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Epic European Cycle : 2015-05-08 : Ride to Chartres

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Travel
Type	Name	Service Provider	Origin	Destination	Cost	Notes	Actions
Train	Get us to Chartres!	SNCF	Verriere	Chartres	$32.00

Activity
Type	Name	Description	Service Provider	Cost	Kms	To Date	Total	Notes	Actions
Cycle	Paris to Chartres		Google Maps	$0.00	43.00	43.00		Day 1: 43km: Total 51km

Accommodation
Type	Name	Service Provider	Confirmation	Location	Cost	Notes	Actions
Bed and Breakfast	Peggy in Chartres	Air BnB		Chartres	$108.00	2 nights. $54/night. Really nice place and Peggy is a great host. She's extremely well organized and provides all the information you need ahead of time. When you arrive she provides information about Chartres, and for us, including cycling information! If it weren't for Peggy we wouldn't know about La Véloscénie trip, which we have now incorporated into our trip! Thanks for everything Peggy!

Trip Log

Notes	Actions
We got up early this morning, with 100km to go to reach Chartres, where we've booked accommodation for tonight. Thankfully, Pierre woke early as well and helped carry the bikes down the amazingly steep and narrow six flights of stairs. Today was a national holiday in France, which was lucky for us, because it meant we could get out of Paris before the traffic got at all thick. It worked out great. We headed west out of town, and then south through Bois de Boulogne. We were both surprised at the number of prostitutes at work there. After we left the park, we encountered a couple of locals who wanted to help us find our way, but didn't actually think it was possible to cycle from Paris to Chartres. They did get us pointed in the right general direction, though. We went past Versailles, but then had to double back to find our route which mostly followed D10 and paralleled N10 most of the way. There were great bike lanes and trails most of the way, but I'm sad to say that by the time we reached Verierre, I was done. It was only about €22 for the two of us to hop a train from Verierre to Chartres, with a connection in Rambouillet, so I talked Brent into doing that. We made it to Chartres, and to our host's place, by 6:00 on the nose. Chartres is beautiful and interesting. The old city is narrow streets and old old buildings, including the impressive Chartres Cathedral. The old city is built at the top of a steep hill. After settling in to our B&B, we went for a walk and slogged up the hill to the old city, had a look around, and had some amazing canard at Brasserie les Changes. We decided to book a second night in Chartres to give ourselves some time to rest and do some research. Since I've confirmed, the hard way, that 40km with fully-loaded paniers is about all I'm good for in a day (exactly the same as Australia), it gives me a good idea of how far we'll make it in a day over the next while. I do expect my distance to improve, but time will tell.

Notes

Actions

We got up early this morning, with 100km to go to reach Chartres, where we've booked accommodation for tonight. Thankfully, Pierre woke early as well and helped carry the bikes down the amazingly steep and narrow six flights of stairs.

Today was a national holiday in France, which was lucky for us, because it meant we could get out of Paris before the traffic got at all thick. It worked out great. We headed west out of town, and then south through Bois de Boulogne. We were both surprised at the number of prostitutes at work there. After we left the park, we encountered a couple of locals who wanted to help us find our way, but didn't actually think it was possible to cycle from Paris to Chartres. They did get us pointed in the right general direction, though. We went past Versailles, but then had to double back to find our route which mostly followed D10 and paralleled N10 most of the way. There were great bike lanes and trails most of the way, but I'm sad to say that by the time we reached Verierre, I was done. It was only about €22 for the two of us to hop a train from Verierre to Chartres, with a connection in Rambouillet, so I talked Brent into doing that. We made it to Chartres, and to our host's place, by 6:00 on the nose.

Chartres is beautiful and interesting. The old city is narrow streets and old old buildings, including the impressive Chartres Cathedral. The old city is built at the top of a steep hill. After settling in to our B&B, we went for a walk and slogged up the hill to the old city, had a look around, and had some amazing canard at Brasserie les Changes.

We decided to book a second night in Chartres to give ourselves some time to rest and do some research. Since I've confirmed, the hard way, that 40km with fully-loaded paniers is about all I'm good for in a day (exactly the same as Australia), it gives me a good idea of how far we'll make it in a day over the next while. I do expect my distance to improve, but time will tell.

Photos

Crazy staircase at Pierre's
Narrow rue in Chartres
Chartres

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