Valuable Lessons Learned on Our Cycling Adventure...

* Jimmy is not only a great pack mule, but he’s also great at hand washing laundry.

* It’s amazing how setting up a laundry line quickly knocks a few stars off of a 5-star hotel.

* I can actually survive being away for 10 days with just one small bag of clothes.
* Just buying maps doesn’t count as preparing for a cycling trip--you must actually open those maps before leaving town.

* We may be old, but we’re still able to be spontaneous.

* It’s not the end of the world if you lose a few prepaid hotel rooms or train tickets.

* Don’t forget the bungee cords!

Weekend in Ghent...

We decided to spend the weekend in Ghent, Belgium, a city that we stopped for lunch while en route to France several years ago. Finding a hotel was again challenging, but we managed to find one right in the historic center. Jimmy was amazing as he rode his bike and dragged mine around massive road construction from the train station to the parking garage. I was hobbling, but managed to do a fair bit of walking, which loosened up my knee as the weekend progressed. We loved this beautiful and lively city. We had a very nice waterfront fondue dinner one night and picnicked along the main canal the other. On Sunday evening, I was finally able to mount my bike and cycle back to the train station. All-in-all, we cycled for just 212 miles and spent many more hours on trains than we would have preferred. It didn’t all go according to plan, but we had a great time just being together.

Culture and Art in Ghent...

Ghent has a wonderful museum pass for visitors so we spent much of the weekend exploring a variety of museums. Yes, you’re looking here at a broken whiskey bottle. I had to take a picture because I found this a very strange example of art at S.M.A.K., the Contemporary Art Museum.
This was also at the same museum, which I found much more interesting. We also visited the Design Museum, the Textiles Museum, the 12th century castle, the 14th century bell tower, the 16th century cathedral and St. Peter’s Abbey from the 17th century. The castle and abbey were especially interesting as rather than audio tours, they offered unique movie guides which showed an ongoing story that took place in the different rooms we wandered through.

Day 7: Flat, Like I Like It...

With superior navigation skills, Jimmy managed to find a relatively flat route back to Reims. Much of the 41 miles was along canals. There were quite a few locks, one of which of we stopped to watch in action. Unfortunately, our paved path gave way to gravel and then to dirt. I toppled off my bike after hitting a slick portion. My pride and knees bruised, I managed to continue on for the 2nd half of the route. Once in Reims, our timing was perfect to catch the last train to Lille. After three hours on trains, I couldn’t bend my injured knee. My bike made a good crutch and I managed to walk to the hotel. When I woke up in the morning, I still couldn’t lift my leg enough to mount my bike, so it was time to change plans once again.

Day 7: One Last Champagne House...

As hard as it might be to believe, we’d had enough of Champagne. That is, after we toured one last Champagne house, Castellane. There were only four of us on the English tour, which was really nice. This is the only house that takes you through the production areas (which clearly means it isn’t too dangerous and that the other houses just don’t want to lose the mystique of how mechanized the production actually is). Unfortunately, we came at the wrong time of the year to see anything in action. After the tour, we climbed the tower; Epernay definitely looked nicer from above.

Day 6: More Grapes...

The skies had cleared, so at 3:30pm we set off for a few hours of cycling. Only did 17 miles, but it was hilly and slow going. The down hills scare me and I spend a lot of time pumping the brakes in an attempt not to go too fast. Finally stopped in Pierry to see the world’s largest Champagne flute and get some further education about Champagne. Had a traditional French dinner back in Epernay, a surprisingly uncharming city.

Day 6: More Champagne...

Thanks to an Internet connection, we upgraded to TripAdvisor’s top choice in Epernay. Luckily we could check in early to the lovely small inn, which was the former home of the founder of Mercier Champagne, which we toured next door after lunch. It was a very different tour with a laser-guided tram ride through the cellars, although we only saw a small portion of the 11 miles of tunnels. The giant cask above took 15 years to build; it can hold 200,000 bottles of Champagne and was used for blending until 1947. As the world’s largest wine cask, it was brought to Paris for the World Fair in 1889. The journey took eight days, destroying two bridges and several houses along the way.