French couple touring Turkey on tandem bike

BİLECİK

A French engineer couple is touring Turkey on a tandem bike, having pedaled some 10,000 kilometers in seven months.

Mathiue Tournier, 30, and 29-year-old Mathilda Poisson’s journey in Turkey started in the southern province of Antalya seven months ago. Touring the Central Anatolian provinces, the couple then turned west after seeing the ancient city of Cappadocia.

Right now, they are in the northwestern province of Bilecik.

“We really loved Turkey so much. People are so hospitable,” Tournier told state-run Anadolu Agency.

Even though they do not speak a foreign language, they try to communicate with you and help, he added.

The couple was hosted by Hakan Yavuz, the head of a provincial cycling society in the city.

Saying that the society has been helping all foreigners with bikes visiting the city, Yavuz noted, “We arranged a place for them to accommodate.”

The couple riding a bicycle-built-for-two has no idea where they will go next. They said they are touring “spontaneously.”

The only thing they know about this trip in Turkey is that once it is finished, they will go back to France.

“We also want to cycle in Greece and Italy. We are used to pedaling,” said Poisson.