Meet the Treadheads
Link to National MS Society
Photos from airports and stuff
The Domaine Du Haut Baran: We stayed in a great bed and breakfast, Domaine Du Haut Baran. William met us at the airport, arranged for bicycle rentals, dealt with airlines and lost luggage claims, planned trips for us, and conducted tours. Rosalie and Alberta cooked, cleaned, treated us like family, told us where to shop and what to buy, and planned meals both in and out for us. Rosalie also decorated the Baran and made special arrangements for Brad and Joyce's anniversary. The setting was wonderful, the rooms were very nice, the vacation was restful.
Friday September 6: Our departure was hectic. Most of us flew over together. We flew from Cincinnati to Newark to Brussels to Toulousse. This because of the Air France Strike. Sue Flew Delta and was routed through Milan (where her luggage vacationed). Ken and Mary Kay flew from Cincinnati to London? and Met up with June. From there they flew to Brussels and met up with us. Joyce, Brad, Steve, Gary, Sandy, and Mike all got pegged as security risks because (we think) our international flights were booked less than 24 hours earlier. We got to watch all our luggage get unpacked and repacked. We got our shoes checked for explosives. What fun.
 | Photos of Newark Airport Lounge |
Saturday September 7:
Saturday was spent rejoicing in the
fact that we all were on vacation! Our first stop after the airport
was the French equivalent of a mini-mart. This place was very well
appointed and we all bought snacks, water, and wine. It started one of
the all time great evenings in my life. We opened three bottles of
wine for the ride to Domaine du Haut Baran. We ate French junk food
(theirs is better than ours). We arrived at our temporary home and the
adventure began. William and Rosalie introduced us to Alberta, and to
a life style we wish we could afford. The first thing we all did was
run from room to room to see what each room looked like. Every room
was different, but each was well appointed and very comfortable. We
then all retired to the pool and drank more wine. After the wine came Cuir Rouge before dinner and then dinner. We had duck confit, with an
appitizer of smoked salmon. Our salad was mixed greens with bleu
cheese and walnuts from the tree seen overhanging the party tent. I
went to bed before dessert so I don't know what dessert was. Grand
total for day 1 was 28 bottles of wine. I should also mention that two
people in one van mooned the other van on the ride from the airport.
See pictures of our first few hours in
France
Sunday September 8
Rocamadour is the second most visited place in France. There will be pictures of the most visited place later. It is a city built into the side of a cliff. It is also a holy shrine. To learn more and see photos take the link.
Monday September 9
Total miles: 32 Total climb: 2000 ft.
AM Miles: 13.1 AM Climb: 600 ft.
PM Miles: 18.9 PM Climb: 1400 ft.
I'm not giving out our average speed. It was slow, very slow.
Monday was the day of our first real ride. We were all struck by the
beauty and the hills. Next trip, we're riding the Netherlands. We
learned a few things that were surprising. The area is full of steep
hills; the area is full of small towns; the area is full of history. We
did two loops. In the morning we rode down to the bike rental place
(they were closed), and then through several small towns.. In the
afternoon, we rode to Chateau Bonaguil and a winery that hosted a bird museum,
le museum ornithologique des hauts de bonaguil.
The winery was at the top of a three hundred foot climb covering about one
mile. The thing that we found most amazing was how easy it was to pull
over and not ride. There were fresh berries to sample, gypsy wagons,
wineries, and vineyards all very close to Haut Baran. The people we met
along the way were all wonderful.
Tuesday September 10
Total miles: 16.5 Total climb:
1400 ft.
We left the Baran in two groups. The early group had their adventure,
and we in the afternoon group had ours. The distance was
disappointing but the ride was in many ways spectacular. The morning
group found several wineries, and a cafe featuring a friendly mademoiselle
showing off her leopard print camisole. I'm told she wore it well.
We in the afternoon found a very small winery where they spoke even less
English than I spoke French. Through a series of gestures, grunts and
single syllable French and English words, we were able to tell these very kind
people that we were interested in buying wine. They pulled their son off
a tractor to translate. He took us into what looked like a
garage/chicken coop. This was a long low slung building that we had to
stoop down to enter. The first thing we saw upon entering was a dead
chest freezer. Leaning against it was a dead Vespa scooter. There
was a cat asleep on the freezer. The floor was covered with straw.
There were cobwebs hanging off the seven foot ceiling. The rest of the
building was filled with bottles of wine resting on their sides stacked about
four feet high. We all had our doubts, but these people were being so
nice to us. Our host went to the house to uncork a bottle and get
glasses. Having grown up in Kentucky and been exposed to homemade
spirits, I expected him to return with two Fred Flintstone jelly jars, or a
couple mason jars, and some cloudy not quite red, not quite yellow, maybe
amber liquid. Instead he produced two sparkling clean wine glasses, and
poured two healthy portions of nice dark, blood red wine for us to try.
Upon tasting this, there was no debate about if we were going to buy a bottle.
The only question was how much could we safely carry. The vote was
unanimous. Two bottles, and "lets come back for more." I still
plan on returning to that winery.
We continued riding until we came to the ostrich farm. We had to stop. They had a gift shop. Our host was very informative and very friendly. Fortunately, he spoke better English than I did French. Our total ride time for 16.5 miles was three hours.
Wednesday September 11
Total miles: 28 Total climb:
2100 ft.
This ride was supposed to have been the second half of yesterday's ride, but
hey stuff happens. This was probably the prettiest ride of the week.
We had nice climb up Hell's Hill and had a monster downhill. The road
going down was about four feet wide and steep. There were no guard rails
and there was no visibility around the next corner. It was a great day.
Thursday September 12
Thursday was the most event filled touring day. We saw quite a bit.
It was also Joyce and Brad's anniversary. We ate out Joyce and Brad
stayed in. All dinners were outstanding (no surprise there). We
paid visits to Domme, Sarlot, Baynac Castle, and a very old town.
See Thursday's adventures
Friday September 13
Total Miles: 67 Total climb:
Best guess is under 1200 ft.
Friday was a different sort of of
day. It began with us dividing ourselves into two groups. One
group got up early and did a six mile ride through the local countryside and a
visit to Duravel. The second group slept in and later did the six mile
ride. That afternoon, eleven of our group went with William to St.
Cirq La Popie
and the ancient caves at
Lascaux. Three of us opted for a bike ride. The caves are about an
hour north of the Baran and are home to some of the oldest cave drawings in
existence.
The bike ride turned out to be a
Gilligan's Island sort of thing. A three hour tour gone horribly,
wonderfully wrong. Truthfully it turned out to be a great adventure.
It was supposed to be a 25 mile ride going through Duravel, Prayssac, Grezels,
Castel Franc, and I believe, Luzech. It turned into a sixty mile
ride through all of the afore mentioned and Mercues, Caillac, and Douelle (I
think). The total mileage for the day was 67 miles. Elevation, and
average speed remain a mystery. It turns out that there was a
detour between Prayssac and Castel Franc. The detour put us on rt.
D911. It is a two to four lane highway with no shoulders, narrow lanes,
and lots of traffic moving at high speeds. It seemed that every time we
got lost we wound up on D911. A couple wrong turns put us way off the
map and we rode through Castel Franc three times.
See Friday's adventures
Saturday September 14
Paris is a great museum
city. I mean that the whole city is a museum. Everything is
significant in some way. It is also a good city to people watch.
The group dispersed on Saturday and several groups went on to other parts of France. Ken and Mary Kay even wound up engaged. June met a friend of hers in Paris. Most of us spent some time in Paris. Brad and Joyce went South, Ken and Mary Kay went North West. I don't know where David and Karen went. Mike, Gary, and Sue started their trips home.
See photos of trips
We had some really wonderful meals. We ate at the Baran on Saturday, Monday, Wednesday and Friday (I think). Each meal was an event, the foods were combinations of the new and the familiar. Even something as simple as a salad tasted better in France. There is a much greater attention paid to fresh ingredients, and care in preparation.
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