Dreaming of Turkish delight

On Friday it rained
we waited for the postie -
but she never came.


There is a song that has been rattling around my head for a couple of weeks now. Unfortunately neither Neil nor I know anymore of the lyrics than "Istanbul not Constantinople" and  "it's nobody's business but the Turks".

But it's enough - because that's where we're headed !

Earlier in May, while researching the next leg of our bike ride (which was to be down the Loire River to the Atlantic Ocean), I noticed that that particular bike path happens to be part of a much longer route - the Euro Velo 6. The Euro Velo 6 traverses Europe from the Atlantic Ocean, following the Loire, the Rhine and the Danube rivers all the way to the Black Sea. Which just happens to be just north of Istanbul. Hmmm...

This seed of a thought found fertile ground in which to sprout and, within 24 hours, had become rather triffid-like and taken over our travel plans. We decided to cycle to Istanbul.

(chorus) Istanbul, Istanbul, Istanbul...

Yesterday morning's post brought a long awaited parcel from Stanford's Maps. Pushing fresh croissants and pains au chocolat aside (no, that's not what we breakfast on everyday - just a Saturday treat), we just had to get our hands on the new maps.

Pushing breakfast off the table.

It was with great restraint that we actually left home to go climbing yesterday (between rain and general laziness we've not climbed much this week).

Mapaholics delight !

Annotating the maps.

So after our morning playing in the forest, out came the maps and the notebook, the coffee (not Turkish, not yet) and the pencils, spread out on our al fresco workbench and the fun began.

It's nobody's business but the Turks...

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words by Gabby, images by Neil

Waiting for la Poste

Arcade of green boughs,
tyres roll smoothly on asphalt -
spring is nearly gone.


While we have been stationary here we have been going through our cycling and camping gear and working out what we will be needing for the coming months.

One of the things that we have decided to replace is the tent. With only 2 small vents in the foot and one larger vent in the door, our Vango Spirit 200+ might do for a northern European summer but it will be way too stuffy for a hot southern European summer. We loved having the large vestibule but found the tent a little too low overhead for two people to comfortably sit and read, play games or work on the computer during spells of inclement weather. And the pegs...

The good, the bad and the downright ugly: the two types of pegs on the right are all that is left of the pegs supplied with the tent, the ones in the upper left are what we borrowed (in case we needed them) from our old Mountain Hardware Trango 2, and the others we had to buy along the way...

So every morning of late we have had to wait for the postie before going climbing or cycling.

Our new tent arrived this morning. Naturally we had to unpack it and have a play. We had been thinking of purchasing an MSR Hubba Hubba because it now comes in green (when we were looking at tents late last year it was only available in orange) but were pointed in the direction of the Nemo Losi by Sam who had tested out a number of tents before their trip (Sam and Shan stayed with us in Dublin last year on their round the world cycle).

The exciting moment - unpacking.

And what a cool package...

The tent has it's own gear roll.

Complete with star chart !

What it says on the tin.

Now someone's thinking - pegs with a loop to help pull them out of the ground.

Light and simple.

Innovative ball joints.

Heaps of head room and plenty of ventilation, free-standing too.

We are impressed with what looks like a well designed, lightweight tent. Thanks for the suggestion Sam. Even with import duty from the USA it worked out to be slightly cheaper than a locally sourced Hubba Hubba. We'll see how she goes once we're on the road...

For pics of the full tent complete with slime green fly, you'll just have to wait until we're off again.

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Words by Gabby, images by Neil

Wonders of Modern Technology

Computers are fun,
click here, oops, click there, big oops -
there goes my whole day...

We have added a new feature to our blog - a map page. You can access it by clicking on "Route Maps" in the black bar above. It's not very exciting yet, but when we get back on the road you will be able to see where we've been. Please have a look, so I don't feel like I've wasted a whole day of my life mastering this pathetic skill.

Seems to be working...

...or maybe not !

Stay tuned for more pages...

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words and pics by Gabby (finally got to use the GorillaPod)

Les Pierres

Worn by wind and rain,
by hand and foot, tree and root,
sculpted by nature.

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words and pics by Gabby

Houmous where the heart is...Food Glorious Food part two

Chooks in the backyard,
vegies, fruit over yonder -
I love country life.

Our landlords actually live in Paris but each week when they come down for a couple of days. Michel-Ange spends much of that time working around the garden and after each visit to his vegie patch brings us something. When we arrived we were greeted with fresh eggs, a bowl of fresh pasta and a jar of home made quince jam - which was so delicious, it put every other jam to shame.

Last week it was endives (which went really nicely with the onion tart Neil had just baked) and a bunch of mint with which to make tisanes. Next day, a light tap on the door - more eggs. When Sylvie heard that we'd loved the jam and nearly finished the jar she came over with another - Mirabelle plum this time.

The other night we heard Michel-Ange's tap on the door and he was standing there with  a huge bag of the freshest spinach I have ever seen. And some more eggs. Hmmm - spinach pie, I think.

Sorry, no photos of the finished product - it just didn't last long enough !

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Appalling pun by Neil, the rest by Gabby.

Popped up !

Full of surprises,
Mother Nature loves to fool -
metamorphosis.


A mystery has been explained. The strange and spiky green pods began their transformation into huge, brightly coloured poppies while we slept...

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words and images by Gabby

Unlucky for some

Blue skies, gentle breeze,
towering pines, sun warmed rock -
am I in heaven ?

Sunshine and a cooling zephyr, cycling, climbing, a picnic lunch - what more could we want of a day ?

On awakening this morning I poked my head out of the bedroom window for the weather report. Exceptionally fine - a vast swathe of cobalt blue overhead with not a cloud in sight. After breakfasting, Neil made a couple of small adjustments so his panniers would fit onto the new rack, I hoisted our new friend Mat onto my back and we set off.

Using the smaller roads to get to Larchant added a couple of kilometres but also meant that there would be less traffic with which to contend - although we have not had any problems here in France with cars hogging the road and even on quite major roads have felt quite safe. It's the buffeting from the wind as a large truck passes that can get a bit uncomfortable, especially if you are cycling wearing a bouldering mat on your back.

We crossed under the A6 motorway once, then over thrice more before arriving at L'éléphant, after a quick detour to the boulangerie in Larchant village for fresh bread (and a little something extra). In the couple of weeks since we arrived in Noisy-sur-École the countryside has changed. Canola has finished flowering and it's seed pods are swelling, wheat is beginning to look more like wheat and less like grass and we see more beet crops. Plenty of elder and acacia in flower, both we can smell as we ride along.

Warmed up after 20km of cycling, we jump straight onto one of the circuits that proliferate in the forest until our bellies inform us that it's lunch time (well, mine does). Our climbing has taken us up a hillside and into the sun so we walk back to where the bikes and bags are parked and picnic in the shade. The bouldering mat, as well as being excellent landing when falling off a climb, is a very comfortable picnic bench.


First, a few photos from our Monday jaunt to Canche aux Merciers:

Neil with Mat. The trail became too sandy to ride, so we had to push.

Then we found an alternate bike path.

Our friend Mat - a welcome place to land, or to sit.

I think I can...(I did)

Climbing shoes - a necessary evil. Comfort is optional.

Concentration.

Cool rock shapes.

White arrows denote a kids circuit. This day we shared the rocks with a class of primary kids.

And a few from today:

Looking back to the rocks from our picnic spot.

Delicious fresh bread and a wicked soft cheese from Burgundy.

Boulangerie-wrapped dessert.

Mmmm - apple tart.

L'éléphant - one of the more famous rocks in the Fontainebleau forest.

Yes, I know I'm only a few inches off the ground - it took a lot of effort to get that far !

Neil showing how it's done.

Still taking it easy on the right shoulder though.

Trees, rocks, sunshine...

It looked interesting...

...but wasn't to be. This time.

Lovely sandstone.

Wonderful texture.

Did I mention that we like it here ?

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words by Gabby, images by Neil and Gabby