The memory for this blog is full (all those pictures!)
For postings after 29 November 2011 go to www.mylifeasabike4.blogspot.com
For the postings after 15 August 2011 go to www.mylifeasabike3.blogspot.com
For postings between 10 June 2011 and 15 August 2011, please go to:
www.mylifeasabike2.blogspot.com
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
Friday, June 10, 2011
6.10.2011 Ride: All That Glitters...
Posting in arrears is making my head spin, especially since I'm writing about yesterday's ride when I already rode this morning.
I made it on on the streets of Paree by 6:45AM yesterday morning and the traffic was still relatively light for a large city. In London, the streets would have already been heavy with traffic. I was relying on the Velibe bike system to do the daily ride. This is basically the same system in London that was causing me so much grief. Fortunately, here, the system was in good working order and I had no problems getting a bike from the stations.
A good number of commuter bicyclists as well as scooters and motorcyclists. And, I came across this skater who was making as good time as any bicyclist.
For the most part, cars are respectful of bicyclists, though, close passing of vehicles were par for the course. On a small street, I was easily holding my own with the heavy traffic.
I happened to wander down a street that had several fruit stores, bakeries and butcher shops. I stopped to buy some strawberries and cherries to bring back to the hotel room.
A very nice buffet spread for breakfast by the hotel and a bit of miscommunication made for an interesting menu fare. By a sign that said yogurt, was a large bowl of what appeared to be yogurt. I mentioned to Carol that it tasted rather rich for yogurt, After enjoying a bowl full with the mini crepes, I made some further inquiries and found out it was actually sour cream. Well, it was tasty.
We headed to Versailles with some mixed feelings. As I have mentioned, "grandeur" doesn't really sit well with me and I find it difficult to separate the historical past of such places from the purely artistic view.
I'm not sure if the hotel room that we are staying in is much larger than the space in the railed area of Louis XIV's bed. This was in his smaller residence.
Marie Antoinette's bed. There was a small door off to the side where she exited to escape the rioting mob that had entered the palace.
To my delight renting bikes to get around the grounds was an option. We did get caught in the rain.
I made it on on the streets of Paree by 6:45AM yesterday morning and the traffic was still relatively light for a large city. In London, the streets would have already been heavy with traffic. I was relying on the Velibe bike system to do the daily ride. This is basically the same system in London that was causing me so much grief. Fortunately, here, the system was in good working order and I had no problems getting a bike from the stations.
A good number of commuter bicyclists as well as scooters and motorcyclists. And, I came across this skater who was making as good time as any bicyclist.
For the most part, cars are respectful of bicyclists, though, close passing of vehicles were par for the course. On a small street, I was easily holding my own with the heavy traffic.
I happened to wander down a street that had several fruit stores, bakeries and butcher shops. I stopped to buy some strawberries and cherries to bring back to the hotel room.
A very nice buffet spread for breakfast by the hotel and a bit of miscommunication made for an interesting menu fare. By a sign that said yogurt, was a large bowl of what appeared to be yogurt. I mentioned to Carol that it tasted rather rich for yogurt, After enjoying a bowl full with the mini crepes, I made some further inquiries and found out it was actually sour cream. Well, it was tasty.
We headed to Versailles with some mixed feelings. As I have mentioned, "grandeur" doesn't really sit well with me and I find it difficult to separate the historical past of such places from the purely artistic view.
Top of gate at Versailles.
The main chateau was very busy when we arrived, so we went out to the gardens and made our way to the "smaller" getaway chateaus that the royalty had built which was a 20 minute walk from the main palace. While there were some hints of the grand opulence at this getaway residences, I tried to focus on smaller details. I believe I took a liking to the rose weaving and plaster wall relief below because of their elegant simplicity.
Back in the grounds, this large stump sitting on its side measured about 8 feet high.
I'm not sure if the hotel room that we are staying in is much larger than the space in the railed area of Louis XIV's bed. This was in his smaller residence.
Louis XIV's bed in main chateau.
Marie Antoinette's bed. There was a small door off to the side where she exited to escape the rioting mob that had entered the palace.
What I really revel in are the small details such as this window lock.
To my delight renting bikes to get around the grounds was an option. We did get caught in the rain.
Ceiling in Hall of Mirrors.
An interesting side note: Louis XIV had a silver throne and his throne room was filled with silver and gold. But, a new war was raging and he was bankrupt so he ordered the throne melted down to make coins so that he could finance the war.
Back at the hotel. Simple pleasure of viewing windows in the buildings across from ours.
Looking back on yesterday, the highlights were the bike ride in the morning and stopping to get the strawberries and then the wonderful dinner I had with Carol in the evening in a small out-of-way Italian (yes, Italian) restaurant where I had an authentic Caesar Salad with anchovies topped with a poached egg.
Today, we are headed for Musee D'Orsay which has lots of Impressionists paintings and then Musee de Rodin, my most favorite sculptor.
6.10.2011 Ride: 70mins. 10 miles. 52 degrees. Miles YTD: 3,510.19
6.9.2011 Ride: London to Paris
Whew! Very hectic past 24 heures. Getting ready to head out so this will be a quick posting of yesterday's ride even though I did already get in today's ride. Lots of pictures and very little text.
The plan was to take the train through the Chunnel in the morning, so, I did a very early morning ride. with London having a sunrise of 4:40, the challenge was on to do a sunrise ride.
I really like this shot of the photographer waiting for the sun to rise to so that he can get St Paul in good lighting. What I especially like is with his leg up and the legs from the tripod he appears as an amputee who is praying to the church.
Our mood changed dramatically when a Frenchman, who spoke and understood no English, offered to take out picture together in front of the tower. When he took the camera, he gave it back to me and went to pose with Carol. We had some good laughs as I went to pose with what I though was his wife but was his sister.
I'm getting the evil eye. Need to go. Lost of variuos thoughts about the trip but will have to write about all that at the end of the trip. Without proof-reading, this is being psoted. :-)
9 June 20011 Ride: 60mins. 8 miles. Miles YTD: 3,500.19
The plan was to take the train through the Chunnel in the morning, so, I did a very early morning ride. with London having a sunrise of 4:40, the challenge was on to do a sunrise ride.
One last aerial shot of the tables.
The hired bike from London Bikes. I highly recommend them if you are in London.
Yes. That's 4:19 AM on Big Ben
St Paul's & cranes at sunrise.
Falling asleep on the train as we went through the tunnel, the trip under the Channel seemed so short that I wasn't certain we were actually in France until I finally spotted some cars on the road with the traffic driving in the right side.
De-boarding, and catching a glimpse of the way the woman in front of me walked with such an air of confidence and elegance, I knew I was in Paris.
At the train station, Gare du Nord, which is comparable to Grand Central Station, Carol and I were a bit overwhelmed as we were both suffering from the lack of sleep. It took us awhile to figure out how to get Metro tickets and that was after paying .70 Euros for the privilege of using the toilets, fending of pretty teenage faux deaf girls trying to collect money and young boys trying to sell us 10 metro tickets, cheap. Arriving at the hotel, a jack hammer was in progress two rooms down so we asked to be moved. Let's go for a walk, we said and we headed for the Eiffel Tower. Cynic that I am, I was truly impressed. It is an wonderous sight and lived up to the hype.
Our mood changed dramatically when a Frenchman, who spoke and understood no English, offered to take out picture together in front of the tower. When he took the camera, he gave it back to me and went to pose with Carol. We had some good laughs as I went to pose with what I though was his wife but was his sister.
Two different views of the Tower.
On the banks of the Seine
Some views from our boat ride on the Seine.
I don't remember.
Bridge Detail
Musee D'orsay. Was a train station and turned into a Museum
Many, many interesting house barges. I like that this one has satellite network.
Back on the Bank.
Arch de Triumphe. With all the traffic, I'm just wondering exactly what has triumphed.
Atop The Palais Grande.
9 June 20011 Ride: 60mins. 8 miles. Miles YTD: 3,500.19
Wednesday, June 8, 2011
6.8.2011 Ride: "Mind The Gap"
A good night sleep. In fact, I awoke at 6:30 London time and was ready to go out riding. However, I did not prepare the night before and navigating around the room with two other sleeping souls would have been rather challenging. My goal for today was to head out to Richmond park, the royal park dating back to the 1600s, and to get in some good biking along the 7 mile road that circles through.
On my way to breakfast, I had to stop and take another aerial dinning shot for my collection.
These shots are somewhat like "Where's Waldo?" in that one has to look closely to catch the details of what the people are doing, which, to me, is part of what make the pictures interesting.
Walking down the stairwell in the hotel, I came across this view of the eye.
Rain was in the forecast with a 30% chance of scattered showers. For some reason, 30% here in London seems to have more weight than in Fayetteville. Whereas in the States, 30% ends up probably not raining, here it usually ends up raining (at least that has been my experience the three days I have been here). I had thought of riding from the hotel to the park, a distance of 8 miles but given that I had no tools in case of a flat tyre, no maps in case I got lost and no phone service in case I got stranded, riding down did not seem to be the wisest choice. So, I opted for taking the train to the town of Richmond and hiring a bike there.
I was told that the park was filled with deer and I saw a few right away. Of course, we have plenty of deer back home that love to pick our garden bare, but these were royal deer with lineage back to Henry VIII.
I do not think that the boy's lineage can be traced back that far but he sure has a commanding look.
This stump was interesting but what really made it interesting was that it seemed worthy of a supporting post making me very curious about how old it was and its history.
Much of the views along the roadside were of opens fields with very mature trees scattered about. Occasionally, the ground was covered with a thick carpet of ferns.
I probably could have done an entire photographic study of stump formations in the park.
For Angie: Norman and rider, whose name I did not get. The woman kept apologizing for Norman because he was slobbering excessively. Yes, he was, but he was also very nice.
I saw several people with dogs that appeared to be very well trained or behaved in that they stayed with their owners. One man had a gaggle of about six dogs who were following him away from the road to the fields. Once they were a safe distance away, he gave a command with his arm and the dogs all took off to go play.
Not really any flowers to speak of in the park, so when I came across these below, they really stood out.
When it comes to royalty, I figure there is no such thing as too many shots.
I noticed these mounds all over the fields and they reminded me of fire ant mounds back in the States but I didn't think there would be anything like that here in England. I asked a park worker and they were indeed ant mounds that were hundreds of years old. They are formed by the Yellow Meadow Ants and the average size of the mounds I saw were about 2-3 feet wide and almost a foot high. Several hundred seem to cover the fields. They are very territorial with other ants but I didn't read anything about them biting people. They live deep underground and the mounds are a result of them pushing soil to the top year after year. The queens can live for 22 years.
I always like to get a picture of the bikes I have used along my year-long journey. I forgot to do so before they put it away but here is a shot of the shop along the Thames. While the owner wasn't renting bikes, he was working on refinishing a sailboat just a few metres away.
This is Henry, a bulldog with character. Especially when he is viewed from the rear.
Often, on the train and in the stations, the PA will announce to be aware of the gap between the platform and the train as there can sometimes be quite a step up. As I waited for my train at Westminster Station this morning, the PA kept repeating "Mind the gap." Hearing it over and over, the term came to take on deeper meaning, a term that was stated when a person wanted to get a philosophical point across. A cliche that seems important but is so broad that it becomes irrelevant. Anyway, I like it. Mind the gap.
Coming back to the hotel, the empty tables conveyed a very striking, elegant and abstract look.
On my way to breakfast, I had to stop and take another aerial dinning shot for my collection.
Walking down the stairwell in the hotel, I came across this view of the eye.
Rain was in the forecast with a 30% chance of scattered showers. For some reason, 30% here in London seems to have more weight than in Fayetteville. Whereas in the States, 30% ends up probably not raining, here it usually ends up raining (at least that has been my experience the three days I have been here). I had thought of riding from the hotel to the park, a distance of 8 miles but given that I had no tools in case of a flat tyre, no maps in case I got lost and no phone service in case I got stranded, riding down did not seem to be the wisest choice. So, I opted for taking the train to the town of Richmond and hiring a bike there.
I was told that the park was filled with deer and I saw a few right away. Of course, we have plenty of deer back home that love to pick our garden bare, but these were royal deer with lineage back to Henry VIII.
Much of the views along the roadside were of opens fields with very mature trees scattered about. Occasionally, the ground was covered with a thick carpet of ferns.
Road view through the park
I like how this royal deer seems to be kissing the ground.
I saw several people with dogs that appeared to be very well trained or behaved in that they stayed with their owners. One man had a gaggle of about six dogs who were following him away from the road to the fields. Once they were a safe distance away, he gave a command with his arm and the dogs all took off to go play.
Not really any flowers to speak of in the park, so when I came across these below, they really stood out.
Close up of closed blossoms further up on stalk.
I noticed these mounds all over the fields and they reminded me of fire ant mounds back in the States but I didn't think there would be anything like that here in England. I asked a park worker and they were indeed ant mounds that were hundreds of years old. They are formed by the Yellow Meadow Ants and the average size of the mounds I saw were about 2-3 feet wide and almost a foot high. Several hundred seem to cover the fields. They are very territorial with other ants but I didn't read anything about them biting people. They live deep underground and the mounds are a result of them pushing soil to the top year after year. The queens can live for 22 years.
I always like to get a picture of the bikes I have used along my year-long journey. I forgot to do so before they put it away but here is a shot of the shop along the Thames. While the owner wasn't renting bikes, he was working on refinishing a sailboat just a few metres away.
This is Henry, a bulldog with character. Especially when he is viewed from the rear.
I decided to go into a small vegetarian cafe for lunch which made a good balance to the very traditional British breakfast I had in the morning. When I came out it was raining very steadily. The rain gods were good to me today as I had great weather for the ride.
Since the Richmond underground station was the end of the line, it was very quiet until the first stop when 50 eight year-olds on a field trip to Kew Gardens descended on our car. They were on for several stops and I talked with a couple of them for a bit. It was fun having their energy fill our car and the silence was very striking when they got off a later. This hat left behind seemed rather poignant.
Often, on the train and in the stations, the PA will announce to be aware of the gap between the platform and the train as there can sometimes be quite a step up. As I waited for my train at Westminster Station this morning, the PA kept repeating "Mind the gap." Hearing it over and over, the term came to take on deeper meaning, a term that was stated when a person wanted to get a philosophical point across. A cliche that seems important but is so broad that it becomes irrelevant. Anyway, I like it. Mind the gap.
Coming back to the hotel, the empty tables conveyed a very striking, elegant and abstract look.
It's nice to get this posting completed while it is still relatively early in the day. Tomorrow we head for Paris. I seem to have adjusted to London time so I'm contemplating a sunrise ride before we depart. The forecast is for clear skies and 52 degrees. Not bad.
Today's ride: 1hr 50mins. 18.5 miles. 60-65 degrees. 17mph winds. Miles YTD: 3,492.19
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)