Paris as viewed from Notre-Dame de Sacre-Couer in Montmartre. 

Home.

After a ridiculously long day of airplane travel yesterday (the 24th), we have returned from our cycling odyssey. I have put up a whack of new photos and will continue to do so for the next few days, so check back again. To all of our Vancouver friends, we will see you soon!

Avignon in the evening, from the campground. 

The incredible Fauvist blue of the Mediterranean sky. In El Port De La Selva.  

Cadaques and the Mediterranean. About to start a fast descent. Olive tree farm in the foreground. 

Heading through a limestone tunnel near Hecho, Spain.  

Approaching Jasa, Spain. 

A good vista near Banyuls-sur-mer in the French Mediterranean.  

In Cadaques with our new friends Pablo and Caroline. Pablo, an expert mechanic, had just tuned up all of our bikes by hand (including truing the wheels!) 

A windy 12 km descent in the Pireneos. 

Finding the way out of town. 

Carolyn and an amigo. 

The incrediblely scenic village of Anso in the Spanish Pirineos. 

In the Basque town of St.Jean-Pied-de-Port. 

Avignon.

After a day of hurricane force winds and rain that found us holed up in a campground on the Med in Spain, we made our triumphant return to France. A couple of days of great (but hot) cycling saw us in Narbonne. We decided to take a train to Avignon to drink in some of the Rhone region sites before taking the high-speed train to Paris tomorrow (the 22nd). We have separated forces with Dave and Jen and are in full relaxation mode now that the cycling is over; we will be able to swap stories with them when they pass through Vancouver on their way home to Whitehorse.
We will miss our idyllic French lifestyle. More photos to come when we find a better computer.

In Cadaques.

Quick post. We're on the Mediterranean and about to reenter France. We plan to cycle north as far as we can and then take a train to Paris. Two days in Paris to drink in the sights, and home! Having a great time in Spain with Dave and Jen, drinking cava, the local speciality, a sparkling white wine.

In Spain, the dream team.

Hola! We made it to meet Jen and Dave in the Spanish Pyrenees. The last few days of mountains have been great and tiring. We are currently in Jaca and contemplating a train ride to the Mediterranean coast for a few days of relaxed cycling and sun. We have travelled over 1200 km!

The dream team in the Spanish Pirineos. 

Loading the baguette for a long stretch. 

Climbing in the Pyrenees. In Spain. 

In the Basque region, the Pyrenees in the distance.

The last few days have been intense but wonderful. Yesterday saw us cycling 120 km, through Armagnac country (the centre for the brandy that is fermented once, unlike Cognac, which is fermented twice). We also passed through the Bordeaux wine growing region, and we have been enjoying the Haut-Médoc wine. We are in sight of the Pyrenees and the views are becoming ever more expansive. This is Basque country; the architecture in the little towns is looking much more Spanish. We passed our first town with an active bullfighting arena today (St. Clicq). Our cycle computer says that we are close to having cycled 1000 kilometres on our journey so far.
We meet Dave and Jen on the 10th in Burguete, Spain (a favourite town of Hemingway's). Love to all.