(Temporary Backup) Day 3- Paris

Before I talk about today, I want to mention that Chris and I had a wonderful dinner last night at Jerome Vidal’s apartment which is quite near the youth hostel

Heron hosted us with his good friend Alison from Melbourne. She works in the data management field for mining companies and seems to want to take out French citizenship. Jerome on the other hand is studying to be a nurse.

Jerome is “babysitting “ my bike box until I return to Paris...thanks Jerome much appreciated!

Today was a day of being a tourist and after a great night of sleep we were ready for it!!!

First up was a visit to see the Notre Dame cathedral after the fire. Gee there is a lot of work to do as you can see from the photograph 

Then we did the big bus tour which was a good refresher for us both. The big issue for me was the additional security around all the attractions particularly at the Eiffel Tower where there is now a glass fence surrounding the base with security gates controlling entrances. The other issue was the traffic... seems there are traffic jams everywhere. The locals who do not use cars use electric scooters which are hooked up via the GPS by various operators 

We used the metro to get around which was fine but a little confusing at times 

We finished touring at lunch and after a bite in the Latin Quarter we came back to the hostel to sort out my Garmin maps.....wow this is frustrating to say the least 

Anyhow we sorted out bits of it but downloading Europe maps was unfortunately a problem...

We gave up after a couple of hours and Chris went for a sleep whist I tried to sort the problem out at an Internet cafe

I gave up due to real concerns about security 

At about 6.00 pm we went out locally to have dinner but most restaurants open st 7.00 pm so it was a frustrating time finding one open for a couple of older blokes looking for a “nursery tea”

We were fortunate to find a cafe with ok food

After a feed of steak chips and salad we headed home for an early night ahead of the first day of riding 

It would be fair to say we are both looking forward to the days ahead of adventures in 10 countries and over 3000 kms...

Chris has a good friend who is doing the same Eurovelo 6 route and over dinner we had a look at his blog and the scenery looks great 

A good sleep tonight should be great for the days ahead

Now for the pictures

Notre Dame... note the fire damaged roof

Champs-Elysées 


Eiffel Tower

Day 1 & 2 Travel to Paris

Monday 27 May was a busy day getting my bike packed by Matt from Cycleinn and sorting out the gear for the trip

After saying goodbye to Robyn and Alice and Mikayla it was off to the airport. Great that Nick, my eldest son had time to drive me and my gear 

I met Chris in the check in desk and we managed to avoid a big queue by checking in business class.... thank goodness for that!

After dropping the bike bags it was off to the lounge for a drink and meal before the long 13 hour flight to Abu Dhabi the the 7 hour flight to Paris 

We arrived in Paris at 7.30 approx and managed to get a cab that could fit both bike boxes and it was off to the Youth Hostel where Chris has booked 2 nights 

As the rooms were not ready until 3.00 pm we decided to walk and catch the Metro. Chris needed to sort out his mobile and I thought it might be useful to find a bike shop 

Finding a reputable phone shop proved to be a real problem and we resolved to go to Orange on the Champs Alysee which seemed ok

Finding a bike shop proved to be more difficult and in the end we gave up and came back to the youth hostel to unpack our bikes and sort out our bags.,.

We are both a bit tired and are resting before going out to dinner with the son of one of the folk we met through Warm Showers on the last trip in France. Should be a good night as he does a lot of bike riding

Well we are nearing the time to get on the saddle but tomorrow is going to be day to”shake down “ our bikes and do a big bus trip through Paris. I particularly want to see Notre Dame cathedral and the damage caused by the fire

Now for the pictures...

Yes here is the Arc

.... me here to prove it!



The youth hostel where we will spend the first 2 nights 

Very comfortable

Paris to Black Sea

I am looking forward to a ride from Paris to the Black Sea which starts on Monday 27 May when I fly out from Melbourne 

I am riding with my wonderful Kiwi mate Chris Jones and am looking forward to seeing him again as we travel in Europe 

Last Sunday was a time to say goodbye to the Wheeliebinners in Melbourne as per the attached picture 

Looking forward to ridin in Europe as we visit 10 countries and travel along side some of the great rivers

Catch you all when I get to Paris