September 6, 2015
To Claye Souilly: A beautiful approach to Paris
The aim today was to get us well positioned for an easy ride into Paris tomorrow. We settled on Claye Souilly as I knew that there was a dedicated bike track that went all the way along the Ourcq Canal to the Bastile. It was going to be a long day and we anticipated we may have problems along the way with navigation.
Yes it was long, 91 km is a long way for me to ride particularly with a few hills thrown in for good measure. But the ride itself was great and presented no problems. At breakfast we met some Belgian Touring Cyclists on their way to Santiago de Compostella. They were the first touring cyclists we had seen since Germany. We had a great chat - they had decided not to go through Paris but to skirt around it. Going out of Compiegne was beside the Oise on a dedicated cycle track. Unlike last Sunday when we were riding along a similar track out of Ghent there were hardly any other cyclists at all just the very odd training cyclist and no walkers. Ken is convinced that the French are going to lose the use of their legs as they seem to just drive madly around. Probably a bit harsh!
From here he worked his magic on the Michelin Road Maps again and our route wound in and out of the forest through delightful little villages all looking much more prosperous than the ones we had seen further North. Many of the houses had those faded blue shutters that I always associate with French Villages and looked as if they came from a postcard. Coming to Crepy en Valois were we planned to have our coffee I did a double take. It is a well defended town set on the top of the hill with a wall around it. The climb looked impossible to me but I got into my lowest gear and gave it my best. Just as I got to the top some French people on the side of the road started clapping and calling out Bravo. I felt I had earned my coffee,
On we continued through agricultural land and small villages, it is surprising how far apart these are because particularly in the days gone by when the farmers were using horses it must have taken them a very long time to get out to work their fields. In one little place they were having a Brocant sale. Unfortunately we had just had our lunch as they were selling all sorts of pretty yummy looking things as well as their nic nacks. It felt very encouraging when we got to the stage when overhead were planes on their final approach to Charles De Gaulle, especially when they had their wheels down. I had expected that Claye Souilly to be a pretty ghastly place but it is actually lovely set around the canal. Where we are staying however is awful, booking.com had only two hotels and the other you couldn't book in till 5. We are at the Fast Hotel in a tiny room, it is not clean, there is no hot water and I have had a row with the man because although I specified we needed bike storage there is nothing and there is no way the bikes would fit in the room even if we managed to get them up the stairs. It is cheap!
Today's ride: 91 km (57 miles)
Total: 1,920 km (1,192 miles)
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