Day 1 - Travel Day - Calgary to Paris - Gorging in France ...Then Basquing in the Pyrenees - 2023 - CycleBlaze

April 17, 2023

Day 1 - Travel Day - Calgary to Paris

The Usual Slow Grind

However excited we are to be setting off on a new journey, these travels days are always approached with some trepidation. They’re never fun,  at best they are just tiring, at worst … well, we won’t go there.

Happy to report that we are just tired. 

All in all this was a very smooth start to the trip. No issues any where along the way. The Calgary airport was pretty quiet, as expected on a Monday evening, and although our check-in took a long time, it was pleasant and uneventful with the only hiccup being that my beautifully constructed bike boxes were about 1 cm too wide to fit in the ‘oversized bins’ for the oversized x-ray machine. As a result, we had to have the boxes manually inspected. The WJ staff were very nice an helpful (for all the staff on duty ours were the first bikes hey had ever checked in)- they didn’t measure them or weigh them, they just asked where we were going and thought it sounded great!.

On the plane we won our standard seat booking lottery as well. When we can, we book a window and aisle seat with an empty seat in between. Even though the flight was nearly full, our empty seat remained that way, a great bonus for a 9 hour flight.

Thanks for taking us to the airport Karin. This worked out well as Andrew (Karin’s son and our nephew) was arriving back in Calgary tomorrow from France after spending the winter in Europe coaching the Canadian Biathlon team. He’ll have several pairs of skis and likely several biathlon rifles. They will fit nicely in the truck and he can take it back home to Canmore where he lives too!
Heart 3 Comment 0
Check-in. Slow but friendly, and we have nothing but time on our hands now.
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We win the seat booking lottery - empty middle seat!
Heart 6 Comment 2
Chris NadeauThose seats look huge - first class?
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1 year ago
Kirsten KaarsooNo cattle class but an empty seat between us. 😊
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1 year ago

Arrival at CDG was 15 minutes early and the airport was pretty calm and efficient. Once again we continued to be surprised at the prevalence of Face ID as we did not see or speak to a single customs person. Just scan your passport, stare at a screen, and doors magically open in front of you (or not in some cases 😬).

The good time continued when our panniers rolled off the luggage carousel and even better, when our bike’s appeared a few minutes later in the ‘oversized area’. 

Walking out into the public area we were a bit concerned about finding a place to build the bikes, but those concerns we put aside as we quickly found a large and fairly quiet area and go to work.

After a few minutes we were joined by Eric, a young guy from Mexico who had just arrived with his bike. The three of us spent the next hour putting our rides back together and swapping stories. It was then time to ride … or not.

In CDG - part 1, panniers have arrived.
Heart 3 Comment 2
Jacquie GaudetSo you just strapped your panniers together and checked them? We might have to do something like that on our return journey as the weight limit might be lower than outbound. Seems weird since we booked everything as a round trip.
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1 year ago
Kirsten KaarsooTo Jacquie GaudetHi Jacquie,
Yes we zip tie the panniers together ( using 4 zip ties)after removing the rack mounting hardware as we don’t want it damaged and it makes the back smooth. Then I use a strap and cinched them together. Never have had an issue to be counted as one bag.
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1 year ago
Part 2 - the big one. Bike boxes arrive and in good shape. Round 1 over with victory for the good guys!
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Nice quiet area for the bike rebuild. A CDG ‘cart jockey’ even dropped by for a chat and said we could just leave our used boxes by the garbage and recycling bins that were just down the aisle. Thanks!
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All done… in more ways than one. The mid afternoon jet-lag ‘head clamp’ was coming on in full force now too.
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Chris NadeauLooking proud, happy, and almost ready to ride!!
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1 year ago
And here are the three intrepid soon-to-be bike tourers. Eric from Mexico City joined us to rebuild his bike too. He’s setting off to Nantes to cycle the Loire
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Just before we left Calgary we had an e-mail exchange with fellow CB’er Susan Carpenter regarding riding into Paris from CDG. Susan diplomatically offered that yes it could be done, but she would be unlikely to do it. Our thinking was that it was only 32 km, bike routes most of the way, and it would be a good way to start to adjust to the jet lag.

This youthful enthusiasm crashed on the hard rocks of reality at 3 pm CET. Jet lag won a crushing victory on this one as we slowly made our way to the adjacent train station and caught the RER into central Paris. There we a few moments where we were trying to figure out how to get our loaded bikes through the various automated barriers at the station, but there were lots of helpful folks around to assist us. We were soon bound for central Paris on the RER - barely awake!

We did actually cycle a bit; about 3 km from the Norte Dame station to our hotel apartment, but i don’t think it warrants recording in our trip totals

Slam dunk win for Jet Lag in round 2. On the RER into central Paris. We have 10 weeks to get the rest of our 3000 km’s in.
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We checked into the plain but functional Citidiens Apartment / Hotel, had a shower and a much needed nap and then set out to find something to eat. We’re staying just north of Gare de Lyon and it’s surprisingly quiet with a large choice of places to eat. We were still barely alive and the first open place we came to, about 75 m down the street, Brassierie l’Orangeraie, looked inviting, and it was.  We shared a salad and then we each had a simple grilled salmon … K with haricots vert and me with frites which we shared. Very good and it appeared to be very local too.

And then we crashed. Tomorrow we’re meeting up with Susan C for dinner. Very much looking forward to that.

Very local. Although this pic appears to be of K, the intended subjects were the couple behind, who were indicative of the rest of the restaurant patrons. Note the gesticulating hands of the woman and the strategically place Gauloises behind monsieur’s ear! Stereotypes exist for a reason.
Heart 5 Comment 4
Gilles RobertDo we still have ladies in France who find a man with a cigarette sticking out of his ear attractive?
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1 year ago
Kirsten KaarsooI don’t think so by reading her body language as they interacted. But you had to be there to see that. My guess is there wasn’t a second date!
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1 year ago
Kirsten KaarsooI don’t think so by reading her body language as they interacted. But you had to be there to see that. My guess is there wasn’t a second date!
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1 year ago
Chris NadeauTo Gilles RobertI saw that right away too - too funny!
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1 year ago
Perfect simple and tasty dinner. Nice 50 cl carafe of Brouilly as well. Happy to be back in France.
Heart 5 Comment 2
Rachael AndersonThat looks delicious!
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1 year ago
Chris NadeauCannot wait for June!
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1 year ago
That’s all until tomorrow!
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Song of the day:

Back in Canmore during our preparation, when I was still in ‘K-Tel Greatest Hits’ mode, I was thinking that P!ink’s ‘Get this Party Started’ would be a great way to start off.

Once again reality comes to the fore, and there was no party vibe tonight. We are looking forward to the trip, and we’re happy with today, but a more mellow and rest inducing tune is more appropriate. So let’s cue up “New Dawn Coming” by the Cowboy Junkies. I listened to this on the plane before drifting off for a an hour or so, and that’s what I’m feeling right now;

Hold on honey there's a new dawn coming

 And a big bird to sweep you away,

Keep on dreaming, soon there'll be a  reason

 To see it through one more day


Rate this entry's writing Heart 15
Comment on this entry Comment 4
Scott AndersonCongrats on surviving another one, and good call taking the train in from DeGaulle. Get some rest!
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1 year ago
Rachael AndersonYou hit the jackpot on a smooth flight to Paris! Wise decision not to bicycle into Paris.
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1 year ago
Chris NadeauWhat is that dude doing behind you guys?
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1 year ago