Closing the Loop

 And there we have it, we've closed the loop  — we are back in our lovely hometown of Voiron 😊.

As of Wednesday, August 5 at exactly 3:53 p.m., after 12 months, 5 days and 38,084 kilometres — proof below: 

So we made our way from Sweden pretty quickly. 

As planned, I met up with Jérôme in Malmö, and the very next morning we crossed the Baltic Sea once again, this time heading to Denmark via the famous Øresund Bridge, to spend the day in Copenhagen. 

And when it comes to exploring this city, there is no better way than to follow local customs and hop on a bike! It is well known that Copenhagen, just like Amsterdam, is a city where bicycles rule. It is true that this part of the world is flat — very flat — which is pretty handy for cycling, at least as long as the wind isn't blowing too hard... The cycling infrastructure is there and very well developed, so we went ahead and tried it out 🚲! One day is really not enough time to spend in Copenhagen, which we honestly liked a lot, to the point that we would very much like to come back one day and discover more of it. It's not that far away after all...

A must for every tourist arriving in Copenhagen: go and see THE symbol of the city, the statue of the Little Mermaid.

It represents the character from the fairy tale by Hans Christian Andersen, the famous Danish author best known for his children's stories. It is rather strange how certain things become symbols, because we found that the statue itself is nothing particularly extraordinary. It isn't very big, and since it is located right in the middle of the harbour, the setting isn't especially beautiful either. Unless we're the ones who have become too difficult?? 😕 At least we can tick that box, so if we ever return to Copenhagen, we'll be able to focus on other things 😉.

Despite that, we were delighted with the only day we would spend on Danish soil, although it certainly deserved a longer stay. But we were eager to get home, we have to admit, so early the next morning we hit the road again and gobbled up the kilometres separating us from France, with only one more night spent on foreign soil — in Belgium, just a stone's throw from the German border. And as we were in Belgium, we might as well take the opportunity to buy some beer 😜.

But there was another stop we had to make before returning to Voiron, one that would be little longer. Soon enough, we will both have to go back to work, and in my case, that will be with Experience Plus, leading bicycle tours. Since there have been some major changes to the Burgundy tour I will be leading in September, I needed to go out and take a look at the new route beforehand. The region was right on our way, so it made perfect sense to stop there on the way home and give myself a little preview of my return to work 😉. And needless to say Jérôme wasn't exactly opposed to stopping in Chablis either 😅. So it was in Burgundy that we found France again, happy to be back on familiar ground and to enjoy good bread, good (and affordable) wine, and good cheese!!! And getting reacquainted with all those wonderful things in Burgundy isn't half bad either 😋.

And why not also take the opportunity to add one last great encounter to our long list, while also getting back into the good local customs with a very long apéro with Marie Annick and Alessio, the French-Italian couple we met when we took a refreshing swim in the Armançon 😎.

To top it all off, by sheer coincidence, the Women's Tour de France happened to be in the area at the same time. Also known as "La Grande Boucle" (the Big Loop), we couldn't have asked for a better event to complete our own great loop. So our final day on the road was spent in Dijon, where we got completely swept up in the fantastic atmosphere of the Tour despite the heat, watching the time trial between Gevrey-Chambertin and Dijon, won by Swiss rider Marlen Reusser (who is not the cyclist in the photo).

And Jérôme, as always ready to support and cheer the girls 😅.

For the grand finale, we treated ourselves to a good meal and a good bottle of wine on the beautiful Place de la Libération in Dijon.

The next day, we were back home, happy with our trip and also happy to be back, to be back in our things, to get our little routines back, and a bit of comfort too — we won't lie 😉. Now begins the process of letting this great and wonderful adventure sink in, and we'll probably need a few months for that...

But stay with us a little longer, because this is not the final chapter of the story. We'll be back in a week or two, after taking a little time to step back and reflect, to share a little recap of this great year on the roads of Europe and beyond, with our highlights, our low points, our memorable moments, a few numbers, etc., etc.

But in the meantime, the complete route, now including the photos, is here

See you soon,

Jérôme and Sophie