Random Acts of Kindness

Bike: 41 miles, 2700 feet of climb
Accommodation: Round Tower Studio (Airbnb), host Joelle. Studio apartment in the most photographed medieval tower in Porrentruy. Pull-out double bed, kitchenette, bath, no wifi, no washer

With 100-degree heat and 2700 feet of climbing ahead of us, we decided to leave early in the morning. As we quietly packed our bikes in the driveway, the older woman next door was out watering her garden and started a conversation. She did not speak English, but we managed to communicate a bit with our limited German and hand gestures. After a few minutes, she disappeared into her house, returning with a chocolate bar that she gave us with tears in her eyes. I thanked her sincerely with tears in my eyes, and we waved and traded "Auf wiedersehen"s. We suspect that something about us and our journey touched a personal memory for her. Her generosity gave us a beautiful start to the day.

And the generosity continued. About 10 miles into our ride, we spotted a bench near a soccer field where a woman was running two dogs, and we pulled over for a little break. The dogs ran over to greet us, and the woman joined them. She told us her dogs normally bark at strangers and do not approach them; she was surprised that they were so friendly toward us. She asked about our bike trip, and we ended up talking for several minutes about her life, the area, travel in general. She invited us to her house for coffee! We declined because we had a long, tough climb ahead in the heat, but again, her generosity was astonishing.

And on it went. Each time we stopped during the day, we met someone who was kind and open and generous.

When we needed a break, we found a little shop with the best coffee we’ve had over here, and a nice bathroom, too.

At the hottest part of our climb, it rained for about 5 minutes and cooled us off.

Although we were climbing for over 35 miles, there was only one steep stretch, and the final nine miles were all downhill into Porrentruy.

When we reached town, we found a large, new supermarket with all kinds of cold drinks, and a shady plaza to enjoy them while we waited an hour for our apartment to open. As we rested, we looked at restaurants online and picked one out for dinner.

We had a bit of trouble finding the door to our tower apartment. People at a restaurant next to the tower sent us up a steep hill to another tower, where a kind English-speaking guy confirmed that we had been at the correct tower to begin with. Back at the first tower, we poked around some more, finally found the door, and easily accessed our apartment.

After showers, we walked to our chosen restaurant, made a reservation for 19:00, and then wandered around town. We visited the main square, where a free concert was in process. We tried to check out the chateau at the top of a hill overlooking the city, but we did not have time to go all the way up to it before dinner.

After dinner, we came back to our apartment and ate part of the chocolate bar from the kind woman in Basel. Perfect end to a nearly perfect day.

Waving good-bye to the kind neighbor who gifted us with chocolate.

All day long, we crossed back and forth across the border: France, Switzerland, France,... After a while, we quit trying to greet other bikers in what might be their language, and just called out "Hello!"