Paris

We and our tired bikes had finally made it to Paris. We rode through the streets with a sense of accomplishment, as we took in all the well known sites.
The Louvre was amazing, and so huge! We spent an entire day walking the halls, but didn't seem to scratch the surface. The Mona Lisa was guarded by three security officers, constantly screaming at people "No pictures! No pictures!" So we never got a picture of the half smiling woman, but we were able to get a picture of this amazing sculpture.
Our trip back to the states took well over 24 hours with many delays and tense moments, but we made it back home safe and sound. Can't wait for another!

England Baby!

We loaded up on the ferry that would take us to England, with all the other crazy cycle tourists. The man in the sunglasses is Carl, a guy from Australia we met along the way.



Kelly was sick the entire time we were in England so we didn't cycle much, but we got a lot of relaxin in! Sitting on the beach, going for walks in the English contry side, and enjoying all the funny English people. Our ferry ride back to France was great. We were so excited to be back in the country where they drove on the right side and spoke a language we couldn't understand.

Mont st. Michel

After our Tour de France experience we headed north and made it to Mont St. Michel. We saw it for miles and I couldn't quite put my head around what I was seeing. I had spent many hours back home reading about the place, and just staring at the pictures, but now I was actually riding up to it. It was a mysterious place with sounds and shadows just waiting to be explored. Kelly and I just wondered around up there for hours. Truly an experience I would recommend to anyone. Some of the best views in all of France.


Look at the grin. I was truly blown away by the place!

Our next tour experience lasted all day and was an amazing site to see. We camped out all day and watched the riders come in with their amazing speed and determination. The press hounded the riders as soon as the riders crossed the finish line. Some were foaming at the mouth, but the press shoved their mics in anyways. Kelly said they seem like paranas attacking their prey.

Tour de France

Before the riders actually ride past you their is a parade/fair. People throw out hats, trinkets, and best of all food. The two men taking a sample of French sausage are from England. They spent a couple of days camped right next to us. We had a good time talking with them!
Parade of hat throwers. You can see everyone sports the same yellow hat due to the give aways.
This photo shows the winner of the stage (green points jersey) sprinting to the finish line. It was over before we knew what hit us. But the next day we would have an all day Tour experience.

Long overdue

We have not posted in so long. Our return to the states has been crazy and we just havn't been able to put an end up to our fantastic trip. Well I'm going to try and throw up some stuff from our last days, so everyone can see stuff from the Tour de France(above), Paris, and England adventures.

Stay tuned!

England Baby!

The hook up for the camera is not working right now, but hopefully we will post photos soon. Since our last post we have had so much happen to us we feel a lifetime has past in a week. Just to name a few we have been invited into a french womans house, seen two stages of the Tour de France, met several cycle tourists, crossed the English channel, and seen Mont St Michel! This all happened in a week. Our heads are still spinning from all of it.

And to add to the crazyness we now have to cycle on the opposite side of the road! England so far has been great, except its expensive. Kelly and I have enjoyed being able to understand the random conversations that are all around you when you travel. We smile at one another everytime we here the great accent.

Hope all is well back home.

The Plan

The plan for the rest of our trip is slowly forming in our heads. On the 8th we will be in Rennes to see a stage of Le Tour de France! We have been watching the first stages of the tour on T.V. and we are very excited at the thought of actually seeing the hardest sporting event in the world with own eyes!

After the tour we will continue heading north to see Mont St. Michel. We have heard so much about the place it is sure to be amazing. From there we will head to a port that has a ferry system that can take us to England where the language barrier won't be as big of a problem.

Next we will take a ferry back to France where we will take a train into Paris to spend the last three or four days seeing and experiencing Paris.

We will see if it all happens!

Northern exposure

Our picnic stop of the day.
The Loire river early in the morning. Notice the cumbling structure above the boats. Very cool thing to see.
Our trusty steeds loaded up on an over look by the Loire river.
We came across another fortified city.

Our ride north has given us many new experiences and stories. The terrian is flatter than southern France, but the weather seems more unpredictable. As a result we are forced off the bike more, but when we are on the bike the miles fly by.

We are not complaining about the rain though, it gives us a chance to watch the world cup more! While over here Kelly and I have become fans of football (soccer). By absolute coincedence our trip to europe is during the football world cup. It has allowed us to meet people we probably wouldn't have other wise. Many of the campgrounds we have been staying at they usually have a big T.V. where everyone gathers to watch the matches.

Kelly and I have absolutly loved watching England play with vacationing English campers. The same goes while watching the French play. It's great to cheer and scream with people while watching their team play. We have become so into it that we plan our rides and days so we are sure to catch the matches. We have discovered that when you are around French fans to make instant friends just say Allez les Blues! (go the blue!)Here are some vacationing English fans watching the England game with us!
Craig in his new England football jersey!
Craig watching a heartbreaking game between England and Portugual
The English along with Kelly and Craig were crushed to see England lose.

French meal in St. Emillion!

Wow what a meal. We were eating right outside the largest undergroung church in all of Europe, with a view of the courtyard that was to die for. Above is the best thing I have ever tasted! a french dessert from heaven.

Atlantic!!!

We are in Royan with a view of the Atlantic ocean from our hotel balcony! It has been kind of rainy so we are taking a rest day to hopefully see it blow over. We will most likely head north tomorrow in hopes to make it to a tour de france stage in a coulple of weeks.

Sorry no pictures this time. We are writing this in a French youth center where they forbid a lot of stuff (including camera downloads)

Thanks for all the wonderful comments. It has been so nice to hear from all of our supporters back home. Keep them coming!!

Riding through time

Our latest adventures have led us to the Dordogne region with its ancient cave art, wonderful chateaux's right out of the fairy tales, and dreamlike cycling.
We visited the lascaux caves the other day. The surprisingly good tour explained what is known about the 15,000 year old paintings. Its amazing to think about the human history that took place here. They discribed the cave as the cave mans cathedrale and standing there looking at what a human did 15,000 years ago I'm sure it was a religious experience to see it back then.
Amazing, well worth the work to get here. Sorry but no pictures of this one. They didn't allow photos to be taken in the cave.
But we did get the picture of the lascaux cave art in the supermarket!

One of the things we have discovered is all the amazing and breath taking cathedrales that seem to be at the heart of almost every city we stop in. Here are some of the photos of some of our favorites. Craig's favorite Found this one in Avignon, breathtaking.

The height of these ceilings are neck breaking.

Pictures !!!!

Look at old posts we have pictures up!!
Hope all is well

Longer days more miles

Tuesday's ride was really a beauty. After leaving Carcassone's busy morning streets we headed out into fields of wheat and barley. As we rode through wonderful rolling sea of fields I looked to the south and realized we could see the rising snow capped Pyrenees mountians. The landscape seemed to open up more than it had before, so we could look out for many amazing miles.
We found a campground just out of Revel a top a windy forest covered mountian, with a blue mountian lake that seemed very popular for the French to vacation at. When we awoke the next morning ready for another day of riding our tent was being thrown this way and that from a strong wind that didn't seem like it wanted to stop. So we had a relaxing rest day in hopes to wait out the wind.
When we awoke the next morning our tent was still being thrown around but we needed to get going so we had a windy pack up. As soon as we made it off the mountain the wind stopped and our long ride had begun, but thankfully without the wind. We stopped in a sleepy French town for lunch where we found a wonderful boulangerie (bread shop). We pigged out on bread, cheese, qnd these cheap little strawberry cookies from the boulangerie.
At the end of the day we had made it to Montauban, with it heavy evening traffic. but by the time we had gotten there the local tourism office was closed so we had no way of finding a campground. So Kelly and I found a nice little Hotel. The receptionist was more than helpful when we were unloading our bikes, and her English was exceptional. The shower melted Kelly and I after our merathon ride, and the bed was a glorious feeling. Hotels are nice after numorous nites in a tent.
Our ride today ended in Agen. After around 180 km in two days our muscles are feeling it, but the experience of being here and riding into the next little town or having the next unexpected experience with the local people helps ease the soreness. For example Kelly and I were riding through a small village and I realized how I still get a kick out of seeing old men walk down the street with a couple of morning baggettes under their arm. Its amazing to see how these people live.

Hello from Carcassone!

We left Avignon and headed to Nimes. On the way we stopped at the Pont de Gare. What an amazing thing to see. I can not believe the Romans did it without any mortar. We cycled into Nimes and stayed in our first campground. Really clean and nice. It makes life on the road super easy.

After Nimes we cycled all day in the heat to a little piece of heaven called St-Martin de Londres. When we got there we were super tired, but an English man came over and offered us "a spot of coffee". What an end to a long day.

We left Londres not wanting to leave that beautiful little French town, but we wanted to see the Mediteranian. After two days ride we saw that beautiful blue water that we stared at for two days. Getting tans and eating fresh fruits and veggies were wonderful.

We are now on our trek west. Headed for the Atlantic. Currently we are in the fortified city of Carcassonne! Amazing to be sleeping in a castle.

Hopefully we will have pictures up soon!
Hope all is well

Craig and Kelly