Dec 9 - 13th  Paris to Brittany

We passed through many quaint villages and scenic landscapes with very corner inviting for a photo shoot. But the decent weather was not to hold out much longer so we had to keep moving as fast as possible. Here are a few glimpses of this lovely landscape.

 Riding into Mantes-la-Jolie. Lunch break in front of the large cathedral. 

A pretty looking house along the way. 

 Ivry-la-Bataille, one of my favourite towns. Hopefully we can spend some time exploring it another time.

Festive church.

Near a town called Carrouges, we met Bernard and Michele who promptly invited us into their gorgoeous stone house for a hearty dinner. We had a wonderful evening with them, chatting about our trip and their up coming vacation to Thailand etc. Mind you, it was James who did most of the talking of the two of us since my French is really not at conversation level yet. But, I understood most of what was said, which was quite rewarding. Finally all those Highschool French classes are making themselves useful. 

 We got to sleep in the lovely guest room upstairs. Next morning, Bernard even gave me his old pair of cycling over-booties to keep the wind and rain off my feet!

THANK YOU SO VERY MUCH YOU TWO! IT WAS SUCH A PLEASURE SPENDING TIME WITH YOU! WE REALLY HOPE TO SEE YOU AGAIN BEFORE WE HEAD TO SWITZERLAND IN A FEW WEEKS!

That evening, we arrived at Mont St.Michel. Unfortunately we did not have enough time to ride out to the island and it was quite chilly and damp anyways. But we got some good views of it from a distance. Hopefully we can explore the island next time we pass through. 

Our barn accomodation that night! James has stopped in this barn numerous times before on his other trips.

  Lovely rolling hills, fields and small towns. 

LAST DAY! Finally on the home stretch! Another few km to go to James' parents' house. We had been hit by three torrential rain storms that day along with very strong winds. Once one of the gusts almost pushed me into the ditch which was filled with about a foot of murky mud water. I am glad I did not fall in but it would have been a funny sight. 

A bit of sun poking through. 

We are HERE! We arrived soaked to the bone and totally wind swept. A hot shower and delicious home made fish and chips were waiting for us. What a treat!

This day marks the official beginning of our couch-bum days! It's time to be LAZY, sleep and not do much! 

Dec. 7-9th 7000 Km in Two Days....(by plane...hahaha, got ya!)

Power food before the packing-mania. Mmmm all-you-can-eat sushi for $15/ person!!! =DEAL!!!

Here we go. Time to pack. Arrgh.

This endeavour was a much more frustrating experience than we expected. The bike boxes were too small for comfort (bikes don't like getting squished sideways, you know). We literally had to take our bikes and racks to pieces and use all our jigsaw puzzle solving skills to make all the parts fit into the box together. Below is a picture of the partially completed task. I was too tired to remember to take a picture right before it all went into the box, which was sometime after midnight. It looked pretty cool though. I have never seen such a distorted bike before. 

 Next day, in the afternoon...off to the airport. We had asked around whether someone with a car could give us a ride out but unfortunately the one girl who offered to take us was busy in the afternoon. So our options were go to the airport in the morning and wait there all day for our evening flight or take public transit later in the day. Of course Boston has loads of taxis but with our oversized luggage we would have probably needed two taxi vans, which we were a bit to cheap for. Besides, hauling boxes and bags around the Boston subway system during rush hour could be quite the adventure.

Bags and boxes outside Josh's back door. 

Josh and Laura were a great help in getting everything to the first subway station a few blocks away. 

JOSH AND LAURA, THANK YOU SOOO VERY MUCH FOR ALL YOUR HELP! YOU MADE US FEEL SO WELCOME IN BOSTON AND IT WAS GREAT TO GET TO KNOW YOU A BIT. IT WOULD BE AWESOME TO SEE YOU AGAIN...PERHAPS ON THE ROAD SOMEWHERE! 

Waiting for the elevator

Josh and Laura had to take the trollies back home with them so we had to drag everything by hand from then on. A very kind man who got on the same train with us kindly offered to accompany us to the last of three transfer stations on our way to the airport to help us with the luggage. THANKS SO MUCH JOHN.

Finally, on the airport shuttle!!!

Four rolls of packing tape later, the luggage is ready for check in. Seeing the bike boxes disappear on the conveyor belt was a somewhat solemn moment. Will they make it to Paris in the same number of pieces we packed them in?

We arrived at the airport in Paris around mid-day, which left us with not enough time to get the bikes put back together and ride out of town before night fall. So we just hung around the airport for the rest of the day and then set up camp in the same nook in Terminal 2 where James slept a few years ago upon his return from Central Asia. 

Next morning, we relocated to Terminal 1 from where it is easier to leave the airport by bike. Although my bike box suffered a few collisions and punctures, the contents appeared to be unscathed. James' bike however must have received a hard blow from the side because the frame had a thumbnail-sized dent in it. Luckily, it is only a dent and not a puncture so the chance of frame developing cracks is not as high. Poor bike.
 A few hours later the bikes and luggage were finally back in touring mode. 

HELLO FRANCE! If all goes well, we should reach James' parents place in Brittany in 5 days!

Dec. 2 - 7th  Boston, Home of Robot Gymnasts and Musical Stairs

It was a short ride from Brenda's house to our Warmshowers contact in Boston. I have mentioned it before but for those of you who have never heard of Warmshowers, it is an online hospitality service for cyclists, similar to Couchsurfing. 

Our contact, Josh, is an MIT engineering graduate who lives in an MIT fraternity with another 21 or so students. The 6 storey red brick house they live in is equipped with a commercial kitchen in the basement, a bike room, dining area, lounge and of course numerous creatively signed and decorated doors leading to bedrooms that resemble a creatively chaotic fusion of artist studio and science lab. 

Josh's room is decked out with comfy couches, a loft, various street signs and  chains suspending a desk and chair from the ceiling for those seeking an "elevated" study experience. 

The view from the roof top invites one to stay a while.

Josh and us. 

(No, he does not have a prosthetic leg. It's his probably slight too long one-leg-cycling tights which help protect his pants from getting caught in the chain)

Josh is a very laid back guy who made us feel very much at home at this cool place.

The students take turn cooking fantastic dinners every night, which we had the privilege to eat from too. 

The house is filled with extremely creative and somewhat "nerdy" installations. For example, each step of the stair case in the picture below is equipped with a motion sensor so that each step you take triggers the sound of a piano key being struck. 

The chandelier in the dining room is clearly a product of unique culinary inspiration. Take a close look and you will discover a collection of curled and twisted cutlery.

Yes, this is the Christmas tree. If you would like to make your own, here are some of the items you will need:

Folding ladder, vacuum cleaner, broom, huge bundle of extension cord, empty cereal boxes, stuffed animals and convoluted strings of Christmas lights. Add additional objects to taste.

After a few days at the frat house, we started noticing a low, droning rumble which periodically reverberated through the entire establishment. It turns out that this is the sound of the door bell! Hahaha. I so want one for my house!

One day we went for a little stroll through town. Here are some Boston impressions.

I love the wrought iron fences and red brick buildings. 

The Boston Common with its public outdoor ice rink.

Sunset reflection in the water

Josh and his girlfriend Laura offered to give us a tour of MIT on evening, which turned out to be quite a fascinating excursion. 

Below, the famous MIT Dome. 

Outside the senior dorm house is the tire swing; a beloved part of MIT's student culture. It takes a bit of skill and practice to get it right. Basically you sit in the tire, run around the tree in a semi circle ultimately twisting the rope around the tree. As you untwist you gain lots of momentum which, if you are practiced enough, you can harness to swing yourself around the tree again in the other direction etc. Eventhough I almost crashed a few times, it was loads of fun and a remarkable work out. 

I loved walking down the dorm hallways because they are covered in stunning murals painted by former and current students. I so wish UBC would have allowed painting of the dorm walls. They are such an amazing expression of creativity and talent. How cool would that have been! 

After a tour of several buildings, we attended a gymnastics robot competition. The students had been given the task to develop robots that could carry out some of the basic gymnastic moves on the floor, rings and high bar such as front and back rolls, hand stand, pike, iron cross, swinging etc. It was amazing!!! Not all robots resembled the human form, but nonetheless, these structures were remarkably athletic. 

Getting ready to roll...

I wish I had a video of this that I could post here because the presentations were just so cool. 

Unfortunately I had no video camera with me at the time but here is a link to a robot competition that Josh, our host, competed in a few years ago. These robots are not gymnasts but object collectors. Quite funny, enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bHplAD47gqU