The Bicycle Adventure Club - Come Ride With Us!

Rescheduled - Bike and Barge: Bruges to Paris

May 14th to May 28th

Ride Coordinator: Albert Balingit
Report by: Diana Dreyer

The Bruges to Paris Bike and Barge had been originally scheduled for May 2021, but was rescheduled for May 2022, due to COVID.  Covid precautions were established and implemented. The Bruges to Paris trip immediately followed the Amsterdam to Bruges trip, with many BAC members doing both. The Zwaanjja, Little Swan, slept 24 passengers and had a marvelous crew of 4, who maintained, loaded and unloaded the bikes at each stop.  There were also 2 bike tour guides, who led the daily rides.  Riders had the option of joining a shorter or longer route most days.  A few riders opted to ride without the guides, following provided maps.  We fell into the daily routine of an ample breakfast buffet at 7:00, including packing our lunch.  Departed on our bikes at 8:00-8:30.  The barge then left of navigate the canals, rivers and locks to arrive at our next docking destination, where we would meet it at 4:00-4:30.  A delicious 3-course dinner at 6:30, followed by a group meeting on the sundeck.  The standouts of the Little Swan were: the crew who were consistently pleasant and helpful, the restaurant-quality food, and the sundeck where we could hang our clothes out to dry, congregate, exercise, or just enjoy the scenery.

We joined up in Bruges, Belgium, and cycled into Gent. There we enjoyed a short city canal tour before heading to the countryside.  Each day, we rode to or through a historic city that included fascinating short guided tours of cathedrals, ruins, museums, or the town itself.  Then we cycled through lovely farm lands or countryside, often stopping in quaint villages for a coffee break or lunch picnic.  An unusual, yet fun, lunch spot one day was at a skydiving school.  The riding surfaces varied each day: asphalt, cobblestones, bricks, gravel, cement, wooden slats and narrow dirt tire tracks.  Much of the area in Belgium and France had seen intense fighting during World War I and II, so there were many opportunities to see sights from World War I.  Cycling through the Somme Valley, the area of the famous Battle of the Somme, was sobering, yet we all valued what we learned there.  The town of Péronne had an excellent Great War Museum.  In Compiégne, we rode to the forest where the WWI Armistice was signed.  The itinerary was well-balanced with historic sites, gorgeous countryside riding, and art.  Cambrai had an excellent museum; Auvers-sur-Oise allowed us to see places that were painted by Vincent Van Gogh and the burial site of him and his brother Theo.  Riding through the forests and grounds surrounding the Chateau de Chantilly provided a sense of how royalty once lived and visiting the castle itself was a visit to the second largest art collection in France, second only to the Louvre. It was a perfect ending to sail into Paris on our barge.