Bordeaux to San Sebastian

Taking the train from Bordeaux to Bilbao should have been easy until our train was separated in two. Not being able to understand the announcements in French our end went to Pau 130km east of Hendaye oops!
When we finally arrive in Hendaye it started hailing!
Fortunately it passed quickly and we rode across the Spanish boarder to Irun. We took a local train to San Sebastian and decided to stay there instead of Bilbao as it was already 8pm.
Having no map, no Spanish skills, no accommodation and no Internet we wandered around in the rain pushing intercom buttons of the pensions apartments until after many unsuccessful attempts we found a room.

After a longer than expected day we head out for pintxo (the basque version of tapas) at the local bar. Washing each delicious morsel down with a glass of red wine or Txakoli, a fresh young white wine that the barman poured skillfully from a great height to aerate the wine.
Numerous pintxo later we asked for something more substantial and ended up with a huge slab of steak carved straight from the carcass.
The steak was then presented to us raw on a plate for a nod of approval before being seared and sliced. It was sensational!
What a way to start our Spanish adventure!

La rochelle to Bordeaux

So we arrive in La Rochelle and have a look around the town before our 3 day ride to Bordeaux. Unfortunately it decided to rain. Then each day more rain than the previous until it was a monsoon. We did get the chance to stay in a beautiful old farm house in the middle of the wine country though. It was in a town outside Pauillac. The host was fantastic and suggested a local crêperie were we could eat and taste the local Médoc wines in all their splendour. Miriam ordered a delicious smoked salmon and cream crêpe and my caramel dessert crêpe with salted butter was pure wonderment. We drank a château la Clare 2002 Médoc and now we know what all the fuss is about.
On to Bordeaux and we had to catch a bus some of the way as the rain was flooding the small roads and the wind was close to gale-force.
Hugues who we stayed with in Nantes had organised for us to stay with his friend Pierre in Bordeaux. We had such a relaxing time at his house sitting on the couch sipping tea as it rained all the next day. We went out for dinner at a restaurant called cassolette cafe. The menu had lots of small dishes and you could choose 5 you wanted. One of my choices turned out the be a wedge of Camembert coated breadcrumbs then grilled so the inside was melted and the white rind was crispy. Cheese dreams here we come!

Nantes

Meeting with Hugues in Nantes was fantastic. He understood what it was like to travel by bike as he had toured south America solo for a whole year!
I think that's also why he fed us so well.

The first night we all sat down to a meal of Raclette which was basically big globs of delicious melted cheese smothered over potatoes, tomatoes, various sliced meats and olives yum!
Then the second night Hugues served us another french speciality galette (a savoury version of crêpe made with buckwheat flour). They were "compète" with eggs, tomato, ham and cream.
What a host! he even contacted a friend in Bordeaux for us to stay with.

After having a look around Nantes in the evening we discovered there was plenty to do with a swag of different bars along the foreshore. Unfortunately we couldn't get in to the cultural centre, a converted shipping warehouse that now contained some giant mechanical animals. One of which we could see over the fence, it was a 4 meter high elephant that had a hose in its trunk to shoot water and a place to ride on its back.
Saying goodbye to Hugues the next day we took the train to a quaint coastal town called La Rochelle.

Following the Loire

Following the Loire river for 4 days has been one of the highlights of our trip. Not to mention the welcoming hosts along the way.
We have been using the Warmshowers website to meet and stay with fellow cyclists now that winter is approaching and weather is unpredictable.
Our initial plan was to only follow the river for 2 days then head directly south to Bordeaux. But after staying with Sebastian and lille in Tours and discovering his job was to organise rides along the Loire we changed our plans to follow the river all the way to Nantes, an old harbour town. The best day was riding from Tours to Saumur. There was one amazing sight after another including 2 historic chateaux's, rolling vineyards, tiny winding old towns built into cliff faces, amazing troglodyte caves and to top it off the beautiful river with autumn colours everywhere we looked.

Good friends and good food

We have had an amazing 9 days in Paris that actually felt like a little holiday and real 'break' after four long months on the road. The timing was perfect on the last day to meet up with our good friend Nico, who is on a year long break travelling the world. He invited us to stay with his aunt and uncle in a little town called Marines for a little more recuperation. We were treated like family by Roxana and Valentin who cooked up delicacies of confit duck with beans from the garden, spinach pie with handmade pastry crust and a most delicious moussaka all meals accompanied with wine and followed with cheese.

Paris

Our first day and we get stuck riding in the madness that is peak hour. Stampedes of maxi scooters racing off at the lights, pedestrians in stilettos oh so chic stepping carelessly from the curb and cars everywhere! Add to this protestors, police in full riot gear and sirens blasting wow we are in Paris.

Walking through the 6th arrondissement on a Thursday evening. We peeked in to art galleries packed with Parisians. Then all of a sudden a impeccably dressed man with a entourage of 4 came walking round the corner. We step to the side just in time to realise "oh my god thats Karl Lagerfeld" were else but Paris.

Bonjour

We have just arrived in Paris.