A RIDE THROUGH FRANCE

Auckland Star, Volume LV, Issue 171, 21 July 1924, Page 11

A RIDE THROUGH FRANCE

NEW ZEALANDERONA"BIKE." MUSEUMS TO PARIS.

(By T. CLARKSONK

(Conclusion I. , „ iitp start from Moulins and Mo a igM drizzle, which continued' ninto a life Pierre—3l kilos—and P 1, "* . T had perforce, to terminate Hlv'B ridsoUhat abruptly at a '*! • little Village named Sancoucin. £S? 23 n.n was entirely through ■■•*vstaral country, and though a fc* Jg' were to be seen at farm work 1 fvrere still mostly m evidence. But •SftTroail donkeys seemed more ""Lrofls than in any other local ty, and j fSSd one to whom a peculiar role \ ; £ allotted. Some ploughmg had ! 'i. done and the. donkey «ac put in; t W "lad of two huge stolid white %o Jfademe, the peasant's wife, was 0 1' L on the donkey with tongue and TSto do his part, while her husband ' f ,lYing attention to the oxen and Sj«ae plough. They were a queerly '3 quintet, but the work was being f^ c which, after all, was the main thißg, Fine Cathedral. ifrit day, when hmmd for Bour S e6 ' 5 ° iiw I struck a gale ahead and ' £v am! It was one of those occa- • « when one was tempted to throw Etfto into the first ditch and take a I 1 for Paris. However by alternately | King and riding, I gradually emerged Tmthe rainy zone, and by the time I ! "Lily laboured into Bourges the sun Jμ once more in view. In this very "' Indent town the chief attraction is a , Tdificent cathedral, said to be the . X in France. This building was com- •■ l-ced in the 12th century, and was not completed until 100 years later, jlgtt* though to compensate for my wretched experiences in the early part nf tie day, the weather presented an mtire change as I departed from Bourges. The wind had almost died down and with a perfect roadway, I ran into Vfazon, another 32 kilos, before nightf,lL The air was quite delightful and the run very pleasant. The country, Be that from Bourges, continued to be 'oily of fair quality and uninteresting. : liree , areas were swampy. Light bush occurred in places, but, generally, the coisrtry was not to be compared with tlst in the south. However, it was a jlorious day and one could hear the cutkoo at times. : I saw a - .group of young wild ducke run across the road, J rabbit started 1 up. close by and a pheasant rose in the air. about the same tine.- Everything talked of spring, and i cycling felt good.' - - "■'Aβ the evening sun was setting I rode up to Orleans and, dismounting, watched from the big bridge which spans the loire, the bright rays lighting up the City of Orleans on the north side of (be fiver: It was a strikißg-and beauti- • fttl' view, with two huge towers of a '• cathedral dominating the city's architec- < ture. Just at the entrance to the bridge was a statue in black metal of the City ' and of St. Jeanne d'Arc. The Maid was ■■ depicted holding a sword in one hand ; and a banner in the other, pressing f orj mrd to battle. Orleans is an attractive ; and up-to-date city of 20,000 people. Gay Paris. I XeklM a y> thajifcU" <tb- an early start i md Superb weather, I made Paris (120 ; kilo) by night. The day's journey proI vided Borne of the best roads I had yet ■ been on and certainly the worse. A • lengthy portion of the Orleans-Paris Road hs got well out of hand, and is overdue i, for the repairs that are just being coni- ! nienced.. Then the final stages for about 25 kilo is stone blocked, which is execrable for the push bike. The country I passed : through \yas all agricultural, and farmers were busy everywhere putting in the new season's crop. In the cool of the evening, between six and seven ; o'clock, the whole countryside, men, women, and children, with teams of horses, ploughs and harrows and drills were toiling with feverish haste, still J going for their dear life to get the last hit done before dark. They are certainly , an industrious people. I At Paris I put my bike aside for a couple of days and spent the time sightseeing in the beautiful French capital. Under existing arrangements this can J he done very conveniently and very cheaply by travelling in char-a-bancs, under the care of a Frenchman, who provides the necessary information in the English language. No prior arrangements are necessary, for in the centre of the city are at least half a dozen large firms all catering for this business. For II francs, equal to about 4/6, I travelled in a morning excursion for about 3 hours, and for 18 francs on an afternoon tour, which, occupied a little longer. The fopowihg day, Sunday, for 40 francs, I joined a merry party for an all aay tour thjit included a wonderful trip to VerMillee Palace, Jlalinaison and the Trianon. On this latter trip we must lavD covered fifty miles or more in actual running, and as the -weather was perfect, with glorious sunshine, it would oe hard to imagine a more enjoyable outing. I shall make no attempt to describe these sights and will only say. that it was remarkable how much we saw in those two days. * Apart from the charm of its glorious history, Paris is a very beautiful city and makes an appeal that is irresistible. To the Coast. cou ple of days in Paris, I hit tuc trail once more, and made Boos, a Pleasant little village, 10 kilos south of Koiien, where I put up at a charming little inn. A bright little French woman, with a few English words in her vocabulary, gave an affirmative reply when I asked for a room. A wash under an oat of door tap, and I was soon doing justice to a substantial meal, cleanly Uti Charmingly served by two young tamsels, who presently sat down to their <Wn meal with the rest of the family in an adjoining kitchen. One of the merry »ttle party had a good singing voice, and as. she carolled away some French songs asi an accompaniment to the clearing of the dishes, the effect was quite pleasing. The following morning I was up betimes for the last day of the tour? and ""ore nine o'clock was looking down Jrom surrounding heights on the Seine, fioue s P lenditll y situated city of Dieo™ TV- ,5 ' final Eta S e > E °«en to S *£ hls, as in all tbe country aorta of Paris, the outlook was one of amm r g F, kms ' all weU "'ltivated and apparently in large holdings. By and "? the road improved, and for the last ■~83™ e8 , mto . D i«PP.e it was tar-surfaced m »ade perfect riding. "So' I jogged •Jong, into the -French "port just after « Cl ? Ck, ** ero l s ? ,d ~™y b *e for lendon and to "° k ' steamer f ° r j

A Charming; People. And having concluded my cycling trip through France, I am free to state that as an adventure it was a complete success. Only one important factor was lacking—a companion. To anyone who feels like following in my wheel tracks, j I would say "Find a mate." But despite this drawback the experience was one that was full of interest and pleasure, and one that furnished mc with a great admiration for the people through whose country I travelled. I was a stranger, a foreigner, and being ignorant of the language, was necessarily at the mercy of unscrupulous innkeepers or other tradesmen. Yet throughout my tour I was treated with the utmost courtesy. Kot once by look or deed was I permitted to feel that I was a foreigner, and to the best of my knowledge I was not overcharged in any single instance. My clumsy efforts to make myself understood were received with the utmost patience and kindliness, and every possible assistance was given to make my journey a pleasant one. If there is any anti-British feeling in France, it is confined to the politicians and the Press, it is certainly not found in the hearts of the French people. The charm of that fortnight's journey remains with mc as an abiding memory in which the high lights are the glorious beauty and productiveness of Southern France, the extraordinary industry of its peasant population and the courteous, sincere hospitality of its people.