In Paris

Hey, I'm here alright. Camped 2 nights out in Maisons-Laffite or something like that. Then biked in to stay near the Eiffel tour in a real hotel. So now I'm back to being an "ordinary" tourist, nothing fancy to set me apart like biking everywhere with all my stuff. I probably won't update much for a few days, since that would be antisocial when I actually have people I know around.

Funny story, so I was following my GPS into the hotel, (while biking and taking pictures, yes don't try this at home), and it said "enter roundabout, take 7th exit"! Yep, that must be at the Arc du Triumph! And 7 was barely over halfway round I think. I think I got it on video with the helmet cam, that craziness, but then the battery died. Oh well, Carpe Diem!

Chillaxing

Yep, I'm still in Bordeaux. I was supposed to get up and pack up and ride on this morning, but that was really an arbitrary decision anyhow. Moving everyday when I know I really haven't seen all a place has to offer can get tiring. That's where touring a place like the PCH, or Pacific Coast Highway makes more sense. I rode that always wondering if a better viewpoint were just up the road, and it really was more about the scenery than the cities we passed. Sure, one could spend a busy weekend seeing any of them, but the route and destination was already picked. Since I haven't picked my destination (other than Paris in three days or so) I saw no pressing reason to rush out. I ended up chatting with and then eating breakfast with some new Australian friends, three people touring that were just intercepting the tour here, not necessarily following it. They are from Kaiwa, about 2 hrs drive from Melbourne, as I recall. We exchanged information, and they tried to sell me a Dahon folding bicycle for touring. Not theirs, but just sell me on the idea of it. I could see some pluses, as I already mentioned some frustrations with train travel with my loaded bike. I also saw a few other neat pieces of gear. I had known if I buy panniers again I'd like to get Ortleib (sp?) and they were very happy with theirs. They showed me a backpack strap attachment that they could convert a pannier into a backpack quickly for leaving the bike behind. Also they showed me some quick release pedals, basically pull a plastic C-clip, push a spring lock back and pull the pedal out. I think I'll be fine using my multi-tool to insert and remove mine for the time being, but if you do a lot of touring I could definitely see the advantages of such a system. Perhaps the neatest idea, was that a bike pump was integrated into the seat/seatpost. You take it out with the quicik release, pull out the inflation tube and a lever to stand on, and lift up and down on the seat itself to pump.

Goals for today: find computer & empty CF cards, buy some produce and bread, reserve campsite in Versailles & train ride there, get cycleways map from tourist office. Basically bike around Bordeaux liesurely, then go for a swim, fix dinner, and go to bed. No prob.

Bordeaux (continued)

Time trials are the best spectator stage for watching a stage race. There is still no parellel to the excitement of watching a mountain stage high up near the top of the last climb, but for the average spectator the time trial offers the most bang for the buck. I stayed in a campsite on the north end of Bordeaux after watching Fridays sprint finish, and picked up two bottles of wine while waiting for my dinner (I was afraid the wine store across the square would close before I was finished, and indeed it did). One bottle of wine to enjoy during the time trial and 1 to bring to Paris to share. I dressed for serious biking the next day, tour de France T-shirt, bathing suit, and flip-flops. I packed up my thermarest chair and rode all bike paths for about 20 minutes at a leisurely pace until I started seeing people standing beside the road and policemen. I found a nice billboard that seemed to offer a flat surface and shade and setup for the day. Bikers were already coming through, as the first rider starts about 10:15 and I only got out of camp at 10:45. But no worries, they ride in reverse order of overall time; save the best for last so to speak. I've got like 5 hours left. It was actually quite a relaxing day, with bikers rolling through about every minute. I had my bottle of wine, some snacks, a couple of cameras, my thermarest chair basically functioned as a recliner, and decent shade. I probably spent an hour applying sunblock, so that only leaves like 4hrs I guess. After I was down to about the last hour, I switched to the other side of the road to get better pictures and video as the riders favored that side due to the upcoming turn. There was 52km of course, and so that left plenty of real estate to stake out if you weren't too particular about where you watched it from. The police must've been watching me as I inflated the thermarest and installed it in the chair, because one made some grand hand gesture indicating relaxed or ready after I sat down in it, obviously appreciating how well prepared I was despite arriving via bike. I also noticed there was a sign tied to the light pole in front of me with a Tour de France course arrow; I'd noticed those in the windows of some of the RVs following the tour and thought it would make a good souvenir. I then decided I needed to protect this one, as this would be mine as soon as the last rider had gone through.

I texted friends to inform me of the riders in front of Lance so that I could be ready, and decided to switch sides of the road for the last of the stage to get better pictures and video. One of the direction assistance red tour de france cars pulled in behind me after leaving a rider, and then as the guy got out I realized he just needed to make a quick pit stop. I yelled out "yeah, that's the spot" seeing that it was the same place about 4 other people had chosen throughout the day, including French police officers. He came back to the car and got out a couple sodas from an ice chest and tossed me a coke--what a perfect complement to the warm day with only about 10 riders remaining, though now spaced as much as three minutes apart.
Rob Lilley, I think was his name, came by early talking a mile a minute. He was an australian that was also following the tour by bike, and had a GoPro camera mounted to his bike but was out of SD cards and filming stuff on his Iphone. Apparently he had stayed at the Regent hotel the night before and told me what room number and alias Tom Cruise had used there the night before, as he and Diaz were there with a film release and supposedly some scientology event also for Tom.

Anyhow, I got my arrow and strapped it to the top tube of my bike, getting plenty of smiles from the pedestrians I passed as I pedaled through Bordeaux that night. Finally, I was a man without a pressing mission again. It was relaxing to know that I was not following the mayhem to Paris, and had batted 100% at the stages I had intended to watch. I've filled a bunch of memory cards with photos and video that will probably take me 6 months to go through.

So this campsite. It's like a resort. It is camping for people that don't camp but want to tell their friends that they went camping. It's got showers, bathrooms, laundry, a restaurant, a wifi lounge, and a pool. Unfortunately the poolman decided to run the gas powered blower at 7am Sunday morning to clean off the pool deck. As I checked in to request one more night there, I mentioned that and apparently I was not the first. So I guess the guests had complained the day before that the pool was not opened on time, it opened after the posted 10am. So today the poolguy started early I guess and no surprise other people complained. I seem to be spending whatever I save on cheap lodging on food thus far, but without the schedule of the tour to keep, I can start whittling down the food I packed for cooking on my campstove. Which reminds me, last night I was looking to get some fuel for it. I'd kept my eye open in Lourdes for Coleman fuel but hadn't seen any, just the Camping Gaz containers that I was worried might be tough to find. I bought a stove in Ireland that takes either Coleman fuel OR unleaded gasoline. I knew I couldn't take the Gaz containers on my flight and didn't want to have to source them at the destination. Gasoline, I knew I would be able to find wherever. But then at 9pm I seemed to be limited to stations that were all automated and didn't want to take any of my credit cards. But alas a French guy about 25 stopped by with a flat bike tire and I let him borrow my pump. Then proceed to approach the next guy getting gas (the first had not a single credit card) and explain with mostly hand signals my predicament and that I needed gas for my stove and had money to pay him. He was actually getting diesel so it was even more of an inconvenience for him. It took about 40 cents worth of gas, and he wouldn't take any money for it, so hopefully the Karma from the bike pump was getting passed around. I was a little unsure about cooking with gasoline, but it doesn't really smell when it's burning. And regardless of the irony of finding the camping Gaz, unleaded gasoline is still easier to find with more expanded business hours.

Stage 19

Lance

Stage 18

The blur is Mark Cavendish winning the stage.

Bordeaux

Train travel is interesting. I imagine it would be pretty easy to see France by train--if you didn't travel with a bike. Traveling with a bike always brings its own set of challenges. It's almost like I decided to take all of the possible cab fares for my trip and instead grunt through hauling a bike around. Granted, it becomes its own form of entertainment. I would probably have wanted to rent a bike if I hadn't brought one with me. So I get to the train station in Lourdes, and had previously been told there's no reservations for bikes, but there is on the next train. So I show up and see about 10 bikes that are waiting for the same train, maybe 5 in boxes or cases. Luckily this time works out ok, though my bike ended up traveling 1st class. The next train is where things get interesting though. Turns out they don't fool around with trains that end up in Paris. This thing was like 20 cars long, and I was assigned car 1. There's a neat little map on the platform that shows you approximately where the cars will stop so you can be in position; because this is a really long passenger train and you don't want to have to walk the length of it after it arrives. Except that the numbers of the cars changed twice after I first checked the board. But I could tell people were flustered and moving around in response to the announcement in French and decided to go check again for myself. I found a station employee, and it just got changed back to where I was originally. So turns out I positioned myself nearly perfectly, but then thought it might be easier if I let people board first so I had room to manuever without people trying to stow luggage. Unfortunately this lady apparently thanked me, then said a few things about my bike, and proceeded to be the worst bottleneck I've ever seen I don't know what she was doing, but her friend went in and out, and grabbed her bags, and she said something else about my bike, and finally I was worred about making the train at all and decided to enter the next door, thinking maybe the bike stowage would be in the other end of that car anyhow. Well, the train left shortly thereafter, so it probably was a good decision to at least make sure I was on the train. But then I saw no bike storage on either side of the doors, and left my bike in the way in between to go check out the other side. Sure enough, there was a nice bike location on the other side as well as a small 2nd class (most of that car was for 1st class, perhaps she though that bikes didn't belong in 1st class) area for me to sit in. Then I looked back at my bike and the room between the aisles and decided it was not going to happen. So I pulled the rear panniers off, and wheeled the bike through on the rear wheel so as to lift the handlebars above the seats and passengers heads. I strapped in my bike and went back for the other bags. It's just never easy to travel with a bike. It was so close to being very easy to travel that train but etting that lady in front compromised the whole experience. Oh well, I was able to transfer platforms on my transfer without hauling my loaded bike upstairs and at my destination rode out the parking garage to avoid it. I made it to camp, setup the tent, and rode back with 20 minutes to spare to get my spot and watch the finish in Bordeaux. I've already got my bottle of wine to enjoy from the sidelines of the time trial tomorrow, about 1 mile from my campground. It only gets easier from here. I've enjoyed the experiences I've gotten, but at the same time I can appreciate a respite from the constant rush, rush, rush I've gone through to make sure I see a stage where I want to. The train recieved a pounding of rain right before entering the station at Bordeaux-St. Jean, but luckily no more than a sprinkle remained after that. The skies are clear here now, and I may just have to visit the pool at the campground tomorrow. Life is good. How many readers know that's what LG electronics stands for, life is good? I thinks that's a grand brand.

The Epitome of tour watching

(added pics of contador and lance that I took this day)

To watch a stage streetside as the peloton flies by is fun, but that will not get you infected with a virus that keeps you coming back. I had a short conversation with an Irishman on the morning of the rest day. He talked about how many people are addicted to it yet are not even cyclsts themselves. They'll camp out around mountaintops for days to secure themselves a spot only to watch a single stage. For a lucky few this year it actually traversed the same climb twice but from different sides and only one was a finish; so they were more justified in the wait this year. Nevertheless, they do this because it is in the mountains that you see how human these cyclists are. As the Irishman said, they're going slow and you can see the suffering in their faces. Yesterday I watched the tour from the ascent of the Col du Tourmalet, an HC category climb that the stage finished at the top of the climb. I felt like I worked hard to get there, but they racers had done like three climbs on their way to this climb. I was about 7km from the top, and it was probably about 8% grade where I was. I stopped there because I had a nice view of the switchback down far below and could get advance warning of the approach. About 40 minutes before the racers started arriving the whole mountain was covered in clouds and we couldn't see more than about 100 feet. Sure enough, when the racers did come through (Andy Schleck and Alberto Contador first) they were suffering (actually, they looked better than a lot of the others that came through). Suddenly you felt as though you should do everything you could to not get in their way. Oh, and don't ever try and take a picture where you're looking towards the camera and away from the oncoming traffic. Even if you're back away from the path the people have created, the motorcade comes by to widen it (literally driving with one side of the car on the line that people are standing in), and you had best be paying attention or they could take you out. Lance had a relatively good day it seems, I saw him clearly in one of the early groups. He still does a pretty good job of not displaying such suffering, one of his known mental tactics. Running behind the riders is also not so easy. I couldn't believe how close the cars or motorcycles road to the back of the riders. I wouldn't dare run in front of the cyclists, but then jumping in front of a car didn't make much sense either.

Getting to that point in the stage was not so easy. I thought that having a bike would mean I could do whatever I wanted on the course up until about an hour before the riders came through. I figured with enough grunting I could haul myself and my bike most of the way up the Tourmalet by that time. I got a late start, hoping that the rain would quit or lessen, and still went to buy my train ticket so I wouldn't have to risk missing the train because of ticket lines (knowing that the machine wouldn't work for me of course). I chatted with a few cyclists that got me worried, mentioning that the Gendarmare (sp?) stopped them from riding up at 7:30am. Nevertheless, this route would at least place me on the course, and though I'd prefer to be on the climb I didn't want to miss it completely. I found the course, parelleled it on the bike path for another 4-5 miles, then turned through a town and ended up riding through the most beautiful gorge (Still pouring rain by the way, hence no pictures). There was a river (that had probably risen 10 feet since I saw it 2 days earlier) gushing through at the bottom, and steep mountains rose on both sides. They had occasionaly covers for the road to prevent falling rocks from causing accidents it was so steep. This was a gradual climb, just 3-4%, and didn't even count for the climb I later found out. I was able to easily pace the cars on the descent that night with the curves, so I know it was uphill going out. I passed a few Col de Tourmalet signs that update the current elevation and current grade, showing 5%, then 8%, then even saw a 9%. I went up some switchbacks that were still pretty early in the climb so I didn't want to give up yet. I was still harboring aspirations of making it to the top, and I knew I needed to get farther in order to have time after the race passed to finish. I caught the attention of some hikers with my helmet cam, and they went out of their way wanting to be on Youtube. It's amazing how muich attention riding with a camera on your helmet gets you. I could tell the people who were talking about me in french, and heard "camera" and "photography", or at least the french versions many times. These hikers passed me while I stopped to down the first half o my sandwich and we decided on a keyword that they might find their video later, as "tour de france" is bound to have a few hits. Riding a little further, passing the youtube stars again, and then the Gendarmare made us walk our bikes. How ridiculouos, we were not going to see the "hike de France", and we take up no more room than walkers, and on that climb happen to not travel much faster than walkers even. At least I had my mountain bike shoes and not my road bike shoes, so walking wasn't too bad, just annoying. I walked another 20-30 minutes or so and then I was told that my bike could not go any further. Well, it would make walking uphill easier, but my knees are not so great and they don't particularly like walking downhill. And the sole of the bike shoes doesn't do a whole lot of cushioning. But I can't stop yet, I don't see the type of terrain I'm imagining for the climb and I still have a lot of time left. So I lock up the bike, transfer some water back tot he water bottles to lighten my load, and press on. I walk past the 10km marker. It's starting to look better, and I'm scoping out for any more switchbacks. I see some good ones, lined with trailers, in the distance, but ultimately I find these are just campers off the route filling any available parking spots around. Then I reach the big she-bang! A full-on grandstand, and 15 foot TV out in the middle of nowhere. This is the most information I've gotten on the status of the tour while trying to watch a stage in person. I can tell I have some time, as they are 56km out still (but I don't remember when the second to last climb ends, and descents can go by fast). I decide this is too crowded and I press on. I find a decent outside curve and decide I must finish the sandwich I bought on the way up, "jambon", pronounced "shambone", and the can of Coke. It proves a good time to stop, as the "caravan" of promoters makes its way by chucking free "schwag" (sp?) out of the vehicles, and I let the singles go to the french kid nearby but gladly grab a "king of the mountains" cycling hat as there are plenty. I finish lunch and decide to go a bit further. I ended up maybe 300 meters past the setup and decide this will do, knowing everything I walk up I'll have to walk back down. I end up meeting some english speaking friends there, they had met just earlier watching the "tellie" down below. A colorful "Brit" proudly raising the Union Jack on a tent pole, a woman and another couple, all here in search of 'le Tour'. We wait it out patiently, and vent our frustrations as the clouds roll in, compromising our advance notice of the riders arrival and the "autofocus" on our cameras. And the rest, well, you already know. I'm just glad I didn't have to write this lengthy entry on a French keyboard!

Frustrations in France

1. Flies: last nights meal I had to lay claim to my food whilst 5 flies attempted the same. I could scarcely cut the meat without having to shoo them-and this after a shower! Time to patent the all-new 'housefly diet'. You burn calories during the meal and give up on it earlier-guaranteed to lose weight (when accompanied by lots of exercise, results not typical).

2. No Castle: So I understood enough that the sign said visiting hours in French (thru 18:30), but didn't try to read the next note when I passed by at 4:30. I was unfortunately met by a ticket office manned by a French guy closing out the register at 5:34PM upon returning. It was closed. I took another look at the sign and realized the second note said the last entry at 5:30! I returned and pleaded to no avail. Ultimately this was my fault, but a sign in English or a lenient clerk would have made it work out fine anyways.

3. French keyboard: I am so glad that I have my palm (with folding keyboard, but even graffiti is faster) to update the blog. I stopped in my first french i-net cafe to use a computer and left frustrated after 20min. The letters are in different places (not QWERTY), a period requires hitting the shift key, the @ requires hitting the 'Alt Gr' key, and the numbers across the top are accessed only via 'Shift'(this is particularly frustrating when the first numbers entered are for a password and displayed only as *), to name a few changes.

4. Train ticket machines: These machines have a lousy touch screen that then takes so long to process that you've already hit the screen 4 times before you realize it is doing something. Then after you walk through the extended process of finding a ticket to buy, you try both US credit cards and another 2 US debit cards, all branded VISA and after each it says card not taken (actually it responds in French even though you've selected English as the language) and proceeds to show you a screen with the cards that it does take, VISA is very prominently shown. And if you were smart, and booked online in advance you only have to print out the ticket. But, it still says card not taken so you have to go to a teller, meanwhile who knows how many people got in line while you were getting to know this machine better than you know some friends. But anyhow, I had the problem of not being able to print it before, and will be leaving early Friday so I thought I'd give it a go tonight. I got there after the ticket office was closed and confirmed that I couldn't get the machine to work for me (after waiting patently for the bloke in front of me to arrive at the same conclusion). I checked the hours (I'm getting better at this, I swear) and they open at 7:05 tomorrow. The latest train I could find Friday that meets my itinerary leaves at 7:46am, so buying a ticket and boarding the train with my bike loaded to the gills could be iffy. I'm gonna shoot for an early trip to the station tomorrow and slightly delay my mountain ascent to make sure Friday's trip goes smoothly.

If you watch the Tour Thursday (or the highlights), watch for me high up on the Col du Tourmalet. It's the last climb of the day, and a summit finish, so that should be the majority of the highlights footage that they show. And this is about the last real stage to make a move for anybody that isn't great at time trials. Friday's stage is flat, Saturday is the time trial, and Sunday is just for show (Paris).

Oh, and the picture is the castle they wouldn't let me into. That could be tomorrow's biking weather in the background.

Rest Day

7/21/10
Today I took it easy. Late last night a rain rolled in and it has been overcast and intermittent sprinkling all day long. It's pretty eerie seeing the mountain tops in the clouds. I had just a crepe and cappuccino for breakfast, looking forward to trying lunch in France. There's got to be a good reason after all for shutting down the country from 12-3pm every day. I walked down the hill and found the church that everyone had been returning from with containers of water. All the tourist shops along that route sold containers in every size with "Lourdes" and a picture of the church on it. I stopped by and saw that the castle is open until 6:30pm, so I'll drop by there after this. I just stocked up on supplies while stores were open so I can leave early in the morning without worrying about stopping for water. I'll probably get a cappuccino in Argeles-Gazost, a little extra caffeine couldn't hurt. Then I'll turn left this time and attempt to climb the 'Col du Tourmalet'. Assuming success, I'll be climbing from about 1350ft to 6940ft elevation over a total distance of about 30 miles. I've ridden Mt. Wilson out of Los Angeles several times, riding from about 800ft to 5600ft in 25 miles; so it seems feasible, but I need an early start because if I'm not a good ways up before they make me stop riding (usually about 1hr before riders arrive) it will make for a late ride. At least the way down will be easy! I'm definitely stashing my stuff in the hotel and riding only with food, water, cameras, and wet/cold weather gear. If I'm feeling alright, I think I'll give running behind the riders a quick go. They already go by so fast that I'd love to extend the thrill, and maybe get a little airtime for my efforts. My shimano SPD shoes have actually been pretty comfortable as my only shoes (along with some sandals to let my feet breathe a little after a ride). OK, time to ascend the castle!

Argeles-Gazost

Well, by the looks of that sign I must be in the right place. Turns out today I got to ride on an even better bike path than yesterday. And it was a substantially shorter bike ride. Unfortunately they were already making bicyclists walk even though there was over an hour yet to the racers coming through. But, I rode up a steep part until I was told to walk and then found a good spot with a nice scenic view behind and a church steeple. Lance was in the breakaway today (easier than usual since he's not in the running anymore) but this shot is from the peloton behind. I biked another 3 miles up the hill and got some good photos of countryside afterward but I'm saving myself for Thursday. I want to try and climb the Col de Tourmalet on that day. Hopefully I'll be well over halfway up when I'm forced to get off my bike. On the bike path back I got to draft with a group of 3 americans on road bikes and then we passed a French guy on a mountain bike with knobbies (and deactivated rear brake I noticed) that picked up his pace and drafted with us. It was pretty fun, and I chatted a little with the French guy in Spanish.
Tomorrow is an official rest day and I'll be just a tourist. Might bike to Tarbes or else really check out Lourdes here if I'm lazy.

Stage 16

Finally I had a little time during business hours (while in a big enough town) to get a French SIM card for my phone, and then stopped by the tourist office to pick up a better area map. I've got about 15km to bike from Lourdes to meet the Tour route at Argeles-Gazost. I'll hopefully get there early enough to begin the ascent toward the Col d'Aubisque which is the last of 4 major climbs on the day. Luckily I've got a cheapo hotel room (basically a hostel but I get my own room) to leave the bulk of my stuff during the day.

HUNGRY

Eating Veritable Cassoulet de Castelnaudary @ Maison du Cassoulet in Lourdes, France. I saw a great farmers market in Montrejeau, a 1hr train ride from Toulouse. Since Toulouse was basically shut down Sunday night I had to find a French English dictionary and a good map today. I locked the panniers in the bike lockers at the train station and rode light to intercept the stage. I caught stage 15 at the base of the last climb. Funny how the people watching in person probably are the least informed about what's actually going on in the race. French radio is in French, which is, well, 'Greek to me'.

Last pint 'o Guinness

Flew through the Dublin airport. The other "bike groupies" were not too hard to spot, but then I realized there were even more after awhile on the plane. I spoke with the guy behind me who is going with Trek Travel. A group of 3 Irishmen goes almost every year on their own and bikes to some of the Pyranees stages from Lourdes. Lourdes seems to be a preferred basetown for these next few stages. It would be nice to see it, but then it would be nice to get more of a unique flavor from my travels as well.

En Route a 'le Tour'

Apparently this train wasn't meant for bikes. Luckily this satisfied the conductor. Obviously I can't get internet everywhere, so FYI the updates will be made in groups (drafting on my Palm TX and sending when I bum a wifi signal).

Bike watching

Now it's really obvious who is serious about watching "Le Tour". This is the area to wait for the oversized baggage, and we got to wait about 40-45 minutes after the rest of the baggage had cleared to pick up the bikes. I took me about 20min to assemble my bike, and another 20 to rack up the panniers and get rolling. I actually got to ride bike paths about 60% of the way to my hotel (or more of a high class hostel). It was quite a pleasant ride and overall the bike handled well and I'm glad I had a triple put on the bike for the hills I'll have tomorrow.

Packed!

Now to box the bike...

Time to Kick the Bucket (List)

Ah, the bucket list. I can't say that I've really spent much time writing down all the things I have to do before I die. Ultimately I intend to be around quite awhile and if I really want to do something I generally get around to it that much faster. Regardless, the Tour de France always sounded like a dang expensive trip and complicated to follow, so it would've made the list but not been crossed off so fast. I actually got to cross it off a couple weeks ago, watched it roll through Brussels in stages 1 and 2 while visiting some great friends and meeting their new bundle of joy.

But that felt almost too easy, and it wasn't even technically France. So tomorrow my wonderful girlfriend will sadly drop me off at the Dublin airport to fly to Toulouse, France; about an hours drive from the following day's stage in the Tour. But I won't be driving. I'll be packing a touring bike, camping gear, cameras, memory cards, and batteries; and I'll be listening to an audiobook on French on the plane there. So hopefully I don't have to ride the whole way, as the pro peleton would be a nasty pace to follow with 50 lbs. of gear on my bike. So, one way or another, I'll make my way through the French Pyrenees and on to Bordeaux as a bike groupie. This was a bit last minute, and I don't have everything all planned out, but what better event to start my first blog? I'm in the midst of hectic packing, and saying goodbye to my girl for almost two weeks, so I'd best not blog too long.

Slainte! and Goodbye Ireland!