Thursday June 27 - Day 1 - 41miles
After a leisurely start due to rain showers in the morning, we left our apartment of the last three days and departed eastwards! (See photo above of the orange cube entrance to the apartment building - it seemed very 1960s East German!)
The first 15 miles of the day were on the bike path which followed the canal to Claye Souilly. The path was mostly in excellent shape...there were a couple of bumps here and there. The only real annoyance was they had speed bumps when the path went downhill, however this meant that you had to endure them whilst going uphill too! The scenery along the canal was wonderful. We travelled through a post-industrial area going out of the urban area where every surface was covered in graffiti, some of which was very artistic. There were also ducks, geese, swans and other wildlife in the canal.
Once we left the canal, we ventured onto the back roads through villages east of Paris. We passed through Claye Souilly, Annet Sur Marne, Quincy Voisins, Esbly, Coulommes and other villages. Mostly the roads were pretty quiet, however when we did encounter traffic it was very courteous. We did have to deviate from our route a couple of times due to one way systems as well as one of the roads being part of a private campground and them not letting us through!
After cycling through the town of Mouroux, we spotted a Carrefour supermarket with a hotel next door so we decided to call it a day. The hotel was labeled "economique" which apparently means the toilet and shower are 6 inches apart, but overall it worked and it did have free wifi, which is always a bonus! We bought provisions at the Carrefour and then had dinner at the Chinese Buffet! (which rivals any China Buffet in Revere!). Quite a contrast to our dinner last night at Bofinger, which was a spectacular French bistro, but it did the job!
The forecast for tomorrow is showers in the morning again, so it might be another later start, but we will see what tomorrow brings!
The World is Ours!
After a leisurely start due to rain showers in the morning, we left our apartment of the last three days and departed eastwards! (See photo above of the orange cube entrance to the apartment building - it seemed very 1960s East German!)
The first 15 miles of the day were on the bike path which followed the canal to Claye Souilly. The path was mostly in excellent shape...there were a couple of bumps here and there. The only real annoyance was they had speed bumps when the path went downhill, however this meant that you had to endure them whilst going uphill too! The scenery along the canal was wonderful. We travelled through a post-industrial area going out of the urban area where every surface was covered in graffiti, some of which was very artistic. There were also ducks, geese, swans and other wildlife in the canal.
Once we left the canal, we ventured onto the back roads through villages east of Paris. We passed through Claye Souilly, Annet Sur Marne, Quincy Voisins, Esbly, Coulommes and other villages. Mostly the roads were pretty quiet, however when we did encounter traffic it was very courteous. We did have to deviate from our route a couple of times due to one way systems as well as one of the roads being part of a private campground and them not letting us through!
After cycling through the town of Mouroux, we spotted a Carrefour supermarket with a hotel next door so we decided to call it a day. The hotel was labeled "economique" which apparently means the toilet and shower are 6 inches apart, but overall it worked and it did have free wifi, which is always a bonus! We bought provisions at the Carrefour and then had dinner at the Chinese Buffet! (which rivals any China Buffet in Revere!). Quite a contrast to our dinner last night at Bofinger, which was a spectacular French bistro, but it did the job!
The forecast for tomorrow is showers in the morning again, so it might be another later start, but we will see what tomorrow brings!
The World is Ours!
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