Saturday, June 5, Home to Alessandria, Italy
Awesome ride!!!
Overnight train from Alessandria to
Amsterdam on the Dutch Auto Slaap.
Sunday, June 6, Den Bosch to Amsterdam, Netherlands
Belgium rider gave us a fantastic route along the canals into Amsterdam.
Camping Gaasperplatz
Sbirie Coffeeshop
Indian dinner
Monday, June 7, Amsterdam
Van Gogh Museum
Dolphin Coffeeshop
Indonesian restaurant
Amsterdam: small town feel
Tuesday, June 8, Amsterdam to Bruges, Belgium
Surrealistic trip along the coast with classic and modern windmills and lots of wind to power them.
ARGH...nothing works. Garmin sucks!!
Wednesday, June 9, Bruges
Fabulous Mr. Fix It strikes again! (Computer can now charge.) Lisa books a night at the Bauhaus Hostel because Bruges looks cool. Took a tour with Kie from Brooklyn. Not much info but very funny!
Jim on Amsterdam and Bruges: "I have hit my Holy Grail of beer."
Thursday, June 10, Bruges to Liseaux, France
Rode all day in the rain, fog, and wind. At the grocery store in Liseaux, the skies opened up. We rode to the nearest decent hotel and checked in.
Friday, June 11, Liseaux to Le Mans
Wonderful ride from Liseaux to Le Mans. Arrived at Speed Chills campground early
afternoon. Set up, provisioned in town, and then started to party. There are serious car racing fans here, and they've all brought their pride and joys. Never seen anyone camping with a Ferrari before!Saturday, June 12, Le Mans
3 pm race start...GOOSEBUMPS!!
Porche curves, Dunlop bridge, start of the Moulson Straights.
Sunday, June 13, Le Mans
Audi, audi, audi. It was Peugeot's race to lose and they did. German diesels...buy them.
Monday, June 14, Le Mans to Rochechouart
Waves of showers passing through with intermittent sun breaks and awesome roads. Is there any part of France that isn't beautiful?
Tuesday, June 15, Rochechouart to Sarlat-la-Caneda
Enroute visited the prehistoric cave of Lascaux, a re-creation. The real cave was closed in the 60s. An amazing replica and tour. Arrived at the campground in Sarlat in steady rain. Internet access...all is well.Wednesday, June 16, Sarlat
Rained all night. Rode to Grotte de Font-de-Gaume to get rare tickets to see a real prehistoric cave. Cave was bigger with more spectacular geologic features. Made us realize the value of Lascaux, "The sistine chapel of prehistoric art" as our tour guide called it. Talked Jim into staying another night because the rain was so
persistent. Had a great lunch of duck foie gras and comfit. Rich! Delicious!Thursday, June 17, Sarlat to Gorges de le Loire
Threatened rain most of the day with a few sunbreaks. Rode beautiful roads all day. Slow country lanes and fast newly paved county roads. Dropped into the Loire Valley on this unbelievably twisty, steep, empty road through the woods. Lovely!
Friday, June 18, Gorges de la Loire to Rochetaillee
More beautiful country roads.
Saturday, June 19, Rochetaille to Chiamale, Italy
Rained in the morning. Finished my book, "The Art of Racing in the Rain." Left around 11 am on dry roads. Some of the most beautiful riding we've done. Beautiful alpine areas, amazing gorges, and lots of twisties. Wildflowers to knock your socks off!
Sunday, June 20, Chiamale to Home
Woke to the rain around 5 am. Woke to snow around 7 am. Didn't let up, so we packed up and rolled out. Cold, cold hands. Couldn't have done it without heated grips. Made Jim exit the highway at Genoa. Couldn't handle the strong, gusty winds.
See more pictures from the trip.
And now the start of the 2010 24-Hours of Le Mans...
