The Museum

I know, I know, I've been lax in my updating yet again. But I have a decent excuse! The internet is very expensive in Venice... possibly because it's surrounded entirely by water. We were in town for a few days and I think it was the longest I've ever gone without seeing a car.

Italy won the World Cup! Holy crap, what a crazy night. I think the entire country exploded with joy and general kiosk-pounding merriment.

We're in Florence now, having just finished peering at some poorly-lit paintings in the Uffizi Gallery. Yesterday we hit Pisa and took the obligatory "hold up the tower" photographs on the lawn. The rest of the day looks like laundry day.

The Beach

So Alex and I are now down in Nice, where the weather's warm and the beaches are close. Strangely enough, the beach here in Nice is made of stone - pebbles, really - instead of sand. It's very different from the sandy beaches I'm used to, but at least I don't have to worry about tracking dirt everywhere I go. The walk from my towel to the water can be pretty painful, though.

Let me just say that being in France during the World Cup has been awesome. The past few nights have been crazy - the entire country erupts every evening depending on which team wins.

The Tour de France

Okay, long time, no update. Alex and I went up to Strasbourg for the first stage of the Tour de France. It was freakin' sweet. We saw all of CSC's team bikes being built, and we managed to see most of the teams warm up. We even met Bobby Julich and saw Dave Zabriskie goofing around before race time.

During the time trial, we had a pretty sweet position near the finish line (150 m mark) and at one point, this guy came up and started video taping the riders behind us. We started chatting with him and then realized who he was: Christian Vandevelde! Holy crap, too cool. We were talking to a tried and true (albeit retired?) CSC cornerstone cyclist.

Now we're in the south of France. We hit Arles (boring, but we did see a bullfight) and Avignon (sweet theatre festival). Now we're headed to Nice to relax on the beaches for a few days before making our final tour through Italy. I'll update again soon!

The Mountain

Alex and I took a lift up to a place called Aiguille du Midi this morning, over 3800 meters high. It was freezing up there... and ridiculously windy. Afterwards, we hiked all the way to a glacier! w00t! A good day, but I have no time. I'll update more later!

The Hike(s)

Bonjour again! Sorry for the lapse in updates, but we have been super busy here in France. On Sunday, we left Paris for Lyon and then Grenoble. Lyon wasn't as great as I had heard, so we moved on quickly. Grenoble wasn't a fantastic town either, but the next day we did one of the greatest things I've ever done in my whole life: ascended Alpe d'Huez.

Yes, we did it on foot, and yes, the 14 km hike took us over three hours, but we did go from around 200m in altitude to close to 2000 very quickly. You should have seen the views. It was absolutely fantastic.

Today, Alex and I visited a small town called Annecy which is now my favorite place on Earth. Picture the most amazing mountains you can imagine. Then add the most perfect, clean, freshwater lake you can imagine. Then add the most perfect, quaint little mountain town. Then you've got Annecy. Maybe I'll get to retire there someday.

Anyway, we're going to take a lift from Chamonix up to Mont Blanc tomorrow - nearly 4000m, and the tallest point in the Alps. I'll let you know how freakin' awesome that is when we get back.

The Loire

I only have five minutes left on this computer, so I'm going to make this post pretty quick.

Wednesday was Museum Day and every major attraction in Paris was taken by storm. The Louvre (in 2 hours, I probably missed half of the stuff), then Musee d'Orsay and a few others. Saint Chapelle was by far the coolest thing I've seen in Paris thus far - stained glass thirty feet high! I'll have to post pictures one day to do it justice.

Wednesday night was FREAKIN' AWESOME! It was, in fact, what the French call 'Fete de la Musique' or Festival of Music. Everyone in the city came out and there were people playing (bands, singers, etc.) at literally every intersection of two or more streets throughout the city! Insane. And it lasted well into the night.

Blarg! I don't have enough time to write. Last night I met two 65 year old Belgian guys who are halfway through with their 3,000 km journey from Amsterdam to Spain BY BIKE. They do 100 miles a day and they're huge fans of Tom Boonen. I'm jealous. I also got to see some awesome dogs at this castle (Cheverny) but I'll have to post more on that later...

Today was 'Explore the Loire' day. Bicycles were rented and 40+ kilometres were covered, with ample chateaux in the middle. It was a blast, but those last 10 kms hurt.

Schedule - Loire tonight, back to Paris tomorrow, then off to Avignon and then to Lyon. Guess where we're going next weekend? Strasbourg for the first stage of the Tour de France! w00t! Anyway, my time is about up. Thanks for reading! I'll try to update again soon!

The Elevator

I found a normal keyboard! I was so excited that I had to make another update. It's quite costly, all of this internet usage... I should probably stop.

Anyway, yesterday was alright. I hit most of the major sites on foot and then checked out Montmarte. I love that place. It's so quaint, even though it's a tourist trap. Very old-world, in my opinion.

Today I hit a bunch of major attractions: Notre Dame, most of le Quartier Latin, the outside of the Louvre, and the entire Champs-Elysees (all before lunch). Then I took a train to Versailles, toured the chateau and the mini-chateaus and jardins around it. Now I'm back in Paris and I've just returned from climbing the Eiffel Tower. On foot, most of the way. You have to take an elevator to the very top; the line was incredibly long.

I don't know what I'll do tonight. Perhaps some ice cream near Centre Georges Pompidou? We shall see.

The Keyboard

Pardon the typos, but this keyboard sucks. It must be designed for French people because the keys are all in the wrong places. Anyway, another quick update: wandered all around Paris today & this morning. At Versailles now; tons of museums in the morning. FYI - the Arc de Triomph is awesome.