June 10, 2026:
Hi everyone,
Just in case you are interested, or don’t have much to read, you may be interested in following my blog about a bicycle trip that I began today. It will be a 27-day bicycle trip from France to Germany, roughly following the path of the Allies as they landed at Normandy, France and fought their way through France and Belgium, eventually crossing the Rhine River into Germany.
An overview of the tour can be seen at this link: Cycling Tours Europe | Normandy Cycling Tours | Allies – Bike Odyssey. It should be an epic trip, filled with history, culture, and scenery.
My journey began on Monday, June 8th when I took a flight from Montreal to Paris. My friend, Kevin McCollum was kind enough to drive me to the Montreal airport, sparing my wife, Joanne, from doing so, since she does not like to drive in Montreal. The flight went smoothly and I arrived in Paris at 7:00 a.m. on June 9th.
Three mishaps soon followed. After navigating my way through Charles DeGaulle airport to the train station, I attempted to board the train to Rennes, France. However, the first-class train ticket I had purchased months ago was not valid. That is because I booked it for July 9th, not July 9th. July 9th is the day I intend to return home. With that date in mind, I mistakenly reserved the train trip for that date.
Therefore, I had to go to the ticket booth and purchase a ticket for June 9th. The new ticket cost me an extra 25 Euros and was a second-class ticket. Getting on the train was very confusing due to a lack of signage and my lack of familiarity with how trains operate. Not knowing where to get on the train, I just got on when it stopped. It turns out that I did, indeed, board the first-class section. But all those first-class seats were occupied by people who actually knew what they were doing. So, I sat on a bench seat between railroad cars until someone in the first-class section got off and I took his seat.
At Rennes, France, I had to switch trains to take a train to St. Malo, our starting point. Again, I had booked a ticket for July 9 instead of July 9. This time, it was no problem because no one checked my ticket before or after I got on the train. That was a very minor mishap.
Mishap number 3 occurred when I attempted to check into my hotel. The sign at the registration desk proudly stated, “we speak English, French, and Spanish.” That was false advertising. The clerk, who about 15, could not speak English and could not find my reservation. In my broken French, I insisted that I had a reservation for today. He insisted that I did not.
So, I went to a nearby hotel with a similar name, thinking that I must have booked a room there. They did not have my reservation either. After opening my laptop and looking at the reservation, I learned that I had indeed booked a reservation at the first hotel. You guessed it; I booked a reservation for July 9th, not June 9th. Fortunately, they were able to accommodate me.
That brings me today, the first day of the ride. There are 20-some people on this tour from Australia, Canada, Tasmania, England, and the U.S. There are four tour leaders and two vans that carry our luggage and day bags as well tools and lunch and snack stuff. Today was a warm-up ride, only 12 miles. We rode along the coast starting and ending in Dinard, France.
We bicycled on a short scenic loop along the coast of Brittany, starting from the seaside town of Dinard, a town with a rich 19th-century resort history. I found it interesting that Winston Churchhill spent a lot of time here, painting seascapes after World War I.
We pedaled by several villages that all had names ending in sur-Mer My rudimentary knowledge of French recognized that as “on the sea.” There were many sweeping views of the English Channel, secluded coves and sandy beaches. At Pointe du Décollé, a rocky promontory offered panoramic views of the jagged Breton coastline and the fortified city of Saint-Malo in the distance.
I will attempt to post a few pictures from today’s ride and each day’s ride–but I am still attempting to master this blog/posting process. I expect to update this blog daily, so stay tuned. You can send me feedback at [email protected].
John
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