Day 12 - 10 July - Travel Day, Austria to France

I wasn't expecting there for be much to put in today's blog but, as it turned out, this 'travel day' was a bit of fun and not too arduous.

Still, that said, I was on trains or in a 'travel state' from before 6am to 9:30 at night. My Interrail pass, a very good idea in principle, is slightly less than perfect if you're travelling with a bike as bikes generally won't fit on the 'tilt trains' (the TGV). This means I've been put on to the (still very good) regional train network, and my journey from Linz to Saint Michel de Maurienne is set to take 30 hours (over 2 days, with an overnight stop in Bellegarde).

First stop? Munich! And with a couple of hours to kill, I popped my bags in a locker and went to explore this wealthy and cosmopolitan city by bike... but discovered I had a flat rear tyre (from yesterday's gravel bike path adventures or possibly the rain storm entering Gmunden).

So it was an exploration on foot, but with a bike - with Munich really putting on a show in the summer sun.

With Google maps at the ready I looked up a local bike shop and wandered towards the blue dot on the map, not really expecting much but finding plenty - 'Guten Biken'

Turns out a fellow from Ballarat set up this custom bike shop 6 years ago and is now infecting Munich with good old Aussie hipster bike style and custom builds. I even bougth a t-shirt.

Rufus, the shop dog.

Anyway, the rest of the day was spent on board trains from Munich, back through Austria to Zurich, then on to Geneva (past an amazing view over Lausanne) and eventually Bellegarde, France.

Experimenting with the self timer function on board an empty carriage into France.