I had a fitful night's sleep and was up about 5am. I lolled about in bed a bit and watched Skynews for weather information. It appeared to be a nice, windless day.
In my excitement to get started, I cooked up 1 cup of dry oatmeal, two cups of cooked--twice what I had in mind, and had a hard time eating it all, but I managed to choke it all down. It took a bit of time to get everything packed into the panniers, to leave behind the few things I didn't need, to take the empty cases down to the front desk for storage, and to maneuver the loaded bike into the elevator. This wasn't easy as the elevator wasn't quite big enough. I had to make two trips, one for the stuff and one for the bike, in order to get it all down to the lobby.
I raided the coffee table for sugar, salt, and pepper packets, loaded the bike, and went out the door. Someone waiting for the bus to the airport agreed to take a picture.
On my ride to Roissy the previous day, I had seen the road I needed to take and quickly got there. I stopped at the first town I came to, called Gonesse, to have my first pain au chocolate (chocolate croissant). As I ate my pain au chocolate, I wandered over and saw this tribute to Charles de Gaulle.
I found it odd that Charles de Gaulle was considered the "Liberator of France." I assumed that the small piece of paper in front of the monument explained how tens of thousands of allied troops helped, too.
I had spent many hours studying French before I left and I was both eager and concerned about attempting communication in French. At the hotel, I used only English because I didn't know how to say what I wanted in French, let alone understand the answer. Ordering the pain au chocolate in French, however, was no problem.
This area had a lot of commuter traffic and it was criss-crossed by major highways. It was hard to find the small roads that I wanted to take as my maps didn't always list the numbers assigned to those roads. For the most part, I followed the signs to the towns that were on the route I wanted to take. But, this was a busy area and even the "small" roads I was taking were full of cars.
I got a bit lost in the town of Ezanville where I stopped for something to eat. I bought what would become one of my main meals in France: a bagette, tomatoes, avocado, and cheese. It was a grand sandwich. The interaction with the clerks at the vegetable stand and the boulangerie (bakery), who didn't speak any English, was difficult and full of words I didn't know.
To find my way I asked a postman if he spoke English. He didn't so I asked him, in French, for the way to the Forest of Montmorency. This he understood and in bits of English and French he managed to point me in the right direction.
Even this early in the trip, I was noticing all the flowers. Here is a bunch of tulips I photographed to note this fact.
In the town of Domont, I saw this store and decided to buy some apples and M&Ms (which you see on top of the rear rack!). For some reason, I could always find peanut M&Ms but never the plain ones, which I prefer. Also, M&Ms were quite expensive, which was a surprise. I also had a bit of a French conversation with the store owner. I didn't understand much of what he said, but I got enough of it to know that he wanted to know where I had started and where I was going (which must be the two most common questions asked of all bike tourists).
Just outside of Domont, I finally got out of the side-by-side towns and entered the Forest of Montmorency.
While there isn't any shoulder on the road, there also wasn't any traffic.
Once I got out of the swirl of roads and traffic around Roissy and got to the small roads I wanted to ride on, I was able to find my way more easily. I also discovered that virtually all towns of any size provided maps that showed all the local roads and where the map, itself, was located. I came to rely on these maps as my tour progressed. This map is of Bouffemont, a bedroom community just past the Forest of Montmorency.
The road through the forest was quiet and peaceful.
The woods were thick and went back from the road quite a ways.
As you can see, the sun was out and the sky was clear. It was a great day for starting a bike tour!
Just past the Forest of Montmorency, I started seeing farm fields intersperced with the trees. This one is full of newly planted wheat.
Along with green fields, there was, checkerboard-like, huge patches of bright yellow that smelled sweet, almost too sweet. I figured it was rapeseed, which is where Canola Oil comes from. I found out later, this is exactly what it was.
These bright yellow patches were all around me and made for stunning vistas.
Here is what the flowers looked like, up close.
In this area, I was in and out of forests. Some of them had bike paths that weren't on the map so I was unsure where they went or when to get off them. While this was a nice smooth path, the main road is just on the other side of the hedge.
This bike path was designed to handle two-way traffic. A couple riding in the other direction help me find my way. It was hard to resist taking pictures of the yellow patches that seemed to be at every bend in the road. The town in the distance is L'Isle Adam.
L'Isle Adam was the first big town I rode through. It was noon and I wanted a find a place for lunch. But first, I had to stop and get a photo of this pretty little scene.
After two tours around the town and some queries, I decided to ride over the Oise River, which separates L'Isle Adam from Parmian on the opposite bank. This sculpture of a woman diving into the river caught my eye as I crossed the bridge.
I may be the only person who goes to France and looks for a Chinese restaurant. But, as a vegetarian (no meat, fish, or poultry), there isn't much for me to eat your average French restaurant. I found a Chinese restaurant just over the river in Parmian and went in. The waitress didn't speak any English, but she pointed to where I could lean my bike, and the meal was order by pointing at the menu. I had the only vegetarian item on the menu! There were two couples at the next table and we started talking. One of the women had spent some time in San Francisco, as had one of the men. We talked about my trip and their U.S. experiences. I also asked for some coaching in French. I learned how to say "near here" in French (pray tea sea), a phrase I would use often.
Once I crossed the Oise, it seemed like things slowed down and got a bit quieter. There were still the wheat fields separated by bright yellow blotches, but roads had less traffic and there seemed more open space between the villages. I also saw some grand houses.
Another forest road.
My goal for the day, the city of Vernon, was on the Seine River. I didn't actually cross it until I was in Vernon. I road along a ridge overlooking the river and got many wonderful views down the river and across its valley.
The same view from a clearing in the vegetation.
As this view shows, not only is the river navigable, but the area was dotted with towns.
I didn't realize at this point of my tour that France is dotted with rivers, streams, and creeks. Here is the Epte River that runs by the town of Giverny, where Monet lived.
I rode by Monet's house and garden but it was too late to visit as it has closed for the day. I rode up to the highest parking lot and took this picture. Since I didn't visit the gardens, I don't know what they actually looked like, but I suspect it is something like this.
There was a multi-use path all the way from Giverny to Vernon, about 3 miles. When I arrived at Vernon, I eventually connected with my host for the night, Aurelie.
She lived in a loft with a good sized living/dining room, a small kitchen and bathroom. We struggled to carry my bike up the two twisting sets of stairs to the landing in front of her door. She smoked a fair amount and, as you see, like to roll her own cigarettes. She is a student studying to be a kind of social worker, as best I could tell and spoke English well. I arrived after 7pm and after taking a shower and talking for quite a while, she showed me the local area and we are at a pizza place a few streets away.
I was tired by the time we finished dinner and Aurelie had to get up early to go to school so we both went to sleep. She slept on a futon, while I rolled out my sleeping bag and took up a couch.