SAMAYA x ANTONY VINCENT & JEANNE-LOUISE CARO

 

 

Antony Vincent and Jeanne-Louise Caro, two wilderness adventure enthusiasts, spent ten days bikepacking across the Lofoten Islands, their bivouac tent tucked into their panniers. Immerse yourself in their conversation, which invites us to rethink the way we travel.

 

Jeanne-Louise Caro: We took our first cycling trip last year, to do a good little tour of Switzerland. That trip made us reconsider a lot of things, including our desire to buy a van to travel in. We enjoyed the freedom of traveling by bike so much that it's all we want to do now. We're learning to travel differently and appreciate simpler things. Norway tempted us.

 

Antony Vincent: We were hesitating between Iceland and Norway. The volcanic context in Iceland helped us choose. We drew a lot of inspiration from free-access itineraries in Norway on apps, and mapped out the rest according to what we absolutely had to see in the 10 days we had available.

 

JLC: We mainly cycled, but we didn't aim for performance. When we got to a place we wanted to see, we'd put the bikes down and carry on riding. What's more, at that time of year, there were very few tourists, which allowed us to have these mythical places, much promoted on social networks, all to ourselves. The roads were almost deserted, so we were really immersed in nature. Over there, we could bivouac as we wished, pitching our tents in magnificent spots such as deserted beaches at the foot of the Arctic Ocean, which was pretty crazy.

 

AV: The small villages we passed through were separated from each other by at least 70 kilometers, which required a bit of organization on our part.

 

JLC: Typically, I knew that I didn't necessarily have my morning coffee every day!

 

AV: We had to be well organized, because as many convenience stores were closed due to the off-peak season at this time of year, we didn't necessarily have food everywhere we went.

 

JLC: We hadn't planned our itinerary down to the last mile, so we had a few pleasant surprises...

 

AV: For example, we discovered that boat transfers were free for pedestrians and cyclists. So we were able to go to Senja Island spontaneously. It's a magnificent, natural island where we didn't come across any cars and where we could walk along the Arctic Ocean. We got a bit lost there, which made the trip different and really cool.

 

JLC: In the same spirit, when we arrived in Norway on May 17, we were surprised to discover that it was National Day. The atmosphere was festive, and we were able to enjoy the moment with all the locals dressed in their traditional garb.

 

AV: It's the only time we've met so many people.

 

JLC: We met a certain Raymond who opened the doors of his house to us for our first night, during which we introduced him to crozets. He shattered the itinerary we'd started planning a month earlier, offering to take us to his second home in the center of the island for a few days.

 

AV: It had a real positive impact on our trip. We had to deal with a lot of bad weather the first few days: hail, rain, 0 degrees and strong headwinds. Jeanne-Louise was so cold that on several occasions we stopped in public toilets or bars, wrapped up in our sleeping bags to keep warm.

 

JLC: During these few days of bad weather, we stayed at Raymond's house, waiting for the next window of good weather that would allow us to continue our trip.

 

AV: Leaving Raymond's house, we went from 0 degrees with lots of wind to 17 degrees.

 

JLC: The first nights in a tent weren't so easy. At this time of year, daylight is permanent and it took us a few days to get used to it. We sometimes got up thinking it was 9 a.m., when in fact it was 4 a.m.!

 

AV: And conversely, at 10 p.m. we still had a lot of energy and could go hiking. It was quite unsettling. Apart from these moments of adaptation, we were extremely happy to be riding in such mystical landscapes that blew us away every day.

 

JLC: What was great about the Samaya INSTANT2 in which we slept was the fact that it had a double opening on the sides, so we both had access to the outside and could enjoy the view at the same time. No more chifoumi!

 

AV: What's more, it was so compact that we could slip it into our bike panniers really easily, without it taking up all the space.

 

JLC: This way of traveling is so liberating, because of its simplicity, that we're already thinking about our next bikepacking trip for next year!