Cheap Bike Renting In Nice

The beautiful and fun city of Nice France has started a public biking program called VeloBleu. It has 90 bike stations housing 900 bicycles accessible 24/7. As with its counterparts in Paris (Velib), Montpellier (VeloMagg), Lyon (Velo V), and Nantes (Bicloo), rental prices are somewhat unbelievably cheap, and the first thirty minutes of any bike use is included in the cheap rental fees, which are: One Day= 1 Euro; One Week = 5 Euros; One Month = 10 Euros; and One Year = 25 Euros. Bikes used for over thirty minutes are subject to a 1 to 2 Euro per hour additional charge.

You must be over fourteen years old to use the service, and use also need a cell phone, as the phone is used to lock and unlock the bicycles. Click here to access the downloadable PDF flyer with information in both French and English on how to use Velo Bleu with a map showing all the bike stations.

Enjoy bicycling on the Promenade Anglais along the magnificent turquoise water!

Biodynamic Farm and Farmstand in Appenzell Switzerland

If you are in Switzerland, a visit to the Appenzell canton of Northeast Switzerland, a region known for its beautiful farm land, progressive health laws, and rural traditions, is highly recommended. There are countless farms and fabulous “Wanderweg” hiking trails throughout. A favorite farm and farm store is in Gais, but if you don't know it's there, you wouldn't be likely to find it.

From the city of St. Gallen, you take the Appenzeller Bahnen, a small, red train which, as its name implies, travels through the Appenzell canton with trains running about every 30 minutes. Take this train for about half an hour to the town of Gais. (If you are in Teufen, Gais is about half-way to Appenzell on the train.) Once off the train, you will walk about 1 mile. Cross Schulhausstrasse and walk along Zung St., then cross Stossstrasse and slightly to the right of where you have been walking will be Kehr St. Walk on Kehr for about one-quarter to one-third of a mile and take a right onto Bommes Road – looks more like a driveway - within 20 yards or so you will walk into the yard of the Biodynamic Hofladen Farm where there is a little farm store. Biodynamic Hofladen Farm, Bommes 3, Gais, Tel: 71 793 37 85; www.hof-bommes.ch

The store’s entry-way has fresh organic produce delivered on Fridays. Further inside you will find a mini-health food store with organic and free-trade food and treats, including farm fresh, biodynamic dairy products from the Hofladen Farm. There is nothing quite like farm fresh yogurt in a glass container – seems from a lost world - perfect and delicious (my apologies to non-dairy eaters.) Fresh, organic spelt bread, made from spelt grown a few towns over (a bakery that makes their own spelt pasta, pastries, and bread - directions on their Web site), is delivered Tuesday, Fridays and Saturdays. On those days the Hofladen store is open from 9:00 to 11:30 am and then again from 3:00 to 7:00pm. Every other day it is open from just 6:00 to 7:00pm.

Not much English is spoken, but everything seems to get across just fine. Two tips: In Switzerland (and many other places in Europe), when buying fresh produce you are responsible for weighing and pricing it. There is a number by the name of the item – e.g. Red Cabbage #62 – take your red cabbage over to the scale (somewhere in the produce area) and weigh it – you will need to punch in that number. A sticker will spit out with the weight and price that you apply to the bag or item. In lower-tech establishments, you may have to write it on the bag.

Also, remember to bring your own bags – many stores either do not have bags or charge for them, and often they are flimsy – so just get used to having a stash of canvas bags rolled up in your daypack.

The farm belongs to the Langenegger family. The grandmother, Lilly Langenegger, is a local famous artist who writes children’s books with beautiful illustrations of traditional Swiss rural images and Appenzeller farm life. The books are available in German, English and French. Pictures and purchasing information are available at the publisher Web site (in German, but translatable).
Enjoy.

More Bread Searching in Spain - Madrid Now

 As I mentioned in my posts about searching for really good and artisanal bread in Barcelona, finding made-from-scratch, quality bread in Spain is harder than you might think. In Madrid you can go to one of the six locations for the Cosmen and Keiless bakeries. They offer a variety of bread and pastries, priding themselves on making their bread using traditional methods and with ingredients from  “clean crops”. Find baguettes, as well as spelt, multi-seed, multi-grain and olive oil breads, with a host of pastries. To find the locations for all six of the Cosmen and Keiless bakeries in Madrid click on “Tiendas” at the Web site. The La Salesas store is between the metros Colon y Chueca and the Principe location is between the Goya and Velzquez metro stops.There are no gluten-free options at this time, but if you can tolerate spelt you are in luck.

Magical Christmas: Markets in France

If you are thinking about a different Christmas experience and want to travel, both literally, as well as figuratively back in time, I would suggest going to one or more of the traditional Christmas markets that are held in Europe from the end of November to the end of December. France, Germany, Austria and the United Kingdom have the greatest number of markets.

These markets conjure the images I remember from holiday books I used to read to my children -- The Gift by Aliana Brodmann, and The Story of Holly and Ivy by Rumer Godden – both wonderful tales and with old fashioned Christmas markets featured in the stories.

France boasts over eighty Christmas Markets, or Marché de Noel as they are called in French. Some towns and villages have one Sunday in November or December dedicated to a Christmas market, but the large markets last for around four weeks and are usually open every day and all day.

Strasbourg, in the Alsace region of northeastern France, is home to the oldest Christmas Market in France - over four hundred years old. The Strasbourg market is today much like it was when it started in 1570, filled with musicians, craftspeople, food, and special events. There are special areas like the “Sharing Village” where sixty charity and humanitarian organizations have information about their work and where on December 14th a Flame of Peace from Bethlehem will be lit. You will find beautiful light displays amidst the stalls and historical buildings.

This year the Strasbourg market is held from November 28 to December 31, and is open from 10:00 am to 7:00 pm daily, until 8:00 pm on Friday and Saturday nights. The market is such a tradition that the city has a Web page dedicated to it called Strasbourg Capitale de Noel. On the  “Practical Information” page you can download a PDF map of the practical aspects of the Market from tram routes to market stand locations most of which are located within the pedestrian zone of the city marked in yellow. At the “Editorial” page you can download a fourteen-page program guide listing musical and other performances and exhibits throughout the five-week market.

For green travelers you will be happy to know that Strasbourg is a very biker friendly city with over three hundred miles of bike paths and 18,000 bike racks for parking. Velolocation is a not for profit bike rental program with low cost bike rentals.

Metz, in the Lorraine region of northeast France, is under an hour and a half on the TGV high speed train from Paris with many daily round trips. Known as a Garden City (Ville Jardin), Metz has eleven parks and gardens covering four hundred and seventy acres. It also has one of the largest pedestrian areas in France so walkers rejoice!

Metz hosts a glorious and magical Christmas Market in the old city centre in and around the Place Saint Jacques, Place de General De Gaulle, Place Saint Louis, and the Esplanade. This quintessential Christmas Market with around one hundred stalls and filled with lights, roasted chestnuts, carolers, street musicians and dancers will be held this year from November 21 to December 27, open from 10:00 am to 8:00 pm, 9:00pm on Saturday night.

These are just two of the beautiful Christmas markets in France – I will cover more in subsequent posts – stay tuned.

Photo from the Metz Christmas Market Web site