10-Nov-2006 -- Story starts at 37N 137E
After 20 000 km among which 12 000 had been done by motorbike, this confluence would be the last to visit along an itinerary which, during five months, had taken me from Japan to France across two continents.
It was sunny and warm when I left Sedan, the city where I had been staying for the last few days. Again, my plan was to follow Madame de Bourboulon’s route to her final destination in France. But this time, it wasn’t by motorbike but by car that I would cover that distance of just over 300 km to Paris.
A few kilometers after Villers-Cotterêts I set up my GPS to get as close as I could to the confluence by car. I followed a canal along the Marne River and was stopped by a French couple who told me that it was forbidden to drive on that dirt road. Even bicycles weren’t supposed to use that road. Nevertheless, they told me how to find my way to Isles-les-Meldeuses where the confluence can be found.
After crossing the bridge on the Marne River, I got off the car and walk to the banks. The confluence was located on the other side of the river, on a small island, about 80 meters from where the pictures were taken.