Europe 2023 from Frankfurt

Trip List Calendar

2023-06-10 : Pontailler-sur-Saône
Category Type Name Description Service Provider Cost Kms To Date Total
Activity Cycle To Pontailler-sur-Saône
$0.00 41.00 41.00
It rained a little overnight in Dijon and threatened rain when we got up. Through a great day of riding through the vineyard-less hills, we got only a few raindrops on us and when we arrived at the campingplatz in the early afternoon, it was bright and sunny. We’re doing some chores, especially Brent, who accumulated a small ‘Honey Do’ list throughout the day. He put a stitch in my helmet strap, fixed my Nemo flag that broke today, lubed our chains and tweaked Laura’s chain.


2023-06-11 : Villegusien-le-Lac
Category Type Name Description Service Provider Cost Kms To Date Total
Activity Cycle To Villegusien-le-Lac
$0.00 64.00 105.00
Today was not my best day.

Yesterday afternoon I had a strange sinus event followed by a headache, just on the right side of my head. I have atypical migraines, so I don’t know… maybe it was one of them??

I woke up this morning feeling mostly better but really wiped out. I was glad that our 54km ride was along a canal. Although we’d be climbing all day, it would be a gently grade.

Riding felt just really hard today. I don’t know how else to describe it… I just really struggled, especially with any kind of noticeable climb. Laura and Brent were very patient with me.

When we were about 40km in, some thunderstorm clouds showed up and started threatening. The forecast said we would get some heavy rain right away. We kept our snack break short and started high-tailing it to Dommarien, where we were planning to stay. Thankfully the rain did not come. We arrived in Dommarien, annnnnd… for the fourth time in two weeks - no campground. This one was permanently closed. Brent took a spin around town to see if we were missing something, while Laura and I used our technology to discover that the Dommarien campingplatz is permanently closed.

I was exhausted, and not keen for more riding, especially since the thunderheads looked really close. I found a hotel through Booking.com up ahead at Villegusien-le-Lac, about 6km up ahead, but then we noticed that there is also a campingplatz there. In spite of the threatening clouds, we decided to head to the campingplatz. It was a bit further than town.

We got to the campingplatz around 15:30, and the office was closed until 16:30 but we were happy to see that you could choose your own pitch, set up, and come back to register after they opened. With Not-So-Accu-Weather saying rain in nine minutes, we set up in record time. It is 17:00 now and we’re sitting at the campground pub having a beer. Still no rain and the sky looks much friendlier.

The campingplatz is really nice with a sparkling Sanitary building. I was amused by their washer and dryer with huge chains and locks on them.


2023-06-12 : Bannes
Category Type Name Description Service Provider Cost Kms To Date Total
Activity Cycle To Bannes
$0.00 35.00 140.00
Bannes: Today was a much better day for me, and thank goodness for that because we had some killer climbs today. I think I may have had another atypical migraine - I get migraines without the pain so they can be hard to recognize. But that’s my best guess.

Anyway, we had a relatively short but hilly ride today. We left the canal fairly early and climbed up and then up to Langres where we got onto the EV19 route. Langres is Avery nice town. We had lunch and got groceries and had a look around. I thought Cathédrale Saint-Mammès was particularly interesting.

When we got to our campground, Hautoreille, it looked closed and abandoned. Fortunately it was just the entrance that was closed and abandoned, and with a 2km detour we found the proper entrance.


2023-06-13 : Choiseul
Category Type Name Description Service Provider Cost Kms To Date Total
Activity Cycle To Choiseul
$0.00 45.00 185.00
Damphal: One of my favorite things about campingplatzes in Europe is the morning bread delivery. Almost every campingplatz offers a service where you can order bread the day before and it shows up around 8:00 or 9:00 the next day.

We had croissants and yogurt for breakfast, as usual, at our campingplatz, and then set out for one of the hardest days I’ve done touring. We only rode 45km but a lot of it was uphill, a lot of it was on a rough surface, and a lot of it was riding into a gegenwind. In fact, a lot of it was uphill on a rough surface and into a gegenwind. I felt like o had to fight for every single meter. It was not a good day for me.

A couple of good things, though…

At one of the towns we went through we found a fromagerie so we got some local fromage, which is AMAZING!

We took a short break on a bridge and Brent got a great pic of a bullfrog with his cheeks puffed out in mid-croak.

And a bad thing… part of our day was spent on a tar and gravel road. I had my favorite long-sleeved merino shirt strapped onto my tailbox for it to dry and a tar-covered rock got on it. The shirt might be ruined but I’ll carry it home in case I can figure out a way to get the tar out.
When we reached our campingplatz it didn’t seem like much of a place at all. I was scared that we’d have to ride on to another place, and I didn’t know if I’d be able to do that. My legs had been jelly for the last 20km. But it turned out to be a wonderful and surprising place.

The campingplatz is called Camping Saint-Nicolas and it’s in a tiny village called Choiseul. It’s on the property of a couple who, we think, mostly farm but run a small campground catering mostly to Dutch people. There was no one around when we got in around 14:30 but there was a sign that said they’d reopen at 15:00 so we sat at the table to wait. There was a small trail leading to registration but we couldn’t see anything. There was one couple there with a camper and that was it! At 15:00 Brent walked up the path to where registration was supposed to be and found that the place was, in fact, a going concern. We had beers, a home-cooked Dutch meal, and one of the nicest tent pitches ever in their lush, tree-covered property.

Not long after we checked in, another couple of cycle tourists (Dutch) rolled in, and while we were having dinner, a guy from England rolled in. A most unusual campground, but the best reward for how hard I worked today.

The next two days were each supposed to be 63km days, including the enduring gegenwind tomorrow. I have to say I am less than impressed with EV19. We spent way too much time today on bad surfaces and sharing roads with cars. There hasn’t been much to see, and I can’t find many (or any) restaurants or grocery stores along the route for the next couple of days. It sounds perfectly wretched. So I looked into changing our route to Nancy. We’re going to take one extra day, and take a different route with campingplatzes that are closer (two 45km-ish days and one 50km-ish day), and has more restaurants and grocery stores on it. I solidly do not recommend the Langres end of EV19.


2023-06-14 : La Neuveville-sous-Châtenois
Category Type Name Description Service Provider Cost Kms To Date Total
Activity Cycle To La Neuveville-sous-Châtenois
$0.00 43.00 228.00
As planned we left EV19 this morning and went cross-country to a different route to Nancy. Even though it is not an actual cycle route, what we rode today was better than the last couple of days on EV19, and will provide better amenities than EV19 until we get to Nancy.

There was a headwind today, but a little lighter than yesterday, the surfaces were smoother and the uphill grades lower, so I did not get my ass handed to me like I did yesterday.

The campground here at La Neuveville-sous-Châtenois is nice. The sanitaire is a little rustic and there are few campers. Maybe more will roll in later. We’ll see.


2023-06-15 : Bayon
Category Type Name Description Service Provider Cost Kms To Date Total
Activity Cycle To Bayon
$0.00 50.00 278.00
Today we finished our cross-country journey to a well-traveled bike route that goes to Nancy, and, ultimately to Luxembourg. We had a couple of tough climbs, which you can see on what Brent calls the ‘ugly lines’ on the elevation profile.

One thing that entertained us about last night’s campground was the blue table and chairs with the fringe-y blue umbrella.

At the end of the ride, we stopped at an Aldi and Brent bought ice cream bars that had to be eaten before we left the parking lot (obviously, since we don’t have a freezer to race them home to).

When we realized how close we were to Luxembourg we started thinking about changing the remainder of our plan to ride to Luxembourg and then train to Frankfurt.
Brent carries a Lego mechanic with a really angry looking face. It’s one of his talismans, and he Carrie’s it on every bike ride.

We got a couple of photos recently of the angry mechanic helping with some bike repair. The first pic is of the angry mechanic giving Brent’s shredded tire a dirty look and the second one is the angry mechanic helping Brent to tweak Laura’s brake.


2023-06-16 : Nancy
Category Type Name Description Service Provider Cost Kms To Date Total
Activity Cycle To Nancy
$0.00 37.00 315.00
We had a nice easy ride along the canal for the first part of our day today. Frank and Bob showed up to show us their cygnets. Yay for Frank and Bob having a family!

When we reached the outskirts of Nancy we left the canal and rode a bunch of up and down and up and down. I was thrilled with the bike lanes in Nancy - it’s so great to get around even when the roads are busy.

I think Brent and Laura are starting a new tradition. They went to the Carrefour to get a drink for Laura and came back with a box of ice cream bars, that, of course, had to be eaten immediately.

We decided to stay in an Airbnb tonight instead of climbing the insane hill up to the campground on the SW end of Nancy.
We had a good look around Nancy before heading to our AirBnB. Laura had chosen some places for us to visit and it was stunning.

Photos:
- Lunch stop
- Cathédrale Notre-Dame-de-l'Annonciation
- Place d'Alliance
- Place Stanislas x2
- Porte Héré x2
- Place de la Carrière x2
- Palais des ducs de Lorraine
- Craffe Gate x2 (my favorite)


2023-06-17 : Corny-sur-Moselle
Category Type Name Description Service Provider Cost Kms To Date Total
Activity Cycle To Corny-sur-Moselle
$0.00 53.00 368.00
We left our AirBnB this morning and followed the Meurth river to its confluence with the Moselle, and then continued along the Moselle. It was easy canal riding pretty much all day. The Moselle is braided in this area and makes some lovely map art.

We had a REALLY great coffee stop in Custines at Arts et Délices thanks to Brent’s noticing skills. Then we stopped for lunch in Maidières, which was crazy busy just off the bike path due to a large town market. We struggled through the market mobs to find a restaurant further into town and had a nice lunch.

We’re camped at Le Paquis in Corny, on schedule to reach Luxembourg the day after tomorrow.


2023-06-18 : Thionville
Category Type Name Description Service Provider Cost Kms To Date Total
Activity Cycle To Thionville
$0.00 49.00 417.00
Cyclists' Oasis: Not long after we had first break at a random bench on the side of the trail, near La Maxe, we encountered the most wonderful cyclists’ oasis we’ve ever seen. There is a canteen, scores of tables and chairs, a vending machine full of cycling essentials, and strings of flags with little misters built in so you can stand under and get a light misting of water on your poor hot head.
Another ride along the canal today. Very easy riding but also kind of monotonous.

We got a good look at Quand l'Aqueduc traversait la Moselle, which was really cool.

Frank and Bob stopped in. Their kids have turned white!

We had lunch at a Kebab restaurant - again. We have eaten at a lot of these on this trip. They have good food, good prices, and better opening hours than most traditional French places.

We’re camping at Thionville tonight but they don’t open until 16:00, and we’ve read that the manager gets pretty annoyed if people go in early… so, poor us, we have to have a beer down by the river while we wait.

I am really struggling with the heat. Since we started getting hot days I’ve been getting dizzy and nauseated every afternoon. I have had worsening problems with heat since I got heat stroke in 2015. I had planned this trip to avoid hot hot days, and for the most part I succeeded (a little too well for the first few weeks) but I really need a way to manage my exposure to heat without getting sick.


2023-06-19 : Luxembourg
Category Type Name Description Service Provider Cost Kms To Date Total
Activity Cycle Ride to Luxembourg
$0.00 38.00 455.00
Rodemack: Before heading to Luxembourg today I was looking for bakeries and grocery stores along the way. When I looked at Rodeneck I saw a bakery, but also an icon for Anciennes Fortifications. I thought that might be interesting to stop for a look so we did. It was spectacular!!

Brent and Laura climbed up everything that was climbable. I did not because I’m struggling so much with the heat. I stayed down below and took pictures from there.
Alzingen: Today was our biggest climb day since Black Forest day with a total climb of almost 400m. Thankfully, unlike Black Forest day, the climbs were spread out over our 38 total kilometers. With my problems with the heat, it was still a very hard day for me.

Along the way we got a closer look at the Centrale nucléaire de Cattenom than we would have liked, plus we saw some kind of UFO thing.

The good news is that Brent and I can now say we cycled to Luxembourg. Earlier in this trip we had to make up some time so we only visited Luxembourg via train from Trier.


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