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Entries made in June, 2009

Finding Estelle

Tuesday, June 30th, 2009

After breakfast I walk over to our friendly Dutch neighbors and offer them our three leftover eggs. The sun is beating down and by the end of the day they will likely be rotten or at least inedible. They take them happily and bid me good luck. A...

Too Hot

Monday, June 29th, 2009

Last night as we arrived in camp we were unable to check in. Like at so many French campsites we've encountered, the reception office was closed when their signs clearly indicated it should be open. We cycled through and made ourselves at home fo...

Mountain Climbing

Sunday, June 28th, 2009

I am getting pretty good at hill-climbing these days. The sight of a looming hill is demoralizing at times, but at least it's familiar. After all, it isn't like we're in the mountains… right? I have a confession: a heavy dread has been weighing ...

Resupply

Saturday, June 27th, 2009

After our non-stop adventuring yesterday, I was ready for something simple and familiar. On our way out of camp we both commented that we were looking forward to an uneventful day of pedaling. Our ride wound up being an endless series of hills un...

Too Much Of A Good Thing

Friday, June 26th, 2009

Normally I am the designated alarm-clock enforcer, making sure we don't hit snooze too many times before actually getting moving at a nice early hour. This morning, though, I was exhausted and could barely keep my eyes open when I told Tyler he wo...

Unexpected Guests

Thursday, June 25th, 2009

With three blissful days of rest behind us we bid farewell to Bluesoleil Campground and started our trek southeast to Estelle (just outside Millau). We are hoping to reach Ingrid and Yvves of BikeAway by Monday. It'll require riding 70+ kilomete...

Our Panniers

Wednesday, June 24th, 2009

With a wonderfully empty day ahead of me, I decided to do something productive before settling in for a relaxing afternoon of reading. Our panniers have started to get slightly funky and today was the day to clean them. Getting right down to work...

Not Riding

Tuesday, June 23rd, 2009

Today was the second in our three day rest at Bluesoleil campground in Rouffignac. While I feel incredibly fortunate to have gainful employment on our trip I am really, really looking forward to having a rest day (someday) that isn't filled with p...

Thank you, Dad!

Monday, June 22nd, 2009

We have been biking 80-90 kilometers a day lately; quite a bit more than our usual 50-70. When the phone rang last night, we picked it up and were greeted with the cheerful voices of my parents wanting to chat. Relieved to be home, but tired and ...

Camping Fermé

Sunday, June 21st, 2009

Spirits were high this morning. With another budget-boosting free evening under our belts we cheerfully broke camp excited about the prospect of finding a nice place to rest for few nights. It is incredible how the possibilities of a new day on t...

Role Reversal

Saturday, June 20th, 2009

Sticking to our early rising plan we set the alarm for six o'clock. By seven we were up and moving, albeit very slowly. We sometimes joke that we feel like Wall-E in the morning, stumbling out of bed, bumping things, not quite able to operate our...

Early Camping

Friday, June 19th, 2009

Sometimes the hardest part of cycling around the world can be simply getting up in the morning. Actually, I think this is true for accomplishing just about anything in the simple sense that you must first get moving to do it. Today the alarm soun...

Rest In Peace

Thursday, June 18th, 2009

As I was making crepes this morning, Tyler was bustling around, busily stowing things away in our panniers. Normally I stuff my bolster-sized clothing bag and one of the Downmats into my own clothing pannier, but for some reason this morning Tyler...

Sunburn

Wednesday, June 17th, 2009

We somehow neglected to wear sunscreen yesterday. When we awoke this morning we were both very… crispy. Subconsciously hoping to somehow make up for our folly we both applied twice as much as usual before departing on what would be another day fu...

Cheeseburger in Paradise

Tuesday, June 16th, 2009

We shook out our sand-infested belongings and left camp this morning to explore the island we had just spent two nights on. In search of almond croissants for breakfast, we headed to the bakery with high hopes. Unfortunately they hadn't made any....

Sandy Camping

Monday, June 15th, 2009

I think it was around 4am when I clumsily stumbled out of the tent. Half dressed, barely conscious and feeling like an overtired toddler home from a long road trip, I grabbed our rain fly and struggled in my daze to figure out which end was up. W...

Ile de Noirmoutier

Sunday, June 14th, 2009

We didn't roll out of our loud (but fun) vacation park until noon. The plan for the day was to bike for a little bit and then set up camp right away, having all afternoon and evening free. As usual, the day didn't go according to plan—this time i...

French Coast

Saturday, June 13th, 2009

The alarm sounded at 6:30 AM and Tara bounded out into our 'stealth camp' to start the day. Ever concerned about someone showing up and saying "You can't be here", she wanted to make it look like we'd just stopped for breakfast as early as possibl...

Exped Downmat 9

Friday, June 12th, 2009

Update Here The Exped Downmat 9 (our sleeping mat) has a foam(?) insert that provides a barrier between the down inside and the air nozzles used to to inflate it. Over the course of the last week the insert for both mats broke loose. This mea...

Wine & Pizza

Friday, June 12th, 2009

We left to cycle the last bit of the canal into Nantes today. As we rounded our first corner the path abruptly stopped. A man operating a nearby lock laughed at us and said there were two ways to Nantes from there—swim across the lake, or take a ...

Return of the Sun

Thursday, June 11th, 2009

This morning brought a welcome change to our lives—the sun! We quickly uprooted our tent and belongings from the spot we'd chosen last night under the trees (hiding from the rain) and moved into one under the blaze of the morning sun. We happily ...

Early Rising

Wednesday, June 10th, 2009

The alarm went off at 6:30 AM. Its incessant beeping mingled nicely with the sound of rain falling heavily against our tent. Oh rain. We've been meaning to start earlier for at least a week and today was our first run through. In good spirits w...

Even More Rain

Tuesday, June 9th, 2009

Once again, the day began with rain. For a change, we were dry and so was our gear. Thank you Pierre! We spent the morning taking advantage of the many amenties we have taken for granted all of our lives: hot showers, electricity, a gas stove th...

Chez Pierre & Julien

Monday, June 8th, 2009

We awoke to the standard drumming of rain against our tent this morning. Yesterday Tyler steeled himself against the downpour, getting soaked to pack the bikes, while I stayed dry getting things organized from inside the tent. This morning, I was...

The Canal

Sunday, June 7th, 2009

We awoke at 6:30 AM to the sound of a downpour pelting our rain-fly through the cover of our forested free-camp and the beeping of my optimism from the night before. I reached out from the warmth of our sleeping bag, flicked the alarm clock off an...

Free Camp & Fire

Saturday, June 6th, 2009

We went to bed feeling sick. Huddled together, we tried to fall asleep but were unable to drift off over the cacophony of our own hacking, coughing, sneezing, and trumpet-like nose blowing. Our nostrils completely blocked, we lay with our mouths ...

Sick Day

Friday, June 5th, 2009

This morning Tara and I woke up feeling like death warmed over. My throat was so sore I could hardly swallow and Tara's nose continued its crusade of running like a leaky facuet. We laid around for an hour or so moaning to each other about our va...

To Market

Thursday, June 4th, 2009

There is nothing like fresh french bread with butter and honey or a big glob of nutella (chocolate-hazelnut spread) to start the day off right. This campsite is so great, we decided to stay another day. The owners have a beautiful vegetable garde...

Bee Museum

Wednesday, June 3rd, 2009

While breaking camp we decided today was a good day for music. At home hardly an hour went by that music wasn't playing unless we were asleep. Out here we rarely listen to anything but the endless symphony of nature sounds going on around us. As...

On Planning

Tuesday, June 2nd, 2009

Last night we stayed in one of France's wonderful municipal camp sites. It is such a relief knowing that we can find a campsite in almost any town! This particular site had just opened for the season and we were the only people there. We enjoyed...

La Sieste

Monday, June 1st, 2009

This morning we had fresh bread delivered to our tent! We hungrily tore pieces from our "miche" and dunked them in butter and honey while Tara explained to me about the regulations in France for bread making. They're only allowed four ingredients...