Category: 2017 Zwaantje Bike and Barge

After a day off, I was keen to do the final leg to Paris to end our 2 week adventure. The weather was cool and dry, perfect for cycling. Fred led us along a bike path along the Seine for the first 10 km before we turned SE and headed towards La Defense.

This is a major business district west of Paris, noted for its spectacular modern architecture. We had coffee before riding around the plaza admiring the buildings.

We then cycled down toward the avenue leading towards the Arc de Triomphe for some more photos.

Fred then lead us through some back streets and bike paths to the park that is home to the Louis Vuitton Foundation.

After the quiet of the park it was on to the busiest street of the day, Avenue Victor Hugo which led us to our lunch spot for the day, the Arc de Triomphe.

After admiring the skill or craziness of the cars and bikes negotiating the Place de l’Etoile, we headed down Avenue Kleber to Trocadero and our first sight of the Eiffel Tower.

After joining the throngs for our pictures and dodging the people selling selfie sticks and Eiffel Tower replicas, we cycled across the Seine and along the bike path that runs beside the river. We were excited when we caught up with Zwaantje and waved and took photos of each other at Pont Alexander III.

We stopped for a beer to celebrate our arrival in Paris, then cycled past The Louvre, Orsay Museum and Notre Dame before finding Zwaantje moored at Quai Bercy, where the film crew for Tom Cruise’s latest Mission Impossible film were based. Sitting on the deck after dinner with our new friends as the sun set over Paris was a perfect end to the day.

Route of today’s ride Bougival to Paris – 35 kms

Total kilometers Bruges to Paris – 532 kms

Warren and I separated today – he rode the route and I stayed on the barge for a rest day. We both enjoyed our choice and the weather was better than predicted with mild temperatures and virtually no rain.

We both started the day with a trip up the hill at Auvers sur Oise to visit the grave of Vincent van Gogh and his brother, Theodore.

On the way we passed the Church that was the subject of a famous painting (L’Eglise d’Auvers) by van Gogh that is now in the Musee d’Orsay in Paris.

The ride was easier than the previous 2 days with only 1 hill at the start and rain briefly at the start and end of the ride.

45 km in total through some muddy tracks after the overnight rain.

The barge travel was very relaxing and we saw an impressive War Memorial and bridge.

Fred timed the ride perfectly so that our riders arrived at the junction of the Oise and Seine rivers just as we sailed past.

We negotiated 2 locks and tied up at Bougival at about 3.30. Several of us headed into town to look around and then find a wine bar with wifi (pronounced wiffy in French).

Route of today’s ride – Auvers sur Oise to Bougival – 45 kms

It was another hot day today but thankfully shortened by Fred and Martijn to 45 kms.

We cycled from Creil to l’Isle Adam and then cruised for an hour or so to Auvers sur Oise. Highlight of the day was the Domaine De Chantilly.

This impressive estate was created by Henri of Orleans, Duke of Aumale and son of King Louis-Phillippe and includes the chateau, extensive gardens and impressive stables.

Although we had a 2 hour stop here we didn’t get to the stables but enjoyed the audio guide through the chateau. Henri was the greatest collector of his time and amassed 60000 books and manuscripts and an impressive art collection that includes several paintings by Raphael and other Italian, Belgian, Dutch and French masters.

The riding after lunch was partly through cool bicycle tracks through the forest and partly on busy, hot roads.

You can guess which was the most popular. The last 20km of our day was on the London to Paris bicycle route. The final kilometres along the river Oise were very pretty and we were glad as always to find the Zwaantje.

Route of today’s ride – Creil to Isle Adam – 44 kms

Today our group was smaller than usual because it was going to be a long day so 6 stayed on board. We also split with 3 people taking a shorter route to St Jean aux Bois while the rest of us did an extra 10 kms to see the Chateau de Pierrefonds.

It was beautiful riding through the forest south of Compiegne on paved bike tracks. With a top temperature of 27 degrees predicted, we also appreciated the coolness. The Chateau was impressive – Walt Disney but real was Fred’s comment and he was right.

We didn’t have time to explore inside but it was certainly worth the extra 10 kms. After we joined up with the other group we had our first real hill of the day – a long, steady winding climb that we thought would never end. By now the temperature was into the high 20s and we were feeling it after 9 days of cycling. The good thing about climbs like this is the anticipated descent, and it was great. Unfortunately we took the wrong road for the Roman ruins which meant either missing them or climbing back up the hill. Needless to say we pressed on. Lunch was in a park as none of these villages had bars or cafes.

By now it was HOT and the search for a bar was on, success eventually in the village of Verberie. We purchased more water and Fred told us it was 10-15 kms to the barge.

We were stopping every 5kms in the heat and it seemed to always be 10-15 kms! We eventually arrived back at the boat at 4.30 after 68kms. A shower never felt so good.

Route of today’s ride – Compiegne to Creil – 68 kms

Off at 0900 but our first stop at the ruins of the Abbey l’Ourscamp was only 5 km away.

Beautiful remains of what was a massive abbey founded in 1129. It was damaged and rebuilt over the centuries before being badly damaged during WW1.

We had a brief stop at the church at Tracy le Val. It is hard to comprehend how little was left of some of these villages after the first world war.

Next on the list for today was a visit to the clearing in the forest where the Armistice was signed on 11/11/1918.

A few hills to get here and then a detour as the bridge was down but well worth the extra few kilometres. The negotiations and signing were done in a railway car in a clearing made in the dense forest for that purpose.

In 1927 a memorial was erected here which housed the original railway car. Hitler used this same car to sign the French Armistice in 1940 before dismantling the monument. The central flagstone  reads:

“Here on the eleventh of November 1918 succumbed the criminal pride of the German empire… vanquished by the free peoples which it tried to enslave.”

Hitler had these flagstones removed, however they were not destroyed but kept in Berlin and they were retrieved and reinstalled in 1946.

Last stop was the Imperial Palace in Compiegne. Enormous building that was used by both Louis XVI and Napolean. Opulent and with many rooms with the original decor it was one of 3 palaces used by the King. No wonder there was a revolution.

Route of todays ride – Pont l’Eveque to Compiegne – 47kms

We had a leisurely start to the day as we sailed with Zwaantje until about 1100. It was nice to sit back with a cup of tea and watch the world go by.

Today we had some rolling hills and a headwind to test us. Most of the ride was through small rural villages with lunch at a small church (no bars or cafes today).

We arrived at Noyon at about 3pm after 30 kms and went to the Jean Calvin museum where we were given an audio tour about this museum, the church and the Noyon museum.

No one that we met spoke English – we got by with our limited French and some pointing but the locals are all very friendly. We stayed here until 5.45 as Zwaantje had been held up in locks all day. We rode the last few kms to the barge which was moored at Pont L’Eveque. We had a nice stroll after dinner through this pleasant little village.

Route of today’s ride – Nesle to Noyon – 30 kms

Noyon to Pont Eveque – 3kms

We wandered the streets of Peronne, visiting the market, the one church left after WW1 (6 others were destroyed) and other sights. The church was pock marked with bullet holes in the remnants of the old walls and amazingly a 1601 fresco survived the bombing.

Dinner was at a local restaurant with an Algerian chef as it was the crew’s day off today.

Today’s ride – 0 kms!

We started the day by travelling through the Ruyaulcourt tunnel, 4.5 km through a hill.

The tunnel is lit and very narrow. Martijn had about 30cm clearance either side.

Once through the tunnel the Zwaantje was moored, the bikes were offloaded and we disembarked. An easy day today of just over 20 km on the bikes. Warren volunteered to be sweep for the day.

We voted to go straight to Peronne via the path beside the canal so that we could have the afternoon there to go to the War Museum.

Tomorrow is our rest day and while Fred is encouraging us to go for a ride, we are ready for a day off the bike. The museum in town was great at portraying the battles of the Western Front and in particular the Somme which passes through town.

There was a special Australian display about the Battle of Mont St Quentin which was well done.

Route of today’s ride – Ruyaulcourt to Peronne – 22 kms

The day started with one of the Aussies in our group getting a cab to hospital after a fall down the stairs last night. We got a message later today to say his leg was broken and he was in a cast. So only 15 riders today plus Fred off to do a loop in the area.

3 others elected to spend the day on the barge. Zwaantje had 7 locks to negotiate so it was going to be slow going.

We had a loose itinerary with Fred taking us along the canal to start and then through quiet country tracks and roads.

Morning tea at a pub in Lecluse was followed by a short walk to a Menhir (monolith) erected over 3000 years ago.

Lunch was at the small town of Eterpigny – too small for a cafe or pub. After lunch we decided to go to the Australian “Digger” Memorial in Bullecourt.

It was a beautiful, perfectly maintained memorial to the almost 10,000 Australian soldiers who lost their lives in the battles around Bullecourt.

It is situated on the Rue des Australiens amongst the now beautiful fields in this part of the country. It is hard to imagine how different it must have been in April and May 1917. Next we went to a cemetery for the British and Canadian soldiers who lost their lives in the final 2 months of the war.

Our final cemetery was one of the few in the country where both Allied and German troops are buried.

We cycled the final 15km to the barge which was moored past the 7th lock. After we were all on board, Martijn set sail for an hour to the entrance of the Ruyaulcourt tunnel that we are going through tomorrow morning.

Route of today’s ride – Arleux to Ruyaulcourt – 48 kms