The Plan
Where, When and with Whom
This pot has been simmering on the back burner for quite a while, since the end of last summer I think. By now the carefully chosen ingredients should have blended to make a tasty dish. Here is what we cooked up, a six-week tour anchored around a couple of Cycleblazers meet ups. As we get older, it seems our plans get more ambitious. At least for us, six weeks on the road is ambitious.
Susan Carpenter and I wanted to tour together again some time during her three month stay in Europe. Having read the Andersons' 2022 journals on the Provence and especially the Luberon, and since Susan's headquarters will be in Paris, France made a lot of sense to me, and Janos as well. The three of us will meet in Arles and cycle together for about a week before we go our own ways.
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As long as we are in southern France, a fairly long drive from Munich, we want to make the most of our time here. For quite a while I've wanted to visit Durfort again, a village about 65 km southeast of Toulouse. This will be a sentimental journey. The little village of Durfort, for centuries a center for copper work, is where my sister Gwen fell in love with a house, then more a ruin than a house, but she had a vision. She saw the potential of the setting and the old stone walls. In front of the house a tiny stream runs down the center of the street, behind the house a larger stream rushes its way down from the mountains. In the course of several years she transformed what was a pile of stones into a charming house in beautiful surroundings. We visited her often and got to know her friends. Actually, my first long tour with Janos was from Munich to Durfort in 2006. Here is my journal.
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Gwen died of a brain tumor seven years later. I'm so glad we have those memories from our times together at her house. It is now ten years since Gwen passed away and we haven't visited Durfort since then. Now seemed to be the right time. We'll spend a few days in Durfort renewing old acquaintances and then ride a loop from there and back to the car.
Time to embark on the second part of our six weeks away from home, cycling in Italy. We will drive to Padua, leave the car there and slowly wend our way to Riva for the next Cycleblaze meet-up. Rachael and Scott Anderson will be in northern Italy in June and we have managed - no, Scott has managed - to plan an itinerary that will allow us to cycle a fantastic route together.
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1 year ago
Loops, southern France, northern Italy, a couple of days here, a week or so there - that all sounds rather vague. But although not written in stone, we have concrete plans, routes, and hotel bookings for the entire trip. As usual we have only made bookings that can be cancelled without charge - which we hope won't be necessary. But we know from experience there can be unforseen events and acts beyond our control, the primary antagonists being bad weather and illness. The best laid plans etc. So, che sarà sarà.
We will meet Susan in Arles on April 30. From there... well, we have to leave a few surprises, so I'm not outlining the complete itinerary that Susan created, but it looks like it's going to be a stunning ride, including some layover days for local cycling. After a week our ways will part. From Carpentras Susan will head for the Gorges d'Ardèche and then to Paris while we cycle back to Arles where we left the car. From there it's not a long drive to Durfort where we will spend three days before setting out on an eleven-day loop to the north and then west and back to Durfort.
From Durfort a two-day drive will take us to Padua where we can again abandon the car, thank goodness. A leisurely nine days with plenty of time for the cities along the way and we will arrive in Riva where we are meeting Rachael and Scott on June 4. I think these will be another terrific five days before we reach Padua. Rachael and Scott will then head for Bologna and their flight home while we have a 500-km drive back to good old Gauting.
Here is a link to the "collection", as it's called in Komoot, of all our planned routes in France. At the top you'll see a picture I stole from Scott's journal and when you scroll down, you'll see the individual days as well as some possible loops or out-and-backs. These aren't necessarily the final versions of the routes, but close.
I also have a collection of our rides in Italy.
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I am not at all sure I am going to be able to post my journal while we are on the road. I love to share our adventures in real time and to get feedback while we are traveling but I know from experience that I'm tired at night and in the morning I'm eager to get going. I used to journal when underway, but things change over the years. So instead of having an unwritten journal hanging over my head, I will most likely go for the compromise of carefree evenings and having to write up our tour when we are back home. Or maybe I'll surprise you and myself and write. Whatever, I promise to make notes every day to support my unreliable memory.
Not written in stone, but published in CyleBlaze - a first step.
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1 year ago
David and Maun
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You do your blogging anyway that works for you, and we all will be happy to read and drool over it. Thanks for taking us along.
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