Lyon - Food, Rivers, and Churches

We arrived in Lyon to find that our apartment was on the 4th floor.  No elevator.  Fortunately, the owner, Corrinne was kind enough to help us schlep our luggage up there.  It was 77 stairs in all, so we tried to limit the number of excursions / day.  The location of the place was excellent.  Really close to most attractions, restaurants, and, importantly, a short walk to some very good bakeries.
Our first sightseeing trip was an excursion to La Basilique Notre Dame de Fourvière .  On the way, we, of course, stopped for croissants and accidentally stumbled on The Lyon Cathedral, a.k.a. Cathédrale Saint-Jean-Baptiste de Lyon, which began constructions in 1180 and was finished in 1476 on the ruins of the original 6th century church.

 

 

Enjoying lunch between churches

Then up to the big Lyon attraction, La Basilique Notre Dame de Fourvière an over-the-top massive and ornate church that overlooks the entire city.

Toto, I think we're not in Kansas anymore!

The view from the top is pretty impressive.

Then, a short walk down the hill leads us to the Ancient Theatre of Fourvière which was built starting in 15BC and expanded in the 2nd century AD.

On Saturday, we took it easy, and walked north from our apartment about 10 minutes to Place des Terreaux, which has the Bartholdi Fountain, the The Lyon Museum of Fine Arts and some nice cafes.

Sunday we took the city bus tour.  We got off at the Musée des Confluences which has an interesting architecture and a number of exhibits including natural history, African culture etc.

Most of the rest of our week was spent schmeing around and checking out various restaurants.    

Sand sculpture street art on Rue de la République

Alexandra went to mass a couple of times at the St. Nizier Church, a massive structure about a 3 minute walk from our apartment.

On Wednesday (5/23) there was a massive labor march on the street 1/2 block from the apartment:

And on Thursday, our trip to Geneva was screwed up by yet another train strike.  Our train to Geneva (a 2 hr ride) turned into a 6 hour ordeal involving 2 buses on windy secondary roads.  At one point the first bus was only 12km away from Geneva, but he wouldn't let anyone off, as his next stop was a town 40 km south.  That was where we transferred to the bus that finally took us to Geneva... but that bus let us off pretty far from the central station and our hotel, so a friendly fellow passenger led us to the central station, where our train would've delivered us to 4 hours earlier.

I hope they were striking for something important!

Adventures in Provence

On May 10, we went to Fou de Fafa for my birthday.  Lovely restaurant owned by Antonia and Russell, who settled here from England 14 years ago.  It's a small quiet place.  Antonia runs the dining room, and Russell runs the kitchen... so there are only 3 employees including the owner, and it appears that they limit their business to what they can handle.   That said, they do an excellent job.

On May 11, we took our landlord's (Philippe's) advice and did a tour of the Luberon.  This is the hilly area or Provence northeast of Avignon that has a number of charming hillside villages.  We spent a fair amount of time in Gordes (pronounced gord), had a lovely lunch, walked around, admired views, discovered a wonderful bakery (of course) .

Then, onward to the town of Saignon.  It's most striking feature is a huge rock that rises at the top of the hill the town is on.  Adventurous sorts with good kneew can climb up to the top for a spectacular view.

Rock of Saignon stage left

Or climb partway up... knees permitting

Alexandra on the rock's first landing

The view from the top of the rock

On Monday morning we returned the car we'd had for the past 5 days, and got on the TGV for Marseille.  We had a nice lunch downtown, then took the tourist train up to Basilique Notre-Dame de la Garde.  It was windy and cold that day, so we didn't spend much time there.  Sami, a colleague from my working days at Fairchild, lives near Marseille, and he drove down to show us around.  He insisted on driving us back to Avignon after driving us around Cassis (lovely place, out of my price range, and much of the area is owned by the government as a nature preserve).  

Sami and me on the rocks in Cassis

So, we set off to Avignon, but we were so engrossed in conversation that we missed the freeway exit and we were about 30 miles north of Avignon... almost in Montelimar (a town mentioned in Savoy Truffle, a Beatle's song on the White Album) before we realized it and turned on Google Maps to get us pointed back in the right direction.   No sooner were we heading south on the freeway when BANG!  we hit something.  Sami pulled over.  There was extensive damage to the front of the car.  He called for roadside assistance.  The highway is a toll road run by a private company that has its own crew that responded fairly quickly.   They called a tow truck that drove us, and 2 of the 4 cars that hit the stuff on the road to a garage in Mornas where a taxi picked all 3 of us up and dropped Alexandra and I at our place in Avignon, then proceeded to drive Sami back home.  We were back around midnight.  Sami didn't make it back until around 2:00 AM.  Apparently Sami's insurance paid for the cab (it was e125 just to Avignon, which was only 1/3 of the way to Aix-en-Provence, where Sami lives).  

Quite the adventure.  Fortunately, no one was injured.  4 cars were damaged by the debris left behind by the truck tire that came apart.   The gendarmes found the truck responsible for the debris, so I'm guessing that will help all of the people whose cars were damaged recover their losses.

The next few days we just spent hanging out and enjoying good food and scenery in Avignon including a walk across the bridge to nowhere (Pont Saint-Bénézet, also known as the Pont d'Avignon) which is a reconstruction of a bridge built in 12th century.

On Wed. night, our last night in Avignon, we returned to Fou de Fafa for our last dinner in town.  Then left Avignon on Thursday morning (May 17) for Lyon.   Philippe drove us to the TGV, bless his heart!

First week in France

Wow.  It's a low cost airline... but if our flight is any indication, you get what you pay for.  No in flight entertainment, no food or drink unless you pay, even for water ($3.50).  However, you do get to go through the Reykjavik airport.

Navigating the train system in Paris was fairly straightforward.   We finally arrived at our one night stand Hotel near Gare du Lyon around 2 o'clock Wednesday afternoon.   Morning in Paris require is an excellent croissant... which we managed to find with a combination of Google Search and dumb luck, Blé Sucré, about a 10-minute walk from our hotel.  

The 4 hour drive from Paris to Avignon is done in less than two and a half hours on the TGV train.  Unlike Bart,  Caltrain and Amtrak, TGV is both quiet and fast.

Philippe, our landlord in Avignon, met us at the Avignon TGV and drove us to the apartment that were staying in for a total of two weeks.  It's located inside the walled city and everything of interest is in walking distance.  

The Avignon street where our apartment is.  No big cars here! 

The main attraction here is the Popes Palace, perched high on a cliff overlooking the Rhone river.  

After walking and climbing so much, our knees and feet needed some rest, so we spent the next day in Aix-de-Provence.  Aix is pronounced like the letter "x" in English.  It's a lovely, expensive town.  Nice town for lunch.  La Table des Saisons .  

The next day was a double-whammy... train strike and national holiday (Victory in Europe day).  We rented a car and drove up to Pont-du-Gard.  An amazing feat of Roman engineering and construction.  Read facts here:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pont_du_Gard.

By the time we got to Nimes for lunch, all the good places were closed.  Most restaurants open for lunch from noon to 14:00, so we ended up at a not-so-great lebanese place.  But we did get to see the the Nimes ampitheater, which is still used for soccer matches and bull fights.

Strawberries from roadside stand near Nimes

To try to make up our pathetic lunch, I booked dinner at a Le Pre Gourmand in the small town of Eyragues.   A little too fuffy for us.  The only other diners was a trio of teenagers (1 well dressed teenage girl and her two less well dressed teenage companions).  The dishes had foams and flowers.  I think I'm swearing off Michelin-starred restaurants.   The red wine was very nice (Persia Fondreche 2013) , but Alexandra, not wanting me to drink too much before driving back, finished her glass and mine...so spent some time driving the porcelain bus back at the apartment.

Our next excursion was to Caverne du Pont d'Arc, which is a cave, discovered in 1994, which contains the earliest known expression of human art.  The cave's paintings and engraving date back 36,000 years.   The cave itself is closed to tourists to preserve it, but it has been painstakingly replicated from a digitization of the original.  It took 8 years to build it.  You can marvel at the sophistication of our 36000 year prior ancestors, or marvel at the skill with which the cave was replicated in this century... or you can marvel at the fresh strawberry tart we had for dessert at lunch.

On the way back from the Caverne du Pont d'Arc, we took back roads, and stopped in the lovely little town of Pont-Saint-Espirit for ice cream (quite nice)

 and bathrooms (necessary, but unremarkable):   https://goo.gl/maps/kNLSXW5f3j32

     

And so... it begins. The great European Adventure

We've cleared out the house, settled Ivy (Kitty) in her new home (Thanks, Kevin!!) and are now currently in Reykjavik en route to Paris.  We spend only 1 night in Paris before catching a TGV (fast train) to Avignon, where we'll stay for 2 weeks at Philippe's apartment.  The map for the first half of our European stay is at:
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1sIH2-ISZQn2K6CWUWS3VI8-7cdfsz0Gk&usp=sharing

From Coal to Goal

... remember me to Herald Square

Wed.  8/2:  Big Coal
The first 1/2 of the ride was pleasant enough... starting out along the Susquehanna river with fruit stands (peaches are in season!).  The 2nd half was punctuated by some of the ugliest scarred landscapes and depressed towns that you'd ever want to see.  Ashland, Gilberton, and Mahanoy City.
In addition to being flat and polluted (there's coal dust runoff in almost every stream) it's pretty hilly.

Who in his right mind wants to bring this back?

The best restaurant in Mahanoy City was a bar.  If I had to live in this town, I'd probably drink too. On the bright side, they had Funnel Cake fries on the menu.  Never saw that b4.  They were pretty good!  The wings, not so much.
.
Thur.  8/3:  Family, Friends and sticky buns.

Alpacas on the way to Cousin Billy's

Hilly ride via PA309 over Blue Mountain to New Tripoli (1700 ft vertical for the 27-mile ride) where my cousin Billy and Paula live on their horse farm.  Billy's sister, Sally was visiting with her husband (Michael... who's taking the picture) and son from Israel... I got there just before they had to leave.

Paula, Sally, Sam, Yavin, yours truly, and Cousin Billy hanging out on the farm eating water melon and TastyCakes .

Then, on to the Allentown Fairgrounds farmer's market (Billy drove) for lunch and ice cream at the Ritz, and to pick up sticky buns from the Emmaus Bakery stand for the next day's breakfast.
From there, rode to my friend Susie's house for dinner.  Sue and Jim hosted me for the evening and we had a lovely grilled sticky breakfast.

Me, Bryan, Prenna (Susie's youngest), Jim and Susie.

Fri.  08/04:  NYC
Sue and Jim drove me about 20 miles to Clinton, NJ.  From there rode the last 22 miles to the train in Somerville to catch the NJT train to Newark Penn Station.  Shipped the bike home on Amtrak and caught the next train to NYC Penn Station.  Had an excellent slice of pizza... my end goal for this trip ... at NY Pizza Suprema, across from Madison Square Garden, then walked about a mile to the hotel.
Dinner was pretty OK.   Not up to Quebec standards.

A Chocolate Mousse thing with Hazelnut Ice Creme and Creme Fraisch at Ai Fiori on 5th Ave.

Flying home tomorrow afternoon.

Final Trip Stats:
Miles ridden:  3,502
Total Vertical Climbed:  88,643
 
   

The ups and downs of Pennsylvania

Sun. 7/30: Clearfield, PA
Left my credit card at a restaurant the night before, and didn't figure it out until I was about 5 miles down the road... this added a total of 10 miles to my trip by the time I rode back. Then about another 5 miles of detours from missing a turn around DuBois. The day's total was 78 miles with 3100 ft of vertical.

DuBois, PA... It's not Philadelphia

Mon. 7/31: State College, PA

Only miles from Clearfield to State College (home of my Alma Mater, Penn State), but 2500 ft. of climbing. Ended the ride with ice cream at Penn State's creamery. It took about 20 minutes standing in line. A lot of the people there were high school kids on college tours.

Penn State's creamery.

Tue. 8/01: Lewisburg
Started the day with breakfast at the Diner, where I spent a pretty significant amount of my time in college playing pinball in the back (not there anymore) and having the $0.65 special for breakfast: 2 eggs, potatoes and toast. Now it's about $5.75. Topped that with a grilled sticky. This has gotten very heavily promoted, so they're really mass produced now and not nearly as good as I remember. Of course, back in the '70's I usually had a grilled sticky in college after midnight, often while high.
On the way out of town, stopped in to Meyer's dairy, another top flight ice cream haunt.

Proceeded on roads I biked on when I was an undergrad. Amish country. PA192 is lovely. Gently rolling hills with the last 10 miles predominantly downhill. My hotel is next to a HUGE restaurant (Country Cupboard), seats 500, includes a bakery, creamery, gift shop. The dessert buffet is awesome.
Lewisburg is another college town: Bucknell Today's ride was not as hilly... only 1200 ft.

Wisconsin to Michigan to Ohio to Pennsylvania

Tues 7/18:  Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin
Hot muggy ride.  Crossed the Mississippi into Wisconsin.

Wed 7/19:  Prairie du Chien to Spring Green
Spring Green has many buildings designed by Frank Lloyd Wright.  He spent many summers there during his childhood... My motel was about a mile from downtown.  There were thunderstorms while I was in town for dinner, so had to wait until they passed to ride back.  By that time it was dark, but there was still a nice lightning show in the eastern sky.

Thu 7/20 :  Spring Green to Madison (Middleton)]
Stayed with Carl (college roommate and lifelong friends) and Mary Ann at their house across Lake Mendota from Madison.  Carl was kind enough to drive me to Milwaukee on Friday.  Stopped in for frozen custard at Leon's .  After lunch we strolled around the River Walk in downtown Milwaukee

Chillin' with "The Fonz" and Carl in Milwaukee.

Carl returned home and I went over to the Sanford  for the best dinner of this trip so far... Grilled shrimp with Lamb Sausage...

Sat.7/22 :

Caught the 6:00 AM ferry to Muskegon, then rode to Holland, MI.   an unremarkable Michigan town.

Sun.7/23:  Battle Creek

Another unremarkable town.  Kind of depressed.

Mon.7/24:  Hillsdale

A pretty nice small town.  Stayed in a B&B.  Had a really good pulled pork sand..for dinner at a local bar downtown.  The owner, Kevin, is also a bicyclist, and offered to pump up my tires... really friendly people in this town.

Tues. 7/25:  Toledo

All I can say about Toledo is that it makes Cleveland seem like paradise.  The main pasttime here seems to be a 3 square block area of bars where you can take your beer cup and drink on the street in this area.  It looks nicer from my hotel window:

View from the 15th floor of the Inter Continental hotel. 

Wed. 7/26:  Toledo to Huron

Pleasant Small town on Lake Erie.  On the way, saw evidence of Kiwanis activity:

A lot of recreational boaters here, and on a series of towns between on the water between here and Cleveland.  Big lakefront houses.

Thurs. 7/27:  Cleveland

Cleveland's seems to have significantly improved since I was here over 12 years ago.  Stayed with college friend Dave and his lovely wife Joy.  

David and Joy

Went to Corky and Lenny's, one of my favorite delis, for lunch:

One of the country's best Jewish Delis.  A vanishing breed...

In the morning, we drove about 20 miles east and did a little tour of Ohio's Amish country.

Fri. 7/28: Conneaut Lake, PA

This is mostly a weekend resort area that seems to attract visitors from surrounding metro areas (Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Erie, Youngstown).

Sat. 7/29: Clarion, PA

Google Maps routed me into a ditch. Detour cost me 20 hard miles. Finally landed here around 7:00 PM. Unfortunately, it doesn't tell you when its putting you onto gravel or worse. There is a very nice paved trail along the Allegheny river. Quite a few kayaks, canoes and other floaters on the river today.

Iowa: Nice people, and Bike friendly

7/12:  Denison, IA
About midway between Onawa (an unremarkable interstate town) and Denison, I came upon an Iowa State research station on a very lonely road.  Since Alexandra has an interest in planting Milkweed for the butterflies, I stopped to chat, and share my cherries, and fill up the water bottle.

Todd, the Milkweed researcher

In Denison.  Lori, the manager at the Boulder Inn was kind enough to offer to throw in my laundry with a load the hotel was doing...  She also took a keen interest in my trip.  The whole staff there was very friendly and welcoming.

7/13:  Jefferson
Had a craving for some sweet corn... so I found a produce stand.  The bad news, it was a 5.6 mile ride from the hotel with the last 1/4 mile on dirt.  I bought 3 ears for $1.50, and had a nice chat with the owner (Cindy).  When I got back to the hotel, This was waiting for me:

The corn was really good too!  I called her to thank her for the note... and she explained that she felt guilty for taking my money after I rode all that way in the heat just for 3 ears of corn...
On the way to the hotel, I stopped at Bett & Bev's barbecue.  This was the Thurs. night special ($5)

 "Frip pie" : homemade Ripple potato chips covered with pulled pork baked beans and coleslaw.

Fri. 7/14:  Jefferson to Des Moines
Started the day off at the shop I stopped into in 2015.  This time I got there early in the AM when the merchandise is really fresh.

Bunker's Dunkers, Jefferson IA

It turns out that I was able to do the entire ride (69 miles) to Des Moine on dedicated beautiful paved bicycle trails.  Also, the weather finally broke.  Nice and cool for the next 2 days!

 

Racoon River Valley Trail

The Corn goes on forever

Sat. 7/15:  Des Moines to Marshalltown

Des Moines farmers market Saturday morning

Sun. 7/15:  Marshalltown to Cedar Falls

Wind power rising in Iowa

Mon. 7/16:  Cedar Falls to Fayette
A Road closure extended this ride by 10 miles from the planned 58 mile ride.  It's also getting hot again...
About 25 miles south of Fayette (near Hazleton), stopped into an Amish candy shop.  The whole farm ran from a windmill that ran a compressor.  Instead of electricity, the ceiling fans in the store were pneumatic.   I didn't see any electric wires going to the farmhouse or store. Their ovens were wood-burning.

The End of the Road in South Dakota

Wed 7/5 - Martin SD
Another tiny town in cattle country.  The motel was quite nice, but the weather was quite hot (>100°).  I've been trying to leave each town before 7:00 AM to avoid the worst heat of the day.

Had breakfast at the Martin Cattle Auction cafe Thursday Morning. 

Thurs 7/6 - Rosebud, SD
The Salt Camp cabin I stayed at is the most isolated lodging I've had so far.  The cabin was about 1/2 mile down a dirt road.  The land is all Indian Reservation land.  Nothing around... no town, no people.  When I checked in, we saw a coyote running across the owner's road leaving her chicken coop.  She helped me after grabbing her shotgun and making sure the coyote was gone.   The cabin had a full kitchen, with dishes and cookware.  Laura was kind enough to drive me into town (about 10 miles away) to pick up some groceries for dinner.  

Fri 7/7 - Winner, SD
An slightly larger town.  Big enough to support a McDonalds, a Shopko and a few motels besides the Super 8 where I stayed.

Sat 7/8 - Bonesteel, SD
A very tiny town.  1 really basic motel, 2 eateries and a gas station... but, to their credit they had a community swimming pool.   Pretty impressive for a town of less than 300 people.

Sun 7/9 - Whitetail River Lodge, Niobrara, NB
Lovely bed and breakfast.  By the time I got to town it was 104°.

That's right, population 1 !   This town is in SD, about 25 miles west of Niobrara, NB.  I wonder what their city council meetings are like...

Mon 7/10 - Vermillion
A little cooler today (only 90°) .   Now I'm getting headwinds.  This town is home to the University of South Dakota, and a population of about 10,000, making it big enough to support a Walmart and other decent amenities.

Tomorrow will be above 100, with 12 mph dead-on headwinds as I head into Iowa.  Not looking forward to that...