Back in 2002, my partner and I packed up, left home on a journey, and ended up in France on bikes! We fell in love with France on that trip (although my Dad reminds me I fell in love with France with I was 3 too). Landing in France was unexpected and unplanned, so we had no expectations. Each day turned out to be a new adventure.
On this particular day, my partner was in 7th heaven.... a collection of all things Bikes! This museum was in the country, somewhere around Cluny, a town we ended up staying in for over a week just because there was so much to do there.
My regular followers will know, we are Tour de France fans (and Tour Down Under). So it was especially gorgeous to find this corner of the Musee devoted to some of the Tour's history..
Check out the collection of Biddons (drinking bottles) along the top of this wall! (what scares me, is that we have a growing collection just like this - we get then from the side of the race each year!)
For those that enjoy watching things evolve - here's some different bikes that were clearly in a state of trial. We don't see many of these around today.
I'm not sure I could master the Penny Farthing, and I admire those that did (and still do). When we see a Penny Farthing these days, it's out of place and appears uncomfortable - but I'm told, back in their time, they were a machine to reckon with!
I quite like this poster... off she goes with him chasing her. What fun! Cycling has certainly brought some fun times into our household. I recall this accidental trip to France with some fondness, as cycling was the cheapest way we could do it. I wasn't particularly bike fit or savvy then - and we certainly didn't know much french then either. But we made our way around some lovely areas of France and got fit at the same time!
I believe this musee was a private collection open to the public. We were very lucky to find it, and to have the time to enjoy all there was collected here. I've just found more information
here about the Musee du Velo... If you're ever in the area, I'd recommend a visit.
I had no idea this existed! As you might know, I'm a big Tour fan, as is the resident cyclist, so I've got to share the link with him. I wonder how far Cluny is from Paris? I'll have to look into it for next time -- because there must be a next time!
ReplyDeleteThis is super terrific! Thanks for posting it!
Your adventures in unplanned tourism in France are very intriguing, and I hope we'll hear more of them. Little museums that mainly show a quirky person's private collections seem to pop up in lots of European travel memories. FUN!
ReplyDeletebest... mae at maefood.blogspot.com
Unplanned trips are the best. I love this museum. It always seems that no expectations are always the highlight.
ReplyDeleteYou have made me curious about the bike with the big front wheel...a Penny Farthing, you called it. I wonder how that evolved.
ReplyDeleteIt would be so fun to visit a spot like this. Thank you for taking us here.
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I love this post! An unplanned trip like this sounds like such fun :) So many things to discover along the way - so cool! Loved your photos and recollections!
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