AubrysInFrance: Part II - The First Day

After a scenic train trip from Lyon we arrived at the station at Evian-Les-Bains, on Lac Leman, at 9:30AM, June 12, ready to go.

David had been to Evian-Les-Bains two years before and thought he knew the layout of the road out of town towards Geneva. One wrong turn later, after we had ridden down a hill, turned around and pedaled back up, we were truly on our way. The weather was cool, partly cloudy, light breezes, good biking weather. We admired the lake and surrounding mountains, confident that we had everything under control.

Turn-of-the-Century Station, Evian-Les-Bains

We passed through small towns along the lake, trying to avoid the most heavily traveled roads. Then – about five miles out of Evian-Les-Bains, after having stopped at a gas station to check our tires, we were pedaling along a frontage road by a small shopping center when David’s bike seat fell off, pieces strewing onto the roadway! We stopped and picked up the parts, making sure we got everything. Inspection revealed that the clamp bolt had snapped off. We looked around, and there, 200 yards away, was a Decathlon sporting goods store, and it had, what luck, a bike repair department. The technician managed to find a bolt that would serve, and in 45 minutes we were again on our way. The technician refused payment – we would have been dead in the water without him.

David and the repaired seat outside Decathlon

Off we went again, admiring the view, sure that our troubles were behind us. We reached Douvaine, near the Swiss border a bit after noon, with no further problems. We were feeling pretty good at this point, as Douvaine had originally been our first day’s goal. With our early start, we would now have no trouble getting through Geneva after lunch and then finding a place to stay in one of the small French towns on the other side of Geneva. We enjoyed a nice, leisurely lunch at an outside table at the Brasserie ‘Le Sarde’, with David having roast pork with a mild curry sauce and Roger enjoying a huge salade Niçoise.

Lunch in Douvaine

Geneva is a gorgeous city, set at the end of the lake, with an old side-wheel excursion steamer cruising the area, a fountain and the many large estates and public buildings along the land side of the water front. There is a lot of money in Geneva both from the Swiss banking industry and the many high-paid United Nations positions based in Geneva.

David with Geneva and its fountain behind

Geneva harbor with side-wheeler in background

Roger had a nice map of the city, so we managed to thread our way through downtown, dodging trams, buses, Porsches, Ferraris, and Maseratis. After a bit of a climb, we emerged into a semi-rural area with small newish housing developments interspersed with fields planted to various agricultural crops. We were headed for Chancy near the French border, where the internet had said was a hotel. We arrived there about 5PM, certain we were done for the day, or close to it. We sat down for a beer, talked to the gentleman running the place and quickly learned that there was no longer a hotel on the premises. We were informed that there was a hotel in a nearby town, so off we went; at worst, we would need to go to Seyssel, about 35 kilometers away, but figured that we could do that in 2-1/2 hours. A tough day, but doable.

After again going down a hill in the wrong direction, we reversed course and reached the next town only to find another hotel that no longer was in the hotel business. By now we had covered about 80 kilometers, farther than ever before. Ever optimistic, we thought we still could be done by 7:30 or so. We reckoned without narrow, steep, winding roads, and the delays caused by stopping in every town to look at maps and enquire after hotels. Some of the hills were tough – my legs were cramping and I found it was a lot easier and almost as fast to get off and walk up the hill. Roger did not have as tough a time as he has been biking longer, and has regularly taken 40-45 kilometer trips around Lyon.

Finally, about 7:15PM, he called his brother-in-law, Gerard, who managed to get us a reservation at a great hotel in Seyssel. After struggling up and down a few more hills, we hit a fairly flat stretch for the last six miles or so, arriving at the hotel at about 8:45PM, more than 11 hours and 110 kilometers after stepping off the train.

A couple of hotel staff were taking a break outside, and Roger asked if the kitchen was still open – ‘no, sorry’ was the reply and Roger’s face fell about four feet before he caught on to the joke.