4| Toulouse

Roy took me to Boston’s Logan Airport, then Air France took me to France. Air France moved my bike for no extra charge, a huge consideration and a great help.  (Touring Ideas #1)   It was not an easy task to pack everything: the bike, tent, panniers, camera, clothes, …  gear for a week in a city and 10 days on a bike … in the 70 pounds allotted to by Air France. It occurred to me to wear my helmet as a hat, my heavy bike lock as a belt, several layers of clothing and my bike shoes, not my lighter city shoes. I didn’t do it, for any number of reasons, particularly not wanting to draw attention to myself! Since my backpacking days, I have known that I am the type of traveler who cuts the edges off maps and the long handles off toothbrushes, to get the easiest weight to carry. And I needed to do more than this to get down to 70 pounds. The day before leaving I packed everything as it would be when I got to the gate, weighed it on a medical scale, and removed  several items, including binoculars, that I left home, to make the weight limit. I didn't pull out the flash drive that I carry, loaded with contact info. (Touring Ideas #2)

I knew that the more French I could speak and understand the more fun I would have cycling solo in the remote part of France where I was headed. So although I really wanted more days on the bike, I couldn’t take more vacation, and stayed with my plan: to spend a week in a language immersion program before travelling.  Langue Onze in Toulouse was my choice. Toulouse is a perfect city to spend time in: beautiful, ancient and modern at the same time, chic yet relaxed, and not overwhelmed with tourists. In France, most FLE language schools will arrange home-stays for students. They typically provide both affordable lodging and an easy way to meet people. Happily for me, Langue Onze arranged for me to stay with a delightful French woman named Françoise: her graciousness made for an unforgettable week with much laughter over her delicious dinners.  

My last night in Toulouse I changed plans. I had learned at the train station that it is impossible to take the train from Toulouse to Millau, one can only make the last leg of the trip by bus, and  the bus will not carry bicycles. So I decided to go by train to Montpellier and ride north from there. 

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1| Prologue

 As a schoolgirl, I spoke pretty good schoolgirl French, and from the age of 8 dreamed of visiting France. In 2009, I turned 60 and decided to go … for the first time. Call me level-headed and deliberate if you want, but life intervened.

I convinced my husband, Roy, planned a route in southern France, starting in Provence at Avignon, riding through the Languedoc to Toulouse:  Avignon, Orange, Apt, Aix-en-Provence, Arles, Sète, Béziers, Carcassonne, Toulouse: about 500 generally very flat miles. In late May 2009 we spent two weeks on the bike, staying in hotels and chambre d’hôtes (bed and breakfasts,) followed by a week in Paris.

Before leaving, I crammed the French language into my head. Every day I stuffed more in. And trained on the bike. I had a fabulous, wonderful, time … loved France, loved the bicycling, got by on my very poor language skills thanks to the kindness of strangers. Never believe that the French are rude. My husband had an OK time, good even, he says. This year, 2010, he decided to stay home and I decided to return to France, this time solo, appreciative of his  encouragement and support, and drawn to the possibilities of solo travel. (My first solo cycling trip was in 2008 when I rode around Lake Champlain, from Vermont up into Canada, that time also staying in bed & breakfasts, and had a blast. But it was essentially my backyard, since I live barely 100 miles south, in Massachusetts.)

Last year in France, two of the following three things would have made an even better trip: stronger language skills, a tent, or more money. More money would have removed the sometimes stressful need to find available rooms in low-cost lodgings, which always seemed to fill first, but more money is not an option. Anyway, a good part of what I hoped solo travel would offer is more opportunity to meet other travelers, particularly other cyclists, and hotels minimize human contact. So, I spent the year since the last trip improving my language skills and my cycling skills, and bought a sweet super-light solo tent, sized perfectly for me. I also bought, at the last probable minute, a terrific bike, better suited to loaded touring and climbing hills. I say probable minute, because really, it probably isn’t very sensible to buy a new bike immediately before a trip. And bought a second set of panniers.

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