Honeymoon on wheels: French couple paddles its way to Odisha 

Reported by Swadheen Rout
Brahmapur, Mar 5:

Call it quirky if you will, but the search for the perfect honeymoon has brought newly wed couple Matthieu and Maylis all the way from France to the shores of Odisha.

The coastal town of Brahmapur is the latest stopover for the love-struck French couple, which set out on a world tour on – hold your breath – a ‘tandem bicycle’ in what must rank among the weirdest ideas of a honeymoon.

The couple says the novel idea struck them at a Paris restaurant while they were discussing the best possible way of honeymooning.

The couple embarked on this journey of their lifetime a fortnight after their marriage on July 12 last year and has so far travelled through as many as eleven countries including France, Italy, Slovenia Croatia, Serbia, Bulgaria, Turkey, Georgia, Armenia and Sri Lanka. They have covered an incredible 10, 897 km on their tandem bicycle in the seven months since they began the fun and adventure filled journey.

They fly to various locations and then move off to the countryside on their bicycle with Maylis mounted on the front and Matthieu seated on the rear.

They chose Maximum city, Mumbai, as their stopover in India and circuited in Maharashtra, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh before landing in the coastal town of Brahmapur in Odisha with map and city guide as reference tools.

They will be visiting beach towns of Gopalpur, Puri, and Konark, apart from other towns in the state before leaving for India’s eastern state of West Bengal.

The graceful French couple has clearly been relishing every moment if its maiden world tour despite having to brave unpredictable weather conditions at various locations.

“The people and culture of this country have fascinated us. We would cherish the exchange of words and feelings with the people here all our life,” gushed Matthieu, who works in the waste disposal management department in Paris.

“On the last leg of our journey, we plan to visit Cambodia, Vietnam and Laos before ending our journey in June this year,” says Maylis, a lawyer by profession.

It has not been a bed of roses all the way for the athletically built couple though. Matthieu was afflicted with dengue while in Sri Lanka and a patient Mellice had to nurse him back to health without ever complaining once about this setback to their picture perfect honeymoon trip.