Day5 - Shopping day !!!

Bon Jour Monsieur as I hear it from anyone I see within Hotel Mercure. Another great morning in France..!!! Pretty darn cold and almost anyone human I spot resembles an old steam engine. A breath of fresh air in and a bout of steam out. Woke up 2 hours early this morning. Time to get have breakfast. Today the restaurant at Mercure was crowded. Time for pancake, dutch cheese and a small dose of berry jam and nutella. I meet my team mates back in office with their version of time well spent over last evening and almost all have a unified answer (Got drunk like a skunk). To be honest, I think I too was in a similar state but attributed to too much lemonade or double espressos !! However after shift David was kind enough to drop Dennis and I at our hotel. We quickly dumped our luggage to visit Decathlon after which we were to explore our options for diner. Dave was driving a rental car, a Citroen Picasso which was quite a peppy hatchback. About 10 mins later we were at Decathlon store in Bourgoin Jallieu. I headed straight to the cycling section while Dave and Dennis explored other sport areas. This was quite a big store almost twice as big as the one in Bangalore and Dave mentioned that the branch at Bron was massive. I ended up picking up an overshoe which I've been wanting for quite a while for ride during rains and keeping my feet dry. Dave didn't purchase anything and as I proceeded to the billing counter I was skeptical whether the membership card would work in another country and it did. It was a pleasant surprise. The search for the diner began. The car was parked at a parking lot near a church at #7, Place Carnot in Bourgoin. This was Dave's idea as he had been to this Italian restaurant (Couverts) during a visit last year. But we found out that almost all the restaurants that we managed set our eyes would open only at 19:00hrs and close by about 22:00hrs. With a half hour to spare we spent time roaming the shopping alley which is lined with stores. So good to see civilization after being in a place where there is hardly anything else apart from hotel on one side of highway and office on the other. I kept clicking away to glory with the X6 and time and again requesting Dave to click a few which he gladly obliged. A few snaps of cars followed and finally it was time to enter the restaurant and with the help of Dave who spoke French ( A great boon as I only know one word "Merci" meaning thank you) we were able to clarify the options available for me (A Vegan). It looked like Dave eats anything served to him on a plate. Only after a meal, does his inquisitve part of mind kick in to figure out if the dish was the result of a Bovine sacrifice or a smoked Gallus domesticus. A true example of a point n shoot as he just stares at the menu for a quick minute and points to an option and nods his head which the waitress reciprocates with the a lovely French accent (made cool by the tongue twisters and hisses). I order a Spaghetti and a pizza. Spaghetti resembled the curry noodles and the Pizza was more like a paratha with mexican sauce chilli and some local vegetable that resembles cucumber with mushroom and capsicum as toppings. I enjoyed the change in taste and after spending about an hour, Dave dropped us back to the hotel and he continued his half hour journey to his hotel.

A sight on the way to office... There's no one in it and the car is almost kissing the tarmac.. !! :-|

The "Mini Countryman"

A Nice chopper like Bike 

A Standard Mini Cooper used in "The Italian Job"

 The original Mini which truly is a MINI !!!

The Rental Citroen Picasso driven by Dave.

Dave Dennis and I heading to Decathlon on the French motorway B1008.

At Decathlon - Shopping at the home turf of this superstore

A Superb Bicycle Stand in the town of Bourgoin. 

France Ahh..!!!

Dave, Dennis an I await by a Church for restaurant to open  

The Italian "Spaghetti restaurant"

I already am missing my roadbike and I wish I had it here so I could explore more of this beautiful countryside. No more updates for tonight. Gotta catch some sleep before shift start in 7 hours :-)

Day4 - Trip report !!

The Second day to work -- Had set the clock to wake me up at 6 and it did its duty unlike I. Ended up extending the sleep  for 2 more hours till I realized that I hardly had time to even look at the restaurant for breakfast. Finished morning chores in 15 mins which reminded me of the song "Jame Raho" from the movie Taare Zameen Par. Reached office on time. New campus, new country, change in cuisine and bone chilling temperature. Work at new office, the welcome change in climate and food kept the mind bysy. By noon I already was fancying my chances of a visit to decathlon which is about 10 kms from Isle'd Abeau in a small town of Bourgoin Jallieu. A new friend added to the arsenal from Liverpool UK (David Malone). A very nice and well spoken gentleman. We thought of visiting decathlon together as David was driving a rental car and he would look for fishing related stuff and I'd opt for cycling accessories.

The visit had to be postponed for the next day as we saw a long line of cars towards the horizon on the highway D1008. So we bid farewell. David stayed at the Hotel Mercure in Bron as the rooms in Mercure at Isle'd Abeau were full.  So it was back to Dennis Hilverts from Netherlands to decide which way to head for dinner. We decided to take a taxi to a supermarket nearby which google indicated as a hotspot for restaurants. A visit only revealed a couple of kabab joints and a pizza corner. As there was a supermarket I ended up buying a good load of chocolates and some snacks to go with the MTR ready to eat packs that I'd brought along to keep me tummy happy whenever there was an emergency :-). 

No Euro-food tonight but time to relish the Masala Rice from MTR. Here's the combo :-)

 

   Dennis just outside the Supermarket as we await the taxi back to the hotel Mercure.

Dennis managed to call the reception to request a cab and here's what arrived, a Peugeot 607 and it was a comfortable cab but the fare almost doubles after 7 in the evening.

20 Euro's for about 4kms..!! No more taxi's for the rest of the stay here. Better to take the bicycle out  :-)

I eagerly await the dawn of 25th to enjoy the incidents, adventures and meeting new people that make life beautiful and meaningful !!!

Day-3 - First day at HP Lyon

Surprisingly in near freezing temperature zone I've managed to wake up much before the alarm. Ready by 6:30 I headed to the restaurant for breakfast. With the intention of trying something new here's what I feasted upon ::
1. 3 varieties of cheese of which all were yummy. 
2. Orange and Groseilles framboisees mini jam bottles for the two slices of bread.(had to be generous with the serving). 
3. Hot coffee (with milk ..YAY!! There are some cows in Lyon). 
4. A pancake. 
5. Nutella
6. A new variety of bread which i didn't bother to know the name as the waitress already was having a hard time with my first question of what is vegetarian among the delicacies for the morning buffet :-).

Returned to room and relaxed for about half hour and headed to office which is about a 5 min walk. Lovely breakfast, splendid morning and a superb campus. The campus reminded me of the game project IGI where there are tons security cameras on all the military buildings and barracks. The shift started by 9AM local time and ended by 5pm. Hopped out as soon as I could and with a new found friend Dennis Hilverts from Netherlands decided to head to an Indian restaurant but found that it was closed on Monday. So we decided to dine at the restaurant in Mercure. More updates tomorrow as the plan is to visit the restaurant  "Indian Prince" which is abou ta 40 mins drive by a cab.

Day 2 - Cycling in Villefontaine !!

No alarms, No early morning waking up for shift at 5:30 unlike in Bangalore, it was a welcome change. The studio apartment booked for my stay is a luxury. For a vegan Europe ain't really the place to try anything new. My options at Hotel Mercure are limited. Pasta or rice and french fries (the best I've had) or it is bread and cheese and maybe some dessert to add finishing touches. I miss the curd rice or butter milk back home.  I'm digesting the fact that I'm actually in France :-). 


Woke up quite late by about 8:30am and found that the hot water for shower wasn't working. A quick call to the reception and a lady ever so cheefully greeted "Bon Jour Monsieur" and in 5 mins it was fixed. The cold water bath was eminent back home but out here... I thought why not.
The water flowing from the tap for the first minute was probably the one stuck in the pipe which might be underground so it wasn't all that cold.. The moment the that reserve was depleted a bout of 2 degree cold water hit my hand and I was Blehd!!!! I was brushing my teeth and ended up biting the bristles to hold back screaming. :-P.  There goes the cold water bath out the window or the "French Window" (Which is almost a door out here). Went back to the reception, met Hermaine (receptionist) who has been pragmatic to all the questions I threw at her. Time for breakfast. It was a buffet system and as I said earlier, don't get your hopes high. When you think of all the colourful, sumptuous cuisines the mind can ever throw at you, a little voice somewhere in your head shrieks, all you can do is run to the end of your chain and bark..!!! I was left with bread, pancakes (ate 2 as they resembled dosa). Fruits, ( Yellow and pink oranges of which pink one was bitter). Finished with some fine black coffee. Looks like there no cows here in Lyon. (pun intended). Probably why there are so many green pastures. Enquired Hermaine about cycling options as I saw some city bicycles parked outside. (Sadly no roadbike). Good news - Cycling and other sports at Mercure are not charged as I stay at Studio apartment. But a security deposit of 200Euro will be entered in the bill and cancelled when I return the key. Voila, I finished breakfast soon and wanted to take the rockrider 5.0 but it was nearly flat and the only other choices I had was city bikes. So I picked one among them which had the most air in the tires. (still under-pressured) and set off on an exploratory ride. Ride kicks off with Hermanie taking a snap at the bike parking.

 As I enter deep into Villefontaine, the modern French Architecture unfolds. Time and again I stop for more snaps as every direction my eyes foray, there's something clickable.

 The road with the overbridge, leading back to the hotel.

 Down this road was the first car showroom but clicked it as it is a Citroen and one of the major brands in Europe. Soon a Renault Pro+ showroom followed where I saw the Twingo one of mass production 'mini'. Also got to see the Dacia Sandero (the fav of James may in Top Gear), The Mini supersport, Logan (Which is verito in India due to the breakup Mahindra-Renault flagship. But I think the topper is the Peugeot hatchback series as every third car I see is a Peugeot.

An old castle which I didn't bother entering as my intention was to reach the summit of a small hill about 10 kms from the hotel. 

 The right turn towards the hill (Saint-Quentin) I mentioned about earlier. Trust me on this, the name when pronounced by a French person sounds nothing like you've tried in your head.

 Lovely roads and more beautiful houses where any person in sight nods "Bon Jour" which I happily reciprocate.

Though I did understand the sign, I thought this was a speed breaker at this town called Ralentisseurs ;-) . Hermaine shed some light on the meaning of the word and both of us had a hearty laugh.

 After adjusting the seat height it was more comfortable ride. I suspect that this batch of saddle was designed considering the condition of city roads in India but somehow there was a goof up in the container yard :-P. Because the seat is very plush and comfy and on the uphills there was a mild enjoyable bounce when pounding in the teeny-weeny gear ratio. 1-6 Shimano gears with revoshift. Met two other cyclist couple who were from Lyon and were on a pleasure ride. I think Cyclists in France are so confident that they don't carry any spares. Of the 3 cyclists that I met none had an air pump !!!

On top of the hill (Quentin Falavier) that I targeted. Some beautiful villa's lined on either side of the road. Halfway into the town lined with villas a black beemer(BMW 5 series) pulled into the middle of the road from an interior passage and revved hard on the first gear which sounded like a Borla exhaust...!!! I got goosebumps listening to the note :-)

 The HP Office at Isle'd Abeau, Villefontaine, Lyon.

A treat for lunch. Pasta in Pastaland!!! 

An Apple tart to up the sugar level for a 'weary' cyclist.

   
The cycling route ::  Click here

France- A-travel-back-in-time....!!!

This was quite an stir on my brain. Travelling at ~800kphAltitude of 32000ft dark skies, flying over countries, states and territories that I;d only have imagined this was an offer too good to be true. Anyway, the company i work for has arranged a weeklong training in Lyon and today... err.. yesterday.. err.. Damn.. what day is it I wonder.


The usual bout of excitement follow as I finished the last minute formalities by 18th. All prepped, packaged and ready to fly on 21st early morning from Bangalore.  There isn't a direct flight but a connecting flight from Paris to Lyon. Hired a cab till Bangalore International airport and my brother agreed to give me company. Reached 4 hours early which gave enought time for the check in and keep all the documents in place to go through immigration without hassles. Gate no 15 and after 2 hours the wait seemed looong..!!! The last 45 mins were the ones that made me dizzy. Lot of folks travelling to Paris. The boarding process started 10 mins early starting with elite, business class and then the boarding by row numbers and mine turned out to be in the first batch :-) Yippeee...!!! 
Once on the flight the wait for the take off began which was another 45 mins away. That to me is the best part in travel by flight. The sheer power of the engines to launch the heavy bird to the skies.   Some pics follow ::

 

Once I checked in to Hotel Mecure at 12:30pm, settled down for a while and did the usual, FB status update :-). After about an hour headed to the restaurant for lunch and had the only vegetarian item on the menu. Rice with salad and a couple of variety of cheese. Started with soup (Actually crayfish soup minus crayfish) and some delicious  and a strange variety of bread (similar to crossiant but harder and much more like soya). Also went out for a stroll to check out where the company premises were and to my surprise right in the backyard beyond the highway. Time to call it a day as I need to get some much needed sleep. Lets see how it pans out for the rest of the week. :-) Hope to log some miles on the bicycle too.

2011 review...!!

Why should I blog about 2011? After some contemplating and conflicting thoughts i decided to pen down why 2011 was special. It was a fun filled and an exciting "Green" year. The adventure mania continued but running on Gatorade rather than diesel or petrol..!! The major contributor to the fun n frolic is attributed to the bout of cycling that I took up as a hobby. Thanks to Deepak and especially his Father in law (Mr.Bhat) whose trip to Kanyakumari really kindled the passion and joy of cycling.

The fun-fest starts with a BSA Cyclothon. The feeling of riding amongst a sea of cyclists (~5k) gave me goosebumps. I was riding on my former dream machine "Hero-Hawk" which I had an eye ever since I saw it first when I was in 6th std and a senior used to ride that to school everyday and he was the "rich" kid. Lucky me, I owned the BSA-SLR ladies version (The one without the top tube). It was a lighter and quicker bike owing to the 32c tyres. Anyway, I used to cycle to school and my neighbours complained about the "race mode". The dream of owning the hawk was finally realized towards the end of 2009. I happend to do loops of sultanpalya >> hebbal >> mekhricircle and back almost every day. Being the only cyclist on that route to wear a helmet and gloves i was the comedy piece for the public. But undeterred I enjoyed riding the loop almost every day for a year. The first long ride on the hawk was with a buddy whom I befriended from Bikeszone forums.


First long ride on the hawk to Mysore and I was super excited. Read more about the mysore trip here. The preparation rides were to hosur, chikka tirupati and Nandi Hills. What followed for the rest of the year I couldn't have done it without my mother's support and understanding, upgrading to a better cycle to help me do long rides and also try my hand at the BBCh (Bangalore bicycling championship races). So the funds for royal enfield were diverted and I ended up with my rubie KHS Flite 300. Within a week of ownership, I simply registered for the 600 Brevet. The organizers being skeptical of me attempting this even without doing any preliminary rides of 200/300/400 was shattered once I managed to completed the ride within 36 hours against the 40 hour limit. New friends made and also a member of the "Cleated Warriors". Dec 2010, when I heard the price of the bike of Mr.Bhat, my friend's father in law, I was in awe. April saw the purchase of the Flite 300 and I then understood instantly why some things cost more. To put it in simple terms consider the price difference between idly and Biryani. why do you pay Rs.10/15 but for biryani you pay nothing less than Rs.50. Both are food but the ingredients used and the labour involved in making the taste buds go Woo hoo..!!! Better (higher) quality, rigid frame and long lasting components which don't break down unlike the desi brands. Hercules off late have realized the potential in this domain and seem to have given quite a bit of attention and have released quite a few good models but still lack the standard and quality against their imported counterparts like schwinn/GT/Gaint etc.


After the brevet I was so madly in love with cycling that most of the weekends I ended up riding to nandi hills or the Siva's road (budigere road) as it is fondly known after a founder in the Bangy-velo-space. A few of the warriors did the ooty via kalhatti and that blew the whistle in my head and in sept I had the bicycle rack for my car. As my car had clocked lesser mileage than my bicycle it was time to get it running. Started with trips to Yercaud, Ooty and Chikmagalur. Not to forget the CAM ride, the first long ride on my MTB. To top up the fun team Cleated Warriors also won the 2nd position in the Team Time Trial. 


Whats in store for this year. Hope is what drives mankind and living the day is just the way I'd consider living 2012. Its funny that when one gets to know his "expiry date" the present life becomes living hell as the mind is now burdened with "the bucket list". (Things to do before dying also there is a movie by Jack nicholson and Morgan freeman) Also available in Bollywood as Dasvidaniya (by Vinay Pathak). 

Anyway the point is I would like to become a super randonneur, attempt snorkelling, scuba diving, and sky diving. The year just got started and I have quite a lot of expectations from me and of me. I hope to live up and exceed with positive results. Wishing one and all a Happy 2012...!!