FINISH LINE

What a very fun welcome home at the train station. Complete with decorations and cake at my parents' house!!

ONE WAY TO HOLLAND

It took only a few hours to fly my bike and myself to Bulgaria but returning to the Netherlands from Noirmoutier by train is a matter of days, not hours. And so it happens I end my journey with a cultural weekend trip.

Saturday morning I take a hot pink bus from Noirmoutier to Nantes. My bike gets hung on the back of the bus. I find this a very scary setup but all goes well. Saturday afternoon and evening I am in Nantes, in absolute awe of the Machine Company and the annual summer art installation route. Just follow the green line on the street! It goes for some 15 km and leads to a wide variety of cool art pieces, contemporary architecture, and make-shift restaurants. It pours but I don't care. I am officially waterproof by now.

Today I am in Lille, after taking a TGV from Nantes (interestingly enough the special TGV bike wagon was not high enough to hang my, indeed large, bike from the ceiling hook.) Lille is very photogenic. It seems the entire city is made up of shades of grey and blue and purple. It's a true gourmet paradise: I have spotted savory macrons looking exactly like its sweet pink, yellow and green sisters but made with foie gras and truffle instead. There are butcher shops cum restaurants with gleaming chandeliers, serving house-smoked Burgundy beef and artisan blood sausage in very chique surroundings. And what about creme brulee gelato on still warm, homemade wafer cones. (The latter was my Sunday lunch!)

I can not stretch this trip any longer. Tomorrow I am taking the final leg of the train journey back to my parents' house. Eating home-cooked food and sleeping in my own bed suddenly sounds really, really good.

LES VACANCES

I thought I would get rid of my biker tan during this mini beach vacation (without clothes it looks as if I am wearing an all-white outfit, complete with flip-flops). But the continuing crazy weather throughout Europe makes for more rain clouds than sunshine here on Ile de Noirmoutier.

And I couldn't care less. I am just giddy to be here, slurp oysters picked right off the beach, finish my book, play with sea shells, visit salt farms, and bicycle the island loop. Not having to stuff all my belongings into two bike paniers at the crack of dawn feels like true vacances!

ALL DONE!

Two months ago I rolled out of the Vidin train station (Bulgaria) on my bicycle. And today, after pedaling 3977 km westward, I have arrived at the Atlantic coast in France. For real!

I chose Ile de Noirmoutier as my end destination (island of sea salt, potatoes and, lucky me, oysters!). The access road to the island/peninsula is submerged in the ocean at high tide. How beautiful and symbolic to arrive at a surreal end of the road. A truly amazing sight (and feeling).

Low tide happened just a few hours later and I bicycled to the last camping place during the Nomadic Hiatus, right on the beach! Every time I peek out of my tent I am reminded that I made it all the way. The entire way from the Balkans to the Atlantic.

(More blog posts to follow about my little island vacation, the 3 days it will take to train back to the Netherlands-- through Nantes and Lille--and of course there will be trip statistics too.)

DU PAIN, DU VIN...DES AMIS

My dear friends Sergio and Chantalle took my adventure as an excuse to road trip to France and be part of the travel fun for a weekend. We stayed at a very charming mansion in Saumur, now a quiet B & B surrounded by an enormous, flowery garden. This alone was quite a treat after my camping lifestyle. But boy oh boy, did we have some other treats as well!

Friday dinner at Le Pot de Lapin set us off right... Sergio might talk about the entrecôte he had there for years to come. The rest of the weekend was a polonaise of markets, wine tastings, touring villages by bicycle, a best-of-the-market picknick, a tour of Cremant de Loire cellars, more wine, more food, and more wine. A ridiculously perfect weekend.

I am not convinced I can go back to my previous life as a bicycle camper who thinks a cafe au lait on a terrace is a big deal!