Planning our route: best laid plans!!

June 10, 2016

Well, it seems to be "situation normal" for the Bartletts. For us, plans are just that, and they are made to be broken.

As usual, we have researched endlessly, dreamt about what we will do and have read many journals for inspiration. When we left home, we thought that we had an iron clad plan - and we should know better.

After last year's trip in the Alps and Apennines, we felt that we were ready for a trip with fewer climbs. And guess what? There were too many hills in our plan. Plus, as usual, our dreams exceeded reality and the distances were too great for the time we have.

This year we are very happy to explore the green (less hilly) bits.

Originally, we were going to do a circumnavigation of France, beginning with an idyllic ride down the Moselle River. We were then going to ride to the Mediterranean Sea via Cluny and the Rhone River. This would involve skirting the Jura Mts., the Central Massif Mts., followed by crossing to the Atlantic via the Canal du Midi and then heading north to Normandy on La Velo Francette and then crossing France to connect with the Moselle for our return to Germany.

Big plans but short on reality.

So, back to the drawing board. In reviewing our priorities, we want to explore France for an extended time, revisit parts of Normandy, take advantage of the proximity of Belgium and Holland and have space in our plans to be spontaneous. So this meant finding a route where we could make better time and have a route less than 3400 km so that we would have the time to take detours and side trips when the whim takes us.

Barry on his laptop and Cora busy at work on her computer. Cora could give a seminar on how to create and customize GPS tracks. Thank you Cora!

So here it is: with the benefit of Cora's expertise on GPS tracking and European routes, this is the plan we have come up with.

We will begin on the Lahn River from Limburg to Koblenz and then on to the Moselle River to Trier and then head north to Aachen (Vennbahn Route) to Maastricht (Netherlands), followed by the Flandern route through Belgium to Brugges. After that we will follow a Dutch route to Boulogne sur Mer, continue through Normandy to Saumur on the Loire (hopefully with a side trip to Mont St Michel) and then connect with St. Jacob's route north to the region of Paris. We will skirt around the edges of Paris, explore the Champagne region and continue east to the Saar River which can ultimately connect us back to the Mosel River and then back to the Reitz family.

Whew! It has been fun planning, the GPS tracks are organized - they just need to be loaded on the Garmin - and then we can begin our journey.

These are a few of our choices that we were considering.

The only glitch is that the rains keep coming accompanied by thunder storms in the distance. In the past week, there has been significant flooding in France and Germany. We hope that the weather will clear soon - but the predictions tell us that rain will continue for the rest of the week.

Another delicious meal (sauerkraut, potatoes, sausages and beer) with Cora and Clara -sustenance for the weary planners and Clara, a tired but pleased German soccer fan (late game last night). Yeah Germany!

Currywurst - yummy. Somehow Cora found time to cook.

As well as inclement weather, France is struggling with strikes by goverment workers, garbage collection, pilots, etc. There are also the complications of millions of fans visiting for the month long Euro Soccer Championships. As they say, "timing is everything!".

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