Almost to Stage 21

I don't know how they pronounce it in France, but I feel the same about gas prices also!


It's not just Mexico, where the wheel and dealing happens on the side of the street!

The famous church of Notre Dame!

Sometimes we feel like other countries are backwards compared to the US. Well I personally fell like they are just upside down.



A few night shots. The last one was a round about above the express way... made for a good photo!

The day before the Tour De France arrived!


A bike Tour circling the Arc De Triomphe before stage 21.



I spy with my little eye...


We found this bumble bee indulging himself covered with pollen from head to wing!

Misc shots:






This man TOTALLY busted me taking a picture of him! I just wanted to capture a bit of Frances community, plus... I liked his pipe!





This gentleman, was playing the music that you expect to hear when you arrive! *smiles*

France & More...

I will update pics tomorrow, probably on my lay over trying to get home!
MORE to come!
I was trying to get to Vegas to see you know who, but it seems that that will not work out.  At least I have the weekend to look forward to in Texas, a place that I do not get to enjoy all too often.

I am Going to Pick up a New Hobby...

Embedded Video

Copper Mountain, CO

It was a long way from Europe to CO!
But I eventually made it!
We did some pretty fun mountain biking with Nate, and Adam.
The best part I love about cycling is,
dying on the way up, and then coming back to life on the way down.
Here are some of the pics from todays ride:








I still have more pics from Europe, its that life is catching up with me, and it would be weird I think to post these pics later!

Small Town France...

So like I said before, I wanted to see random small towns and just pull off the autobahns to do some "real" exploring. 
Here are a few more pics:


Mopeds, small cars, and bicycles are EXTREMELY common in Europe.

So are small shops with baked goods !

For the Tour De France peeps.. Des Jeux as most know, is a French Team.  What is Francis Des Jeux?  It is probably the same as a Circle K or comparable to.





That was one of the many but *cheap* hotels that we stayed at that did not have air conditioning.  Again, it was not that big of a deal since they were mostly located at high elevations... the temps dropped so low anyway that with the windows open it made for a great night and an even more beautiful morning to wake up to with a nice little hug from the sun.

As we walked around the small village, there was an art exihit going on inside what used to be a small chateaux.  In the they were playing a European game that I have only seen one other time in the backyard of NYC at Central Park.

The Ideal Palace

As this Palace was not on the Agenda, well nothing was really on our agenda, the agenda for me at least was to find and discover crazy and fun things that were not so touristy.  We stayed in small towns, hotels without air conditioning and sleeping on top of Mountains in the rental car.  For me this is all fun!
But while checking out of a town in France that I don't even remember the name, I see this small pamphlet with some really really REALLY crazy architecture on it.  So I suggested that we went.  So we did.
The story is basically a French Mail Man that tripped on a stone.  He was inspired by the stone ,and while on his daily mail route he would collect more stones and bring them to his house.  his art was considered to be very naive.  I can vouch for this and say yes!  In the end he created this huge magical castle that he created in his mind with small drawings that he would dream about.  You can actually go inside the castle, on top of the castle, and he has some small caves that are also accessible.  For me personally this was truly a magical and great find for my European trip!














It took him 33 years to finish his own personal masterpiece.  He died one year after completion...