Epinal: A relaxing sunny day - Poking Around Europe 4.0 - CycleBlaze

September 10, 2017

Epinal: A relaxing sunny day

It was absolutely the right decision to stay a day in Epinal for all kinds of reasons. It has been just fantastic. After a sumptuous hotel breakfast we jumped on the unloaded bikes and headed to the old town. The bikes felt pretty frisky without the panniers.

On the way into town. Beautiful bikeway and because it is Sunday it was well used.
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This man came up a long ramp that was part of the bike path to the bridge. He operates his bicycle arms only...he was very strong!
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Epinal is lovely, and we arrived on the day of their twice a year market and it was absolutely huge. It certainly wasn't what we expected to see! We have never seen a bigger one. It went on and on and on. We kept thinking we had come to the end of it, but no, it just kept going. All the stores were open as well - on a Sunday in France! - and we had a lot of fun looking at everything that was for sale. All we bought were some tres cher candied nuts. We will enjoy them on the ride tomorrow.

Crossing the river, expecting a quiet Sunday in France kind of a day.
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Instead we found this. It happens for one day in June and one day in September.
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It went on forever and if it wasn't available in this market it probably doesn't exist.
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Jeans anyone? You have got to love the pair on the far right.
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How about hose?
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We met these two charming chiens with their owners. Lots of fun.
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We also visited the church and the square, enjoying a gelato there. We checked into tourist information and received excellent advice and maps for tomorrow. The CN is working on accommodation as I write this.

The interior of the church. We did do some cultural things!
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The church.
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A gargoyle.
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I loved the building on the left. This is where we had our gelato.
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Then we headed back into the fray and wandered around some more. I was pushing my bike, and in the unexpected and unusual category someone came up from behind and grabbed it and took off.

Fortunately it was this guy and he couldn't run very fast. He did give me a bit of a start though.
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We cycled down the greenway a short while just to get a feel for it. I wasn't as keen as Keith...I want my legs to feel rested tomorrow. We then started to head back to the hotel but decided to make the effort to cycle up to the ruined castle. So much for resting the legs! It was worth the effort. The views were terrific and the hill seemed like a breeze on the unloaded bikes.

Cycling down the canal.
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There are big fish. That might explain all the fishers we see.
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Yup, we went for it.
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Can you find me and my bike in this picture? After getting to the top we had to go down and then up some more. It was great fun though, it really was. The couple behind me, among several others, helped us find the way.
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The views were great.
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None of these at home.
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But maybe most interesting was this guy. You wouldn't believe what he could do. Note that he is jumping from the top step.
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And he landed perfectly. This was one of his tricks. He did many more jumps, and they were all unbelievable. Sometimes I was scared to watch.
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We did one last stop before our lovely hotel, and then came back for a swim and a jacuzzi and are now headed out for dinner. A great day.

You didn't think Keith could pass this without checking it out did you? He was hoping for hockey, not public skating.
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Back to the hotel for a swim, a jacuzzi and a whole lot of relaxing.
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So tomorrow we continue south, although there is a great deal of uncertainty about which way and how far. As Keith investigates accommodation he is finding we either go 90 km or so, which would probably be further with any navigational miscues, or only 30. I am up for either, but the shorter day seems a better bet if you know what I mean. We will see what happens tomorrow 😜.

Today's ride: 20 km (12 miles)
Total: 623 km (387 miles)

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