The Lakes reminds me of this new album. Also there is a poet Alphonse de Lamartine that admired Julie Charles, the wife of the famous physicist Jacques Charles. The two planned to meet at Lac du Bourget in August 1817, but she died of tuberculosis. Lamartine returned to the lake alone. The poem he wrote about her is called The Lake. I think this could be some inspiration for the lakes. There was also a group called the Lake Poets. This all just seems so intertwined.
Well it poured with rain all night and still looked a bit dodgy this morning. Nevertheless we were ready for our 8am collection. Despite a little bit of rain enroute we had great weather for our ride.
Today we started at Lac du Bourget. We went in the opposite direction to Friday’s ride and deviated from the lake loop onto the Via Rhona, a cycle way that goes from Lake Geneva to down near Marseille (at least it will when it’s finished. Apparently there are some bits still where you duck out into the road for a bit). It’s something I had read about and would like to do.
So as we meander from the lake to the Rhone and back again with a constant view of Grand Colombier you can imagine the scenery was pretty lovely.
Denis and Jose again went of and did a big climb while I stayed with Babette and Lionel. We all regrouped back in Bourget de Lac and had a cold drink before heading back to the cars.
By the time we got back to St Jean du Maurienne it was about 3:30pm. Lionel had invited us all for lunch, his house is about a 2 minute walk away from our campground.
We had a lovely lunch of like a bruchetta style pizza and pasta (not the best for me but I took my naughty drops). It was delicious and just what you wanted after a ride. We contributed a bottle of rose.
We have had an amazing time here and Denis, Babette and Lionel have been so generous with their time and hospitality. Lionel even sent us off with 4 bottles of wine/cremant from the area (in fact some from the vineyards we have cycled past on the last two rides).
Late afternoon we wandered into town for last minute souvenir shopping before stopping by for a g&t at the bar.
Back at Tessi Jose put the bikes away, we showered and had nibbles (no dinner after our late lunch). We will be very sad to leave here but it’s time to start making tracks towards L’Escala.
Das erste Mal auf große Bustour mit Ilumi. Sie hat gewichtstechnisch auf jeden Fall mit all dem Hundefutter mehr Gepäck als ich... Nachdem wir bis zum Genfer See im Dauerregen gefahren sind, begrüßte uns Frankreich sonnig. Wir haben für zwei Nächte auf einem alten Hof im nirgendwo in der Nähe der Rhone und des Lac du Bourget in einem alten Zirkuswagen geschlafen. Ilumi testete sowohl die Rhone als auch den See. In der zweiten Nacht gab es ein Unwetter wie ich es schon lange nicht mehr erlebt habe. Heute ging es dann der Sonne entgegen bis zum Meer kurz vor die spanische Grenze. Bei Sonnenschein und Wind dürfen Hunde hier gerade noch überall an den Strand, an dem wir auch einfach Mal fast ganz alleine waren. Superschön und wild. Und endlich wieder barfuß im Sand rumlaufen. Megaaa! Ilumi fand es auch super! Ab morgen wird im Bus geschlafen... Mal sehen wie das wird. Heute haben wir auf jeden Fall aufgrund der wenigen Buchungen ein Upgrade bekommen und können heute Nacht aufs Meer schauen, welches auch einfach direkt vor unserer Nase ist:-)
Le fameux ponton de la maison des pêcheurs de conjux, sur le lac du bourget, illustré sur une aquarelle à l'encre de Chine par JalelEdine, après un magnifique séjour dans la région. Watercolor and ink artwork by JalelEdine. Bourget lake in Conjux - France 🇫🇷 #art #dailyart #watercolors #inkdrawing https://www.instagram.com/p/CpwuoqINCgx/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=