Category Europe 2014

Europe 2014 – Paris – Kansas Meets Paris and Neither is the Same

Timeline: July 24th  – 30th   Bev was due into Charles de Gaulle around 9:30 in the morning on Saturday the 26th so I left the Cosmos a good 90 minutes before hand to allow myself time to navigate the metro to Gare du Nord where I would pick up the RER A line for […]

Europe 2014 – Paris – Nothing Better Than Seeing a Good Friend Again

Timeline: July 24th  – 30th Given our experience on the way to Lyon on non-toll roads, we decided to damage the budget a bit and use them to get to Francois’ in Montigny.  Using a new tool we’d discovered, the Michelin Route Planner, a Google Maps type of website that calculates the various routes you […]

Europe 2014 – Lyon – Home of the Two Hour Lunch

Timeline: July 22nd  – 23rd   The drive up to Lyon took a bit over five hours, as we’d set the GPS to avoid tolls.  In France, this turns what is an easy drive on the toll road into a day of speeding up and slowing down as you enter small towns and negotiate round-abouts.  […]

Europe 2014 – Montpellier – We’ll Gladly Visit Francois Here

Timeline: July 19th  – 21st With just one more day in Montpellier, we had to make a choice; either ride our bikes or take in the town.  Given the flat terrain and beach environment, we were keen to get a ride in but the winds of fate prevailed, literally, as blustery and intense breezes greeted […]

Europe 2014 – Montpellier – Checking Out a New Town for Francois and The Tour de France

Timeline: July 19th  – 21st   Not taking any toll roads out of Tossa pushed us up the coast and directly through the towns of La Jnquera and Le Perthuson, which straddle the France/Spain border.  Traffic was backing up as we approached town and the road narrowed down, funneling through on a street lined with […]

Europe 2014 – Tossa de Mar: The Party Continues

Timeline: July 12th  – 18th It turned out that the bedroom Francois was to occupy did have three beds but would have been way to small to accommodate the three of us, so Joanna and I simply brought up our sleeping bag and pads and slept outside on the large patio, around the side and […]

Europe 2014 – Tossa de Mar – Houston, We Have Landed

Timeline: July 12th  – 18th We broke camp on Saturday the 12th, packed the car and then, with a short drive ahead of us to Tossa de Mar, climbed on our bikes for a ride from camp.  The folks at the reception desk had suggested heading north and thus we went.  The first short stretch […]

Europe 2014 – Barcelona: Bari Gotic, Sagrada Familia, and So Much More

Timeline: Barcelona 8th  – 11th We started our day much the same as the one before, riding the bus into Plaza Catalunya, checking mail at the Apple Store and then embarking on a walking tour of the Bari Gotic, the center of the old city of Barcelona.  Many of its buildings date from medieval times […]

Europe 2014 – Barcelona: Walking Tours and World Cup Fever

Timeline: Barcelona 8th  –11th Fortunately for us, the long journey of 500 plus kilometers to Barcelona from Madrid was along high-speed highway without any tolls, so we could drive in a fairly relaxed fashion.  Our destination, Camping 3 Estrellas is a holiday oriented family spot situated right next to the Mediterranean Sea.  We registered for […]

Europe 2014 – Madrid: The Best Laid Plans

Timeline: July 2nd  – 7th We returned to camp after our fine ride, cleaned up and drove over to the bus stop for our trip to central Madrid.  A quick check of the Ciclos Otero web site revealed that they close at 2:00pm on Saturdays so a stop there was out.  We arrived in town […]