are displayed, in animated fashion and with music, artwork on the walls and floors and always changing. Quite stunning.    Our next trip was 200 m to the medieval castle which turned into about 1 km because...

 The vast Roman empire included most of this area and lots of the evidence still remains.  Such as the Pont du Gard – the largest remaining section of a Roman aqueduct.  Having water in their homes was a huge status symbol. The structure is quite impressive as it towers over the river below.  We stopped here today for lunch as it was about ½ way through today’s trip. The weather is quite glorious - lots of sunshine and cooling breezes. It was a long 60 km day with plenty of uphills so we were all glad to get back to our typical 3 course dinner.   Tonight it consisted of pesto spaghetti for the entrée, roast pork with vegetables for the main, and crème brule for dessert.  Marj and I washed it down with a bottle of wine we bought at a little winery along the way.  The winery sells a lot of inexpensive wine to the locals such as this man who brought his jugs then filled them with wine from a hose (like a gas pump). ...

If you're like me you like to have a bird's eye view of where you're going (often called a map!).  We boarded the boat just across the Rhone River from Avignon which is actually in a small village called Villeneuve-les-Avignon.  Technically speaking, it's not in Provence, but in the traditional province of Languedoc (Toulouse is the capital)..

If the first day of cycling is any indication, the trip may turn out to be perfect. Fabulous weather, some wine tasting, beautiful vistas, excellent food and super nice travelling companions - what more could we ask for? The original plan was to travel by boat to Avignon, then cycle from there. But because the boat couldn't moor in the pre-arranged spot, our first day of cycling started with a ride right through the centre of Avignon. Traffic was a bit hectic, even for a Sunday morning! [Here we are getting instructions from our leader Tammy (front left, bright green helmet) before we start out.] It wasn't long before we were travelling on little lanes and paths lined with wild flowers (pale orange poppies and yellow-flowering gorse). This soon gave way to many, many vineyards on the way up the hill to Chateauneuf-du-pape which you can see on the hill behind us.  We were welcomed into one of the wineries for a sample of the 2011 vintage. We were also fortunate enough...