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.

The Arrival

I am in France! This computer sucks. More on the trip later, I have to secure a place to sleep.

The Show [Must Go On]

It's getting late on the eve of my departure; I've just finished packing, organizing, and prioritizing. I've used every cubic inch of the hiking pack I'm bringing - it's stuffed to the gills. I think I'm ready to go.

Tomorrow, I'll wake up and head to the nearest regional rail station at 10:30 AM. I'm going to take that train to the 30th Street Station in Philadelphia, where I will catch a 12:15 train to New York City's Penn Station. I will reach John F. Kennedy Airport after a complicated stint on the subway system in the city - I don't have the details just yet, but I'm working on it. I hope to be at the airport by 3:00 and at my gate by 4:00 PM. My flight leaves for Europe at 6. Scary, huh?

I'm too nervous to be excited right now. I really want tomorrow to go smoothly. Once I'm on that final train to JFK, then I'll be able to relax and actually look forward to this trip. And it's at that point that I'll actually sit down and start to formulate a concrete plan for the first day or two in Paris.

This is probably my last post from this side of the Atlantic. How crazy is that? I hope I can keep updating regularly over the next few weeks. Take care of yourselves, everyone. I'll miss you and I'll see you when I get back!

The Final Countdown

I'm back in Dover now after a few days down at the beach, enjoying my last few days with reliable running water and a clean bed. Alex and I are working out kinks in our packing list... there are a few things we're forgetting. I may be bringing too may shirts. Hrmm.

The only major thing I have left to buy is a pack cover. At first, I didn't really think I'd need one... but my dad convinced me otherwise. He's good at that sort of thing. Anyway, I'm on dial-up and I smell my toasted sub warming up in the oven, so I'd better hit the road.

The Beginning

I made it to Doylestown successfully; I'm now at my grandparents' house. I have spent the past two hours wrapping up all of the loose ends I thought I had wrapped up yesterday. I now have this Euro-trip specific blog set up. Ideally, Alex will join in and add his own updates, but I'm still trying to figure out how that works.

I packed and re-packed my bag again after making a compulsory stop at EMS for a few more overpriced travel items. It's pretty stuffed at this point. Tomorrow, I'm throwing everything into the trunk of my sister's Civic and heading down to Delaware for just over a week. The clock is ticking. I'll check back soon.

Note - the previous two posts were copied and pasted from entries in my personal blog.

The Packing List

For those of you who are curious, here is what I have packed for my month-long trip to Europe:

• 5 short-sleeved shirts
• 2 long-sleeved shirts
• 1 collared shirt
• 6 pairs of socks
• 5 pairs of boxers
• 3 pairs of khaki shorts
• 1 pair of khaki pants
• various medicines (sudafed, ibuprofin, etc.)
• various hygiene products (soap, deodorant, etc.)
• 1 rain coat
• 1 small chamois
• 1 pair of flip-flops
• 1 pair of hiking boots
• and 1 spiffy bandana for the really hot days

I can't tell if that looks like too much or too little. The bag ways less than 20 pounds, anyway, and it does have to last me a month. Granted, I'll be doing wash here and there but... here goes nothin'!

Planes, Trains and Automobiles

On Wednesday morning, I will embark on the first leg of my 50+ day summer ultra-excursion. Allow me to give you a general outline as to where I will be for the next many weeks:

• Day 0 - Airplane from Dayton to Philadelphia, train(s) from Philadelphia to Doylestown.
  
• Days 1-9 - Road tripping down to Delaware, visiting friends back in the place I used to call home.
• Day 10 - Doylestown, packing one final time before hopping on another few trains to Trenton, then to New York City, and then on to the airport.
• Days 11-42 - Backpacking from Paris, France to Rome, Italy in 31 days.
• Day 43 - Recovering from jetlag and somehow finding my way back to Doylestown.
• Days 44-53 - Delaware, visiting old friends again before finally heading home to get ready to start working.

It's going to be very busy. I'm not sure how I am going to operate in Europe. I have been toying with the idea of making a separate blog to serve as my European journal; from what I hear, internet cafés are fairly ubiquitous on the other side of the Atlantic. We'll just have to wait and se how things go.