Ireland and Back

Even though we'd been talking about going to Italy all winter long, we ended up in Ireland. Fact is we were scared it would be too hot in Italy in the summer. And we had decided to try out pet sitting because we still needed some time to sit down and paint the pictures for the Kamishibai. There were no pet sits available in Italy, but there were some in Ireland, and we had discovered the Bilbao to Rosslare ferry. 

 

So here we are, at the end of May, in the land of Leprechauns, Guinness, and stick makers.

 

 

 

And we were freezing our toes off. We stayed in the east and didn't follow the advice of the Irish lads we met in Saint Jean Pied de Port to stay on the coast. So all we found was fields and hedges and fields and gates that said private property, CCTV in operation, stay out or we'll shoot you. Most days we struggled to find as much as a bench by a church where we could have lunch and ended up sitting in the hedges or, if we were lucky, in abandoned graveyards.

 

  

 

We did go to Navan, a shithole according to the Irish lads we met in Saint Jean Pied de Port.... We didn't mind that, though; we had a fun Doberwoman to walk on a beautiful river, a cat to feed, and plenty of time and space to get those pictures done.

Ireland hadn't inspired us much, though, and as we were still experiencing winter temperatures well into June, we decided to accept an invitation to play our show in Cardiff and headed from Navan straight to Dublin to take the ferry to Wales. We managed to find a crossing with Irish Ferries that takes bicycles. We were just a bit surprised that once at the ferry port we got treated as foot passengers and had to unload the whole 160 kg of combined luggage onto a conveyor belt so that our bicycles could be loaded onto a trailer to be driven onto the ferry.

 

We were excited to be in Wales, to be heading for home turf and ready for whatever the Sustrans National Cycle Network might offer us.

On the Llangollen Canal, seeing these super slim locks, we realised how narrow narrowboats really are! As we crossed the mere 3.7 meters wide Pontcysyllte Aqueduct, we had to stop several times to take in the breathtaking views and to squeeze past all the people who came to see this marvellous construction and were crossing it from the other end. It was a very tight squeeze, and it took us a while to cross the 307 meters, but we made it without us, the bikes, or anyone else falling into the canal, phew! 

The Aqueduct was not the only adventure. There was the Whitehouse tunnel to cross. Again, a very tight squeeze for our oversized bikes, and we were both glad that we didn't meet any joggers halfway through it and that we saw the light of day after the 175m in the pitch dark. The only real danger we encountered, though, was when we came across a big family of swans that were nesting slap bang in the middle of the overgrown path of the Montgomery Canal. There was no way we could turn around, and we had to gather all our courage and make our way past them waving a stick in front of us.

 

Rather than taking National Route 8, which goes diagonally from Holyhead to Cardiff and might look like the more direct way, we took the 5 along the north coast to Rhyl and then went south from there. Looking at the map above, it was a wise decision. Still hilly but certainly an easier ride than Route 8. Have a look at our travel map for a closer look at how we managed to avoid some of the killer hills: https://spokenchain.travelmap.net/2024-taking-jonny-jeegante-to-ireland

We got to see Britain's smallest house and Wales's biggest acorn!

Cycling up and over the Brecon Beacons, now called by their original Welsh name Bannau Brycheiniog, was a doddle, a steady climb on the forestry road. And then from there it was pretty much down hill all the way to Splott!

What a joy to see Steve, a friend from the good old days of Carnival with SWICA!

What an even bigger joy to perform Jonny Jeegante & The Bici Benshi at Splott Fest! Catch a glimpse of this delicious day in Splott here at Splott Fest 2024 (but don't get lost scrolling on Facebook! Be back to read on!)

Not really having the show totally ready, we've been quite disorganized and random, planning things so far. The summer holidays were approaching fast, and we couldn't find anyone willing or able to last minute host our show so we applied for some more pet sits and got to go to London, where we saw some more old friends and family and enjoyed the quirks and perks of the big city.

 

Here's a little collection of some of the dogs we made friends with this summer. It is somehow quite a weird thing looking after other peoples pets in their own homes, sometimes without even really meeting the people whose homes you are now staying in. For us, house sitting has been a fabulous opportunity to have time for us, visit friends and family, work on the show and not worry about travel planning for a while. If you are thinking of a holiday with a pet to show you all the best local hang outs, sign up with Trusted House Sitters through this link and get 25% off!

 

 

Aren't they so cute!!! 

Obviously, we went through Bristol. And when in Bristol, there is no way we can leave without a visit to our favorite place in the world. So here is a picture for all of you who have never been to the legendary Bristol Childrens Scrapstore and just don't understand what on earth we are talking about when we go on and on and on about the best shop in the world where, for next to no cost, you can buy industrial waste for play and all the creative projects one might ever dream up.

 

We stocked up on pieces of string, rip stop and sticky back plastic and made our way south to catch the ferry to France. Getting out of England was easy, but stepping onto French soil, however, proved a little more complicated. At the border we were greeted by a puzzled border control who didn't know whether or not to stamp Kevin's passport. It took about seven of them half an hour to figure out that they needed to stamp it. That would have all been fine and well hadn't they then started to totally confuse us by telling us that Kevin needs to get a carte de sejours at the end of three months and that he just needed to go and see the ambassador and that if he didn't, he wouldn't have the same rights to stay in Schengen. We frowned and fretted all day and, the next, came up with all sorts of solutions, like cycling to China if needs be, until Kevin finally stumbled across The Border Guards Handbook that explains all the new and nonsensical border regulations. If you are at all struggling with an issue regarding the U.K. and Schengen border or are confused about EU Directive 2004/38/EC this Practical handbook for border guards might be just the thing you need.

We did eventually make it and as soon as we saw this herd of elephants, we knew it couldn't be far now.

We still had a little further to go though! We stumbled across this poem about freedom, left behind by the outdoor arts show Macadam Vacher

On my shattered shelters
On my fallen lighthouses
On the walls of my weariness
I write your name

We were curious, you can find the whole poem here, in English and French
 Liberté by Paul Éluard

Everybody was talking about this eccentric man walking from village to village with his cow. We got very excited to be near a kindred soul until we found out that it all was a highly organized spectacle and even the cow commuted to her pasture in the back of a van. We were, however, intrigued by how well the show had captured everyone's imagination. We later learned that the whole thing leans on the French cult film La Vache et le Prisonnier, in which a French prisoner of war escapes his prison and crosses all of Germany with a cow as his decoy.

We played our one and only show in French at La Ferme a Cultures, a market garden with a big top run by a retired juggler. It was a challenge and inspired us to work on this new old show some more.

 

Autumn was also well underway. A wise elk or two told us to head south faster rather than slower.

We listened to the wise elks and the wooden bicycle - Lets Go!

And here we are, in the south of France looking after one more funny couple of cats before the new year rings in its bells.

We met some wonderful people and came upon some exceptional hospitality this year. Thank you all who made this 2024 special and fun! It has, however, been a bit of a sluggish one for us, so we are hoping to step up a gear or two in 2025. We can't wait to start our cultural season in early March by joining the Rencontre Aromdo, a meeting of French artists who take the art of touring slowly whilst treading gently on this our planet earth very seriously, touring on foot, by bicycle, on donkeys' backs, boats, trains...

http://armodo.org/

Let's Go!

From drought to downpour

The winter flew by in no time. We were busy beavering away, remaking the show and looking after our friends beautiful off grid house in the middle of the rocky Garrigue, all the while enjoying the most beautiful sunsets. This one the evening before we left.

If you ever find yourself in need of a place for a family gathering or a little party amongst friends in the sunny south of France this is the perfect place to be, have a look at it on AirBnB

As the holiday season began, the house filled with guests. Although the show isn't quite ready yet, we packed everything up and cycled off into the breathtaking landscapes of le Pays des Cathares.

The Cathars believed that human souls were the sexless spirits of angels trapped in the material realm of the evil god. The Cathars believed that animals were carriers of reincarnated souls, and forbade the killing of all animal life, apart from fish which they believed were produced by spontaneous regeneration. To the Cathars, reproduction was a moral evil to be avoided, as it continued the chain of reincarnation and suffering in the material world.  Cripes ! 

 

Crusades against the Cathars 1208 to 1229. Inquisitions and burnings and massacres followed, falsehoods and conflictig views. All quite a muddle. Basically war and castles. Now pretty and blending in with the landscape.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cycling out of the campsite in Cucugnan, we were met by a convoy of Quadbikes thus began the days cycle ride, and so it continued, streams of motorbikes, vroom vrooms of porsches.

You can hear them coming, you can smell them leaving,

it must be the weekend,

the suited, the booted and helmeted.

 You can hear them coming, you can smell them leaving

it must be the weekend,  

the sporty and smug, the muddy and manly.

gone in 60 seconds, 

  our senses are then once again filled with the sights, sounds and smells of nature

Onwards to Bugarach where people occasionally gather in anticipation of the end of the world. An ancient prophecy claims that this village will be the only place on Earth left standing when the world ends. Known as the "upside-down mountain", it is a geological oddity where the lower layers of rock are mysteriously younger than those at the top. The mountain also hosts a bewildering number of caves and german hippies.

Onto to Rennes-les-Bains for a well-deserved hour in the thermal springs spend chatting with two local clowns. Here the strangeness continued with UFO sightings, cults, the Holy Grail, and rumors of buried treasure.

One of those days cycling over the rolling hills through this enchanting, gorgeous and enjoyable place we were lucky enough to be blocked off  by a Porsche rally that had closed the only road to where we were going, so that they could play at racing drivers for the afternoon.

Which meant we found a lovely camp site and spent the afternoon walking the Gorges de Galamus a pretty awesome gorge all the while watching grown adults having fun jumping down in and around  the river with special slidey pants for sliding down the rocks.

Canyoning !

We acquainted ourselves with some giants. We don't know their names. They didn't tell us. But we do know the day will come when Giants walk the earth once again!

The following week we spent in the happy valleys of the Ariege, visiting old friends, making new ones, going to the wonderful markets. We like this part of the world. It brings back happy memories of days spent up the mountains with the cows and the pigs.

Just don't sleep in this barn there...

It was worth the climb!

Our little collection of elks is growing.

Put your antlers on and bellow with us!

 Invoke the ancient spirit of the forest. 

Together, let us howl in unison, 

Untiringly, unrestrained, unceasingly.

On the way to Pau we had the good fortune to visit 2Bike3 who we met on the road in 2020. Our paths cross at random every now and then, last time was in Sicily, and it was very nice to see them again, the little family growing rapidly and more adventures in nature awaiting.

In Lescar we stopped to see more old friends and learned about their latest venture Le Triporteur du Gave.

It involves a couple of rickshaw-type bikes and around 20 volunteers who take people for rides in nature, particularly vulnerable individuals who don't have many opportunities to get out. It's a fantastic initiative and a wonderful way to give back to the community.

And then the Pyrenees with a good pair of knees each! Oh my-eeee! We climbed and we climbed and we climbed, hauling too much stuff over the mountains trying to get to Bilbao in time for the ferry.

We were made pilgrims in Saint Jean Pied de Port just by being there. Everyone on foot or on bike is a pilgrim. So we joined them on the Camino de Santiago. We did however stay on the road rather then go the official pilgrims way and stopped at this monument we thought was an ode to stilt walkers.

In fact, it was to honor the Basques who defeated Charlemagne at Roncesvalles Pass, marking the first significant defeat for Charlemagne in battle. The Basque attack was in retaliation for the destruction of the city walls of their capital, Pamplona.

By the time we got to this bench in Pamplona we could kind of understand why people might be getting fed up with the pilgrims.,with over 440,000 in 2023 on the Camino. Nowhere near as many as in Medieval times though. They are everywhere! Hoards of them! So much that every traveler is assumed to be a pilgrim.

French lemons on the left. Spanish lemons to your right!

Basque bicycle art  - this says "women standing"

And basque bicycling infrastructure!

We made it to Bilbao without flying over the handlebars with an extra day to spare and finally found out why the rooms and hostel beds were getting more and more expensive by the day: it was the Women's Football Champions League Final, with Barcelona facing Lyon. Nonetheless, we managed to track down a friend from way back who had a sewing workshop where we could stay and keep our bicycles secure.

 

The ride to the ferry port was fun. We found a great cycle way that took us all the way, oh no past the ferry port. By some miracle, u-turning, heading for the motorway going against the flow of traffic we found our way into the port and onto the ferry to Ireland.