Loire a Velo with Friends : 2019-06-29 : Prep Day 2 and Ian visit

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Service
Type Name Description Service Provider Cost Notes Actions
Other Luggage wrapping SafeBag $0.00
Accommodation
Type Name Service Provider Confirmation Location Cost Notes Actions
Hotel ibis Styles Paris CDG Booking.com Paris CDG $765.00 Price is for four people (4-adult suite) for three nights.


Trip Log

Notes Actions
We’ve always used packing boxes for our stuff. This time I’ve decided to try wrapping from SafeBag. Looks pretty awesome.

I hemmed and hawed about including the tailbox or using it as a second carry on. Decided on carry on, but it would have been easy enough to include if I’d wanted to.
Maps.me has been a very valuable addition to my touring toolbox. We have not been using it for choosing where to go like some folks. We’ve only been using it to supplement our normal process, but it’s been really great for two things:
1. Showing us exactly where we are. Our paper maps are great for helping us figure out where we want to go, but sometimes we’re not sure where we actually are at the time. Maps.me does that and has prevented a few ‘Rhonda detours’ on this trip.
2. Finer details for how to get someplace specific when the paper maps aren’t detailed enough.

One thing that surprised me was that it still knows where we are even if I haven’t connected to WiFi since the last time I switched the phone on.
One thing I’ve really enjoyed about having Ann along on this trip is her ability to interact with bipeds, which is something some of us other introverts struggle with at times. Ann is a very warm, friendly, engaging person who can easily establish a rapport with just about anyone. She doesn’t have very good French, and she often accidentally throws in Spanish words (and English) words but she always achieves very positive responses and interactions. When she is speaking her mish-mash of French, English and Spanish, I say she is speaking Annish. I think I need to learn some Annish. It seems to work very well for travel.
We spent more days than I would have preferred on transit and logistics on this trip. We left home on June 1st and are returning on July 1st. ‘Lost’ days:
- June 1: flying to France
- June 2: airport to hotel
- June 3: train to Nevers
- June 23: planning/logistics in Nantes
- June 24: train to Rennes
- June 27: train to Paris
- June 28, 29: prep in Paris
- June 30: lost to Max 8 aircraft issues
- July 1: fly home

Ten days for a 31-day trip. One of them was my own doing to make sure we could get our stuff packed at the end. Transit to and from the tour is unavoidable. But ten ‘lost’ days is too much. I will consider this in planning future tours.
Brent and I went on a random walkabout today and saw Notre Dame with some spectacular scaffolding. Later on, we were going to meet Ian for an afternoon beverage near Gare de Nord. When we got there, though, we realized that GdN was the epicenter of a yellow vest protest that was just getting started. There were protesters, cops in flak jackets, police vans and busses and cabs blocking every intersection. We tried to go down the street of the intended establishment, but it was right in the middle of everything, so we deked this way and that, texting Ian the whole way, until we found a little establishment in Indiatown that seemed off the protest route. Some excitement for the day.
Holy heat wave! Temps higher than 30 for several days in a row now. I’m dyin’! Glad we were finished riding on the 23rd. Today was close to 40 in Paris, and much higher than that in the subway trains!


Photos

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