Amsterdam to Paris in 9 days....what???

This was my first meal in France.  Baguette, croissant au chocolate, and the most fu$*#(% delicious apple strudel thing I've ever had.  I should have bought 5.  

Day 1

So I wanted to be in Paris by the 19th.  I have family there, and I wanted to make sure I had a few days to spend with them before I had to be in Barcelona on the 22nd.  So I did the math, and figured that I'd need to average approx 70km a day.  It's a little more aggressive in terms of distance then I had hoped for early in the trip...but you only live once and I was on a mission!  The pace was manageable, and with a few days for sightseeing tossed in the mix it wasn't that bad, bien sure, justement c'est Le Tour Gourmand, pas Le Tour de France!

North sea, beautiful!

First night camping!  

Day 2

I wanted to see Den Haag so I made the trip to see their coast line, I was not disappointed as they had great hats ;) (See all pictures from now on).  Delft was a very fun little town.  I went for a beer in town after setting up my campsite, and met a young couple from northern Netherlands in Friesland.  We enjoyed some great live Jazz music and spoke at length about the similarities between Friesland in the Netherlands and Quebec in Canada.  Both have fought hard to preserve their language and their culture.  She was proud of her heritage, as am I!

Day 3

This was a quick and easy day as I really wanted to see the biggest harbour in Europe.  I was not disappointed, it was huge.  I took a ferry to take in the view from the water, I posted some photos in a previous blog.  I also met an amazing couple in Rotterdam, Daniel and Oliver, while CouchSurfing there and they were fantastic hosts!  I hope to write a separate blog post soon about our time together!

Day 4

Camped right on the ocean, it was terrible.  Never go here, you won't like it.  Stay in the city, in a nice hotel, the view was awful, and the sand was dirty and brown.  Look at how disgusting it was:

Day 5

Ghent was my first "uh oh" moment.  See I arrived pretty late into town, turns out there are actually hills in Europe and they start in Belgium.  Anyway, after a long day I got in after dark and decided to check into a hostel.  Well, as it turned out it was a national holiday.  The city was packed, and there were festivals in the streets, which were a lot of fun later, but wasn't so fun when trying to find somewhere to sleep.  The woman who worked at the front desk of the hostel told me right away it was full, she even called two different places to see if there was any rooms left in town, and everything was full. This was the..."uh oh" moment....then without any hesitation, she offered me her couch at her place. I would have been literally out on the streets that night had it not been for her. What a kind and generous soul, I later found out that she didn't even know about CouchSurfing! I'm so happy to have now introduced her to the community, and we are all going to benefit as a result, plus I've already heard she has hosted more couch surfers!!! Merci beaucoup encore mon amie, t'es tellement gentille!

I had to get a helmet, the drivers are crazy in Belgium and the roads are horrible.  Bike paths have been cut in half, I'm now driving with cars on the road.  Instead of seeing dozens of bikes a day, I don't see any.  Tear, I miss the Netherlands already....

Day 6

What's really fantastic about couchsurfing.com is the regular way to find a place is to search for a host and send a couch request.  This is time consuming though because you have to send numerous requests in hopes of finding someone.  Alternatively, they've now enabled an "itinerary" function where you input your dates and where you'll be.  Then hosts can actually ask you to stay with them!  At first, I was struggling to find places to stay, but as my references grew, and word of my trip and its purpose spread, I found everything changed.  I really wasn't sure if I wanted to have my father's last wishes broadcast out over the website, but it came out on its own and it has changed everything.  I now have numerous people asking me to stay with them in each town I enter.  It's just incredible to see how people are reacting to my trip.  It's humbling actually, people have said it's their honour to host me, or that what I'm doing is inspiring.  I have never thought of this trip that way, it's just something I've always known I would do with my dad by my side.  It was going to be simple, quiet, and most importantly it was going to allow me to fulfill my father's wishes and help me to finally say goodbye to him.  This story has now been shared with many people on couchsurfing.com and as a result (with encouragement from my hosts) I've decided to put it all out there on this blog.  It feels scary, a little daunting, but I am going to live in the moment and go with it.  It's personal for me, and I really didn't envision this trip involving others.  But this trip has changed me, and I have started to change the way I see the trip.  It's no longer about travelling around the world, it's about connecting with others through the concept of why I'm on this journey.  I will be writing another post just on this topic as I have found it incredibly therapeutic not only to share my story, but to hear the stories from others...phew sometimes I get overwhelmed with emotion...and this is one of those moments...

anyway Laura was my first French host in Belgium, alors c'etait aussi le premier fois que j'ai eu l'occasion a pratiquer a parler en Francais!  She was very laid back and welcoming, she even made a delicious organic vegetarian meal!  It fueled me the whole next day as well, delicieux!  She was very interested in my Yurt and the idea behind sustainable building, she is studying Architecture and I can tell she will be someone to watch out for in the future.  She is keen, intelligent, and understands that our needs are changing as our planet changes.  Green construction is only the beginning, and she gets it.  Bon courage mon amie!!!

Day 7

This was another long day, holy shit there were a lot of hills.  This was the first time I started to consider what items I really needed and what I might throw away.  I'm talking about leg burning, heart pounding, sweaty, swearing fun!  Finally I was really getting my ass kicked!  So by the time I arrived I was sure I had finally done over 100km, nope just 67.  Merde.

I stayed in a "Chambre d'Hote" which is someone's home and they rent a room.  It was great, I had a hot shower and used the wifi!  Here's the house!

I found this old building by the side of the road.  It reads "No to throwing garbage in the King's forest".  How old do you think that is?

 Day 8

Another last minute couch surfing host picked me up via my itinerary, and I was very thankful!  Crazy hills again, with a nasty head wind.   I was earning my croissants this day, let me tell you.  Also of note, I have averaged 3 croissants per day, and it feels so good.  No guilt here, I probably burn 50000 calories per day.  Aurelie and her two roommates were a lot of fun.  We mainly just played with their 3 month old kitten, and 8 month old Australian Collie.  Wow, that was a wild night!  They were also all musicians, and they hooked me up with some great music to take me through to Paris.  Check out Les Ogres de Barback and Les Fils de Flute!  The second one being the bandmates that I stayed with!  The accordion is oh so French, and I love it!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1q-QiADpjiY

This poster was on their wall.  I asked what it was and they said it was a fashion ad.  I'm not sure which is more quintessentially French, the image pictured above or the fact that this fashion ad was made into a poster 7 feet high and put on their wall? 

 Day 9

I'm still trying to figure out why this day took so long.  I think it's because I'd just biked over 650km, which I've never done before, but also because there were no longer any back country roads.  As I approached Paris everything became more congested, and the roads were a tangled maze to get through.  I was late arriving at Vonny et Roger Penot's house, family I had never met, and yet they still waited for me to arrive before they started dinner.  It was well after 9pm, I felt so bad, incroyable qu'ils m'ont attendu!  And yet, I was about to discover that this was just the start of a heart warming, very special, and very touching visit with family.

I slept for 12 hours that night.

More to come...

WW