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Vacances 99: 

Our Trip to France

                 July 6: 1st day: Paris to Orleans, where Sylvie's brother lives. We spent 3 days there. Lots of family dinners, strolling along the Loire, biking in the woods...

                July 9: From Orleans to Troyes. Both our families live in Troyes. We spent 5 days there, visiting relatives. It also was my parent's 50th anniversary. 

                July 13: From Troyes to Rouen (by car). Rouen is where my brother lives. (update: he is moving to the Bahamas, then to Miami). My parents came too. We went to the Armada of the Century, a fantastic show of the greatest tall ships in the world.

                July 15: We took the TGV from Rouen to Lyon, where my cousin Francois lives. Francois started Raconte-moi La Terre, a travel bookstore, with an international cafe and Internet computers. He's only been open 9 months and has been favorably reviewed by more than 100 press articles.

                The scooter trip starts. We'll eventually cover 2,700 kilometers, or about 1,700 miles. 

1st day: Lyon to near Montbrison, in the Loire department (county). On our way, we take some pictures in the village of Chazelles. At night, we stop in the most wonderful bed and breakfast, where we have a fabulous dinner. I ate frog legs (for the second time in my life), and warthog, as well as some of the best cheese I had in the last 3 years.   

2nd day:  We had to leave before 9am, or all the roads will be closed for the Tour de France. All day, we're trying to avoid the Tour de France's path, which means crowded roads, hotels full, and if you wait too long, the road is just closed. We go through Issoire, near where my family originates, and Super-Besse, a wonderful ski resort in Auvergne. We also get to climb our first pass, the Puy Mary, at 1600 meters (or 5,000 ft). At night, we arrive at Sousceyrac, where my parents and I used to spend the family vacations. After some trouble, we actually find the house where we used to stay.

3rd day: We change our plans, because the Tour de France is again in our path. In all, we'll cover and additional 400 km just because of the damn Tour de France. This will be our longest ride so far, almost 400 kilometers. We go through some wonderful places like Rocamadour, the Gouffre de Padirac and the village of Lauzerte. At night, we arrive in the resort town of Eaux-Bonnes. We're in the Pyrenees.

4th day: Eaux-Bonnes to Bagneres de Luchon: It's the day of the passes: Col d'Aubisque, col du Tourmalet, Col d'Aspin, col de Peyresourde, all between 1,700 and 2000 meters (5 to 6,000 ft). We see wild horses, cows, sheep, all of that more or less right on the side of the road, sometimes in the middle of the road.

5th day: Bagneres to Font-Romeu. Again some passes (col des Ares, col de Portet d'Aspet, col de Chioulla, col de Pailheres, col de la Quillane). 

6th and 7th day: We stay in Font -Romeu, hiking during the day, eating fondue and raclette at night. We were in the same hotel as the Cofidis French cycling team, and took our breakfast everyday with Laurent Jalabert (world champ in 1997), who is not in the Tour de France this year. Each day, we hiked for 7 hours, in some of the greatest places in Europe, like the lac des Boulouses.

8th day: We need to go back toward Lyon, so we get moving early. The road goes along the Gorges du Tarn, with fantastic views. We arrive in Les Vans, in the heart of les Cevennes, for dinner. We ate at a restaurant called Les cevennes, one of the best in France. Fantastic dinner.

9th day: we go back to Lyon along the Rhone Valley, and arrive around 4. As we go to my cousin Francois's house, we're told that he and his lovely wife Lisette, who is from Canada, just got their first baby. We go to the hospital, which is just 5 minutes away by foot, and we get to see the 10-hour old Nathan. At night, we also have a great dinner in old Lyon with Francois and his wonderful staff.

                10th day: We take the train back to Troyes, and arrive there around noon. In the afternoon, we shop for gifts to bring back to the States.

                July 26: I go back to Paris to take the afternoon flight back to Washington. Sylvie, Raphael and Vanessa stay in Troyes for a couple of days.

                July 27: Sylvie, her parents and the kids drive to Noirmoutier, their traditional place for the vacations. They will spend 5 days over there camping, going to the beach, fishing...

                August 2: Sylvie and the kids drive to the island of Re, where her sister is vacationing. They will stay 4 days.

                August 6: Sylvie and the kids take the train back to Troyes, to prepare for the return trip back to Washington.

                August 9: Sylvie and the kids take the flight back to Washington, where I am eager to see them again.