Stuff I'm taking to France

It's getting close to packing time for France, so I guess I ought to put together a packing list. And since I've bored everyone with all the other insignificant details of my planning, why stop now? Therefore, here's what I think I'll be taking with me to France:

• Clothes for 7 days, mostly consisting of shorts and t-shirts, but with a pair of jeans and one decent shirt with a collar thrown in just in case I have to get "dressed up"
• A jacket (in case it gets cold in the mountains)
• Umbrella (hey, it might rain while we are waiting for the race on the side of the road, and I don't want to be miserable!)
• French travel guides
• French phrase book
• Books and magazines for the plane (both Nathan and I are currently reading Game of Thrones)
• Unlocked phone (will buy a prepaid SIM card there to be able to make calls and send texts)
• Electrical adapter and 3 way adapter (for charging multiple phones and laptops at the same time)
• Mizzou flag (to wave during the race!)
• Camera
• Map (the previously mentioned giant Michelin number!)
• Passport
• Sandals
• Tennis shoes
• Toiletries
• Laptop
• Headset for laptop (for Skype calls)
• Phone charger and cables
• Spare batteries
• Backpack (to carry food and water into the mountains)

There are a number of things that I will buy when we get to France:

• SIM card for phone
• Chalk (to write something on the road)
• Food and drinks (for when we are waiting for the race on the road)

Nathan says he is going to try to pack all his stuff into a medium-sized gym back and the backpack he carries his laptop in. I think I should definitely be able to get this my stuff into a duffle bag. Therefore, we should be able to avoid checking any bags for the trip which will be huge. Of course, we will have to do laundry while we are there, but that's a small price to pay for being able to avoid the baggage carousel and being 100% certain our luggage arrives with us.

Navigating in France

One thing I've been a bit worried about is driving around France. We have rented a car for a week, and will be doing a considerable amount of driving. Unfortunately, I will not be able to use my phone for navigation because of the ridiculous cost of data roaming, and I have no other form of navigation for the car available. I do have a Garmin eTrex HCx GPS unit that I got for geocaching, but it does not have detailed street maps loaded, and certainly not for France.

Because of this, I bought a giant Michelin road map at Barnes & Noble for $12. This was what I planned to use until I remembered that Avis allows you to rent a GPS unit for your car. For some reason, I thought I remembered it being about $3/day, which compared to a $12 map was only a few dollars more for a week's rental. Unfortunately, when I went to the Avis web site to add the GPS to my car, it turned out that the units cost $13/day! Over $90 for GPS maps?! I don't think so!

Stymied there, I thought I might download a map of France for my Garmin. Turns out they cost $70.  Stymied again!

So it looks like I'm stuck going old school, although I think there is a way to set up a route on my iPhone's Motion X Drive app and cache it over wifi so that it will still work when you don't have phone service. I will try this out, but there's a good chance that Nathan and I will be driving all over France with him in the passenger seat trying to figure out where we are on our giant $12 map.

Additional preparation

I'm taking care of some stuff that needs to be done before we leave on Thursday. First off, I realized I should probably find out about power plugs in France. As I suspected, I need an adapter, but fortunately I already had one in a kit of adapters I had from a previous trip to the UK. I tossed that in my laptop bag along with a 3 plug power thingy that should allow us to plug in a couple laptops and a phone at the same time.

I also dropped $8.00 to unlock my son's old phone cell phone. As much as I'd like to unlock my iPhone and be able to get a SIM over there for it, I was not prepared to spend the $150 to do it. We'll take my son's old phone with us and pick up a prepaid SIM to pop in when we get to Paris. That way, we'll be able to make a few calls and send a few texts if need be.

I also made sure that my wife and I were both set up with Skype on our mobile phones, as is Nathan. This will be our primary way of calling home as all of our hotel rooms have wifi.

I don't want to have any issues in France with my credit card, so I sent them a note over the Internet telling them of my travel plans. Hopefully, that will ensure that we have uninterrupted access to our cash while in Europe.

I also figured that I better pick up a map.  In the US, I wouldn't need to do this, but in France, especially without a live iPhone, and travelling on lots of little roads all over the south of France, I figured it would be a good idea to have a quality map. I picked of a Michelin map of France (#721) at Barnes and Noble just in case. I suspect we will get some use out of it.

Finally, I know that many people in France speak English, but many don't.  I don't want to be totally screwed when having to try to communicate with the second group, so I picked up a Berlitz Just Enough French Phrasebook while I was at B&N. Hopefully this won't get too much use, but better safe than sorry.

Final itinerary for the trip

If you've read this blog for a while (and I have no reason to believe anyone has), you've seen me puzzle over exactly where to go and what to do while in France, with the exception of being in the Pyrenees for Stages 16 and 17 and in Paris for Stage 20.

Well, after much back and forth between Nathan and me, including the creation and documentation of at least 5 different options, we have an itinerary that is fairly cast in stone.  We've even made hotel reservations for those days that were previously up in the air, so we are pretty well set.

Here is the plan:

• Friday, 7/13: Arrive in Paris, rent a car and drive to Tours.  We'll have the afternoon and evening in Tours, but we'll probably take it easy as we'll be recovering from the flight.
• Saturday, 7/14: Bastille Day in the Loire Valley.  We'll do some sightseeing, most likely taking in some chateaux and the Tours Cathedral.
• Sunday, 7/15: Morning in the Loire Valley again, then travel to Toulouse.  We will probably go through Poitiers and see some historic sites there on the way.
• Monday, 7/16: Get up early and travel to Pau to see the end of Stage 15.  After that, head to Bagneres-de-Luchon and check into our apartment.
• Tuesday, 7/17: Explore the Pyrenees.  Rest day for the Tour.
• Wednesday, 7/18: Up early to see Stage 16.  We will either travel to the Col du Tourmalet (HC) or the Col de Peyresourde (Cat 1) depending on a) how early we get up and b) how lucky we feel.  The Peyresourde is very close and the last col on this stage, so obviously it has some advantages.  On the other hand, the Col du Tourmalet is the Col du Tourmalet.  We'll probably ask around in town and see what people recommend.
• Thursday, 7/19: Up early to see Stage 17.  We will pack up in the morning and head either to the finish at Peyragudes (Cat 1) or to the Port de Bales (HC).  After the Tour goes by, we are going to saddle up and drive to Paris, assuming it's not super late to start.  As a backup plan, we will go back to our apartment in Bagneres-de-Luchon (which we have for a full week).
• Friday 7/20: Free day in Paris.
• Saturday, 7/21: Free day in Paris, or if we just have to have more Tour, we will somehow get ourselves down to Chartres for the Stage 19 individual time trial.
• Sunday, 7/22: See Stage 20, the finish on the Champs-Elysees.  Afterwards, hang out in Paris.
• Monday, 7/23: Free day in Paris.
• Tuesday, 7/24: Fly home.

That's the plan, and since I have rooms booked all along the way, I think we are sticking to it unless something catastrophic happens.

On second thought...

I lucked out the other day and ended up sitting next to a guy who lived in France who had some suggestions on what we should do with our time in France.  He thought my original plan was not good; and felt that spending time in the east side of France would not be the best way to spend our time.  Instead, he suggested that we focus on the Loire Valley where he said we could see lots of great castles and other historic sites.

I guess we won't get up Alpe d'Huez, but there are lots of great and famous climbs in the Pyrenees we can see instead.

It's settled: we're heading east!

I talked to Nathan a few days ago and we decided that we will head east out of Paris toward Switzerland and the French Alps on our way down to Luchon.  We may not be able to ride up the grand cols (this year anyway), but we can drive up them.  Perhaps we can also sneak into Switzerland or Italy on the way.  Another option is to visit Monaco; that might be cool.  The good news is that we at least have a general direction...

An update and a request for suggestions

It's less than two months until we leave for France, so I'm getting pretty excited.  Here's an update on the arrangements I've made so far:

• Plane tickets from Phoenix to Paris, by way of Philadelphia (using US Airways points to save about $2400)
• Car rental for the first week to get us around France, down to the Pyrenees, and back to Paris
• Rental apartment in Bagneres-de-Luchon for a week (although we will probably only be there two or three days, it was cheaper than a hotel)
• Five nights in a hotel in Paris

I think we have a pretty good plan for the last week of the trip, but we have about 4 days where we don't have any specific plans but do have a car to drive around in.  I think it might be cool to make our way down to the Pyrenees along the eastern part of France.  This way, we might be able to see the Alps and possibly the Cote d'Azur before we get to the Pyrenees.  Another option would be to go to Normandy, and make our way down the western side of the country.  I'm not sure what's there, but I imagine there'd be some cool stuff as well.  We could also head straight south through the heart of France, stopping at sights along the way.

Anyone with suggestions on what to do with 4 days to get from Paris to the Pyrenees, I'd love to hear them.

Tickets reserved...

Well, I managed to get two tickets to Paris for a grand total of 175,000 frequent flyer miles.  We will be flying on US Airways through Philadelphia.  In addition, Nathan will be coming from Eugene to Phoenix the night before and we will fly out together from Phoenix the next morning.

The only downside is that to get tickets for this number of miles we actually had to leave even a day earlier.  Therefore, we are leaving Phoenix on Thursday, July 12th and come back on Tuesday, July 24th.  This is going to mean that we are in France for 3 days longer than the original plan.  I know there are worse things than spending extra time as a tourist in Europe, but that does mean additional room nights, additional food, additional rental car days, additional tourist expenses, etc.

The tickets are actually not purchased yet, but are just on hold.  My plan is to call everyday over the next few days to see if I can push the whole outbound trip back one day.  If they will do that with no change in points required, I'll do it.  Otherwise, we'll just suffer and spend an extra day in France.

This is a big milestone for our trip.  For a while I thought we would not be able to pull it off because of the difficulty finding tickets for points, so now that we have these tickets in hand we are definitely going.

Potential good news regarding tickets to France

By being a bit more flexible on my dates, I can get the number of miles per ticket down to something more reasonable.  Originally, two US Air tickets were going to cost 240,000 miles.  However, if we fly out a few days earlier, we can save over 30,000 miles per ticket.  Therefore, it looks like we are going to spend a few more days in France, but there's worse things than that, right?!

Hopefully, tonight is the night that I will be able to make the arrangements.  I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

Finding flights...

Planning the flights for this trip is absolutely brutal. I'm trying to use points for the flights because tickets are $1500, but I don't have enough points in any of my accounts for 2 tickets. On top of that, we need to get down to the south of France which is over 500 miles from Paris, but most of the airlines don't fly into Toulouse which is much closer.

Long story short, I need the following:

• One ticket from PHX to somewhere in France that can be bought with points, and
• One ticket from EUG to the same place in France that can be bought with points, and
• Both flights must arrive around the same time, and
• The arrival time must give us enough time to drive to the Pyrenees.

My head hurts just thinking about it...

Tickets to France

Hey, thanks Olympics for making tickets to Europe really difficult get get around Tour time.  It looks like tickets are running around $1100+ and US Air (my primary airline) is charging 120,000 points per round trip ticket to get close to the travel dates I need.

After reviewing options, we might actually fly into Madrid then home from Paris as Madrid is a little easier to get to and actually closer to Bagneres-de-Luchon than Paris.

We might also just go ahead and rent a car while we're there.  That would surely make getting around a lot easier and extend our range of sightseeing options a lot.

Proposed itinerary

Here is the proposed itinerary for our trip to France.  We've got to make our flight arrangements soon since we plan to use points, so I am trying to nail this down with Nathan.

1. Leave for France on Sunday, July 15.
2. Arrive in Paris or Toulouse on Monday the 16th (Toulouse is much closer, but we may not be able to get there depending on the airline, etc.).
3. Spend th 16th getting ourselves down to Bagneres-de-Luchon to our apartment.
4. Spend the 17th in the Pyrenees checking things out. This is a rest day for the peleton and a jet lag recovery day for us.
5. See the arrival in Luchon on the 18th. This would be a full day of tour goodness.
6. See the departure from Luchon on the 19th, then after the hubbub in the morning dies down, make our way to Paris.
7. Spend the day of the 20th in Paris doing tourist stuff.  I would also like to eat a brioche on the left bank while smoking and staring off into the middle distance if we can work it in.  It just seems like the thing to do.
8. Spend the day of the 21st in Paris doing tourist stuff, or optionally travel down to Chartres where the individual time trial will be happening.
9. Spend the 22nd at the final stage in Paris.
10. Spend the 23rd in Paris or northern France doing tourist stuff.
11. Fly home on the 24th.

Skin in the game

Today I put down a deposit on an apartment in Bagneres-de-Luchon.  From this base of operations, Nathan and I will be able to watch stages 16 and 17 of the Tour.  Thanks to Flo (my secret French-speaking weapon), I found the web site Abritel.fr.  This is a site where people rent out their homes and apartments, and it had quite a few locations in Luchon.  I found a small apartment near the center of town, and although I have to rent it for a full week, it still will be less expensive than the hotel I'd originally (thought I'd) booked.

Here's a picture of the outside of the apartment:

And a picture of the inside:

It's not living in the lap of luxury, but we have a place that doesn't cost an arm and a leg, and that was the real goal.

I guess we're really going to go to France for the TdF as I'm starting to put down deposits.  This is going to be pretty freaking awesome!  Or should I say, c'est magnifique?!

The moment of truth

Up to this point, I've really put no significant skin in the game regarding the TdF trip I've been planning.  I've reserved some hotel rooms using points, but I can cancel those at no cost.  Other than that, I've not invested anything.

Now, however, I've now found a room in France for the first few stages of the Tour we'd like to see, and that requires a $170 non-refundable deposit.  I'd prefer to not lose that money, so it's the moment of truth: are we really going to do this or not?

I think a conversation with my wife about how much this could cost is in order.  I think she's on board, but I don't want any surprises...

Likely rooms in Bagneres-de-Luchon

Well, my blast of requests has resulted in 3 people getting back to me.  I've reached out to two of them who are sending rental contracts.  I did have to rent these apartments for a full week rather than for a day, but because the hotel I originally had was so expensive, I will actually pay less.  This also gives us the ability to arrive a day or two earlier and use apartment as a base of operations from which to explore southern France and possibly even northern Spain.

I won't count on anything until the agreement is signed and the deposit made, but hopefully this room situation is taken care of.

Rooms in Bagneres-de-Luchon, take 3

A while ago I found that I had no hotel reservation in Bagneres-de-Luchon which pretty much threw a monkey wrench into my TdF plans.  After a bit of panic, I reached out to my French-speaking niece-in-law-to-be (maybe!) and found a web site with a bunch of properties that I could rent in that town.  I requested information for a likely looking apartment, but unfortunately, I haven't heard from the proprietor yet.

Given that having a room in this location is a linchpin of the whole trip, I went back to my the website my French speaker recommended and found several other apartments that I could rent.  I have sent out at least 5 or 6 emails to the owners of these locations.  Hopefully, I'll hear back from one of these folks and I will be back in business.

I'm sure you're wondering what web site I'm using to find rooms.  I will be happy to tell you. . . after I get my room squared away!  Sorry, but it's a dog eat dog world out there, and I need to look out for Number 1 right now!

Plan B

I have found a rental apartment in Bagneres-de-Luchon thanks to my nephew's girlfriend who speaks French fluently (thanks, Flo!).  I have emailed them and hope to hear back soon.  Perhaps I will have a room for those stages after all.  Stay tuned...

Catastrophe!

I received this email today:

Dear William,

I hope this e-mail finds you well.

I am writing to you with regard to your booking at Hotel Acta Luchon. I am sorry to inform you that, for reasons outside of our control, this property no longer works with us and has now been removed from our website.

Consequently we have had little choice but to cancel your booking. We will of course refund your 10% payment. Please allow at least 5 working days for the funds to reach your account.

Again, I do sincerely apologise for any inconvenience caused. I can assure you that this booking was taken in good faith as usual.

If there is anything else we can help you with, please don’t hesitate to contact us.

We will be glad to assist you!

Kind regards
Donatella

Now we have no room in Bagneres-de-Luchon for the first two days of our trip, and therefore no spot on the finish and start line for those two stages.  In addition, there does not appear to be any hotel rooms available within 10 miles or so.

I'm not going to let this stop me, but I guess we will have to get creative.  One option would be to see about renting some form of camper.  Another option would be to look for a person who is renting out a room for a couple days.  Finally, we could skip those stages, and focus on other stages (e.g., the time trial stage that ends in Chartres).

I won't let this derail the process, but this has certainly been a major setback.  I was always a little nervous about this reservation, and I guess my intuition was right.

Still no word from the hotel in Luchon

As mentioned, I pinged the hotel in Bagnères-de-Luchon to make sure my reservation was in place and squared away.  Unfortunately, I have not heard back yet from them.  I pinged them again and hope to hear from them soon.

In case you are interested, we are staying at the ACTA Luchon.  This hotel is part of a Spanish chain with a number of properties in the Pyrenees.  Here's a picture:

You can visit their web site here.  This hotel was not my first choice (it's a bit pricey), but as it was the only hotel I could find with an available room on the dates I need, we were kind of stuck...

A mini wrinkle...

One of the problems of trying to plan a trip to the TdF is that the organizers don't provide a huge amount of information about the route until not long before the tour actually begins. They have released the start and finish towns and a list of some of the mountain passes they will be going over, but the specifics aren't available. Compounding this is the fact that I don't know anything about these locations.  This makes planning a bit more difficult than a normal trip.

I was reading a bit more about the stage ending in Bagnères-de-Luchon. It turns out that this finish is NOT a mountain top finish as I'd hoped. Instead, this town is about 15km (9 miles) downhill from the last climb of the stage. Therefore, if we are going to try to see the tour summit one of the climbs, we are going to have to get ourselves up a mountain to do it.

I'm looking at the possibility of renting bikes in Bagnères. Unfortunately, the best price I've found so far on the Internet is 400 Euros! I'm sure we can do better, but I need to get these arrangements nailed down quickly as I expect bike rentals will be a pretty hot item. Worse case scenario is that we can walk up, and perhaps they have other methods for getting up there as well. I guess we'll see...