30 June

30 June   

   

Well I found out the fanfare at gate K12 was for a group of wounded veterans called Ride 2 Recovery.  They will be riding their bikes through France (a first time occasion) and will be watching the 6^th stage of the Tour de France…they were excited to say the least.

It took over 45 minutes for me to collect my baggage…hard to find my suitcase amongst all the black luggage coming out on the conveyor belt…NOT.  Just a matter of a lot of bicycles and luggage. (remember my plaid luggage?…yeah, not hard to find)   Got my ‘train’ of my bike box and suitcase prepared and off I walked, to the farthest end of CDG to get to the RER, Line B, the blue line to take me from CDG to Gare du Nord.

Gare du Nord-Paris, France

As I walked out of Gare du Nord, I realized I hadn’t taken the time at home to print a walking map from the train station to the Holiday Inn Express at 68 Quai de la Seine…at least I remembered the address and had my Garmin 800 with the Europe NT map…but no signal, for about 10 minutes.  Once satellites were located, I was off for the HI Express…just over a mile, but I’m not used to reading GPS stuff, I’m a map kind of guy, so I was stepping off about every 2 blocks to make sure I was headed in the right direction…and I was…woohoo…and I took a couple shortcuts since the GPS was set for driving directions.

You can see my path here:  Paris-Gare du Nord to Holiday Inn by mrcleanowp at Garmin Connect - Details


My shortcut took me past the Hell’s Angels, Paris, France clubhouse.  Interesting to note they are very proud of their existence there and have it well advertised on the outside of the building, unlike the HA clubhouse in Omaha which is unmarked.

HA clubhouse-Paris, France

Made it to Quai de la Seine, a nice cobblestone path along the Seine Canal and decided I didn’t like the world to know I was coming with the clickety clack of the wheels so I took to the street…no cobblestones.  Made it to the HI Express in ½ hour and was greeted by my beautiful wife!  What a sight for any eyes!  

A quick trip to the room to drop my stuff and we were off and running to meet the rest of Jen’s tour group for a tour of the Louvre at 1345…again…yes, visiting the Louvre again, but no matter the number of times visited, it’s still a thrill and unbelievable that I am once again in Paris, France.  For being in a country that is supposedly laid back and enjoys the relaxed life style, the Louvre is quite the contrary…a chaotic scene of tourists from around the world, pushing and shoving their way to see master works of art. Winged Victory, Aphrodite (Venus de Milo), Mona Lisa, the Wedding at Canaan, etc. etc.  Push, shove, trip, elbow…  Not too relaxing, but an adventure nonetheless!

Tour is done at 1600 hours and we have 2 hours til dinner, so the BHS student trip members and I are off to see Notre Dame.  If we can get in the Cathedral or up to the towers, great, if not, we’ll walk around the outside, spend some time in the Latin Quarter and turn them loose til dinner at Chez Clement.  And so it was, no chance of getting into the Cathedral or up to the towers.

Center of Paris, France-in front of Notre Dame

Dinner was outstanding.  A nice starter of lettuce and tomato, and then beef  Bourgogne for the main entrée, and crème brule for dessert.

Our evening continued with a metro trip from St. Michel to Champs de Mars to visit the Eiffel Tower for a 2100 visit to the top.  We made it down just in time to scramble across the street to make it half way to Trocadero park to watch the 10,000 Japanese tourists light up the Tower as they do at 2300 nightly.  (This was the line of Magnus, the tour director…really not true…the lights are permanent on the tower).

Another metro trip from Trocadero Park to Crimee for our return trip to the Holiday Inn Express and the student’s last night in Paris.  They joined Jen and I in our room for a quick good bye and a toast with some non-alcohol cider.  They are leaving for the airport at 0700.  Finally in bed around 0200.

29 June

Here we go…it’s travel time.  For a change I got to bed before 0200!  Woohoo.  But up at 0635 to finish up some last minute things.  What do you care?  Probably don’t, but if you’ve navigated to this blog you must have some interest, or feel obligated since I only gave this link to family and people I consider friends :)

The bike is ready to go

After double, triple and quadruple checking everything I started worrying about whether or not I had my bolts for my disk brakes…opened the bike box twice, suitcase twice, checked the garage and then Teri asked, “could they be in your shoes”.  Then it clicked…they were in my shoes….left cycling shoe to be exact.  I put them there so I would remember…uh huh!

Made it to the airport in good time and before ‘the rush’ at the check in counter.  Suitcase:  45#, Bike box:  60# (70 limit so I left my seat, pedals, bike chain and lots of other things in the bicycle box.  Best part:  only a $50 charge as if it was my second bag.  Saweet, considering the American Airlines website says a bicycle is ‘special luggage’ and is charge a flat $150.

Arrive in Chicago on time heading to gate K12 for my connecting flight to Paris at 1800.  As I’m walking away from the gate I hear, “Sir, you need to come with us…Sir!”  Carlton and Cohort from the Chicago chapter of the Iron Warriors MC.  The work Customs and Border Patrol and had my itinerary…great to have friends to make you feel like “Mr. Important”…isn’t that right “Mr. Goodtime”?  (you know who you are)  Chatted it up til 1530 and then to Chili’s Too for a little food...just now realized I hadn’t eaten anything today…hmmm.

Cohort and Carlton of the IWMC Untouchables Chapter hard at work at ORD.

Arrived 1645 at gate K12 to red, white and blue balloons, the playing of the national anthem and a large gathering…not sure if some military guys are coming or going…nonetheless a nice welcome home or a nice send off.

Flight leaves at 1800.  Talked to Jen as I finished my lunch and we will be staying at the Holiday Inn Express on the Seine (same place she is currently staying) for Friday night…then off to Besancon on Saturday morning.

Some thoughts:  This is definitely a ‘Once in a lifetime opportunity’…right dad?  So I’m taking advantage of it to the fullest, though I must say I like traveling with one backpack and camera bag…that’s all, nothing else.  Bike box, suitcase, 2 panniers…really not that bad, but not quick on the move that’s for sure.

As I ate my fries with my burger at Chili’s, I said goodbye to burgers, ketchup and other American restaurant foods. Upon arrival in France, hello to wine, great salads and who knows what else…maybe some jambon…okay, no, I’ve had that before…just a couple bites and the jambon is gone!  Steaks, chicken dishes, escargot, caviar…mmmmmmm.

Enough already huh?  Shutting down the computer, the phone is off til 4 August!  I’ll update when possible.  Enjoy, I know I will.                               

10 hours...

Garmin Edge 800 and my IncrediBELL!  Ding Ding...

2006 Trek Portland

Just 10 hours til my wonderful sister Teri picks me up for this little adventure to France, Germany, Switzerland and Italy.

I think I have everything packed and ready to go...WAIT!!!  Kitchen sink....HA!  feels like I have it though.  A short post, but again, just testing the waters of this blogging thing.  Off to bed in about 50 minutes!  Should sleep well.  I can only hope.

A couple of pictures of my steed to the left.

2 weeks from today

Two weeks from today, 2 July, 2011 we will be on our way from Paris to Besancon to 'claim' our apartment.  Our renter said she would pick us up at the train station, though I'm pretty sure our bicycle boxes would not fit in any foreign vehicle unless it was  a van of sorts...will probably be a little walk with our 'stuff'.
Just checking to see what tabs look like 

Tabs Test

Just checking to see what tabs look like on the blog.

14 Days and counting...

Leave date, June 29, 2011
Arrive in Paris, June 30, 2011