so, with vaccines underway; summer arriving... What are you hoping for this year - will the touring bike get an outing? Graham, I know winter is coming down there, but it's always hot and dry there so you've no vote on it!

I hope to travel to France, in September : Paris to Nice. 

Perchance some Anglophone francophones shall tell me what to do, what not to, or whether my hopes are foolhardy....

But do tell... What are your plans this year?

“always hot and dry there so you've no vote on it!”

Emmet hence our next travel/cycle-tour plan is to head over to green, clean, damp NZ. The borders are now open for a Australia-NZ travel bubble. 15 months ago I had to depart NZ in such a hurry (as borders were clanging shut and flights being cancelled), I left a folding bike and some touring gear over there thinking I’d be back in a few months.

We’ll mostly do non-cycle based travel in NZ to catch up with rels and friends, however I’ll do a short cycle tour on the South Island while my wife sees her rels.

Other than the NZ plans, my longer-term  cycle touring priorities are to do a ‘Canberra-to-Hobart’ ride, and a ‘Canberra-to-Brisbane’ ride to add to my ‘Canberra-to-State Capital’ cycle tour wish-list of rides. I’ve just completed the desiccating  ‘Canberra-to-Perth’ cycle tour.

Wife and I are both vaccinated, and our fall plans will be one of two options: Buffalo to Manhattan along the Erie Canal and Empire trails (11 days of riding), or Portland ME to Cape Cod to Providence RI to catch the train to Manhattan (about 8 days of riding). Which one I choose will be the one my wife chooses :-)

Hi Emmet - I’m far from an expert but all indications are that a Paris to Nice trip  in September would work for you.  Details need to be hashed out by the French government on how Americans need to document their vaccinations or negative COVID tests but I bet that will fall into place over the next few weeks.  They want and need your tourist euros!

We’re fortunate to live in France so our summer plans are simpler.  We’re going to hit the chateaus of the Loire valley in July, hopefully before the normal level of tourists return.   This fall we’ll probably get out on another tour but it will be again within France.  We’re fortunate to have a great selection of routes on our doorstep.

Life is returning to normal here.  The cafes in our little town are bustling, we can hear the cheering from the local rugby stadium, and there was a pétanque tournament on this weekend.  Light at the end of the tunnel.   

September is a great month to tour here.  Hope you can make it happen!

deleted duplicate post :)

crikey, just looked at that journal - well the first few pages! 

Nullarbor... Holy crackers... Dessicating indeed... 

hi Paul,

I used to live in NH so can attest to the New England coastline and the fall foliage... The weather however... Hmmm.

Both sound good though... 

hi Rich,

Thankfully I'm not American - no offence to Americans ;) but I was born in a better place - Ireland!

France is just a ferry away, so no boxing bikes, and no currency changes either. And I can string a sentence together if needs be!

Hi Emmet -  

I’m so sorry, I don’t know why I thought you were American!  How embarrassing to be caught in a typical American gaffe!  Thank you for the gentle correction:)

You should have no issues at all as far as I can see.  France goes to a new, more permissive level of restrictions tomorrow.  I bet there will be some info in your local press on what’s possible.

Hope you can get over here. We hope to come the other way someday! The ferries are a great resource for intra-EU travel.

Emmet my new definition of desiccated is ‘1200km between laundromats’.  We used a coin operated washing machine in Ceduna S.A. Little did we know there would not be any laundry facilities again until Norseman in W.A.  We were able obtain drinking water at roadhouses, but there was not much to spare.