November 14, 2017
Day Fifty Five: Paris to Charles de Gaulle
We took to our bikes again, after five days off. It felt great! Paris does actually have some designated bike streets, where there is either a way down the centre of a boulevard, or a shared bus/bike lane. We do have a map of all these, but have not wanted to use them because designated or not, there are obstacles flying at you all the time anyway. That is, taxis and scooters in the lane, darting pedestrians, lots of intersections, and so forth.
While we might not choose such Paris cycling for fun and relaxation, the bike lanes were really helpful for getting out of town.
| Heart | 0 | Comment | 0 | Link |
Another big help was a canal. Canals of course are our old standby. This was the Canal de l'Ourcq, and it ran from a couple of kilometers past Sacre Coeur, in the north west corner of Paris, until not too far from the airport. The Canal sports EV3 signs, which always seems comforting.
The track we had made at home had us leaving the eastward leading canal and heading north for a few km, to reach the hotel we had booked, about 10 km from the airport. Just as we were paused and looking at the needed left turn, a runner stopped and offered us some guidance. He insisted that if we stuck on the canal we would miss a lot of traffic. We believed him and went back on the canal. But after a while we grew apprehensive about always going east when we felt our hotel was north. Finally we unilaterally abandoned the canal and set about wiggling our way back to what had been our original track.
The track had come from Google Maps, usually a poor source, but for a while anyway we found a bike way beside the somewhat busy N370. When we got to Sevran it was time for some food. So we followed the signs over to our right and arrived at a Carrefour. This was not an ordinary grocery, though, but a super mall, with 100 shops. The parking lot looked exactly like that of an American mall. Freaky, and so unusual here.
Dodie went in, leaving me as usual with the bikes. She was gone a long time, because of the size of the complex. But she came back out with that great grocery store fast food that we know we will not see again until we come back. There was salad with tomatoes, cheese, bulgur, arugula, lettuce and balsamic vinegar dressing, and an included little baguette. There were little cheese cubes, each with its own topping of various herbs or seeds, and crème de marron from the refrigerator case. Add to this two chocolate bars and a package of "Pick Up" cookies for later, and the total bill was 11 euros. Not everything is a good deal in France, but this kind of stuff is!
With now renewed strength we went back to N370 and reached what should have been a switch to a lower key road - D40. But D40 was not only busier, it had no place for bikes and not even a sidewalk. We took to the grass beside the road, and pushed the bikes for 2 km. Near the end of that push, Dodie stepped into a hidden 4 inch deep by 10 foot long puddle of stagnant water. I am fond of saying this is what I put her out front for, as I just daintily steered around it!
We arrived at our hotel, the Premiere Classe, and rolled right up to reception. Our bikes, of course, had been pushing through grass and mud, but we really did not drop too much of it on their floor. They looked at our reservation (printed back in Canada) and informed us that we were at the wrong "Hotel Premiere Classe". It's a chain, and there are two, maybe three in the airport area. Who knew!
Dodie and the receptionist spent quite a long time trying to put a finger on the correct branch, on the GPS. The search capabilities of Osmand + are quite weak, and I could not locate the street or the hotel by name on my phone's version. But eventually it got tracked down. Once Dodie gets a flag set on a destination, she will get us there. (But don't ask Osmand for voice guidance - it's goofy.)
Another 3 km and we rolled into the reception of yet another Premiere Classe. "Premiere Classe" is a bit of a joke, since these are true budget outfits. And when we asked for a secure place to store the bikes, they claimed to have nowhere. We called on the manager, and suggested several spots. No way. There is a certain bent in French business that just will not go the extra centimeter, let alone mile, for customer service. So we stashed the bikes in our postage stamp room.
Since we stopped camping and went with hotels, we have been easy to please because we usually compare the room to a tent. If it doesn't leak, it's great. And since Spain this Spring we also compare to a cot in an albergue. In an albergue, you have basically only that cot as room for yourself, plus a little strip beside where you might put a small bag. So here at the "Premiere Classe" we are happy - it does not leak, and even after we squeezed in our bikes we had room for our four panniers and two handlebar bags, not to mention place to lie down.
Tomorrow our plan is to get up as early as possible and be at the airport in time to handle whatever curves get thrown at us. The petit dejeuner here starts at 4 a.m., so this type of scheduling must be common. We know petit dejeuner will just be croissant and coffee or hot chocolate. But maybe the airport will have something like a "Paul" outlet and will come up with one last "chausson abricot". Anyway I will lie down on my cot tonight and hope for the best.
Whether that pastry is found or not, we will be circling back this way soon enough, because "All My Life's a Circle":
Today's ride: 32 km (20 miles)
Total: 2,096 km (1,302 miles)
| Rate this entry's writing | Heart | 0 |
| Comment on this entry | Comment | 0 |