Drove to Chicago, found gas station next to a McDonald’s and got a Diet Coke.

Returned rental car at giant facility.

Realized we needed to take a shuttle to the airport (thought we were there).

Got on bus, white SUV blocking traffic. \240Bus driver laid on the horn.

Got inside and needed to take the elevator. \240Busy. \240Let a couple go before us. \240Got up and found kiosk to check in. \240Realized that one bag was 1/2 lb over weight. \240Moved candy corn into carry on bag. \240Also needed to move Garmin stuff into carry on because of lithium batteries.

Took bags to the counter, Randy asked if he could be there if they were going to look in his bike box. \240Girl seemed annoyed, said it would be fine. \240Went through security. \240My bag was flagged because I only took out the electric part of my cPAP and not the humidifier. \240Randy’s backpack got flagged but he didn’t know why. We were both fine

We looked at our boarding passes and it said gate was TBD, so we headed to concourse C (which had been indicated on the computer earlier).

Once we got there, we stopped at the bathroom. \240we checked the board and saw that we were supposed to be back at concourse B (where we went through security). \240We sat and ate some raisins, cashews and candy corn.

We headed back to concourse B, went to wash our hands, and found our gate.

I called mom and the boys while Randy looked for trip apps. \240I laid on Randy’s shoulder and shut my eyes for a bit. \240Randy went and bought some bottles of water for $3.50 each.

We were almost to our seats, Randy was looking down to keep the suitcase from getting stuck, and he walked at full speed into the overhead bin hanging down. \240Ouch!!

We took off an hour late. \240We were waiting on people who were arriving on a connecting flight, and we would make up time in the air. \240We got off the ground about 7:25pm.

Snacks came first. \240We both got pretzels, I got a Diet Coke, and then we heard that beer and wine was complementary. \240I got a Stella and Randy got a glass of Chardonnay.

Options for dinner- “butter chicken” and rice (Randy thought the chicken was spicy), salad with vinnegrette dressing, dinner roll, and caramel gelato. Yummy.

Option 2 - substitute spinach manicotti for the chicken. \240I really liked it (I also might have been really hungry). \240

After dinner,the woman sitting by the aisle headed to the bathroom. \240We decided to go at the same time. \240After that, we were ready to try to sleep. \240

We slept from about 9:00 - 1:00am. \240I woke myself up by snoring at least once. We woke up in time for our light breakfast

Breakfast was a croissant with strawberry jelly, peach yogurt. \240I got Diet Coke and Randy had orange juice

Getting through boarder control took a while. \240We arrived just behind several Asian tours groups. \240Saw a man get escorted into police area by 4 officers. \240We eventually were pulled aside and allowed to go through the separate line for people from the EU.

Finally through boarder control and heading to baggage claim

The rental car desk in the airport was closed and directed us to the tiny office in the ramp

I sat outside the office with the luggage

Got our car! \240A very sweet young man named Zach helped us. I didn’t want to drive out of the cramped airport ramp. \240Neither did Randy. \240I did it, despite stressing out about it.

We made it out of the ramp and google maps took us to St Quentin. \240I missed the turn off and the wonderful google maps just rerouted us and still got us to the hotel.

We couldn’t figure out where to park. \240Randy went in to ask, I had to keep driving because a car was behind me. \240I circled back and picked him up. \240We tried to enter the ramp but it didn’t open. \240He went back in, and we figured it out. \240We got into the freakishly small ramp and tried to park. \240I got in head first, but we decided that it would be better to back in. \240Randy started working on it. \240It was taking a long time and a hotel worker came to see where we were. \240He suggested a different spot and helped direct Randy into it.

We got checked in and brought stuff to our room. \240(Must have key card in the slot for lights to work).

Randy went down to the garage with the man from the hotel to see where people are storing bikes.

He came back and we settled down to nap at 1:00. \240We got up at 4:00 and headed down to put the bike back together

Bike parts are all here....

While Randy was working, Tom Trinidad (?) was there. \240Another man named Jack was there. \240He was from California and was SUPER chatty. \240Borrowed Randy’s tire pump

Getting there.....

Success!!!

Trying it out

After the bike was together, we were hungry and tired again (at least I was). \240We looked up where a market nearby was and walked there. \240Along the way, we stopped at an ATM and got some cash ($100 euros). \240It was a very typical grocery store, not that different from a small grocery store at home. \240We picked up some bananas, a loaf of ciabatta bread, some cookies, a couple bottles of beer, a bag of strawberry banana granola, a couple 8 packs of “Light Coke” (hopefully similar to Diet Coke), some batteries and bottled water. we wanted to find distilled water for my cPAP machine, but regular bottled water will have to be okay. \240We got to the register and the woman at the counter started checking us out. \240I was tired and it was so similar to home that I completely forgot that we were in a different country. \240

She scanned all our items and slid them down to the end, but she wasn’t bagging them (even though there was a pile of bags right next to her). I didn’t know if she was going to do it or if we were supposed to do it, so I pointed at the bags and asked “can I take one of these?”. \240She shook her head “no” and said something rapidly in French. \240I was suddenly flustered and confused. \240Apparently we were supposed to bring our own bags and we would have to pay for the paper bags. \240

A kind man in line behind us stepped in to help translate. \240We needed to purchase a bag, but it was too late to add it to the grocery order. \240We finished that transaction and she rang up the bag as a separate transaction. \240We headed back to the hotel and Randy headed out for a little ride. \240

I ate bread and snacks and had a beer (used wrench to open). \240I tried to watch tv, but all channels were in French. \240I finally settled on who wants to be a millionaire in French, with two people playing at the same time. \240I managed to get in touch with Michelle and messaged with her for a little while. \240We still couldn’t figure out how to make phone calls home. \240We will have to try it tomorrow. \240

Randy took a while- apparently he got lost. \240His Garmin tracker is not working with the French streets. \240He needs to upload European streets. \240We are too tired to do more and are heading to bed.

We had to get help on how to use the tickets, I went through first, but didn’t grab my ticket out, so Randy couldn’t go through until someone showed him that he had to take my ticket out so his could go through. \240We got both the printed tickets and found the right platform.

Taking the train to Rambouillet

As we traveled on the train, it started raining. \240Not hard, but consistent, real rain. \240We had not brought any rain gear (no rain jackets or umbrella). \240We had no choice but to skip it and just keep going. \240The walk from the train station to the Bougerie was about 35 minutes. \240We got a little turned around and followed some bikes instead of staying on the walking path, but it didn’t add much distance. \240The bigger problem was that my old sneakers have no tread, which isn’t a problem at the gym, but can be very slippery on certain kinds of tiles apparently.

Along the road inside the Château grounds

Because we missed the photo, we had no specific reason to be at Rambouillet. \240We used our time as a fact finding mission. \240We walked all the way up until we saw where people were lining up for bike inspections, where you get all your paperwork, where the bathrooms are, where you can get food, where you can get bike repairs. \240The line for inspection was enormous. \240Randy had been thinking about doing it alone, but decided it might be nice to have me there to hang out with him.

Cool option for sleeping on a car like ours

Quite a few VW vans with pop up tops

The first garage lift I have ever seen in person

Soaked through but still smiling!

By the time we got back to the train station, we were so wet and so cold. \240My fingers didn’t want to make a fist. \240None of the trains showed our stop, but we knew that it went there. \240We finally figured out (with help), that the train to Paris is the same train past our stop. \240We got our tickets and got to the platform. \240We double checked with an Asian woman who spoke at least a little English that we were in the right place. \240We were happy to sit and warm up on the train.

When we got back to the station by the hotel, Randy wanted to figure out how to buy tickets in bulk. \240After much confusion, we figured out that the “Carnets” of tickets at this station are between two specific places (not like in Paris where everything within a given radius is allowed). \240We bought one caranet of 10 tickets for $28 that would cover all our remaining trips into Rambouillet

Back at the hotel to get bike gear organized and hang all our wet stuff to dry. \240Putting on dry socks felt SO good. \240Randy rigged the button on the hairdryer to try and dry out his shoe liners. \240

Heading back to Rambouillet for bike inspection (notice how we now have our rain gear!)

Randy was interested in the giant gear pedal this commuter had on his bike

Figured we should get a picture before tomorrow when it will be more busy!

Given how busy it was earlier in the day, we anticipated a long wait. \240Thankfully, the crowd was pretty much gone. \240Randy rode ahead while I walked, but it was so empty that he circled back and walked with me for part of the way. \240

At the inspection tent

Heading in

The first person made sure he had all his paperwork, then pointed him to an inspection station and told me that I had to go out the way we came. \240I did (going backwards through the maze of bikes) and then I ran around the tent to take a few more pictures from outside

Bike passed inspection!! Onwards to the official check in!

In the Bougarie courtyard. \240French check in was at the building on the rear right of this photo. \240International check in was at the building to the rear left of this photo.

Started to go in on the “A - K” side because we are Anderson’s. \240Then Randy remembered that his “letter” is L, and that is what they know him as for the event. \240

Check in was organized chaos. \2406000+ bags had been pre-packaged with each individual riders ordered jerseys, safety vest, and identification tags.

They had to check his passport again.

Success!! \240(We are pretty sure this is where the group photo was taken)

After everything official was taken care of, we could relax a little bit. \240We walked around the courtyard a little and looked at what we could. \240I wanted to use the bathroom, which was small. \240It was for men and women, with 3 stalls. \240I waited in line, went in, sat down and peed, and then realized that while there WAS toilet paper in the holder, I could not get at it. \240It is styled like Lysol wipes - a big roll that you pull out of a tiny hole. \240But, just like Lysol wipes, the roll can rip on the inside of the container and you can’t get at the end without opening the container top. \240Which is annoying but not impossible with Lysol wipes, but in this case, the damn container was locked. \240So the whole pile of toilet paper was just sitting there, untouchable. \240I had to just pull up my pants like a man and exit the bathroom. \240I have my period right now. \240It was gross. \240

We headed to the courtyard across the way to get a “real dinner”. \240Randy wanted a big meal in the hopes that it would help him sleep well. \240We bought enough tokens to get a sandwich, fries, a brownie, and a drink for each of us. \240It cost $25 euros. \240We could hear the grilling and smell meat cooking as we approached the tent. \240We assumed it was hamburgers, but the “sandwich” was actually sausages on a dense mini baguette. \240We put bbq sauce on them and got ketchup for our fries and sat down to eat.

On the way back, we walked over to the Château just to look around.

Randy said that I didn’t need to take a picture of the two men. \240I insisted that I did.

Randy liked this one better

We saw the car from earlier in town

Heading home - finally getting a handle on the train system

On our way out, Richard Burnside was in the lobby! \240He was waiting for Tom Trinidad and I got a picture of him with Randy.

Went to the “usual” train platform, assuming we had just missed a scheduled train and would have to wait for the next one. \240Noticed bikes on a different platform - ran down to check and realized that they had added extra trains to Rambouillet for today. \240Hurried over and just made it on. \240

Lots of bikes on the train

Last minute checking on his bike

After what happened with the toilet paper yesterday, I grabbed a bunch of sheets to take with me for the day. \240On the train, I took out my baggie and started folding them neatly. \240Randy noticed and got to wishing that he had brought his own toilet paper. \240I gave him mine to pack on his bike. \240

Getting off the train in Rambouillet

People kept coming off more trains. \240Randy was supposed to meet Doug McLerran, so he rode ahead and I was walking. \240My phone was now turned on, so I was supposed to call him when I arrived at the Bourgerie. \240I was still walking when I got a phone call from Kansas City. \240It was Randy - he forgot that his phone was in the backpack that I was wearing (attached to the charger pack). \240He ran into a guy he knew (Brian Lewis-Jones) and borrowed a phone. \240He had been randomly riding around town looking for me.

We met up at the entrance to the Château grounds.

At the entrance to the Château grounds, there was already a lot of people. \240

Randy took off on his bike while I continued walking through all the cars and campers. \240This was the main road in, but you had to take a right turn after a little bit. \240Randy forgot that first turn. \240

After turning, more campers

And a left turn up the hill had still MORE campers

At the top, outside the Bourgerie building

Where’s Randy??? (He got lost after missing the turn and I managed to beat him to the top)

Finally here!

We had time to putz around. \240We sat in the eating area from last night and called the kids. \240A man was singing opera at the instance of his friends. \240We went back to the place randy checked in to see if he could exchange his jersey for a larger one. \240A man who actually spoke English directed us to one of the vendors in the courtyard. We asked, but the best they could do was a large (which was still not what he wanted). \240Randy took his bike to find someone with a tire gauge and topped up the air in his tires. I tried to find out where to fill Randy’s water bottle. \240Different people kept pointing me in different directions. \240I finally ended up back in the courtyard and asked the man who spoke English. \240He said that they didn’t have drinkable water there, but that there would be water at the starting point. Meanwhile, Randy rode down the hill to figure out where he was supposed to line up. \240When he got back, we decided to eat.

The pre-ride meal was in the same tent as bike inspection had been. \240

Looking down the street towards the tent you can see local bike shops were helping with emergency fixes.

The standard meal was just that - standard. \240The same for everyone. \240When we took our trays, an English speaking woman pointed out that the silverware was on the tray, and showed us where the salt, pepper, and ketchup was. \240We had seen the food - nothing needed ketchup. \240She laughed and she all the Americans were saying that. \240Apparently all the Asian people were smothering their noodles with ketchup.

Food was ... interesting. \240Didn’t like the cheese or the weird layered jelly thing.

Courtyard where the general public eating area was located (we didn’t get any today).

Buying tokens for food and drinks

The beer! \240(And other drinks)

Entrance to the big courtyard where the check in was located.

Came down the hill to figure out exactly how to line up. \240The whole time we were walking, Randy’s stomach was gurgling. \240I could hear it. \240He needed to get to a bathroom FAST. I sat with his bike and he hurried to the porta-potties. \240He was glad to have my toilet paper because the ports-potty didn’t have any.

Once that was taken care of, he figured out the system to line up. \240We walked closer to the start and saw where people were having their cards stamped. \240The were not being counted down and released like we expected. \240Randy stayed back while I walked almost to the end of the path to see if people were going to be lined up father along. The riders were going out of the Château grounds through a gate, and a little farther along there was an inflated arch that they passed under. \240But there was no other time that they were being lined up and released. I called Randy to let him know, and I hurried back to the start because it was time for him to line up.

When I got back to him, he was doing final adjustments (changed into bike shoes, adding powder to water bottles, getting charging cords organized). He was a little stressed about the time being too close, but he was going to be fine. \240He joined his group and I found a place to take pictures as he came through later.

The stamping tents

First stamp!!!

There he goes!

On my way back to the train station, I took a few quick pictures of some of the older homes in town

No parking problem at this house!

I had looked into driving times and I just didn’t have time for sightseeing today. \240My goal was to get to Loudec before Randy so I could have everything ready for him when he arrived (so he could get to sleep faster)

I got presentable and went down to grab breakfast. I brought the empty backpack and my shopping bag with me. \240

After breakfast, I stopped at sort of Target for shoelaces and I tried to get more cash from the atm. \240It wouldn’t work this time and I don’t know why. \240I kept walking and went back to the grocery store. \240I got 3 more bottles of water, a loaf of ciabatta bread, a bottle of apple juice and a box of Frosted Flakes. \240

I got back to the hotel. \240The maid was very active on our floor and I am sure she was waiting for me to leave. \240I took a shower and got ready and then packed all our bags. \240It took two trips to the basement. \240I checked out at the desk and got the code to exit the garage. \240

I had forgotten to leave out a phone cable, so I had to stop and dig it out of the suitcase. \240I managed to exit the ramp without hitting anything! \240Success!

I pulled over and got my destination entered and started driving. \240

In many ways, rural France is not that different than rural Minnesota or Illinois. \240Cows on one side, corn fields on the other. \240

I saw several “support cars” for PBP. \240Got a picture of this one when we were stuck in traffic while they were painting the stripes on the road.

It was a beautiful day for a drive. \240I have noticed that French drivers tend to go 5 - 10 kilometers per hour slower than the posted speed limit. \240It is weird. \240

I had to pay a toll - you go through a toll place and take a ticket. \240Many miles later, there was another toll place. \240I had to insert the ticket, then I could pay with my credit card. \240It was efficient, but I think the toll was 26 euros or something. \240

I also had to get more diesel in the car. \240I stopped at St Denis. \240I tried to pay at the pump with my credit card, but it wouldn’t work because it needs a signature. \240I went in to ask and a nice young man turned the pump on for me so I could go back and fill up. I came in, grabbed a Light Coke, paid for it and the diesel and was back on the road. \240

I got a little lost once heading into Loudeac. I was on a roundabout, following car directions, but also following a brown van with a support vehicle sticker. \240I followed the van off an earlier exit of the roundabout. \240But the car fixed it. And it allowed me to see THIS. \240Which proves that it is not a purely American idea to put random stuff along a roadside.

As I got into the heart of Loudeac, I was diverted because of the bikers. \240I worked my way to the hotel by back roads, letting the car figure it out. \240This hotel has an actual parking lot. \240Yay! \240But it also has a lot of stairs and a tiny elevator. \240I don’t want to haul up more than I have to.

Not long after I parked, Randy called. He was at the check point and was headed to the hotel. \240I started getting out our food and mixing up his Ensure stuff. \240Then he was there! \240Yay!

Randy took a shower and settled down to eat. \240His knee was bothering him and he wanted to ice it. \240I went down to the front desk to ask where I could buy some, but the girl was so nice that she went and got me a bag of ice from the kitchen. \240Our room has no air conditioning, so we opened the window for some fresh air. \240No screens, and pidgins outside made me nervous.

We laid down to sleep. \240The curtains are not very dark. \240The walls are REALLY thin. \240Randy slept right away, but I kept hearing people coming and going. \240Around 9:00 or 9:30, a man came through the hall loudly. \240He knocked on the door next to ours (loud) and yelled something. \240Then he left. \240A while later, he was back, talking quickly and a woman was responding. \240He left again, and I heard a shower running. \240Then he was back, with the woman, knocking on the door next to ours, trying to wake up someone named Kevin. \240I assume that he was late arriving and frantic to get some sleep. \240

After all that, Randy wasn’t going to get back to sleep. \240He ate some Frosted Flakes and drank some water, but decided that he should just get going. We got everything ready and headed down to find his bike in the garage. \240We stopped in the lobby to talk, so Kevin and his friend could sleep upstairs. \240Randy gave me his notes and remembrances from this first stretch of riding. \240While we were doing that, another rider came in asking about food. \240Apparently they had arranged for the hotel to have continental breakfast at 10:00pm for the riders! \240An unexpected surprise! \240So Randy went to get some real food while I called home to talk to mom and the boys.

As soon as he was done eating, we headed to the garage to add lube to his chain and air to his tires. \240There was a number of bikes in the garage, most in the L, M, or P groups. \240

There was a guy in the garage when we arrived, and we sat down to work. \240All at once, the lights went out. \240They were on a motion sensor at the door. It wasn’t a big deal for me to walk over and trip the sensor to turn them back on, but it did catch us off guard for a second!

Off again! \240To the ocean and back!

I only brought up the little suitcase with biking stuff in in because of the stairs

We were on the 3rd floor (room 33), and our window had no screen

If you looked down from our window, you could see the driveway up out of the garage where the bikes were stored. \240This meant we could hear people arriving and setting out. \240After Randy left the first night, I opened the window because the room felt stuffy. \240I heard one of the American wives tell her husband “Bon Voy-age-gee! ... As Bugs Bunny would say....” it was adorable and totally something that I would do. \240Ha!

Driving to Mont St Michel, I went through some tiny towns. \240This one was essentially built into the side of a steep hill. \240The houses were incredibly narrow and the foundations went WAY down.

I got to Mont St Michele early (parked at about 9:30). \240Even then, after I parked and started walking, there was a huge line by an informational sign. \240Although I was tempted to just line up, it didn’t appear that there was any money changing hands (like buying tickets). \240II walked to the front to check the sign and still didn’t understand, but I saw the tourist information sign from our guide book and decided that I could just go talk to them.

I got in and was only second in line to ask a question. \240It turned out that the line was just for the free shuttle bus to the monument. \240You didn’t purchase tickets until the actual monestary. \240I asked if I could just walk and she said that I could, but that it was 2.7 kilometers. \240Since I had walked 6 miles the day before, I figured that I could handle it.

Even walking there was an awe inspiring process. \240I felt like one of the Hebrews on the way out of Egypt. \240Just a massive line of people stretching out in front of and behind me. \240

Entering the lower part of the castle structure with all the shops was like walking into a real life Diagon Alley. \240It was surreal. \240

There was a museum of sorts with medieval armor (apparently) that had this suit of armor on display. \240A dad was trying to get a picture with his kid next to it and the boy started freaking out. \240He thought there was an actual person inside. \240

Up, up, up to the monastery!

Even the ticket area reminded me of Gringotts at Universal Studios!

Ye olde gift shop in the middle of the monastery. \240I thought it was weird that it was in the middle of the tour, right after you exited the actual sanctuary. \240The arch roof made out of wood was an architectural step forward at the time it was installed. \240

They actually sell “mime” shirts!

And wool berets in red or navy. \240A family by me was trying them on and giggling, but it actually looked good on the dad. \240He was an older, shorter, portly gentleman and I told him that he looked like an intellectual (a word that I thought would translate better than “smart”). \240The whole family laughed at that!

The archangel Michael. \240

Gift shop display of weapons said “do not touch” in many languages

A whole level of one gift shop was dedicated to tapestry

You could even buy your own set of armor. \240Great for decorating, Halloween, or re-enacting Scooby-Doo cartoons!

I thought it was nice to see a few police officers on patrol.

The whole island is accessible on foot at low tide. \240But will be surrounded by water at high tide. \240One side was full of slippery muddy sand (I assume it was sand. \240It was so fine that it seemed almost slimy).

A panoramic view from the sandy side

On the way home to Loudéac I wanted to get some sort of cheap cooler. \240The hotel we were in didn’t have a refrigerator, and I assumed that Randy was going to need some ice and real food. \240Google helped me find an E.Leclerc. \240It was a whole complex - gas station, recycling center, supermarket, etc. It was huge and had acres of refrigerated cases. \240None of which helped me without a cooler. \240I got a baguette, some more bottled water, and a bunch of food to bring home to the kids. \240I was giving up on the cooler and considered stopping by a hardware store nearby that was going out of business to see if they had any. \240As I left, I saw a separate building that appeared to have all their hardware stuff. \240I made a u turn and went back. \240

The store was weird. \240It was like they put all the stuff that didn’t fit in a category into a separate building. \240The front had outdoor furniture and garden stuff, but there was also snack food, wine, horse care equipment, bee keeping supplies and god only knows what else. \240No coolers, though. \240I decided to pick up some French wine, figured it would be cheaper at a supermarket than later at a restaurant and figured that we could drive it to the next hotel before we give up the car. \240I also grabbed a few French beers from the limited selection. \240

Got in line behind a family that was literally buying a couple plastic bags of goldfish and some fish tank supplies. \240The poor guy behind me just was buying a leash. \240I let him go in front of me, but when I left the line for a minute to get a box to carry the wine, he disappeared. \240The family got done and it was time to check out and he was gone. \240I looked at the old man who was behind me in confusion and he suggested “potty?” With a shrug. \240So the girl started checking out my stuff, the guy reappeared, but it was too late. \240And then my stuff was a pain and she had to check the price on the shelf and I felt really bad. \240Finally got done and struggled to get all my alcohol to the car. \240

The fun of this day was obscured later when I realized that Randy’s tracking system had stopped. The checkpoints are fairly far apart and I knew that his knee had been bothering him and after 130 miles, it looked like he stopped. \240I called at 11:08, sent a text at 11:16, called at 11:34 and left a message telling him that tracking wasn’t working and the last place I had seen him, called at 12:16, 1:00, sent a text at 1:14, and called at 1:46. \240during all of this, I was compulsively checking the electronic control times. Soon after this, he finally crossed the next control and I felt a little better. \240When he crossed the one at Loudéac, I knew he was close. \240I didn’t really breathe easier until he knocked on the door. \240

He was doing okay. \240Didn’t want to ice his knee - didn’t think it had helped at all. \240Just wanted to sleep as soon as possible. \240When they made up the room, they had pulled down an outdoor shade or built in window shutter. \240It covered half the window, and I did my best to minimize the light that was there. \240Randy knew that he needed his cold weather gear, and spent time organizing stuff and figuring out how he could carry it after it got warmer later in the day. We got to sleep about (?) and woke up around (?). \240Randy crammed in some food and got dressed while I went down and brought up everything out of his small bag. \240It was attached to the bike with zip ties for the number plate. \240He got everything packed up or on himself and we headed to the bike. \240

He switched out the bags and put on his rivet saddle, which needed height adjustment, etc. \240we put the number plate back on, added lube to his chain. \240He ate a quick breakfast in the hotel, and was back on the road. \240My shoes had a bunch of super fine mud on them from Mont st Michael. \240I left it on the floor in the continental breakfast area and noticed that the desk clerk had vacuumed it up while we in the garage. \240Felt bad. \240

Arrived at Chambord. \240It was way bigger than I expected

Helped a British family take a picture - arms aren’t long enough!

I stayed longer than planned, looking at everything, getting close to closing. \240Hit the gift shop and headed to the car. \240Didn’t want to deal with the long line at the parking ticket kiosk. \240At the car, read my ticket and saw that I could pay by credit card at the gate. \240Everyone was leaving at once, line to get out was impossible. \240Had to just sit. \240But got to talk with Randy. \240Struggling, took a long time to do the last stretch. \240Doesn’t think he will get to sleep before the finish. \240Tried to cheer him up, got off the phone with him and posted an update on Facebook. \240Finally was able to leave Chambord and headed to Amboise. \240Knew that I would probably not get to go in, but figured I could take cool outside photos like at Chambord. \240

I arrived in Amboise too late to go inside the Château. \240I figured I would just take pictures outside like Chambord. \240But that wouldn’t work because Amboise was essentially built into the side of the cliff along the river. \240I parked at the top, walked down the stairs to the bottom. \240But I was rewarded with a view of a classic French street in the evening. \240Sidewalk cafes, a castle across the street, music coming out of occasional shops because they are all open to the evening (no doors or windows). Sadly, there was going to be a night performance of a Shakespeare play INSIDE the castle that evening, but tickets were sold out. \240I am sure that it would have been amazing to see.

When I was walking down the road, I was initially following a woman with her three kids and an older man who I assume was her father. \240One of the kids asked to go potty and his mom tried to put him off (I couldn’t get the words, but as a mom, I got it). \240He was mad. \240I think he didn’t need to actually GO potty, he just wanted to stop walking. \240After another block or so, he started wailing about the potty. \240He didn’t stop until the mom got annoyed and stopped to ask the other two kids if they needed to go. \240Eventually, they headed out (I assume to find a potty).

I also stopped to take a picture of a black cat sitting on the top of a wall. \240Just sitting in the evening sun, cleaning itself and relaxing. \240It was so peaceful and pretty.

The view at the top of the stairs.

Another older couple came up the stairs just before me. \240They didn’t speak English, but we were all panting by the top of the hill and we laughed together. \240They were parked in about the same spot as me and were also walking around trying to see if there was a better place to see the Château. \240There wasn’t. \240But we did see 3 hot air ballons slowly drifting by in the distance.

It was sunset when I left. \240I had a couple hours of driving left and I realized that I was going to need more diesel (gazole). \240I stopped at the first gas station that I could find. \240It was very busy. \240It was one of the gas station stops along the freeway. \240All one direction, you pull in to an angled pump and then go with the flow back out onto the freeway. \240You can drive past the pumps, but once you do, there isn’t a way to loop back around to actually use them (the only access is for cars exiting the freeway). \240It had a similar interface to the Total station, so I was hopeful that it would work at the pump. \240It did not. \240And then there was a car full of young men that pulled in behind me to wait. \240I didn’t want to have to leave the car there (with the guy stuck behind me) and run in to ask them to turn on the pump. \240I was flustered and frustrated and just got back in the car and left.

I stopped at the NEXT possible station. \240The pump was “pre-pay only”. \240I have lived my whole life without having to prepay for gas. \240But I didn’t want it to get too much later and end up REALLY needing gas. \240So I went in to figure it out. \240There were 4 attendants behind the counter. \240Only one of which spoke a little English. \240She repeated that I had to prepay, but I tried to tell her that I didn’t know how much I needed. \240She looked at her manager who asked how much? \240I said that I wanted to fill it. No, no, no. \240Prepay. \240Give amount. \240How much? \240I didn’t know gallons to liters, dollars to euros or miles to kilometers. I hesitated and said 20 euros? \240The girl entered it into the register and asked if that was what I wanted. \240I said yes, not terribly confident, and all 4 of them were looking sideways at each other like I was an idiot. \240I put in my 20 euros worth (got me to about 3/4 of a tank) and knew that I had enough to make it back to the hotel.

Continued on to Hotel Mercure \240Parked alongside the hotel where taxis usually stopped and went to check in. \240As I walked in to the lobby, Randy called. \240Things were going much better. \240He was feeling better, was going to get some sleep (see Facebook post). \240I breathed a sigh of relief and happily checked in. \240The desk clerk asked “your husband will finish the race?” and I said yes, that he definitely should! The hotel had been nice enough to give us the exact same room we had been in - 206. \240I got back in the car, drove into the freakishly small ramp again and got a spot at the very bottom (no turning required!). \240I pulled in head first because it was easier to unload the trunk anyway. \240Gathered everything except the bike box and hauled it upstairs. Coming into 206 was like coming home. \240I was so relieved.

Started to worry that I was running late to be at the finish line. \240Randy passed the control at Druex at 7:50am. \240After that, he only had 27.5 miles to go. \240At even 10 mph, I was looking at 3 hours. \240And I needed to catch the train, 30 minute ride to Rambouillet, and then walk 1.5 miles to the finish (and I wasn’t exactly sure where the finish was going to be). \240I also noticed that randy had gotten off course a little bit and had added a couple miles to his total. \240But still, I need needed to get moving. \240 \240

Packed Randys regular shoes, white hat, regular glasses, my raincoat to sit on, and filled a water bottle. \240Got to the train platform and was waiting when Randy called. \240I told him that I was on my way.

Even the police station was old and huge. \240I was hurrying, still panicking that I was going to miss the most important part of the ride. \240As I entered the grounds, it was a madhouse. \240Bikers were arriving, ones that had finished earlier were coming out, 3 Australian bikers go by talking about how someone is a real “fanny magnet” and “ha! I should be so lucky!”. \240Followed the bikes, tried to stay out of the way. \240Got to the t in the road and had to pick - up the hill to the sheep pen area or back down the trail to where the official first time check was? \240It was about 1/2 mile to my right. \240Hmmm. \240Decided to go up the hill. \240As I started, heard English! \240A woman (late 40’s early 50’s) was sitting with her son (early 20’s) along the side of the road near a camper. \240

I stopped and asked if I was going the right way to get to the finish line. \240They said yes, the inflated arch was at the top. \240I continued on. \240When I got to the pond, I stopped to check Randy’s exact position. \240He was getting close. \240I hurried to the end and got in position. \240I started trying to look super close as the bikes came in. \240It was often a clump all at once and I was worried that I wouldn’t see him until it was too late. \240

Then Randy called! \240He was at the very bottom of the hill, start of the campers, where he had missed the turn before. \240He wanted to double check where the end point was and that I was there. \240He decided to take off his sun sleeves and put on his red jersey for the finish. \240I told him to get completely ready and then call me when he was on his way. \240A few minutes later he called. \240I had my phone in my left hand taking a movie and the Olympus camera in my right hand to take still photos. \240

He came through, didn’t see me. \240I had to try not to drop the camera or my phone and chase him down. \240He followed the trail into the courtyard and made the loop. \240Coming out was difficult - everyone has to exit the side gate. \240I shoved my way in to get his attention and take pictures. He still needed to get his last stamp. \240The final control was in the tent where the inspections had been. He left his bike in the holding area and brought all his electronics with him. \240He made his way to the tent. \240It was hot and chaotic but he did it! \240The man hung the finishing medal on his neck and gave him a hug.

We stopped outside to take photos. We tried to decide what our next move would be. \240We sat down so I could post a picture on Facebook. \240Randy sent a text to Doug to see if they could set up a time to meet. \240He received a dinner ticket with his medal, but he wasn’t hungry. \240

Randy was ready to nap, we curled up together next to the tent. \240Doug sent a text saying that he was going to take a nap. \240I texted him back on Randy’s phone and told him that randy was asleep in the grass and we would check with him later. \240

When he woke up, he was hungry. \240We went into the tent. \240He got his food tray and we found a table. \240There was a group of Scottish riders sitting behind us joking around with each other. \240Randy ate most of his food. \240We headed out and talked about what we should do. \240There was supposed to be a closing program at 5:00pm, but no one (not even the volunteers) seemed to know exactly what it was or where it was supposed to be. \240Randy was still waiting to hear from Doug, who was at the hotel in Rambouillet, so we didn’t want to leave yet. \240

We found a spot by a tree to settle and Randy started doing a dictation into his phone about the ride. \240There was a large group of Ukrainian riders near us with a huge bottle of wine but no cups. \240They just drank from the giant bottle and passed it on. \240A group on the other side of us opened a bottle of champagne to share. \240We were just us. \240After talking into his phone, Randy was tired again. \240He laid down to sleep some more. \240I played on my phone or dozed off or just watched the people. \240

Finally heard back from Doug. \240He had never stayed for the end program and wasn’t sure what it was all about. \240We figured that we were so close to the time that we might as well wait. Randy went to see about buying a poster or T-shirt, but they only took cash (euros). \240We had none. \240Randy had run out by his last meal. \240He had been a little short but the lady took what he had. \240This lady was not so flexible. \240We took Randy’s picture on the podium with his bike, ran into a rider he knew (?), and checked out the classic Singer bike on display. 5:00 came, but nothing was happening. \240It occurred to us that any presentation would be in French. \240We decided to just head towards Doug’s hotel.

Made our way through all the bike. \240Riders were still arriving, campers were starting to leave, bikes and people walking everywhere. \240Ran into Jack, walking a bike down the hill. \240He had not finished, but came to cheer on fellow riders that he knew as they came in. \240He had hit a lip on the shoulder and crashed, hurting his back and shoulder. \240Randy had a similar experience but had been able to catch himself. \240It did explain why Jack had been standoffish at breakfast. \240We chatted with him a bit, but let him get back to his friends. \240We continued on towards the exit. \240Riders still coming in were trying to navigate through the chaos. \240One rider was mistakenly pointed towards the Château instead of the sheep area, but caught it right away and we all pointed in the right direction. \240

Got to Doug’s hotel and found a place to prop Randy’s bike. \240Doug was with a large group of biking people on a patio, drinking and chatting. \240Waited to talk with Doug without interrupting (he knew a lot of the people there). \240He got up to talk, but eventually we just sat down. \240A woman approached me and asked “you’re Marilyn, aren’t you?” I was so confused! \240It was Carol Bell, who knows me from Facebook and that I have messaged before through Facebook when Randy had fallen asleep early. \240We chatted about France and the things that I saw while Randy was biking. \240She had an extra day or two before going home and was trying to decide what to do. \240Some more people in their group returned, so we said goodbye and headed back to our hotel. \240

Got back to the hotel, Randy insisted on riding his bike down the ramp instead of taking it in the elevator. \240I went through the lobby and met him at the bike storage place. \240We headed up to the room so he could shower and we could both relax. \240

The hotel was so kind and had the special Paris–Brest–Paris dessert in the continental breakfast! \240It was delicious - like an eclair or cream puff pastry with a chocolate hazelnut mousse inside. \240Yummy!!

I ate a ton for breakfast because I didn’t really have dinner the night before (I hadn’t been hungry)

Taking the bike back apart.

Randy was one of several bikers getting ready to haul bikes back home. \240In the back of this picture, Randy was helping Jack H. from California put the straps around his bike box. \240Jack didn’t get to finish PBP (it would have been his 3rd or 4th). \240He hit a small ledge or lip on a curb and had crashed. \240He was generally okay, but had injured his shoulder badly enough that he had to quit. \240He was not happy about it.

While Randy worked on the bike, I was working on journaling. \240I was uncomfortable sitting on the garage floor and headed to our room to work on it there. \240But I was also still so tired that I fell asleep for 20-30 minutes or so.

I woke up and realized that Randy was still downstairs working on the bike, so I went to see if I could help. \240The elevator wasn’t working (push buttons, not lighting up). \240I asked the maid what was wrong - she spoke no english at all. \240Eventually we managed to communicate by gestures. \240She was trying to tell me that a maid was using the elevator - they can use a key to haul their carts directly to the basement to do the laundry. \240She was patting her chest and pointing at things, and finally started tugging on her uniform to help me understand. \240I found stairs that at least went to the lobby and went down there. There was a whole group of americans standing there talking about how the elevator wasn’t working and I was able to explain why. \240Eventually the maid must have finished with it and I was able to get down to Randy.

After finishing the bike, we still needed to pack up our hotel room. \240We did the best we could at organizing (figuring that we could sort it all out at the next hotel). \240We left right before 12:00. We got everything into the car and went to exit the crazy small ramp. \240Randy drove and got UP the ramp without incident, but there was a woman trying to come DOWN the ramp at the same time. \240The door had closed behind us, so we had nowhere to go. \240She was stuck between some taxis and some steel posts and had to back all the way out to the road to let us out. \240 We stopped in front of the hotel and I ran in to drop off our key. \240The guy at the desk gave me two little goodie bags that the hotel made up for the PBP participants (cookies and ?). \240It was super cute.

We needed to get gas (diesel) before returning the rental car. \240I thought we were taking it back to the airport, but we were not. \240We went to one gas station that didn’t have diesel and had to find another one. \240Then we drove to our new hotel to check in and drop off our luggage. \240The elevator was TINY (Randy had to stack our bags so we could get everything up in one trip).

We left again to find the place to drop off our car. \240Driving was crazy. \240Lanes aren’t marked, people drift around and swerve around each other, lots of bus lanes and one way roads. \240The one good part was that our route just happened to have us driving right next to the Eiffel Tower, which was cool. \240We had an address, but it wasn’t correct. \240We circled the area several times before finding the right place. \240We got everything out of the car and went in to wait. \240There was a couple people in line in front of us, and I noticed a man outside looking at our car. \240He came inside and told us that we were supposed to drop it off “downstairs”. \240We tried to explain that we didn’t know where that was and he gestured for us to follow him, saying that he would show us. \240He started looking at the car and then asked for the keys. \240He sat in the drivers seat and started it. \240Randy and I looked at each other nervously and Randy asked in a low voice “so... do you think he’s legit or is he going to drive off in it?” I was thinking the same thing! \240It turned out fine - once the man saw that we had all our stuff out and that we had refilled the tank, he finished our paperwork and said that he would have one of their workers move it down. \240We were really happy.

Our next project was to walk back to our hotel. \240Only 2 miles or so and it was a beautiful afternoon.

The sheer volume of motorcycles and scooters here is amazing

We had some minor issues with google maps because of interference from the buildings.

We saw some PBP bikes with their information tags still attached!

A street elevator for deliveries

We were a little hungry, and passing all these little markets and restaurants. \240We needed to get some cash - we were out (less than 3 euros left). \240We found a bank and got out 90 euros . \240I wanted to get some coins in case we needed to use pay toilets. \240We waited for a teller, but she wouldn’t give us change. \240She said we had to go to the money change place. \240We decided to skip it for now. \240We stopped outside the bank to call the kids before they headed to school.

We were close to our hotel and decided to stop for an early dinner. \240Some of the food offerings were not our thing (duck or oysters or whatever), but we found a nice little place that sounded good. \240We sat outside and ate our yummy food (our first real dinner here together). \240Le Pot de Fer Chez Robert. \240We happened to be sitting next to two people from Toronto who spoke english. \240They took pity on us after watching us try to take a selfie and offered to take our picture. \240They were on a whirlwind tour of Paris, after 3 days in Portugal, and now 3 days in Paris, then 3 days in Venice. \240We chatted with them a little until our food came.

Finally - a beer! \240

Onion soup (we call it French Onion Soup at home). \240While I ate my soup, Randy ate a whole bucket of bread (baguette).

Randy had a baked salmon and I had a pasta carbonara. \240Both very good. We got a second bucket of bread and I managed to grab a piece or two before Randy polished off the second bucket. \240They did not bring us more. \240I think they figured that they fed us enough. \240

I chose soup instead of dessert - Randy went with an apple tart. \240After the tart, it took a long time to get our check. \240Then the waiter got busy with a new large group and never came to let us pay. \240Randy was literally falling asleep at the table, so he decided to just go in to the bar and pay. \240It worked out fine.

While we were waiting, we watched a nightclub get set up across from us (along the same narrow alley). \240It was called Le Bar De Fer (The Iron Bar). \240I thought it was weird that they were playing american music (Sitting on the dock of the bay), but Randy said that it was pretty common from what he has noticed.

We found a laundromat on the way to the hotel. \240I am going to need to wash my clothes soon.

Setting in at our new hotel. \240Sixth floor! \240And air conditioning!!

The room is small but totally fine. \240I love it. \240

The bathroom has a tub!! \240And rolled toilet paper instead of the tiny sheets! \240I am so excited about some of the most random stuff. \240

The view out our balcony. \240Gorgeous!

Looking up the street one way

And looking down the street the other way. \240I couldn’t ask for a more beautiful view. \240

Our first official travel day together! We started off by eating as much as we could at breakfast, knowing that it was going to be a busy day. \240Google Maps told us how to get to the subway station (Cardinal Limone, in this case). \240We stopped at the service counter and bought 2 carnets of tickets. \240We took the subway to Lavel, where we exited the system and bought tickets on the RER train line to Versailles. \240We had used the ticket machines but we were obviously new at it, so a helpful station worker came to help us. \240We had been buying one way tickets (which are more expensive), because I hadn’t been able to figure out how to buy 2 at a time of the multi way tickets. \240He typed it all in for us and we were ready to go.

The train was pretty much all people headed to Versailles. \240When we got to the end of the line, there were lots of workers in bright colored vests directing people toward the exit. \240We followed the flow of people, and ended up in front of the Chateau. The courtyard was enormous, with lines of people in various places. \240It took a minute to figure out which were tour groups, which were people without tickets, which were people WITH tickets but not timed entry, and which was where we were supposed to be - with tickets and timed entry. \240Our time slot was 10:00, and we could line up starting at 9:30. \240There was a family speaking Spanish behind us that was struggling with which line to be in, too. \240We figured out that we both had “entry passports”, and when a worker came by to check the time on our sheet, we were in the right place. \240They did remove at least one family with an entry time of 11:00 who had lined up before 10:00. \240They were not happy.

We came through security, but forgot to get a map. \240We were going to do the Rick Steve’s audio tour and stopped to get our earbuds out. \240We were having a hard time figuring out where we were supposed to be starting and eventually figured out that the tour started from the other entrance (the one without an assigned entry time). \240We headed that way and got started. \240It was crowded but not unbearable. \240The rooms were a little stuffy but some of the windows were open to let fresh air in and the breeze felt wonderful. \240Marilyn got yelled at in the hall of mirrors for having a selfie stick.

We toured the main chateau and headed out to the gardens. \240Once we got our bearings, we were about to start the garden tour when we saw a man in biking gear walking by with his Rando bag. \240We asked him if he had done PBP, he had, and finished. \240He was from Ireland (?) and had come with a group of riders, all of whom finished, which is awesome. \240He had decided to stay on and do a little sightseeing before going home.

We started the tour and approached the first fountain, which was running. We stopped to take a few pictures, but as we did, it shut off. \240It ended up being one of the windows of time that select fountains run during the day (and then all run later in the day). \240We followed the tour (made a detour to the mirror garden that had fountains running). \240Randy got yelled at in the colonnade garden for leaning against a marble pillar. \240Randy was tired, feeling the cumulative stress of exercise. \240He ate a protein bar and used the bathroom.

We exited the garden and went to find our way to the Grand Trianon, the Petite Trianon and home of Marie Antoinette. \240We didn’t want to wait for the shuttle, and decided to walk. \240It was a little confusing, lots of trees, paths, roads all coming into the Apollo pool. \240We were just starting when we saw a gelato stand - I got chocolate and strawberry, Randy got raspberry. \240It was SO yummy - so much fruit! \240We saw a British family eating and their little girl was freaking out because the bees were trying to get her ice cream. \240Randy had the same problem. \240Finally got to the Grand Trianon. \240Randy needed a rest, so we laid down in the grass and took a nap.

We toured the Grand Trianon and the garden (a miniature of the garden at Versailles). We followed the guidebook suggestion of touring the garden first and then finishing with the Petite Trianon. It was significantly less crowded than at the main Château, but Randy was pretty pooped and not having a great time with all the walking. \240We saw the main buildings, and made our way to the Hamlet. \240It was so like a Disney resort that it was weird. \240Or like a Thomas Kinkade painting. \240People were drinking from a spigot, I was suspicious but Randy was willing to risk it. \240Eventually realized that it was a building that had been modernized and contained the bathrooms, so the water was okay. \240I filled my bottle in the bathroom sink. \240Got pictures at temple of love, sat on a shady bench, some older ladies joined us. \240We were surprised by the coolness of the grotto when it was actually quite warm. \240Big fish in the river by the hamlet. Made our way back to the Petite Trianon. \240Randy was over it. \240Walked through pretty quickly, headed out to find the shuttle. \240Line for the shuttle was huge. \240Decided to walk. \240Ran into Australian people with baby backpack. \240Not using the waist strap, helped get it on the man (uncle). \240Marveled at how different the weight distribution was. \240Mom was looking forward to having an easier time at the airport the next day. \240

Got back when fountains were all running. \240Took pictures of as many as we could. \240Randy needed a bathroom, couldn’t go out by the canal (only one re-entry per ticket). \240Had to go all the way back up to the front. \240Randy tried to do time delay on the camera but forgot how to do it. \240Randy got yelled at for having a tripod in the colonnade. \240As we were there, the fountains all stopped. \240Asked why, told that they turn them off to allow people to make their way to the big finale. \240We stopped by one more that was still open and headed to get seats.

The finale wasn’t what we expected. \240More of a music piece with the fountain running. \240We watched most of it, then headed for the side exit (not back to the Château)

We followed Rick Steve’s suggestion of going to Place du Marché. \240Although the restaurants he recommended were not open or appealing, we found the Broadway Cafe - American food. \240It smelled so good that we stopped. \240BBQ chicken pizza with corn. \240Finally a beer! This was our first experience with armed guards wandering through tourist spots with big rifles. \240

Headed back to the train station. \240The people with bright vests were helping people find the train they needed. \240We got on and sat down. \240Drunk man fell over by the benches, \240got on our train. \240Kept falling over into the aisle. \240Mom with two boys got on, went to check on him, I motioned that he was drunk and they should sit farther back with us. \240

Got back to our hotel and settled in for the night.

Woke up around 7:30 and took showers. \240So did everyone else in the hotel. \240Hot water was on and off, then completely off. \240Got out the door about 8:30, worried that breakfast ended at 9:00, hurried down (it went from 7-10). \240Filled up our bellies, and got ready to go.

Our plan was to do Rick Steve’s walking tour of historic Paris, which started at the Notre Dame cathedral. \240Our hotel is just over 1/2 mile from there, so we didn’t even have to take the subway. \240Because of the fire in April, you can’t even walk all the way around it right now. \240the bridge we were supposed to cross on was closed. \240We worked around it, seeing the left bank booksellers as we walked to a bridge farther down the street. \240We did what we could and decided to skip a few things along the tour so that we would have more time. \240We didn’t walk to the end of the island to see the deportation memorial or cross over to St Louis Island (the most expensive area in Paris) to avoid the extra walking.

Instead, we did much of the planned tour backwards. We passed the flower market (not a lot going on at the time), saw the first public clock in France and entered the Conciergerie.

An older British couple laughed at me telling Randy to stop so I could take his picture (you’re supposed to say “cheese”). \240An older Asian couple came in through the exit doors to take a few pictures as we were on our way out (they really should have staffed the exit).

We left the Conciergerie and looked at the map - then looked up to see the entrance to Saint Chapelle was about 50 feet away. \240Confusion at the line (“preferred entry vs regular entry” but “no preferred entry for museum pass holders”). \240Eventually just picked one, turned out that they only went to the same place anyway. \240Strict security because the complex also housed the French Supreme Court. \240Left security and walked through a parking lot and a bunch of buildings to get to the church entrance. \240LONG line, but we walked right in with our museum pass - totally worth it! \240Entered a beautiful church gift shop. \240Had some history stuff and restoration information. \240Dig out phones and listened to Rick Steve’s tour. \240Walked up a super long, super skinny spiral staircase and were stunned by the amount of stained glass in the church at the top. \240Built to house the crown of thorns which are now usually stored st Notre-Dame, but somewhere else now due to construction. \240Tiny staircases at the back. \240Went back down to buy souvenirs.

We headed to the St Michael memorial (honoring French soldiers killed in battle), a woman was approaching people with a petition, and walked along the old roads to Saint Severin. somehow missed the smallest house in Paris. \240St Severin - This is a working Catholic Church, so after making sure services weren’t going on, we went in. Randy didn’t want to take a lot of pictures because it was so quiet in there. \240I made the sign of the cross with holy water on him. \240We saw a family enter, a toddler, middle child and oldest boy, who made the sign of the cross and then started forcing his younger brother to do the motions (forcing his hands) and then to hold his hands in prayer. \240They were both giggling. \240As we left, a beggar woman was calling out “bonjour madam, bonjour mesiur” hoping to beg. \240We tried to avoid eye contact.

Our next stop was the Cluny Museum. \240Which I thought was an art museum for Middle Ages. \240And it was, but also the Roman bath. \240Couldn’t go in, guided tour only, in french. \240Looked at what we could. \240I had earbuds in and started talking really loud to Randy about which audio part to listen to for the Lady and the Unicorn. \240Audio guide clips were way too long.

Bought a $3 medallion and headed back towards our hotel to take a nap. \240On the way, we passed the Sorbonne. \240I was a little hungry, so we stopped at the Carrefour down the street and I got a ham and cheese sandwich from the refrigerated case. \240Also grabbed some granola in case we get hungry when the restaurants are closed again. \240An older woman in front of us took forever to buy a banana with small coins.

We napped but woke up when our phones dinged with the travel pass notification. \240I got in the shower and got myself ready (finally painted my toenails). Randy got ready and we headed out to finish the walking tour (which ended right by our scheduled boat cruise). \240We had dinner at Mon Paul in the Place Dauphine square, had fun watching a little boy running back and forth testing how far he could go without his parents getting mad. \240Saw people playing boules in the sand of the square (which was actually a triangle). \240The British woman by herself next to us was celebrating her birthday.

After dinner, we walked around Pont Nuef more and then found our boat. \240We waited in a group to get on board, I was worried that we wouldn’t get good seats. \240We were lucky enough to be on the upper deck, and it was cooling off to a much more relaxing temperature. \240Boat cruise was awesome - guide in french and english. \240The cheesy time - first time under a bridge, make a wish and kiss the one you love. \240Couple next to us and directly across were snuggly and kissy. \240Older couple on our other side and the older couple across from them never touched. \240We got a meat and cheese plate with bread, two glasses of wine, and two glasses of champagne. \240Came under a bridge just as the Eiffel Tower started to sparkle while the song from Titanic was playing. \240Saved the champagne glasses. \240After the boat ride, headed back to the hotel and called the kids.

Got up about 7:30. \240Headed to the laundromat. \240Thought it was a change machine, put in $20, only $15.30 came out. \240Figured out that you are supposed to enter the machine number first. \240Also how to get detergent. \240Washed 2 loads, dried together. \240Randy went back for breakfast, then switched and I went back for breakfast. \240The machine humming made him sleepy. \240He went back to the hotel to nap while I finished. \240Only one guy brought clothes, put them in the washer and left. \240I folded clothes and went back to the hotel. \240Randy didn’t hear me knocking, had to yell his name. \240Joined him in bed to nap.

Got up again about noon and rearranged our schedule. \240Not going to Chartres. \240Decided to go see the opera house that we missed. \240Headed there first. \240Expensive but amazing. \240Loved it. \240Phantom of the opera box is being renovated. Little girls taking a selfie. \240Randy went outside while I shopped.

Headed to St Sacre-Coeur. \240On the way up the hill, lots of tourist shops. \240Stopped to buy soap. \240Kids racing up the stairs, men trying to grab them and us to tie on bracelets, “No thank you! No thank you!!!” Saw an Asian woman on the steps in distress, help was coming in 5 minutes. \240Possibly over exerted herself. \240Took pictures of the outside and bought tickets to the top of the dome (did this before going inside). \240Spanish woman in front of us was having a hard time. \240Randy noticed that stairs don’t bother him - similar motion to biking. Took pictures at the top, headed back down to see the inside of the church.

Church was beautiful, noticeably newer artwork. \240Randy had to remove his hat. \240People were noisy and men were shushing them. \240Little boy was driving his toy car along the balustrades and kept dropping it. \240Went through the church quickly and headed to the Montemare museum. \240Waiting for the movie to start over, turns out that it isn’t happening and we are standing there for nothing. \240Found the permanent collection and did the audio tour. \240Tried to find the artist home recreation, but only could find the temporary exhibit. \240Went to the gift shop to ask, redirected to the temporary exhibit. \240Open until 7:00 (not 6 like I thought).

Randy was hungry, found a restaurant nearby. \240Ate dinner, women smoking near us. \240They had tap water!! After dinner, went in search of Picasso’s house, Van Gogh’s house, Moulin Rouge and Pigalle (pig alley). Took my picture by the porno shop (Randy “I don’t want to go in there “) Saw little boys racing each other, two young men, one with a guitar, woman singing opera. \240Found the right metro station and headed back to the hotel.

It was HOT and we both needed showers. Laying on the bed working on journaling and hearing rain - Randy noticed first. \240About 10:00pm, and didn’t last long. \240But tomorrow should be cooler.

We got up around 8:00. \240Had breakfast, got ready (are you going to do your hair?). \240Headed out about 9:00 to get to the Orsay when it opened at 9:30. \240Right before we arrived, we passed a group of 4 people on the sidewalk who seemed to be sharing cigarettes or helping light each others cigarettes or something. \240Didn’t think much of it until a small older woman came out yelling “no, no, no! \240You go! You go!” and pushing two of them away. \240The last two were possibly her (nearly adult) children and she started rapidly yelling at them in Spanish. \240The Japanese girls walking in front of us were looking sideways at each other and giggling. Got through security at 9:37. \240Did Rick Steve’s tour, had a hard time finding the Van Gogh and another guy. \240The new exhibit of their work is opening on September 9th and the temporary exhibit was in a weird place. \240I was right to follow the map and not depend completely on the recording. \240Lots of naked people doing sexy things. \240Randy was having lots of booger’s. \240Saw a post card of a full on vagina.

Headed to the Rodin museum. \240Didn’t expect to like it much based on the head sculptures at Orsay, but actually liked it quite a bit. \240Not air conditioned, which was surprising. \240It was interesting to see how his art changed over his career. \240Museum was in an old hotel that was amazing just by itself. \240Went to look at the sculptures in the garden. \240Roses smelled really good. \240Stopped at the bathroom, helped an elderly woman work the push button on the sink. Randy read about our next stop in the guide book. \240Decided that we had seen enough sculptures.

Headed to the Army Museum and Napoleons Tomb. \240Four army soldiers with weapons were doing the bag check. \240Decided to skip the audio tour, walked around the tomb first. \240Wife’s heart in a box. \240Saw machines for medallions but had no coins.

Headed to the gift shop, Randy rested while I looked, bought little book with cash and got coins. \240Got medallion from the ticket area. \240Went upstairs to see the WWI and WWII exhibit. \240Started earlier for France after losing a war in 1871. \240We were surprised by how small the model of the nuclear bomb was compared to the size of the destruction it caused. \240France fell to Germany after only 40 days (start of WWII), spent a lot of time trying to organize rebellion while under occupation.

Headed to the Rue Clare walk. \240Started at the wrong end, so we walked the whole thing and started where the book started. Saw a woman with a dog not on a leash, just like yesterday. Randy got some raspberries and blackberries to eat while we walked. \240Couldn’t buy more wine. \240Could smell the cheese from outside when the doors would open and close. \240Decided to have dinner at the Café du Marché. \240Our waiter was born in Paris but apparently learned very good english in British pubs. \240He noticed our Rick Steve’s guide book and commented that Rick had actually been to the restaurant and was a nice guy. \240We were a little embarrassed about being such tourists. \240I had a large Leffse beer, steak and french fries. \240Randy tried duck! It tasted like chicken. \240He also let me eat half of his yummy potatoes. \240we were too full for dessert.

After dinner, we walked to the river to do the left bank promenade. \240We were tired. \240Along the way, we stopped at a small bakery and sandwich shop and I got some almond merengue. \240I ate it as we walked down to the river and along it until the Champs-Elysées (for a short distance) until we got to the Place de Concord. \240We saw a young couple on a stand up scooter, girl in the front, guy in the back. \240He was showing her how to drive it, all snuggled up together, while she shrieked and giggled. \240It was adorable.

At Place de Concord, Traffic was literally bumper to bumper. \240A Mercedes was so close to the car in front of him that you absolutely couldn’t walk between them. \240Literally. \240People were honking, we saw a man pushing his bicycle yelling at a woman who had almost hit him with her car, a police car came by - looked like an accident was causing the problems. \240There was no rhyme or reason to the traffic lights - people just wanted to GO. \240We saw motorcycles lined up with cars, 5 across, everyone wanting to be first. \240At one point, 4 motorcycles were at the front of a red light and you could see them all checking each other out to see who could be first.

We worked our way across to find the metro station. \240Saw a little girl ask to pet a guys dog (actually on a leash) and heard her sweet sing-song “merci!” when she had to keep walking with her dad. \240The metro station was crowded, sliding doors kept you back from the tracks and only open when the train arrives (we only saw this on line 1). \240The train was crowded, too, so we stood. \240Transferred to another train, watched a little girl (probably about 3 years old), having fun standing on the subway holding on to the pole. \240She kept trying to just walk around, but mama was showing her to hold on. \240The girl was giggling as the train moved around her.

Accidentally took the wrong exit and had to walk an extra block back to our hotel. \240The fact that we got to use an escalator to street level was the only good part about that mistake!

Set an alarm to get up early so we could be at the Lourve when it opened. \240Had breakfast, took showers, got out the door about 8:15. \240Went to get on the metro and our tickets wouldn’t work. \240I had put a magnet from the army museum in my purse yesterday and it deactivated the tickets - 6 of them. \240We needed to find a station with people working who could help us. \240Tried to walk to the other end of the same station but got turned around and ended up walking to the next one. \240Getting help took forever because the woman in front of us was having issues with her ID. \240Finally got to the window. \240The man said that 4 of the six were okay, only 2 were bad. \240He supposedly fixed them and we were back on our way.

Got to the Louvre about 10 minutes early. \240The “reserved time” line was longer than we thought. \240But once we got moving, our line moved and the other one didn’t. \240Stupid Russian couple kept working their way up the line by passing people on corners of the mouse maze. \240They stopped to take a selfie and we were able to pass them. \240Made a point of walking wide and taking up the whole space. \240We got inside and went to find a map at the information desk. \240The helpful man told us that the Mona Lisa was moved and directed us to the new place. \240We joined the throng of people heading that way. \240Lots of mouse mazes, but they were currently empty. \240up, up, up lots of escalators to what was supposed to be level 2. \240Before we knew it, we were in the room. \240The security guards were efficient “one picture, okay, okay, move this way please!”

After Mona Lisa we started walking around and realized that we could only enter each wing of the museum once. \240And because Mona had moved, we were not in the place where our audio tour was supposed to happen. We decided to check out the areas in the wing we were already in and do the audio tour later. \240Room markings were almost nonexistent. \240Floors were sometimes split. \240It was really confusing. We wandered around for a long time trying to find Christ without the cross. \240Finally found it, headed up to see the apartments, and back down to the central lobby area. \240Leaving the wing, followed a family of 4 with dad saying “we did it! \240High fives!” And they all slapped hands celebrating being done seeing the Mona Lisa. \240We felt the same way.

We moved on to where our audio tour was. \240It was going well for a while. \240Crowds of people around key statues. \240We ran into problems with some stuff - major renovations going on, the entire Apollo gallery was closed. \240Many famous paintings that are normally stored around the Mona Lisa has been moved along with her, but because we weren’t looking for them and because we moved through the mouse maze so quickly, we never stopped to look. As we walked down the colonnade, we kept hearing the alarm go off. \240Not usually because people were too close to the art - but the information plaques were printed so small that people would lean over to read them and set off the laser trigger.

We figured that we were seeing other paintings by the same artist and it was fine. \240After finishing what we could of the tour, we headed back to the central lobby again. \240I wanted to see more about the history of the museum (it has been around since 1200AD and has gone from a fortress to a castle to a museum). \240Went to see the exhibit, got yelled at for standing to close (not sure why - “silvouspla!” - possibly because I was wearing the backpack. \240Finished what we wanted and headed out.

When we exited the Louvre, there was an arch. \240We thought it was the Arc de Triomphe, and we weren’t that impressed. \240We started reading about it and trying to find the images described and realized that we were at the wrong place. \240It was an arc, but it was not THE arc. \240Which made some sense once we looked closer at the map.

We were headed to the l’Orangarie to see Monet paintings, which directed us through the Touloeries (?) garden. \240It was actually cool and breezy, no sunshine. \240Randy wanted to sit, I had goosebumps. \240Instead we admired the garden as we walked. \240Saw kids with rented boats and sticks. Two sweet little Indian girls share a boat, younger sister got the stick and was jealous of the boat. \240All pools look the same size from the palace. \240Actually saw people working on the garden for a change.

Orangerie was very cool - paintings were specifically made for the space (true art installation). \240They were huge - way bigger than we expected. \240The tour of the two big rooms didn’t take long. \240We had to weasel our way to a seat past Instagram girls. Then headed downstairs to see the art collection from a specific couple. \240It was easier to appreciate what we liked and didn’t like when you could see just a few things from each artist mixed together. \240We hit the gift shop and headed out.

We were near the Place de Concord and could see the Arc at the far end of the Champs-Elese. \240We considered doing our walking tour backwards but decided that it would just be easier to hop on the metto and switch sides. \240So we did - took the metro to the Arc de Triomphe and entered the underground pedestrian path. \240We had tickets and got into line, and soon got pulled to the opposite side for even faster access to the security check.

Climbed up to the top - nice view of the city. \240Not the highest, but amazing view of the street system. \240Watching the roundabout was the best part. \240See guidebook for more details. Got to the first stairs stop and saw the medallion machine - I had no coins! \240Was panicking slightly, but went up the next little flight and saw the full gift shop. \240Planned on buying ornaments but they were crazy expensive. \240Decided on a magnet instead. \240Got my medallion and we headed down.

Our next activity was the champs elysees walk. \240We saw expensive stores (many with security guards at the door), got a medallion on the street, saw beggar woman laying face down as if asleep but would rattle her McDonald’s cup of coins when people were close, saw a waiter make a woman leave when she tried to sit in an outdoor cafe with her own food, saw the french equivalent of Victoria’s Secret (later saw an older woman carrying a bag with their logo), a line of people outside Louis Vuitton waiting for their personal shopping attendant, two husbands waited outside with a child while wives went to peek at Tiffany’s, walked into the arcade shopping area(?), saw expensive handbags, saw Romantic Paris - which sold luggage, and many more.

As the shopping area ended, there was a fountain. \240We found a bench and sat down to rest. \240I wanted to go in the Grand Palais, but it was closed. \240The Petite Palsis had an exhibit about romantic art - Randy was totally over romantic art for the day. \240I was just generally tired. \240Although the walk we were doing was supposed to end at the place de Concord, we had already seen it the day before (or 2?), not to mention seeing it again at the end of the Touleris garden. \240We decided that we were good and just got on the metro to head home.

Our last day - we didn’t have a set plan. Randy had spent some time looking at the guide book to see if there was stuff we should definitely do before we left. \240He realized that there were two coins that we had forgotten to get (the Conciergerie and Pont Nuef). We decided to walk that way, get those two and then go to the Pantheon. \240We headed towards the Conciergerie, noticed that a lot of the homeless people were still laying around (just waking up). We saw two women writing out a ticket for a motorcycle just parked on the sidewalk. \240There seems to be very little rhyme or reason to driving and parking in Paris, but apparently there are SOME limits. \240Crossed a bridge and realized how close we were to Notre-Dame. \240Because the bridge the guide book recommended had been closed, we had to choose one or another. \240The one we picked was apparently not the best one and we had missed this good photo opportunity. \240We stopped in a few gift shops looking for a souvenir for Randy and I. \240Always so high pressure and pushy. \240Didn’t understand “Isle de France” and decided to wait.

At the Conciergerie, I held everything while Randy went in to ask it he could just get the medallion (took 2 euros, a different medallion as an example, and his museum pass). \240He was gone for so long that I started to worry. \240Old couples shopping “are you all Paris’ed out?”. \240Randy finally came back - went shopping in the gift store while he was in there.

Followed the map to Pont Nuef. \240Didn’t see the machine , Randy guessed it was on the permanently docked boat. \240It was. \240He was right.

We sat down in the little park and looked at the guide book. \240We were almost exactly at the start of the left bank walk. \240Decided to do it , lots of “petition” ladies, one was pregnant. Construction on corner building, not sure we were allowed to go through, followed another guy.

Started the walk, lots of art shops. \240Skipped a few things. \240Saw a few things that we skipped on a prior day (Shakespeare bookstore, etc). The best parts of the left bank walk was getting to see some extra cool churches. \240St Germain had mass going on at the far end of the church, so we didn’t go through that part. \240But it was a beautiful church, gorgeous paintings, chapels for individual saints, etc. \240the smell of incense, hearing “ave Maria “ being sung, got an unexpected medallion.

Randy is thinking that I should buy a fashionable french dress. \240I told him that he didn’t know what that was going to cost. \240We stopped in a tiny shop that had dresses for 20€ but I didn’t see anything that I really wanted.

St Sulpice was really cool, too. \240Rick Steve’s didn’t even mention the HUGE fountain in the square. \240No medallion. \240Only about 1/2 the paintings had been restored. \240The difference is amazing.

We were near the end of the left bank walk but near the start of a Rick Steve’s shopping trip. \240We looked at what was on that and decided to go to a fancy chocolate place. \240Boxes were REALLY pricey. \240Decided to buy an assortment of kinds of chocolates to share with the kids and an individual piece for each of us. \240Randy got a dark chocolate raspberry and I got a milk chocolate caramel with almonds. \240Yummy!

We tried to find a book recommended “bargain” dress shop but it must have been moved. Continued on to Luxembourg Garden. \240Sat in the shade on lovely slanted bench. \240People move chairs in front of the benches and basically lay there. \240We saw a very old tree , tipped over but still alive, that had been propped up with several built up wooden braces. \240A new tree of the same type has been planted at the base.

We crossed the garden, watching people have their lunches or sunbathe or read. \240We saw a security guard inside the fence of the palace (still used by the French Senate). \240We stopped at a fountain in the shade . We kept going through, saw a boy learning how to ride a skateboard.

Came through the gate and were headed to the Pantheon when we saw a crepe restaurant. \240Randy had been wanting one, so we stopped for lunch. \240Both of us wanted sweet crepes - strawberry and whipped cream and “Americane” - crumbles of brownies, ice cream and caramel drizzle. \240Very good, but not something that I am dying for or will still be raving about at home. \240Randy cut his in half and rolled it - extremely messy. \240Made fun of me buckling the backpack to the outside chair (we both faced out) sat next to an American couple still looking up what to do and available times on their phones.

Went on to the Pantheon. \240Got 1 audio tour (Rick Steve’s said it would help understand the art, Randy had enough art and just wanted to walk). Paid cash and got euro coins that would allow me to buy a medallion. \240Did so immediately before I would forget. \240Started the tour. \240It was possibly the worst of all the audio tours we had used. \240No placards indicating what buttons to push and when, and the comments on any and all numbers were full of random and extraneous information and didn’t actually get to the point and tell you what you were looking at or supposed to be seeing.

Ended up only listening to about 3 or 4 of the tracks and just reading out of the book to understand the rest. \240Waiting for the man taking long videos in a circle in the nave, watching the pendulum clock and seeing the parabolic movement, why the central statues dedicated to men were full of naked women?, down to the crypt.

Despite the name, crypt was quite pretty (cream colored stone walls, well lit, started out quiet). \240Guard by the entrance reminds people Shhhh! \240Found a few famous people, wandered through, touch screen tv to learn about various people buried there. \240Most recent was 2017, still plenty of room for more. \240By the time we left, guard had stepped out and it was getting noisy. \240Stone walls echo a LOT. \240Headed back upstairs to go to the gift shop.

Already had a medallion but looked around for an ornament. \240Because I hadn’t been using the audio tour almost at all, forgot that it was hanging around my neck. \240About 2/3 of the way into the gift shop, I crossed the security line and it started “whoop! Whoop! Whoop!”-ing. \240Which is even louder in and echoey church building. \240Stuffed it under my armpit and hurried back to return it. \240Randy was laughing at me.

Bought a magnet and headed out. We were officially done touring stuff but we planned on going out to dinner. \240We headed back to the hotel to rest. \240I drank my last 2 bottles of beer (really liked Ar-Man) Randy worked on a chronological list of the major sites we visited and I did some journaling / helped look stuff up for him. \240Right at the end, Facebook froze and we thought we might have lost all of it, but it came back and Randy quickly copied it into notes in case it happened again. \240Decided to wait to post it until later.

Called the kids - they didn’t have school today and we could call in the middle of the day. \240Talked with them, got ready and went out in search of the fondue place we saw the night before. \240stopped by the desk to ask about getting to the airport. \240We could take the subway (with a transfer) for about 15 - 20 euros or take a taxi for $63 euros. \240Decided on the taxi and she booked it for us to arrive at 7:15 in the morning, which will allow us to grab a quick breakfast at the hotel before leaving. \240We easily found the restaurant we ate at yesterday - super close to our hotel despite how far we had walked yesterday \240The square was active and lively. \240We headed down a side street and found the fondue place - $19 per person and minimum of two people. \240It didn’t look super delicious and I didn’t think it was worth the cost, so we headed back to the square to go to the burger place Gaston’s. \240Along the way, we stopped in a souvenir shop and looked for a sweatshirt for me. \240First one only had zip up ones. \240Ended up back at the same place as yesterday, got sweatshirt for me, Tour de France shirt for Randy, and actually found something with Rue Monge (our hotel street) on it!! \240Only cups, but better than nothing!

Got to Gaston’s, really busy, but we were willing to squeeze in between two other tables. \240We both ordered bacon burgers (a new french favorite), and Randy convinced me just to have water because we still had a bottle of wine at the hotel to drink. \240We were people watching and listening to an old man playing his accordion in the square. \240Saw a prostitute (pretty positive), strutting around the square, making eyes at individual or small groups of men. \240She passed one group of 3 guys about our age or a little older, slowly and deliberately putting her vape into her mouth and sucking on it while looking at them. When they didn’t respond, she moved to another corner of the square to look for prospects. A young couple sitting by the fountain were watching her and giggling to themselves.

Burgers were good, little spicy, and we just enjoyed the atmosphere while we ate. \240The old man finished playing and made his way around the circle of cafes with his tin cup for donations. \240When we were done, we paid quickly and got out of the way for more people to eat, but I didn’t want to go home yet. \240We sat on some concrete blocks in the square and watched people for a while. \240There was a group of 3 college age guys who came and sat by the fountain, pulled out cans of beer from their backpack and just enjoyed the scene. \240Cars were constantly circling by - small ones and motorcycles mostly. \240Once we saw a minivan (smaller than at home, though).

On our way home we stopped in the car Carrafour because I wanted to find some savory snacks to bring home for the kids to try. \240We took photos and I found a few things. \240The girl at the counter needed a pen and I actually understand her calling to a coworker to ask for a “stylo”.

Got back to the hotel and worked on packing bags so that they wouldn’t be over the weight limit. \240Drank our last bottle of wine on the balcony and looked at the lights (St Sacre-couer in the distance). \240Needed to get to sleep so we can get up early in the morning.

Alarm was set for 5:30. \240Got up and into the shower, Randy headed in next. \240Finished packing our bags. \240Had enough time to curl my hair. \240Randy took the bags down in two loads (small elevator) while I used the bathroom one last time. \240Got down to the lobby about 6:50. \240The taxi driver was already there. \240The desk clerk said we could put our bags in the car and then eat. \240This was fine, but Randy had remembered that his wallet was buried in a suitcase and he needed to dig it out first. \240He opened it up and started digging. \240While he did, I paid the city tax on the hotel room and discussed the mini bar with the desk clerk (no champagne when we arrived, want to make sure we aren’t charged for it). \240Randy finally found the wallet near the bottom of one of the big cases. \240Repacked the suitcase and got the bags outside and started eating.

Finished breakfast about 7:10. \240The hotel was nice enough to give the taxi driver a cappuccino or espresso while he waited. \240We got in the fancy Mercedes and headed out. \240The driver had us both in the back seat and his driving was crazy fast. \240I had to lean back, shut my eyes and breathe deep, trying not to get carsick. \240Pretty sure that I dozed off.

Before we knew it, we were at the airport. \240Crazy system of mechanical gate arms that let in a select number of cars at a time. \240Each car had to have a special pass as a taxi or transport vehicle. \240The driver let us pay while we were waiting and when it was our turn, it was super efficient to get us out the door.

We got into the airport by the Qutar airline. \240Tons of Asian tour groups. \240Hard to maneuver through them all with our luggage. \240Stopped at a touch screen kiosk and figured out which way to go to United. \240Expected self serve check in like Chicago, but didn’t see it. \240Randy went to ask and we were directed to a traditional check in line. While we were waiting, a worker came to check our passports. \240Got to the front and had our bags weighed. \240A worker came and set the bike box to the side. \240We asked why and the desk lady said it was too big (I assume for the regular conveyor). \240We got actual printed tickets and started heading for our gate. \240We had to scan our boarding passes multiple times as we made our way through the airport.

We rode the squishy escalator/moving walkway, and eventually had to go through security near our gate (only 8 gates had security there). \240I realized that I still had a bottle of water and had to throw it out. We got confused about whether or not they needed to see our boarding passes again. When I came back from dropping my water in the trash, I saw the woman putting Randy’s boarding pass back in the tub. \240So I stuck mine in the tub and shoved it into the machine. \240As I turned to go through the metal detector, she held out her hand and asked for my boarding pass. \240It was flustering. \240I had to wait until it went through, have Randy find it and pass it back.

We eventually got it situated and thought we were done. \240We stopped to put on shoes and pack up our boarding passes and passports to keep them safe. \240We walked about 15 feet and were asked for our boarding passes and passports. \240So we had to dig it all back out. \240And then Randy had been randomly flagged for extra security. \240So he got in that line and I took a seat. \240They swabbed his bag and started running the test. \240After a couple minutes, he was good to go. \240We found our gate (no chairs there) and took a seat next to gate 42. \240randy hit the bathroom, I got sleepy and took a nap, Randy used the laptop to analyze his PBP ride data. \240About 10:35 I headed to the bathroom and filled my water bottle.

We boarded on time and quickly. \240Flight isn’t full and we have an extra seat next to us!! \240Randy got tired as soon as he was settled. \240I worked on journaling and he slept. \240As soon as we leveled off, snacks and drinks arrived. \240I got a snack for Randy for when he wakes up. \240After snacks, they started bringing lunch around. \240I woke him up. \240Right before they got to our row, we hit some turbulence. \240Flight crew to their jump seats. \240Climbed from 35000 to 36000 feet. \240Much more stable and food service resumed. \240After lunch, they brought ice cream. \240Randy started watching Ocean’s 8 and I went back to journaling. Randy was farting nonstop (because of the two cans of sprite?) and it was super stinky. \240I felt bad for the people in our immediate vicinity. \240Before he settled in to sleep, I asked him to please at least try to go to the bathroom and let the air out of the balloon (so to speak). \240He didn’t think it did much, but it definitely reduced the frequency in the hours that followed. \240

Randy tried to go back to sleep. \240I finished the day I was working on and started watching Crazy Stupid Love. \240Randy eventually woke up. \240He tried to put his sweatshirt on the seat next to me, but it got caught on the earbud wires. \240It yanked the right bud out of my ear so hard that the little rubber part that holds it in your ear popped off. \240We tried to find it, but it was dark (windows were closed and lights were off to let people sleep). \240I gave up but Randy was insistent on looking himself, so I headed to the bathroom while he searched. \240No luck. \240I took the rubber part off my cheap ones and made it work (mine were broken anyway from the lourve museum). \240Finished my movie while Randy looked through my journaling making edits. \240

Movie ended, watched bobs burgers, then friends. \240The stewards came by with warm turkey and cheese sandwiches on a pretzel bun. \240Randy finished my journaling stuff and watched Top Gear. \240I finished more about the plane ride.