Here's the 18% grade road I went up. It was steep and long.
7-21-10 Wednesday
This morning I rode back and found and rode up the 18% grade road. It was fairly long and very steep. I only averaged about 5 mph. We went back into Paris today to see some of the rest of the sites. Unfortunately I forgot the camera. I plugged in the battery to charge so we wouldn’t run out of battery, but then in the hurry to get everyone out of the house, I forgot it. So we don’t have pictures of today with the family in Paris. We had already seen the Eiffel Tower, so we went more into the old downtown section. On the way in, we went right around the round-about around the Arc d ‘Triumph and up the Champs Ellesse (I know I spelled it wrong, but I don’t want to look it up). We parked the car and we were going to try and join a walking tour, but were too late. Everyone was getting hungry, so we found a little park directly across from Notre Dame Cathedral, and I bought Doner Kebaps for everyone. After a bite, Brecken just wanted to hang out at the old Shakespeare Bookshop next to the park, and Kindra stayed at the park with Mitzi and I took the rest over to Notre Dame. It wasn’t as impressive as some of the other churches we had seen. We were going to climb up to the bell towers, but the line was really long, and we had already seen a good view of Paris up high on the Eiffel Tower, so we skipped it. We then walked over to the Louvre as Kindra really wanted to see some of the Louvre and wanted the kids to see some. We really hadn’t visited many museums up to this point. The Louvre is huge. We just decided to see some of the old paintings and the Mona Lisa. Its crazy how many people pack into the room to catch a glimpse of the Mona Lisa. Overall, a good day in Paris, but like always a little tiring to visit the big cities with 6 kids.

The castle near the bridge-house that used to control the commerce over the bridge.

Here's the neat little bridge-house that goes over the river. The rest of the bridge has been wiped out and is now replaced by the big 4 lane bridge.

Having a great picnic in the park.

Mitzi and Meggan were playing near the river and feeding the ducks.

Ian had fun playing soccer.

We found these neat statues to pose in front of.
7-20-10 Tuesday
In the morning I went for a great ride in the French countryside. I passed lots of picturesque little villages. There were great roads to ride on. Little traffic. In the evening we went over near Vernon and across the bridge to a picnic area. There was an old bridge-house that hangs out over the river, and the rest of that old bridge is gone. There is also an old castle like building. The kids played soccer and we had a good time. We went for a little drive after dinner and found the 18% grade road I found this morning while on my ride. We went down it and found this really cute little town and this huge Chateau.

Mitzi and Ian playing on the slide and teeter/toter.

Everyone at the gardens in Versailles.

The girls rowing in the lake.

Me and Ian rowing the boat.

Getting a little help from Mitzi.

Megan and Ashley at the Eiffel Tower.

The girls and Ian on the top of the Eiffel Tower.

Me, Mitzi, and Ashley on the Eiffel Tower.

We found a KFC and the kids were excited for some KFC chicken.

We had a great sunset as we headed home.

7-19-10 Monday
This morning the little kids had a great time playing on the little kids play equipment they have here. They have a slide and teter/toter. Today we decided to go into Versailles and see the palace there. Unfortunately I didn’t look up ahead of time, and we went the only day of the week that the palace is actually closed. That was OK, because the grounds are huge and beautiful, and they were open. We strolled around and looked at the flowers and gardens. Then we went to the large man-made lake and rented 2 row boats. The girls all went in one boat, and the boys with Mitzi all went in the other. We had a good time rowing around and looking at the swans. Ian liked to row one side with me rowing the other paddle. After we got off, the girls made it back and found out they had a bit of a fight with Megan and Brecken getting into a bit of a skirmish. I guess they were playing around and getting each other a bit wet and it escalated and ended up in hair pulling and everything. As it still wasn’t very late in the day we decided to go into Paris and see the Eiffel Tower. We should have just gone up to the first level as there was no line and it would have been so much easier and cost a whole lot less, but as we wanted the full experience, we decided to go all the way to the top. The lines were long to get up, and even longer to get back down. Also it was quite cramped and hot. The views were pretty cool, but probably not worth the waiting in lines and getting all hot and miserable. Next time we’ll just walk up to the first level which is quite high and the views are almost as good. As it was getting late when we were driving back, and the kids were hungry, we hit a Kentucky Fried Chicken that was just off the motor way on the way back. It was the first KFC we had seen in Europe. The chicken was pretty good, but they didn’t have the side dishes we were used to back home. The fries aren’t nearly as good as the mashed potatoes and gravy and they didn’t have any coleslaw, biscuits or other sides. As we left KFC and went home the sunset was great.

The kids were having fun playing a ball game out in the courtyard in the morning.

They would throw a rock then each roll these large steel balls trying to get closest to the rock.

It's a pretty courtyard next to these super old farm buildings.

They have some beautiful flowers.

As I was going into Giverny I found this really neat little bed and breakfast that had this really cool looking tower.

A bust of Claude Monet in Giverny.
7-18-10 Sunday
Today was pretty much another semi down day, recovering from yesterday. On the travel days, it’s not just the driving that wears you out, but the getting up early, cleaning, getting the car packed, and everything else that wears you out. We all slept in, then I went to the grocery store to get some stuff for the next few days. The kids had a great time just playing around the farmhouse where we are staying. They played a balls game, picked raspberries in the garden, and looked at the bunnies that they have there. I also drove into Giverny where Claude Monet lived and did a lot of his painting. It’s a beautiful area. Vernon, which is the closest semi-large town, is right on the river Seine.

The French countryside near where we'll be staying the next week.

The courtyard around the farmhouse and barn buildings.

Here's the farmhouse we'll be staying at the next week.
7-17-10 Saturday
Today’s going to be a pretty long drive day, so we got up early, got cleaned and packed, and hit the road. We just saw a little bit of the Eiffel Tower as we passed by Paris. We are staying the next week about 40 minutes west of Paris. The drive was about 5-6 hours, but we had to stop a couple times to get drinks, go to the bathroom, etc. We finally arrived at our location and immediately loved it. It’s in the French countyside in a farmhouse near the town of Blaru. Blaru is quite close to Giverny which is famous for Claude Monet they painter lived there and painted a lot of his water lily type pictures there. The surrounding landscape and the little villages and farmhouses are great. The lady we are renting from though is a little bit uptight, and I forgot we were supposed to have a deposit, so I had to go back into the closest main town, Vernon and pull out some extra cash. The kids played in the courtyard while I went into town and came back with the deposit. I think Kindra really likes this place too.

Mitzi having fun on the beach at Lake Annecy.
7-16-10 Friday
Today was a lighter day with an easy ride in the morning. Then we went over to the beach/lake in the afternoon. You have to be a little prepared to see a little more on the European beaches. There comfort level towards clothing is a little more relaxed then we are used to. They tend to get dressed back into their clothes right on the beach, and women don’t always wear the tops of their bikini’s when they are laying out. We spent a little time cleaning up and little and getting ready to leave Lake Annecy tomorrow. I think everyone is going to be sad to leave Lake Annecy. We’ve had such a great time here. Everyone’s enjoyed the lake, I’ve enjoyed the biking, we’ve loved having grandma come visit, and it’s just been pretty relaxing and fun.

The top of the Col de Joux Plane. It was pretty foggy at the top.

The last 2-3 miles of the Col de la Columbiere are really steep and hard on tired legs.

The kids in a little cave in the gorge we went to.

On the suspended bridge in the gorge.

The castle/chateau we came across near the gorge.

The church in Sevrier near where we were staying.

The views of the mountains around the lake are great.
7-15-10 Thursday
Grandma had to fly home today, so I got up at 4:30 in the morning to run her to the airport. As she is flying business class, she was told that she could check in 2 bags weighing up to 70 pounds each. As we had quite a bit of extra stuff we had bought over here, we packed up a smaller bag for her to check in and take home for us. When we got to the airport there was no one at the Air France counter. It took us a little investigating to finally figure out where we had to go. As she was flying to Paris, you have to walk over to the French side of the airport to check in. After she had waited through a little line, they put her bags up and said that her large bag was too large. They told her each back could only weight 23 Kilo’s or about 50 pounds. I asked what the surcharge would be to check the bags in like they were, and the lady said about 150 euros or about $220. We got out of line and decided to repack some things, so we took a few heavier items out of the larger bag and were able to squeeze them into the smaller bag and her carry on and we were able to check her in OK. I think she was glad I stuck around to help her and make sure she got on the plane OK. After dropping her off, I had come dressed for my bike ride, so I drove over to the start of the Joux Plane and did that climb. The climb of the Joux Plane was pretty steep and took just under an hour to climb to the top. The last 20 minutes or so were a pretty constant speed and averaged 7.1 mph. After the Joux Plane, I drove over to the start of the Col de la Columbiere and did that climb as well. It starts out with the first 15 minutes or so avg. a steady 8.5 mph, then flattens a little for about 5 minutes before kicking back up. I averaged about 7.6 mph for the next 25 minutes, but then the last 10-15 minutes it gets even steeper. I know part of it was my legs starting to get tired after 2 hours of climbing, but it was also probably 10-12%+ grades and I only avg. 6.5 mph for the last 12 minutes. When I got back, Kindra wanted to go see this gorge that was nearby, so we got in the car and drove over to it. It’s kind of like the Zions Narrows, but not quite so deep, but more water in the bottom. You walk on these suspended walkways about 100 feet above the water and about 50 feet below the top of the gorge. They had a measuring stick that showed how deep the gorge was and had dates showing at what level the water had reached during the last 100 years or so during high water periods. The amazing thing was seeing how high up the gorge the water could rise. The water would rise as much as 100’ or so during high water. Talk about a real flash flood. That’s some serious water rising. After the gorge we saw a really cool chateau/castle right nearby. After dinner Kindra and I went on a nice walk along the bike path on Lake Annecy. Having all the kids with us, we don’t get to spend much time with just the 2 of us.

Mitzi got cute balloon sculptures from a clown.

The fireworks were pretty neat watching them over the lake.

7-14-10 Wednesday
I went on an easier ride today on the bike path out of Annecy but ended up pushing it at times and rode for a little more than 2 hours. They have a great bike path that goes for about 20-30 miles. In the afternoon Kindra, Megan, and Brecken stayed at the house and just relaxed and went on the internet, while grandma, me, Brad, Ashley, Ian, and Mitzi went downtown. Grandma watched Mitzi play at the park while me, Brad, Ashley and Ian went on the pedal boats. After when we met back up with Grandma and Mitzi, they were standing in line with a clown. The clown was blowing up balloons and making them into things. Mitzi being as small as she was kept getting pushed further back in the line. Finally grandma had to help keep her place in line so she could get her balloon hat and flower/heart balloon that the clown made for her. After dinner we walked along the bike path down towards the swimming beach and watched the fireworks from there. July 14th is Bastille Day in France that’s similar to our 4th of July.

The publicity caravan goes through. Those vehicles throw out these little sausages that are pretty good. Especially after you've been climbing for a while and are hungry.

Finally the breakaway comes through.

Cadel Evans in the yellow jersey was quite a ways back.

Ashley and Ian having fun on the merry go round.

Kindra looks nice at dinner.

Grandmas was enjoying herself.

Self portrait.

Mitzi was having fun and being a good little girl at dinner.

Everyone had a good time going out for dinner.

Brecken even tried the sea snails that come with Brads fish dinner, although she was a little hesitant to do so.
7-13-10 Tuesday
Today was one of the days I was really looking forward to on the trip. The chance to see one of the stages of the Tour de France up close towards the top of a climb towards the end of a stage. I was a little later heading to the start of the Col de la Madeleine where I was going to climb up and watch the tour go by. They ride over 3-4 cols earlier in the stage, but this is the final big climb before plunging down into the valley and finishing at Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne. I was able to ride up about ½ way pretty easily, but then I started running into the French gendarmes ever so often who would stop me. You aren’t supposed to ride on the course as it get’s closer to race time. Pretty soon I could hear the publicity caravan coming up and had to stop as they all went by. I continued up a little more, but it was getting harder and harder to continue. I was about 5-6 km from the summit. I was hoping to ride to the summit, then ride back down and find a good place to view the stage as it went by, but as it was getting closer I decided to just find a good place to watch. I found a great spot where it was quite steep, the road passed right by a water fall/river, and you could see at least a ¼ mile down the road and a ¼ mile up the road. It still seemed like we had to wait forever. I was chatting with a guy from Australia who was bike touring through Europe and watching the Tour. Finally after a few of the gendarmes on motorcycles came by, you could see the helicopter flying at almost road level come around the corner down the road as it came around the bend and you knew the racers were there. Having watched a few minutes on a TV down the road, I knew there was a small break-away of maybe 7-10 riders and this was the break-away that had fractured. There were only 3 men left in the break, including Damiano Cunego. I knew he wanted to win a stage really bad. They were all riding really hard trying to both stay with each other, and stay away from the pack chasing them. After they went by, every 20-60 seconds someone who had got tailed off the breakaway would ride through, but not more than a couple before here comes another helicopter and Andy Schleck and Alberto Contador come flying up the road. Schleck was in the lead hammering, and it looked like Contador was doing everything he could just to hold his wheel. It was amazing how fast those guys were climbing, especially figuring they had already been over 3-4 cols already and were almost to the summit of this one. It surprised me to find out how much the rest of the field was strung out all over the mountain. It seemed like every few minutes a small group of riders would come by and it took forever it seemed for the whole race to pass by. After the auto-bus (the group of non-climbers) who get together at the back on climbing stages had gone by, then came David Miller on Garmin pulling the very back of the race. He really looked like he was struggling. I was talking with the guys in the Garmin car behind and they said he was really paying the price for a crash he was in a couple of days ago. After getting back, the whole family went out for a nice dinner in Annecy. On the way there we passed through the park, and Mitzi got to ride the Merry-go-round. Dinner was nice and then we walked around the old part of town.

Here's the cute ski town about 2/3 of the way up the Col de la Croix de Fer.

Great views from the Col de la Croix de Fer.

I was suprised to find that the Col du Glandon was only a couple miles downhill from the Col de la Croix de Fer.

The Col du Mollard isn't quite as high up as some of the Cols, but I know it's featured in previous Tour de France stages.

Cute little chalet/shop near the Col du Mollard.

Some of the views being high up in he Alps are amazing.

This was one of the first signs as you start climbing the Col de la Croix de Fer. Pretty intimidating seeing 28KM of climbing starting at 8% and knowing that it will probably be steeper when you get to the summit.
7-12-10 Monday
Today I went for another great ride in the French Alps. I drove to Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne and rode up the Col de la Croix de Fer, then down to the Col du Glandon, then back up to the Col de la Croix de Fer, then down part way, then up to the Col du Mollard. It was quite a ride. I could still see evidence on the road of when the Tour de France rode over the Col de la Croix de Fer a year or two ago. There’s a neat little ski town about 2/3 of the way up the climb. As usual, the steepest part of the climb is the last few miles up to the summit. Croix de Fer means “Cross of Iron”, and I remember seeing a great big Cross of Iron when the helicopters during the Tour de France would pan out and show the landscape or some of the surrounding areas, but I couldn’t see the one they show on TV. There is a small one there, but I think the great big one you have to hike up to and can’t see from the road. As I wanted to see where the Col du Glandon was, I rode down to it. It’s not far at all from the summit of the Croix de Fer, maybe only about 2 miles all down hill. Then I rode back up and over the Croix de Fer. As I still had a little energy left, as I rode down back towards my car, I passed a junction and a sign that said the Col du Mollard was only about 5 miles away, so I took the junction and rode up to the Col du Mollard. It was a great day of climbing in the Alps. When I got back to Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne they were starting to set up the finish for the Tour de France as it finishes there tomorrow. As I’m catching up on the blog, pictures of my ride was all I had down. I’m sure we did something else later in the day, but I don’t have pictures of it and I can’t remember. We probably went swimming in Lake Annecy.