While waiting for Patti to emerge from the Edgar Quinet Metro station, I had two very pleasant experiences. The Montparnesse outdoor market lines the street, with the Metro station roughly at the centre of the market, and the Montparnasse Cemetery, is across the street. The market was bustling, but I’m not a huge fan of bustling, so I strolled into the cemetery. Here’s a 360 video of my short walk amongst the memorials. Drag the view around with your mouse. The cemetery is the second largest in Paris, and if you’re interested, check this Wikipedia page for more details.
This is the view from my hotel room in Montparnasse, the kind of view of Paris most Parisiennes see. Like a sore thumb, you see Tour Montparnasse, built in the late 1960’s against fierce opposition. It’s … just … too … tall …!
Well – my two weeks with my old friends Rob Mee and Ben Pon are over. Patti joins me tomorrow in Paris for a train ride to Bordeaux and a month of cycling to Lisbon, Portugal.
Rob’s visit was in Norway, starting north of the Arctic Circle on the Lofoten Islands. We were escorted by a photography tour company in Svolvaer around all corners of the Lofotens, ending in the iconic and most southerly scene at Hamnoy (Rob’s picture).
Leaving the Lofotens, Rob and I had three beautiful full days of train rides back to Copenhagen. The terrain gradually smoothed out and became less snow-covered. One memorable view was the Arctic Circle marker surrounded with reindeer. I mean, really, …
We had an extra day to enjoy Oslo. Truly a wonderful city, with wide plazas, a fantastic opera house, and a kind and generous populace.
Rob and I met my next travel companion Ben Pon in Copenhagen, and the three of us travelled by train to Berlin through Hamburg. Rob headed south through Germany to enjoy Bayreuth and the Swiss Alps. Ben and I ventured through Poland, Slovakia, Austria, Switzerland and Germany, with a ten minute voyage through tiny Liechtenstein. Ben and I parted company in Wuppertal, Germany this morning; Ben headed back to Calgary through Copenhagen, and I went to Paris, to meet Patti tomorrow to begin our recumbent trike adventure through Spain and Portugal.
So – the next posts will be from Patti and me. Thank you for sharing this adventure with us.
This trip takes us from the Arctic Circle in Norway to Lisbon in sunny and warm Portugal. John will leave two weeks before Patti and join two friends for train travel around Europe.
Then Patti meets John in Paris, rides a train to Bordeaux, and PattiAndJohn head out on a month-long cycling trip to Lisbon.
Here is the cycling route using the great planning app ‘Ride With GPS‘. Each day will feature an 80km ride. Our trikes are made in England by ICE Trikes. They feature full suspension, hub brakes, battery electric assist, and automatic variable speed drive. We travel light with everything in two panniers each. We don’t camp, though! Comfortable small B&Bs or hotels.
For planning, in the RideWithGPS app we set overall start and finish points and let the app select a cycling route, staying off busy roads and unsuitasble trails. The we zoom in on the route and find places to stay about 80kms apart using travel sites like expedia. In very rural areas this can be a challenge.
