Blue Marble Travel

Picturebook scenery, turbulent history, and the ultimate hedonistic gastronomy combine in a river valley that today is an exercise in harmony. From cavemen to merlot, religious wars to roast duck with sour cherries, the caressing of the senses is constant.Fortified castles look down from hilltops - or maybe you do, watching the lazy bends of the river stretch before you in the summer haze. Towns and bridges harmoneously blend into the hills, built as they are of the same stone. Flocks of silky geese surround idyllic farm houses. Picnic tables nestle in bends in the river.

Our ride follows the Dordogne from the wine towns of Libourne and St-Emilion to the national monument that is Sarlat and the abbey town of Souillac, detouring up the Vèzère Valley on the way, for a look at Lascaux and the fortified abbey at St-Amand-de-Coly.

A mention of the Alps evokes images of snow-capped peaks, perhaps an occasional thought of yodeling, or Heidi drinking hot chocolate. OK, but beyond the cough drop commercials, the worldís most beautiful lakes lie collected in deep valleys: Geneva, Maggiore, Lugano, Como. Clear blue, reflecting the warm summer sun, flower-covered villas, palm trees, and snow-capped mountains.Alpine biking is not the obligatory workout youíd think. Unlike the Rockies, the Alpsí base is close to sea level, increasing vertical drops (and making slopes too steep for most cyclists!). So communication arteries, and our routes, follow the valleys. For variety, we train to the top of an occasional Alp, and roll back down, often on our bikes.Throughout our Alpine Lakes trip you will experience incomparable and world-famous scenery. But the scenic differences between parts of the Alpine chain will more than hold your interest. Language, culture, climate and especially cuisine change with each border crossing (twice without ever leaving Switzerland).Glacier skiing in Zermatt and an optional Venice visit for boating on the canals complete the stunning picture painted by this trip.

Italy as a country is relatively recent, but unity has reigned in Tuscany since the 15th century. Etruscan heritage, climate, light, richness of the agricultural lands, geography, natural beauty... all are advanced as explanations of the ìTuscan Miracle,î an extraordinary concentration of artistic and philosophical talent that made this tiny land the birthplace of the Italian Renaissance, and today leaves a mark throughout western civilization. Every Tuscan walled town, city square, or church window is an art history case study.But biking here is ultimately a sensual experience, not a university course. Most involuntarily put art and architecture in the back seat. The velvet softness of the Tuscan hills and the equally soft colors of the landscapes bathe you as you cycle down country lanes. And Tuscan cuisine is wonderfully accessible. Waves of Italian immigration to the Anglo world have made it familiar. Forget the French and their calfís liver in raspberry vinegar: we know this stuff! Pastas galore, fresh tomato sauces, pizza, olive oil.... For the adventurous, plenty of discoveries remain to be made, and then washed down with a hearty chianti, whose vines line our route.

Scandinavians are friendly, relaxed, secure folk. You'd feel secure too, if all your friends drove Volvos and your health club was a government program.

This is an unusual part of the world, full of cultural surprises & breathtaking scenery. Those who think Tolkien was writing fiction may find it all a bit unnerving. Hobbit houses in Denmark and Rohan horsemen in Norway will have you looking for elves and goblins in no time. Maybe they're Swedish.

Denmark has a nationwide system of interstate... bike paths, and a crime rate so low that some people leave their bikes unlocked in downtown Copenhagen. Sparsely-populated Norway (the people of Los Angeles on the land area of California) mandates public access to private land, operates more daily passenger trains than Amtrak, and makes Lutheran pastors employees of the state.

As for the scenery: scenic Denmark has zero in common with scenic Norway. On the one hand, the hospitable comfort of wood-paneled pubs, and thatch-roofed cottages on trim farms. On the other, mountains and fjords that once demanded time to reach and effort to visit, and still demand imagination to grasp.

The scenery gets progressively wilder and more beautiful as we advance: towns are spaced farther and farther apart, cuisine is a purer reflection of the surroundings, the few locals are increasingly surprised by your helmets....

No region of France is a greater contrast between harmony and strife. The Hundred Yearsí War, Catholic - Protestant struggles of not so very long ago, the Camisard revolt... are are still remembered and discussed, and serve as obstacles to marriages between neighboring valleys.

And yet... the towns are made of stone carved from the hills behind them, the agriculture is organic without trying, and the sheep look pretty much the same whether papist or not. Armed with 200 yearsí (relative) peace and prosperity, these are lands that have flourished, and whose harmonious beauty is beyond compare.

At the end of the ride we drop from the mountains to the far side of the Atlantic - Mediterranean divide, and arrive in Provence. The final riding day of this trip is unsurpassed for its startling contrast. You feel like you have arrived on another planet, not in another region.

Wonderful biking, good wines, food which has never seen a chemist - the essence of France, but which delightfully overcomes its stereotypes. And a chance to plumb the depths of a fascinating (and tasty) culture.

This non-flat land (thatís Holland, silly) abounds with fun. Friendly people with a lively history inhabit adorable villages. Islands offer storybook seascapes and endless skies, the settings of Hans Christian Andersenís fairy tales. Pubs pour Carlsberg and Tuborg to a plethora of night owls. The Danes are known as the 'Latins of Scandinavia,' and they make a concerted effort to live up to the billing. A weekend in Copenhagen is a sight to behold!And most of this is accessible especially (only?) to cyclists. Short distances and town centers closed to autos encourage the Danes themselves to bike. Whole families pedal down the road. Parents tow carts loaded with groceries, camping equipment, and the junior members of the clan, while older kids wobble along under their own power, as shall we. Marked cycle routes, chosen for their beauty, form a national network. They are often endowed with priority over intersecting roads, a priority which we use to our fullest advantage!

As a cultural reference, Julie Andrews and the ìSound of You-Know-Whatî are fading from view. And the gingerbread houses, flowerboxes, alpine pastures, perfect churches..., were only a film set, anyway, right?Well, no, actually: they live here, in the foothills of the Austrian Alps, romantically known as the Salzkammergut (itís more idyllic than it sounds). Indeed, we theorize that the filmís success must have had at least as much to do with its setting as with its story. Come and draw your own conclusions! Bike through emerald meadows sprinkled with flowers, and along the shores of lakes which admirably reflect their surrounding snow-capped peaks. Glide over inland seas as smooth as glass, in electric boats as silent as the swans that swim alongside.Fresh trout, wheat beers, world-class coffee and the most beautiful pastries, are served on terraces which look upon scenes so romantic that it is hard to take them seriously.And everywhere, the glory and opulance of Baroque and Rococo architecture, legacies of the Austro-Hungarian empire at its mightiest. From the sophistication of Salzburg to the bourgeois elegance of Bad Ischl, to the back-country magnificance of the Ennstal, this is one of our most beautiful rides.

Mushroom caves, troglodyte houses, wine towns and their tastings. Da Vinciís last home, and a museum to his inventions. Sound-and-light stories projected on castle facades, blackberries by the side of the road, rock dancing in vaulted 16th century cellars, a museum of old buses....Never a dull moment, as we follow the valley of Franceís longest river through the self-assured heartland that is the essence of France to the French themselves.

St-Emilion, Monbazillac, the ìCÙtesî of Nuits & Beaune.... If you can cycle through a town not on a wine label, weíll treat you to a glass of gros rouge qui tache. (Literally, ìfat red which stains.î How poetic). Vineyards surround us for much of our route, and this is your definitive chance to decide whether you are a Cabernet boy or a Pinot Noir girl....Foie gras, snails, roast duck with drippings, whole hams in cream sauces.... De Gaulle once rhetorically asked how he could hope to govern a country with 300 varieties of cheese. A good portion are made along our route. Not exactly a health spa, but if you canít do this on a bicycle, when can you?

Austria is a relatively ìoff-the-beaten-trackî Discovery destination: a backwater during the Cold War, surrounded on three sides by the Iron Curtain, her capital well to the east of Prague. And todayís nation is only the nucleus of the far larger empire that held the name before World War I.But a turbulent past has left behind the rich, multi-layered history; fascinating and sumptuous cultural heritage; and varied cuisine of that far larger nation. Modern Austria is the repository, or at least the hub, of much of Central Europeís past. Classical music fans will be amazed at the vibrancy of the classical scene. Baroque monasteries and palaces surrounded by French gardens line our route. And the country has found a modern role as commercial and diplomatic crossroads between Eastern and Western Europe.Days of glorious biking complete the picture. Pedal around opal lakes and beneath terraced vineyards on quiet bike paths. Tip your helmet to the Austrian ecology movement, one of Europeís strongest. And then admire the flowered villages, magnificent mountains, and beautiful rivers which result.