A Quick Update

 It has been a momentous past couple of days. Loire and I left Beaune and rode into the Jura. Jon finally escaped London and made it to Geneva, got about 3 hours of sleep, put his bike together and started riding toward our meeting spot in Macon.

Lorie and I rode through crazy thunderstorms on our way toward Macon. We got lost as we came into town along the Saone river and pulled into a big plaza. Sitting there on a bench was Jon on his bike. 

It was crazy raining so we ditched the camping for the night and got a cheap AirBnB. It was fine until we tried to warm some pasta sauce in the microwave and the power to the apartment blew. We couldn't fix it so we had no power for the night.

We left at 0530 to get on the train to Tarbes. It wasn't one train, but six separate trains and six separate transfers with carrying the bikes up and down stairs, late trains, missed transfers, Train Nazis telling me that we can't put a tandem on the train, and at the end of the very long day we finally made it to Tarbes, which is at the foot of the Pyrenees. We grabbed a pizza or two for a quick dinner and are hitting the sack. 

The internet has been essentially non-existent for the past three days. I can't upload photos on this connection. And there will be no internet in the Pyrenees.

As a result, there will probably be no blogging for at least three or four days. We're doing great; just no real communications. We'll catch up when we get to Pamplona, maybe, or Donastia in Spain.

Stay Tuned!

Updated Again

It is the evening of 23 June and we're now 4 km from the summit of the Col du Tourmalet. So much has transpired since we last blogged seriously. And Lorie found some odd connection in this small alpine village. So I am going to post some random photos going back three or four days.

First, Beaune, the village that is the heart and soul of Burgundy

Wine tasting in the caves of Joseph Drouhin

Unique chateaux on the road from Beaune to the Jura

A wonderful dinner in the Jura (and the wine is unbelievable, and so unique!)

Into every life some rain must fall; we awoke to a really rainy day

Weirdly, 90 km later we ride into some random street in Macon and there's Jon, sitting on a bench waiting for us. We hadn't communicated at all, except to say "let's meet in Macon and text when we get there."

A beautiful and vibrant city

Alix, in Narbonne. Honestly, the best coffee I think that I have ever tasted.

We spent 14 hours on trains traveling the entire breadth of France, From Macon to Narbonne on the Mediterranean to Tarbes at the foot of the Pyrenees. We missed trains, caught up, changed trains 8 times, hucked super heavy bikes up endless flights of stairs, and battled two unbelievably bitchy Train Nazis who said that we had to get off the train with our tandem. Each time we were saved by French cyclists who basically told the Train Nazis to F-off.

A moment of peace on one train

Another beautiful city. Lively as ever, and one train ride away from our destination, Tarbes.

The Train Nazi #2. Oh, she was scary but no match for French cyclists who came to our rescue!

We made it to Tarbes. Late. Pizza to celebrate.

At the base of the mighty Col du Tourmalet. Ready for the hard part.

We made it and it was unbelievably hard. Lorie was awesome and told me to quit whining on the ride up.

I will catch you all up later. Tomorrow we ride more of the Pyrenee cols. The weather looks ok, ish.