In Which We Find, You CAN Have Too Much of a Thing

September 18, 2010 to October 7, 2010

The Photos

September 18 ~Leaving Paris.  Get up at 8, shower and pack until the house cleaner arrives at 10:30.  Make last grab of stuff and finish packing in the courtyard.  A quick stop at Jordan’s to drop off stuff and say goodbye.  Then head to ‘a point’, versus heading to ‘point A’, on the trail.  Oh yeah, Gregory bought a BoB trailer for the majority of our stuff.  This makes me navigator.  Finally meet up with the trail at nearly 2.  Bike THROUGH the airport (WOW, how scary!) and spend most of the day on 2 or 3 lane roads trying NOT to get run over.  Stop near Pringy hoping to find the tourism office open and fully stocked on cycle route maps.  It’s not open, and as we are deciding our next move, a girl shows up with office supplies.  Although she isn’t at work to work, she tells us where camping should be and directs us to a sushi place on the edge of town.  Our first impulse is to just press on, but the road ahead looks bleaker still and it’s getting late so we decide to wait the 30 minutes till they open.  The sushi was OK, but NOT worth the price, Stupid All-You-Can-Eat places!  We are two tired kids and there is no sign of camping, so we pull into a field with a shielding tree line and set up in the gathering dark.

September 19 ~Day of rest.  We don’t really need it but the trail remains unappealing, and we slept late and to be honest we just don’t feel like moving forward.  Gregory goes to town to find lunchables.  While he’s gone a truck drives right by the tent but doesn’t stop.  We spend the day reading and watching people ‘work’ at a little forested oasis in the same field.  After the ‘workers’ leave, we trek over to take a look.  It seems they were building hunting blinds possibly for dove or other fowl creatures.  Watch some Dr. Who and try to find our regular sleep schedule.

September 20 ~Get up, pack and leave by 10.  Today I’m hauling the BoB and Gregory is navigating, but this means that we are riding each other’s bikes without resetting seat heights and other personal preferences.  I didn’t know this was the plan and I’m NOT happy with the change.  Fortunately the path starts out flat enough and we are easily distracted when we see a Decathlon Sporting Goods store.  We move the better kickstand from my bike to Gregory’s, for stability with parking the trailer and buy a standard kickstand for my bike.  We get back on the road around 12.  Shortly thereafter we stop in a forest to eat some tuna.  We aren’t quite hungry yet but we have a good tête-à-tête and just around the next corner is a GIANT hill.  I’m suddenly wishing a pox upon Gregory and that each person was responsible for their own load of crap instead of me carrying it all, even if Gregory was hauling it all yesterday.  I walk and push my bike almost all the way up, by the time I arrive Gregory has decided that we would be better off leaving the path since the path is highway.  Begin to trail through the forest and while it’s a wonderful mountain bike trail, it’s hard as hell with a trailer.

We decide to camp here for a day or two, so Gregory goes to get some food in ‘nearby’ Fontainebleau while I set up camp.  The spot we quickly chose before Gregory left was not that level or ideal for sleeping in so upon Gregory’s return we find a new level campsite.  Dinner, reading and one more Dr. Who before bed does nothing to bring on the sleepies when we need them at bedtime.

September 21 ~Croissants and honey for breakfast disturbed by a nearly endless parade of old people just beyond our ‘table’ rock.  We spend the day exploring our newest home with the help the gift we received from René in Amsterdam.  Having no constraints on our time or resources we talk about everything before finally deciding that we were sitting at the crossroads deciding between nonexistence and grandchildren.  Mind bending explorations and realizations all but forgotten in the next instant.

September 22 ~Long night of nearly no sleeping with a really strange dream about the Unseelie Court, spells and enchantment (really wish I’d written that down, grr!)  Breakfast is Lunch followed by a hike to the parking lot looking for a trashcan and water supply but finding neither.  Back to camp for reading until we exhaustedly fall asleep.  We take a quick shower which would be more of a rinse with just about the least amount of water either of us has ever used, but we are hoping it will facilitate more restful sleep tonight.  We don’t know if we should be worried or not that our days are essentially nothing more than reading, eating, shitting and sleeping, not in any particular order.  We make the grand plan to bike to town tomorrow for more provisions since we are staying here a couple more days.  A great place to unplug and reconnect.

September 23 ~Trip to town for internet and groceries is harder than it sounds with a bumpy downhill, towering uphill and steep downhill.  Gregory gets reprimanded by the police for not stopping at a red light but we are able to talk ourselves out of the 19 euro fine.  Lunch and internet to upload pictures and try to find a new better path to almost anywhere (at this point we don’t have anywhere we HAVE to be).  We find a few potentials but they all seem more hiking than biking.  We buy three days worth of groceries, trying more canned prepared meals and less sandwiches.  Yes, we are limited by not having a stove but we just don’t have the spare room and cold canned meals aren’t THAT bad.  After a stop for bread and bike repair, we discover that Gregory has ripped his pants.  Nice butt not the impression we might hope to make on the locals.  Fortunately, we are stopped directly in front of Global Sport.  Gregory goes in to find new adventure pants (his second pair since we just bought one replacement in Paris) but low blood sugar from eating too long ago, means he can’t really focus on the task.  I lock the bikes and come in to find him pants to try on.  One fits OK but looks dumb so we settle on the one that fits slightly too big but looks better and seems more functional.  Gregory steps up to the counter and gets embroiled in a great talk with the store owner about our trip so far, our current camping and our upcoming plans.  He in turn tells us that there are wild boar in the forest and that Corsica, which we have been considering, is a special place not to be missed.  We restart the bike home but stop two additional times for Gregory to fix at his bike.  The last stop, at a gas station, requires the help of a 10-12 year old boy and the loan of his tools to fix the kickstand.  Reverse the steep uphill, towering downhill and bumpy uphill back to camp.  Nibble the treats we have acquired while we read (Gregory) and write (me) till dark.  Which was at least five minutes ago …

September 24 ~Rain off and on through the night continues today.  We only leave the tent for breakfast, lunch and breaks of sunlight.  We try our first canned dinner of Three Cheese Ravioli.  It’s not completely new (see August 13^th) but we are unwilling to try the more adventurous tins at the moment.  More reading by both of us will probably continue until it’s too dark to read then most likely an episode of Dr. Who before sleeptime (which in reality is talktime until sleeptime).

September 25 & 26 ~Lots and lots of doing nothing.  Rain and cold keep us cooped up in the tent.  Reading and eating are just about our only diversions.  I notice we are checking the time fairly constantly so I ban time checking on the 26^th.  Ruled by the requests our bodies make, we seem to eat less because we are hungry and more because we think we should.

September 27 ~Bike to Fontainebleau for luxurious hotel stay.  Luxurious in the fact that I can stay in the hot, hot shower for as long as I want.  The hotel claims to have WiFi but we eventually give up on it.  The decision to go out for lunch, turns into grabbing pre-made sandwiches then scurry back to our room for cuddles and movie watching.  We do venture back out for Indian food and I learn that I do NOT prefer Matta Paneer … too many peas and not enough paneer.

September 28 ~I didn’t sleep well and we still feel the need for internet so we decide early on to stay another night.  The internet at the hotel is still ‘broken’ so we find our way to a restaurant for lunch and taxes (Gregory’s).  I locate pictures on Gregory’s Flick’r that I don’t have from our time in Guatemala and in searching figure out that his Guatemala set has massive duplicates.  *We blame crappy internet and not yet having the cool Flick’r Upload’r application!  I clean up the duplicates, download the ones I need and upload the ones I’ve found while Gregory assembles his tax files to send to his accountant.  Five hours gone in no time.  In deciding what’s for dinner, we opt to buy groceries for about 3 days worth of meals.  This gives us the freedom to camp anywhere without then sending some poor soul (always Gregory) off to find food and it saves us a little bit of money as we won’t need to eat out at often.  Gregory sends me home (around the corner and up some stairs) with our provisions while he stops to get samosas at the ‘other’ Indian food restaurant in town.  He arrives with Samosas & Palak Paneer & Matta Paneer & Nan.  A tiny argument ensues because IF I’d known he was getting more than Samosas I would have preferred NOT to get Matta Paneer again so soon, if ever.  We made up before things digressed to a knife fight, but it seems a fairly typical break in communication.  Watch a movie during dinner and try to go to bed early so we can get on the road first thing!

September 29 ~Great morning as we both wake up ready to hit the road.  Yet after hasty showers and repacking we are back to being our regular grumpy, don’t like moving selves.  For some reason moving is too much work and makes us snipe at each other.  After my frustration of the giant hill while pulling the BoB, Gregory has gone back to BoB detail and I am navigator.  I want to say that if I’d known in advance there were giant hills on this crap highway, I would have been fine, but I really think I’m fooling myself.  *Of Note ~ It has been easier to write this journal when we are moving and there is day to day change.  I didn’t write at all in Paris and didn’t write much when we were camped in the woods*

We get on the road close to 11 and cycle, cycle, cycle.  Boy it’s hard work and I find myself wishing I had more strength and more stamina but I just don’t and I don’t really see how to get it.  I’m quite frustrated that Gregory’s pace is about a block faster than mine AND he has the extra weight.  I spend about half the day trying to keep up with him, wearing myself out physically and emotionally.  Eventually we talk about it and agree that it’s pointless for me to further frustrate myself by trying to keep up, so we will each go at our own pace and he will have to wait on me occasionally.  Just outside of Montargis, we discover that my back tire has gone flat.  We air it up at a nearby gas station where the attendant tries to talk to us about a guy who cycled from Lisbon to Thailand.

Back on the road, but a punctured tire won’t get you very far.  I eventually stop in a parking lot so I don’t damage my rim while Gregory goes looking for a repair shop.  He comes back soon with a replacement tube and pump, but we don’t really have a wrench in the tool set.  With no other option, we walk, read as Gregory carries, my bike to the shop and borrow the appropriate tool.  In short order, we find the offending sharp item and replace the tube.  As luck would have it, we’ve seen signs that camping is close by.  Quickly set up tents and beds before returning to the center of Montargis for reading and dinner.  Gregory is really enjoying his book, Magister Ludi also known as the Glass Bead Game, and I finish writing out today’s adventure while we wait for dinner to arrive ~ Escargots, Salmon and desert to share!

September 30 ~Rain sets in around 4am and continues until after 11, thereby keeping us confined to quarters.  Fortunately we both have books to read *There has been a large increase of reading on both our parts but impressively on Gregory’s.  This time of biking seems to be the first time he has allowed himself to just sit and read.

During an excursion out of the tent for the restroom and exploration of the buildings on property, he meets a German couple also biking on approximately on the same path as us.  At some point his enthusiastic “No Way!” resounds through the campground, rousting me out of the tent to come meet the new and exciting people he has found to talk to.  Never 100% sure what to do, I decide to make an appearance.  Gregory gets annoyed by my reenactment but the conversation progresses until we finally let them continue on their way.  They have told us about a potential cycle path along the canal that should be much easier and take us almost all the way to where we want to go.  We watch two movies and some Dr. Who in the ‘Salle de T.V.’ only really breaking for Lunch and then Dinner.  A perfect veg out day with a relatively early bedtime and hope for sunshine tomorrow.

October 1 ~My camera tells me this is day 305 of our trip.  It doesn’t seem like that much time has passed.  We both wake up in cheerful moods and the sun is shining brightly by 9:30 or 10.  So we pack up and prepare to head out.  Sock warming during breakfast in the ‘S de T.V.’ before hitting the road.  Stop around 2 for lunch on the side of the road and hope that we are right about having only 10 more miles to Briare, which is where we can pick up the canal path.  IF it exists it will get us off the highway, so fingers crossed.  We stop on the outskirts of Briare for groceries and zip ties.  Then, I catch up the last two days while Gregory searches for a wrench suitable for removing bike tires.  Right after lunch my left knee began to hurt in that ‘feels like it needs to pop but won’t’ way so I enjoy the rest no matter how short lived.

We stop at a hotel in Briare for a couple of reasons.

1. Shower

ii. I’m Lazy

3. Don’t want to go too much farther on my knee

4. Tourism office is closed and it makes sense not to bike past it just to double back in the morning.

e. Did I mention lazy?  I did, well then tired, I’m Tired.

6. It’s starting to sprinkle and then continues to rain

7. Internet *although I don’t really need it, Gregory needs to do some banking.

Wonderful hot shower then use the lint roller on the sleeping pads (should have done that in Paris!)  Start Flick’r uploading one of two uploads then head to dinner ~ sharing another thirty euro meal of escargot, veal, cheese plate and tiramisu.  I’m excited and hungry.  Early to bed (planned) and early wake up (also planned NOW!)

October 2 ~Morning comes, I don’t feel that rested, blaming scratchy sheets and a restless Gregory.  Breakfast in bed, yogurt and cereal from our provisions, followed by a quick rinse, cause I’m NOT passing up hot water, pack and on the road.  First stop is Briare’s Office of Tourism for information about the canal path.  Spend two euro on a map that looks like it goes exactly where we want to go.  The tourism lady is awesomely helpful and we both comment later that she would be a wonderful addition to Gregory’s CB Ski trip.  We encounter some difficulty deciphering which of the two available white rocked paths is correct but Gregory asks a fisherman, who sets us straight.


We are ON the Path!  It is beautiful, quiet, serene, deserted, perfect and completely appreciated.  At some point it changes into a paved road with light traffic but the map indicates it switches back and forth for the duration and we are ever so grateful that it’s nothing like the highway.  A stop for treats (for now) and baguettes (for lunch) gives me the chance to catch up the writing.

We continue until near Sancerre because our map thinks there is camping almost directly on the trail.  However, like the last place we stopped at because the map said there was camping, it is either nonexistent or closed for the season.  A helpful Frenchman out biking with his children, directs us to a perfect flat space suitable for pitching the tent, very near to the canal where his and several other houseboats are currently docked.  We set up the tents in no time flat, I think we are almost pros at this, despite the light drizzle that seems to be settling in.  Read and rest until dinner.  Once dark falls, we try to watch two different movies but I keep falling asleep so in bed by 10, one exhausted girl and a boy who claims not to be that tired.

October 3 ~Wake up around 9.  During breakfast we hear some nearby gunshot and some whistling and/or bell ringing.  Just beyond the hedge covered fence, we see at least one hunter with a shotgun.  So very glad we DIDN’T camp in that field last night.  A short time later a shot rings out much closer and later still we hear several shots in a row.  Gregory thinks there must be a shotgun range nearby.  Just a typical Sunday morning in the French countryside.  Decide to walk into town for baguettes and maybe reading at a café.  Town is small and we follow a one way street the long way around thinking the center of town is bigger.  First we stop at a bar right on the corner of the busiest (read only) street in the center of town.  Not exactly the best reading spot so abandon it for a quiet little patio space at a hotel with restaurant around the corner.  Much better for reading and even some talking.  As I write this we are trying to decide if we should lunch here then have our baguette for dinner or be cheap and go back to the tent for both.  End up sneakily eating our baguette at the restaurant and reading until they close up for the late afternoon.  The walk home turns into watching the tag end of the local rugby game.  I think we won, but it was difficult to tell who was home team and who was away.

October 4 ~Rain, Rain, Rain.  We start to pack up because it seems like the sun is coming then it starts to sprinkle so we pause and walk to town for bread.  NOTHING is open!  Not the cafe, Not the bakery, Not even the hotel with restaurant from the day before.  Gregory asks at an insurance office and they direct us to the next town.  Start long walk on foot to next town.  As with all our trips into the unknown, getting there always takes longer than getting back.  Our initial desire to just get lunch and return to the tent is completely overwhelmed when we realize we can stock up on food for the next couple of day.  Of course, by the time we finish buying groceries, the café is closed for the afternoon*.  Trek back home, stopping for our now standard baguette for lunch sandwiches.  Back at the tent, it seems sunny enough to finish our previous packing and get on the road even if only for a couple of miles.  Once more it starts to sprinkle but we press on.

*That is something so strange to me, that restaurants are open for lunch, closed for the late afternoon and early evening and reopen for dinner.  It’s not that I don’t understand the need for it, I’m just an American used to getting food whenever I damn well please!

The road is easy and we don’t get very far but progress is progress.  Yet again we are led astray as our map says something wonderful is just around the corner.  This time a youth hostel in Herry.  We abandon the path and begin the search.  I thought it was near to the path, but Gregory and the map say otherwise.  After wandering in the drizzle, we end up at a tennis court where the available locals say NO youth hostel.  However, they are willing to lead us to a ‘nearby’ bed and breakfast, IF we can keep up with their car.  Gregory does admirably and I just keep pedaling until I catch up.  The B&B doesn’t really look open and the sign says 70 euro a night so we think we’ll pass.  Gregory asserts that he saw a sign someways back and we head there.  Even if it’s the same price, it’s closer to the road and the town.  Gregory is right, there was a sign, it’s only 45 per night and it’s much more inviting as it’s essentially the spare room of a family home.  Super friendly couple goes so far as to garage our bikes overnight, even though Gregory and I don’t think it’s necessary.

October 5 ~Good nights sleep and breakfast at 8 with no real packing makes for a really early start.  Head back to the path which is great for a little bit, when suddenly it disappears completely.  Well, the path doesn’t but the signage for it does.  Glad we are fresh and aware.  It is quite rainy or drizzly for a significant part of the morning but we easily make it to Nevers by 3 or 4.  Check into a ‘cheap’ hotel and walk around some looking for a sporting goods store or a book store.  Find them stacked on top of each other.  Sports store doesn’t have better rain pants than I already have.  Book store is not much better off with only about eight books in English.  Choose two only to remember that I hate paying for books, especially when I have at least one in my pack to trade.  Indian food for dinner and it’s the best since San Francisco but my love for Chai means no sleeping girl so write this then internet until tired and hope that tomorrow doesn’t arrive too early.

October 6 ~I force us out of the hotel and away from the internet to explore Nevers.  Visit the cathedral which has strange modern stained glass due to the destruction of the original glass in ’44.  Wander the town until lunch, where we decide we will head back to our hotel to trim and re-dye my hair.  *Who does your hair?  Point to Gregory “He does!”  More Indian food for dinner but less Chai followed but beginning the series 4400 until tiredness kicks in.

October 7 ~On the road by 10 or so and it’s easier that just out of Paris, cause it’s NOT on a highway but it’s very rough terrain on an unpaved road held to varying degrees of maintenance.  Arrive in Decize and Gregory is buying groceries while I catch up the days.  Next we find out if the camping shown on the map is real or not.  *Rough relationship day as this is the day Gregory tries to help me improve my pedaling power.  I resist because it’s just about the worst terrain we’ve biked and I feel like I’m doing good to make forward progress.

Camping CLOSED!  Apparently the French don’t believe in camping in the Fall.

Things I forgot to write about today

This picture is actually from when
he fell AGAIN on the 12th,
 but I didn't write about that
 one for some reason.

*Gregory fell.  HARD.  I’m not exactly sure what happened but he has strained or sprained his right forefinger and it’s beginning to swell, making it hard to change gears although it’s not that necessary right now.

*We played leap frog with a boat.  They get stuck at the locks and we would pass them.  Then we’d stop to rest, snack or rehydrate and they’d pass us.  They always called out to us when they saw us so it brought a smile to my face that the rough path couldn’t completely remove.  Eventually we passed them and then left the canal path, but it was fun while it lasted.

*I love and trust Gregory, despite how I might act sometimes.

*Still no signs of our path but I think the map calls it provisional.  Although I just looked up provisional I have to say… “I do not think it means what you think it means.’  I’m guessing they mean it’s there but not paved and quite ready for the average cycling tourist.  Fortunately we are just a little bit more hard core … or is that stubborn, I confuse the two sometimes.

*The days are very blendy right now.  I think we are both tired of cycling but neither of us will say *Stop*.  Need to have a real conversation about it, sooner rather than later.

*Despite being half of a partnership, I don’t think I pull my weight and I feel like Gregory agrees with this but won’t say anything.  How much of this is real or just fears, I don’t know.  I do seem content to just float along in life.  Right now Gregory is in the tourism office trying to figure out OUR next move while I sit outside content with whatever decision he makes.  Theoretically, I’m guarding the bikes but how crucial is that really.  I don’t know how to show him that I appreciate him and ALL that he does, I don’t think that words are enough.

*I LOVE dogs.  They make me smile when everything else in the world seems impossible.

Find a hotel in Decize, where we have some of the above conversations and reconnect with each other.

Things I Am Looking Forward To… Heading Home Edition

Originally I posted this to FaceBook and then as I was working on Things I Will Miss… Leaving the Road Edition (currently still in the writing) I came to realize these were indeed blog posts.  As you can see, I left them unfinished with the idea to add to them, so maybe that's why I thought they were OK for FB and unworthy of Blog status.  However, I don't know IF I will add anything more to either one so I'm not going to tell you to watch this space in anticipation of more insights.  Either way, I thought they were good exercises in appreciation both for the things that I've experienced and for the things I yearn for.

1. Showers!  For as long and as hot as I can stand it.

2. My own BED!  Oh bed, I’ve missed you so much.  I hope you’ve misses me too.  I can’t wait to be back in your soft warm embrace.  I can almost feel the weight of you pressed against me in ALL the right places.  I’m even bringing you back some custom made Moroccan lingerie.  I hope I got your size right.

3. Hugs!  Tons and Tons of hugs.  Not to insinuate that other people in the world don't hug, but really for the most part they don't.  I'm not talking about your run of the mill back pattin' hug.  I'm talking about fully enveloping, melt into the moment, you are exactly where you need to be, never let go hugs from the people I consider family.

4. Family!  I have the most wonderful family in the whole world.  My loving parents and wonderful bother.  My wonderfully eccentric aunts, uncles and cousins.  Every single member of Gregory's family who have not only accepted me with open arms, but have let me steal him away from them for a whole year.  And of course my chosen family, who are all the more wonderful because they love me for me, not just because they have to.

5. Mexican Food!  A weekly (or more) staple of my routine that has been sadly missing for the last 52+ weeks.  Chips, Salsa and Exceptional Queso, Refried Beans, Sour Cream, Warm Corn Tortillas, Sizzling Fajita Meat, Guacamole (the kind that's just Avocados, Garlic and Spice!) and Cheese Enchiladas.  All the SPICY I can handle.

6. Clothes!  Well not so much clothes but the variety that allows me more (and less) than 2 pairs of pants, 4 shirts, 4 pairs of socks, and 2 pairs of undies.  The clothes I have had this year have held up great and have continued to look good all year.  BUT, I'm ready for a change.  I'm ready for, among other things, skin tight blue jeans (I even dreamed about them!), nice button up shirts and a variety of shoes...

7. OMG Shoes!  No this didn't turn into a crappy Rick Roll.  My one year old + cross trainers have just about given up the ghost.  They have almost no tread and despite their truly wonderful drab functionality, I'm ready for a little bit of Foot (tr)Action.

8. Poi Practice and Fire Spinning!  Unlike Gregory, who can spin at any time.  I require quiet near uninterrupted space and time to practice.  It's also handy to have some friends around to tell me what looks good and what still needs work helps too!

9. POPCORN!  Whenever, where ever and however I want it.

10. Chocolate Milk!  Icy cold, chocolatey rich, what else is there to say.

These are just a handful of the things I can think of right now.  I will update it as I think of new Things!

And Then There Was Paris...

August 26, 2010 to September 18, 2010

The Photos

*I don’t know if I’m going to keep up the daily journal.  Gregory wants me to (as well as some blog readers), but it will completely depend on if I can make it a consistent habit, like before bed or something.*

August 26 ~ Three Ducks ... worst hostel EVER!  Crap room, next to patio.  Loud voices until after 2:30.  My bed is basically fine (I’ve slept on better AND worse!), but poor Gregory had two low spots.  We still find it odd that the French don’t seem to believe in breakfast, only coffee and a croissant, and it makes me wonder how they get anything accomplished.  Of note Gregory wants me to lead using the GPS more.  I’m afraid that I wear out too easily but we agree to try to find a second bike cradle for the GPS so that either bike can lead at any time.  Quick run by Jordan’s to fix my handlebars, I think if I can just STOP dropping my bike I will have less problems.  Using a Google maps to GPX import tool I found online, we create a trail to a very busy campground.  Once we get there we are unable to check in for at least an hour and a half and the line waiting is incredibly long.  However, once we check in, we get a great spot in the back corner near the spillway which produces a wonderfully lulling white noise.  We easily nap the afternoon away.

NOT Actual Size

Upon, awaking we decide to have dinner at the camp restaurant rather than bike ‘into town’.  We end up have a weird, over priced Salmon Pizza (don’t ask me, I was happy with the idea of a Margherita pizza, which in France is just an American cheese pizza).  Anyway, we’ve about decided on showers and more sleep, despite the lack of sleepiness at the moment, when the fellow sitting next to Gregory comments on the Tome he is reading.  The official title The Secret Teachings of All Ages: An Encyclopedic Outline of Masonic, Hermetic, Qabbalistic and Rosicrucian Philosophy is more than interesting enough to catch Michele’s eye.  This starts a long wonderful conversation with him and his friend Marco, both from Parma, Italy.  We talk about our trip so far and their recently finished walk about of the Normandy Coast, our non specific plans of Paris exploration and their completed and planned Parisian attractions, our more solid plan to visit Italy and their warning about Italian drivers and bicycles.  An energizing conversation that eventually ends as we decide on showers and they head to bed as they have their last day of exploring tomorrow.  We find out they are camped in the same area as us and I hope to talk with them again before they leave.

August 27 ~ Waste almost all day napping, but then it might not be a waste as we seem to have really needed it.  Bike to Jordan and Annie’s for Veggie Taco Dinner and our first macaroons.  Gregory and Jordan have so much catching up to do and it is very late by the time we head back home directly through ‘les bois de bordel' *not their official title.  Paris has two pleasant woods (not big enough to be called forests) on either side of the city centre.  They are called the lungs of Paris and they are filled with paths and trails good for walking and biking.  They are also filled with prostitutes.  I don’t seem to appreciate their presence nearly as much as Gregory does so once he adds his two cents, you’ll possibly gain the same sense of awe (or derision) we felt as we happened upon their territory, despite Jordan’s low-down on their probable presence.

August 28 ~ Late to bed means late to rise.  We finally crawl out of our tent around 10.  Michele and Marco have left already and I wish I’d had the chance to say good-bye.  Wander up to the cafe for weak coffee and watery hot chocolate.  We talk to a group of girls from Dublin who are here for a 3 day music festival.     It sounds cool, but for some reason we can’t fathom what would make that trip worth it.  Maybe we are getting old.  This festival is the reason for there being so many people filling this Parisian campground.  Head back to the tent for planning out the rest of the day and find a beautiful note from Michele.  A tickle fight and a movie cap the afternoon.  Gregory goes to call Jordan about a possible movie tonight while I write out the last couple of the days.  Hard to documentate when you’re sleeping!  Movie is a no go and we are without plan for the remainder of our day.  Go on a completely directionless bike ride which ends up at the Eiffel Tower.

August 29 ~ Today we get our apartment.  Twenty days of luxury after twenty-five days of roughing it … er, I mean camping.  Tear down camp and pack up.  Arrive an hour and a half early to check out the neighborhood.  A half naked French woman notices us from her balcony and spends the next several minutes singing and generally letting us know that she is loony tunes.  In our haste (and lack of internet for the last couple of days) I have neglected to get the numeric code that lets us into the building.  Once our 3:00 appointment time comes and then goes, I trudge off to find internet and the code, so that we are at least waiting in the right spot rather than looking homeless on the street.  I come back and enter the four digits, just as Gregory and our landlady are disappearing from the foyer.  Our initial impression of the space is that it is SMALL, but on second opinion it is pretty amazing.  It is essentially one room with a tiny kitchen and decent sized bathroom, but it has a lofted bed area over the bathroom and kitchen which leaves mom the downstairs room once she arrives.

I get a great haircut...
promptly re-dye it purple!
I’m back to being the
 Purple French Mushroom...
in Paris even.

September 5 ~ No writing for SEVEN days.  I’d like to say we were exploring the city ... but we haven’t really.  Blazing fast internet at the apartment makes us think that either Paris is the centre of the intertubes or Parisians just don’t spend their time online.  In the time not written about we have had dinner with Jordan and Annie again.  They came to see our ‘janitor’s quarters’ as Jordan pronounces it and we have a tasty Lebanese dinner at a place nearby.

Now, sitting in a cafe near the Louvre there is too much noise to write or think so more later (I hope!)

I have to look at photos to attempt to remember even a portion of the last couple of days.  We have dinner with Thomas, a CouchSurfer we met in Dallas through Boarhead, a year prior.  Thomas was in the States working on his American People Project.  We find out that while he was an inspiration to our attempts at better fire spinning photos, we were part of the inspiration for his current art style, Photo Composites.  Wonderful moment of realized inspiration surrounded by great conversations about life and art.

Oh, and as you can tell from some of the photos, my mother has arrived.  This is momentous and beyond my imaginings.  Initially I thought she was arriving on the second, but silly me that’s when she was leaving Dallas.  She landed in Paris on the third at about 9 in the morning.  It takes her just enough time getting to the apartment that I’ve started to worry, but she shows up just fine.  We get her settled in and then wander out for some small explorations and some lunch.  We decide to share two Plat de Jour’s, one starter and meal and one meal and desert.  Despite our utter lack of French (well mom and I had some in college, but that was longer ago than either of us likes to think about) mom knows just enough to suss out that the entrée is rabbit.  It was remarkable tasty and absolute proof positive that mom is NOT in Texas anymore.  We buy groceries for some of my favorite ‘home cooked’ meals and decide on Hamburger Mushroom Gravy over Potatoes.  It was delicious although not exactly the same as at home.

*Gregory distinctly remembers a moment that reminds him that neither me or my mother has traveled out of the United States before when after looking at a menu my mom says “Now I understand how hard it must be for foreigners to come to America."

We wake up super early for our scheduled tourist activity, the City Segway Tour.  Brisk walk to the Eiffel Tower where we wait for our tour guide and fellow tourists.  Seth arrives on Segway and is a great mix of my brother’s humor and all the geeky boys I miss from back home.  His humorous take on French history and his witty repartee make the day speed by.  Gregory and I are initially worried about mom being able to handle the new technology of Segwaying, but she masters it tout suite.  I, however, learn the hard and painful way that Segways and dirt paths are not BFF.  In fact, they seem to be more the hair pulling, shirt shredding, scratching, biting, slapping enemies that we all remember from cat fights in High School.  Put into simpler terms, the mechanism of the Segway works great on concrete and other hard surfaces, but the same mechanism that makes it work is completely counter intuitive on dirt … wait a minute that wasn’t any simpler.  What I’m trying to say is that when the Segway feels like it’s not getting the traction it needs, it automatically speeds up the wheels, which is a lot like spinning out in loose gravel with your car.

*Now let me state for the record, that Gregory feels I was fooling around inappropriately on said device which led to my eventual literal downfall.  However, in my defense I say that I was merely monkey see, monkey doing what he was doing.

Right or wrong, I fell … hard.  Gregory stops, helps me up, dusts me off, rinses my hands and we are about to try to catch up with the group when here comes the cavalry!  Eight Segways come charging back, led by Seth and my mother.  One of the girls had seen me fall and rode ahead to tell them I was down.  Scraped palms and bruised ego aside, the tour was marvelous and Segways are great fun.

Once back at headquarters, we get food recommendations, including a Pho restaurant to fill in mom’s Cold Noodle Bowl card.  Hobble walk to a nearby cafe for coffee and eclairs before heading home to rest, change clothes and re-bandage my hand.  The fabric bandages that mom brought, because she’s Mom, immediately became ‘handy.’  After resting, we take a substantial walk, back to the Eiffel Tower, over the Pont d’Léna, through the Jardins du Trocadéro and over to the Palais de Chaillot.  Despite all the signage and mom’s shuttle driver pointing it out repeatedly on her ride that morning, we were never really sure what we were looking for in our search for the Trocadéro.  We decide on dinner in China Town and take our first Metro ride over to find mom’s Cold Noodle Bowl.  The place we were directed to had at least a 30 minute line out the door and we were all hungry more than 30 minutes ago.  Along the way, mom had perused several menus to see if she could find the elusive CNB.  Fortunately, she knew the Vietnamese word for what she wanted (Bun Thit, if you are curious) so we doubled back to a restaurant with immediate seating.  Mom and I got Bun Thit and Gregory got random Ginger Chicken with rice (on the server’s recommendation).

After dinner, we Metro home for sleep and a lazy morning.  The first Sunday of the month is Free Museum Entry day and despite being warned off by Seth from the Segway Tour, we decided to give it a shot.  Using the Metro entrance, saved us a ton of wait time and we got in nearly straight away.  Although Gregory is the main one that wanted to see the Louvre, we really only saw the things my mother was interested in, such as the Napoleanic Apartments and the Flemish, German and Dutch painters.  Gregory may go back to see other stuff, but I think he would prefer finding a modern art museum.

Suddenly the writing stopped.  The day to day activities took precedence over blogging.  The touristic whirlwind caught us in its might and dropped us at random points around the city.  We dragged my poor mother up to the highest reachable point of the Eiffel Tower, it was nerve wracking for her but she did it!  We also dragged her to the lowest depths of the Catacombs, she found it outré.  We watched her explore a cemetery.  We day tripped to Versailles, where we were all stunned by the overwhelming, over the top opulence. We saw Notre Dame but found more enjoyment watching a man feed the pigeons nearby.  I know we walked and walked and walked all over the town, sometimes with a purpose, but most times without.

Then saddest of days,
my mother flew back home.

Costa Rica then Panama with a Veer to the Left

April 10, 2010 to August 2, 2010


The Photos


This started out as a response to an e-mail from a couple that I met in Guatemala and has turned into a full fledged blog post, started by me, REALLY polished by Rebecca, elaborated on by me again (ouch, this writing thing is painful), re-polished by Rebecca and then finally published.

OK, it is true we have completely stopped updating the blog.  Neither of us really knew how to get motivated or how to motivate the other to do it.  Once we were behind it seemed impossible to catch up.  We know it is better to live it than blog it, but we find the guilt near the end almost overwhelming (considering that so many wonderful people have wanted to live vicariously through our blog).

So last you saw us we were in Guatemala, but getting ready to leave in the next day or two.

What started out as a leisurely jaunt to Costa Rica, turned into a mad dash as we suddenly realized we might miss the very person we wanted to see.  We made it, but just barely, skipping all of Nicaragua, El Salvador and Honduras.  We did arrange a brief but wonderful stop in San Isidro to CouchSurf the incredible Arine, Pierre and their three month old, Tristan.  The main attraction of Costa Rica was spending time with our friend Boarhead, an added bonus was Hello/Goodbye hugs from Sam since we arrived mere minutes before she left.  BH recently bought into the intentional community Feunte Verde, where he is creating a completely new life for himself, while divesting himself of the bulk of his interests in Dallas.  The community consists of 11 amazingly diverse families (with space for 11 more) attempting to create a sustainable neighborhood.  They are two years into creating this community which I can already see will be wonderful when it is complete.

While there we helped build his composting toilet and cleared some land, in the process rousting out some of the more dangerous critters of Costa Rica, (a Mama Fer-De-Lance and several large scorpions.)  Our final undertaking before Boarhead left was to unearth two massive slabs of rock perfectly situated as the Mother Hearth for his new home.  The inauguration was very exciting as about 30 minutes into the first fire, a shard of rock suddenly exploded upward, spraying us with fire.  No one was hurt but we were all made aware that we are only here because we are allowed to be.  The next night’s community fire performance went off much better, further enhancing the atmosphere BH is creating.  His own slice of paradise at the base of a 1000 foot jungle wall where the monkeys wake you up and put you to bed every night.

After BH headed back to Dallas, for continued life consolidation and a little bit of fun, we just kinda hung out at Feunte Verde.  For quite a while.  Absolutely nothing was pressing us onward and the chance to experience Ayahuacsca, with a Ayahuasquero relocating his group from Brazil to Costa Rica, was certainly enough of a draw to keep us around for a little while.  In the meantime, I unintentionally invited some turbulence into our lives by trying to catalyze the life goals of a truly wonderful Chilean chef.  Despite not reaching the desired end goal, we experienced so many wonderful times over delicious meals with abundant conversation.  We even managed a crazy jaunt to the beach, where I had the pleasure of teaching our chef about fire spinning.  Rebecca would definitely have enjoyed the nighttime beach more if she hadn’t been made so miserable by salt in existing scratched bites being compounded by new biting No-See-Ums, ouch!

*One of my joys in life is to help people do what they want to do, it doesn’t always work out at the time, but I know the ripple effect will create what is to be.  In the end, I always feel the positive energy of at least trying when no one else thinks it’s even possible. 

We wrapped up Costa Rica by participating in a very intimate Ayahuacsca session with Vismay Amrit, his pregnant wife and a close friend of theirs.  The session started and ended around a table full of candles, singing and chanting in Portuguese and English.  As the night progressed, we began a shuffling dance that Rebecca enjoyed but was not the movement that I felt I wanted.  It was probably for the best, however, as it soon became harder and harder to keep focused on the words and movement.  After throwing up twice, I experienced what I would call a slight body buzzing with some doubling of vision, as If I were looking at an old 3D movie without the proper glasses.  It was not the powerful visionary experience we were expecting from the research we had done on this jungle medicine.  Despite my disappointment, I am looking forward to trying it again and it seems there are many opportunities within the United States...

Our rested Costa Rican vibe rapidly evaporated once we got to Panama.  We enjoyed walking aimlessly around, exploring this current slice of the world.  In doing so we reconnected with each other, reminiscent of our days in San Francisco.  However, we began to worry as we started hearing rumors that crossing the Darién Gap was problematic at best.  The little information we found on traveling overland from Panama to Columbia, stated it was both uncommon and unsafe.  The suggested modes of transport were either fly* from Panama City to somewhere in Columbia or take a boat.

*I feel it is important to make note that when we left Dallas, one of our main objectives for the year was that we would NOT use airplanes for transportation.  We also planned to be in Peru by June and somehow never made it.  Despite the regrets I have over these missed obligations, I think the trip has been better from NOT following such arbitrary rules.  We lived and learned, what I feel many people already know ~ You can’t do it all, but you do all that you can.  You never close yourself to opportunities and opportunities arise that you could not have imagined.

We had already been thinking about finding a boat to travel with and work on but nothing had come of our two and a half months of searching.  We priced out both flying and boating while at the same time Rebecca put out a post on CouchSailing, part of the wonderful CouchSurfing network.  Almost immediately we get a response from Mik in Trinidad with an amazing offer.  We find out that flights to Trinidad are only slightly more expensive than the other two ways to leave Panama.  So we book it post haste.

Getting into Trinidad was interesting and shows how trusting Rebecca and I are in the world we find ourselves in.  We were completely prepared to fly 1,200 miles to an unknown place to meet a guy we had only talked to online.  Immigration, however was not nearly as trusting as us.  Since Rebecca is not familiar with International flying, she didn’t know to stay with me through the process.  Despite that, she had no problem getting through, while I was sent back into line to wait.  It helped that she had just enough information on who we were coming to see and eventually immigration called Mik to verify our story.  Finally we were allowed to enter the country and luckily without purchasing the normally required onward flight.

We spent the next month in Chaguaramas, Trinidad living on a boat.  We soon learned that Chaguaramas is very well know amongst the sailing community as a good port for storing and restoring sailing vessels.  It is ideally situated South of the Hurricane Zone and an easy landing spot off the Trade Winds of the Atlantic Ocean.  Our time was split between dry dock and docking in port as we helped get the boat ready for sailing.  It was a very relaxed time for us, as with so many phases in our trip.  We also spent truly interesting times exploring Trinidad and talking to Mik from Denmark, Jessica from the States and Nombuso from South Africa.

Mik was in Trinidad checking out the boat we were working on with the intention of buying into the group (only $15K/person) that co-owns and co-operates the boat, a kind of test run to see if personalities and desires would mesh.  If they did, Mik would spend several more months getting ready for a two year voyage.  We got some neat photos of us painting the entire underside of the boat ... rather artistically if I may say so myself.  After getting the boat in the water early, the rest of the 5 person crew arrived and we soon started on our 7 day trip that turned into only 4 days when the motor on the boat went out and the wind died.  We found ourselves drifting towards Venezuela where it was reported there were pirates!  We all spent the night in watch shifts making sure we didn't drift too close to land or get run over by other boats.  Eventually we got more wind and sailed back as far as we could before getting the boat towed in by essentially a speedboat.

Before we were able to take our sailing trip the Captain (because of the strict 30 day Trinidadian Visa restrictions) required us to have an onward plane ticket.  In continuing to look for the things that would exhilarate Rebecca, I off handedly said "Why don't we go to AMSTERDAM!"  She seemed quite taken with the idea and I knew I had a great group of friends from the Dream-Your-Topia project at Burning Man in 2008.  I also couldn’t wait for her reactions* to a completely new culture.  So again off we fly, further throwing our trip into the chaos of explorations that I think in retrospect has been one of the most amazing elements. 

NO PLANS = Wonderful Adventures

* This trip has largely been inspired by finding the things that bring out the inner light within Rebecca.  I LOVE watching as her face lights up when she encounters something that seems familiar but has just a little bit of a twist in taste, texture or look ... Like Fresh Mangos! WOW, I have to admit it actually pushed some jealousy buttons when I saw the look in her eyes!  Wonderful to see let me tell you! 

We spent an incredible month in Amsterdam. Starting with a couple weeks at Dadara, Thera and little Mundo’s house, all remarkable artist in their own ways.  I spent countless hours watching Dadara paint, reminiscing about past projects, prognosticating about future ones and talking about how to make a living as an artist.  That was followed up by several nights camped on the deck of Martin’s  Voorzanger houseboat on the Amstel, the most wonderful caring man and father I have ever known.  Followed up by renting an apartment from Kamiel Proost with his wonderful art displayed around his space.

I have to say, I really LOVE that city.  I am sure it had a lot to do with the nearly perfect temperatures (after the heat of Trinidad and Central America) and the cherry on top was the complete LACK of mosquitoes.  The two combined allowed us to sleep with the unscreened windows open which was pure BLISS after a month of trying to get air circulation through mosquito netting and the previous month trying to sleep under a fan to keep the beasts at bay and prevent the itches that require scratches.  One of our best days was spent in Vondelpark.  We biked* over, set up a blanket, talked about everything, watched the people and the dogs and the ducks, eventually wandered all over the park, alternating who picked the next direction, climbed all over several sets of amazingly interactive playground equipment and one weirdly wonderful tree, which I later documented in Dadara’s guest book.  We were stunned and impressed to find a park specifically designed to enjoy nature.  Especially, since in Texas, the word park generally means Baseball Diamond, Basketball Court or Soccer Field.

*Amsterdam is BIKES, forget anything else you have heard, go there to be completely immersed in the biking culture.

Having a little over a month before we meet Rebecca's mom in Paris, we were once again floundering on what to do.  We had talked about how much we were both enjoying the experience of biking around Amsterdam and one day Rebecca said "What if we just biked to Paris?"  Since anything she desires to do, I'm immediately completely willing to do, it didn't take too long before the random thought turned into a real live plan.  Rebecca Google searched 'Bike Route Amsterdam to Paris' and sent me the first path she found (she eventually sent me one or two more but I don't think I even looked at them.)  I began trying to see the lay of the land topographically and trying to guess if this crazy girl, who has never biked more than 10 miles at home has any idea what she's getting herself into in the 400+ miles from Amsterdam to Paris.  Fortunately, a large portion of the trail is beside water so that's going to be as easy as 'shoveling sand.'  Rebecca searches on Marktplaats, the CraigsList of the Netherlands, for bikes and finds a matching set for 300 Euro, that we arrange to check out in Purmerend, just a quick train ride away.  In almost no time we outfit ourselves with panniers, tent, sleeping bags and pads, rain pants and a GPS to navigate by.  I know it was hard on Rebecca and you can read the day to day report here: Part 1 and Part 2  That was the most amazing thing to me, once we began biking, Rebecca began writing almost daily.  I couldn't have been happier and wanted to keep her on the bike for a long as possible, just to facilitate that creative burst.

 

This was just about the most wonderful part of our thoroughly fantastic trip.  Holland was super easy, with no hills for at least the first 150 miles.  Eventually we did have to climb some hills that required pushing the bikes, but for the most part we were absolutely fine on our Wal-Mart(esque) bikes with only 6 gears.  Yup, you read that right.  In the end we only needed lower gears for half a dozen places in the entire 3 months we were biking.