Hi!
That was a great trip. Thanks for sharing!
All the best for Dodie's op! I hope she is out of pain soon. My husband had two total knee replacements (5 and 15 years ago) - both were a complete success. Dodie can look forward to good times.
Suzanne

At least there is an end point to the pain of post op recovery and rehab. At the moment Dodie is in constant pain with no end in sight until after the surgery. She is one tough cookie and will be working really hard at the rehab and we fully expect that 5 months, maybe 6, after surgery we will be able to ride again.

Ah, Roussillon! I’ve had a framed photo of Roussillon taken from this angle on our wall since we were there in 2003. We don’t have a wall any more, but the photo survived the Great Purge and is lying in storage waiting to grace a new wall someday.

Hope the surgery goes well. Rehab for knees can take quite a while.

Mike

Thanks so much, folks! You’ve given us ideas, once we start seeking flatter pastures. Dottie, best of luck with the surgeries!

We don’t keep to a budget or track expenses, but you might try Albania or Greece next. I’m pretty sure we could have averaged 30 euros/night for a room and breakfast, if that was our goal.

I agree, the price of hotels has skyrocketed. I think you did pretty well with an average of 72€. We are still trying to get used to the "new" prices. In Germany it isn't as easy to find small hotels or "zimmer" any more. We used to just stop at the end of the day and start looking for a hotel - that doesn't work now. We plan our route based on where we can find accommodation. We, too, no longer camp.
I just checked our six days on the Romantic Road and found we averaged 77€ a night including breakfast. If breakfast wasn't included, I added the cost of breakfast to the hotel price. When planning our stops, I made a point of finding the less expensive hotels. We could have easily spent a lot more.

Thanks Mike. There was one advantage to buying the exchange in advance, and that was the chance to buy it with minimized service charges.This may vary depending on your credit card, but if you just walk up to an ATM in Europe with a North American card, or if you put your card down for a purchase, the card may not give you the best current exchange rate, and it may slather on an additional service charge for doing the foreign transaction. On the other hand, the Paris based account where we stash our euros once obtained has its own outrageous annual fee.

One other thing to take into consideration when looking at the cost of a cycle tour is that while you are away you are not buying food, etc. at home.

At one point in my career I was head bean counter in a manufacturing organisation and we always took forward exchange contracts for our inventory imports to give us some certainty over our future costs. Sometimes we were in front other times we were not.
You did the same and lost a bit. No big deal.
You will still have all your well documented memories long after a new motor car has been towed to the wreckers!
Carry on with spending the kids inheritance!
Mike

Really enjoyed the journal. I largely agree with your best/worst evaluations. The Le Havre bridge was every as bit as bad as you write. And to add insult, we did it in the rain. Mrs. C. says it was particularly difficut because the Tourist Info in LeH gave no help in finding the bridge (much less warning us off it). Also agree about the Canal du Midi -- great until you hit the unpaved portions and then impossible without mountain bikes (and perhaps not even fun then). Thanks for the warnings about Lyon. We expect to do the Via Rhone this summer.

This is where having made friends in Europe that can be imposed on comes in handy. It's a little tricky, because not everyone has the space . This time, the Paxman's will ride the bikes to our friend Bernie, who lives near Bregenz. The enticement is that he and his wife could do some rides until we get back. The Paxman's are really helping in this too, because they will have to take a train from Bregenz back to Amsterdam. Next year we will start at Bregenz and probably finish at Leipzig - more friends!

Another option is to store just the batteries and to take the bikes home. Some friends, or even bike shops, may have space for a battery if not a bike.

Finally, one could put bikes or just batteries into a storage locker. We rather like the Shurgard company, for their clear web site and locations around Europe: https://www.shurgard.fr/

Hi Steve and Dodie,

We've enjoyed reading your detailed journal, and as senior Bike Friday tourers are very interested in your comparison of ebikes with BFs. Our impression is that whether a bike has e-assist or not is far less significant than being able to enjoy all of the benefits of exploring countryside on a bicycle. Just wondering where you are planning to store the ebikes for the winter after your friends finish using them.

Eva

Yes, and there is another aspect to the weight, a little more subtle than just the pain of lifting. I've said that when you take the heavy ebike and activate the assist it turns in practice into a lighter bike. While that is true, it still does not convey the joy of an actual light bike. I think a good analogy is when in Winter you feel cold, you can put on a coat. So then you feel warm. And if you put on a thicker coat, you can feel downright hot. But it will never be quite the same as actually sitting on the beach on a hot Summer's day with no coat.

On the other hand, cycle touring is never about the joy of a true light bike, because no matter what the bike it always needs a ton of gear on it.

Let's see, what can I say about this:
(a) I did get it right once in 5 tries, not too bad?
(b) Maybe my QWERTY keyboard does not like ell's?
(c) I will trade you Blaye for "La clef"
(d) I'm glad someone is still reading this blog!
(e) Languishing now in Cobble Hill, it was great to have a reason to revisit the Bordeaux area!
(f) OK, I fixed it (them)

Hi Steve,

Umm, I think the town is called Blaye not Braye. Unless you've developed a strange accent......

Cheers,
Keith