SEE ALSO: Cycling France - Dordogne and Lot in 2011
Our 2008 cycling trip gave us a taste of France. We cycled in Paris, Burgundy, Alsace and Provence. We loved French bakeries and cake shops. Even in a small village a local bakery would have terrific baguettes and our favorites - almond croissants. A visit to a fromagerie (a cheese shop) would blow our minds. Just goat cheeses would come in at least 30 varieties! This has had some not so good side effects - we came back with extra weight! And that's in spite of cycling over 1000km.
Overall we were very impressed with France. It was not just the food but also culture, old towns and villages, well dressed and slim people, the attention to good looks and quality of life. We were amazed with so many book festivals - we came to Lourmarin when a large antique book fair was on and to Manosque when the correspondence festival just started. We did not know people were still fond of old fashioned good letter writing. And that's in the age when 140 characters is a long message! We will definitely go back to France in future.
