7th Day- France

Today the guys rode up the Alpe d' Huez, which is pretty intense. Rebecca and I drove up the mountain stopping to wait for the guys and then taking pictures along the way. It was absolutely gorgeous country. The view from the top is breath-taking.

Daniel and Erik at the bottom of the mountain. Erik was able to get a new wheel so he could ride.

We stopped at a bike shop to get a new wheel for Erik and right across the street was this lovely canal.

Erik taking a small break during the ride. He would not be happy if he knew this was in here. I liked it though. Erik pushing through.

Daniel just about to finishErik at the top

When we got to the top we ate, and that is always fun trying to communicate my allergy needs with people in small villages. Needless to say, I got chicken and fries and was completely satisfied.

7th Day-Carcassonne

After Alpe d Huez- we ate, and raced down the mountain to our hotel to check out. We then were on the road for Toulouse. On our way we stopped at Carcassonne. A midevil city that occupies a castle which dates back to BC. Through the years it has taken different transformations. Today it has a town center that fills up the middle of it. It is just massive, and I can't walk through there without wondering what life was like, a thousand years ago, within those walls.

(I pulled this picture from the web)

It is impossible to take a picture of the entire thing unless you have a wide angle lens.

A view of the city from the walls of the castle.

The years of history within those walls.
The city center within the castle.
The gargoyles again on a church within the castle.
Erik and I.

The castle at night. I really tried to take a picture of how beautiful it looked. Rebecca got some great ones with the moon in the background.

6th Day- In France

The city of Zurich- This was downtown right outside of our hotel.

This morning we left Zurich and headed for France. Our drive consisted of driving through Lausanne and continuing on to Geneva. Geneva was not all that we hoped it would be. The waterfront was beautiful but the rest of the city was filled with old run down buildings and wasn't at all what we expected.

We did spend most of the day in the car driving and visiting with the Pulsiphers. Whenever we vacation with the Pulsipher's, there is never a dull moment. Today was no different. On our way down the autobahn (which is the highway with no speed limit) Erik was doing 100 mph, when we all heard a thug, thug, thug and Erik scream s**t. Rebecca and I turned around during the thug only to see Erik's $5,000.00 bike summersaulting through the air 10 different times before coming to rest in the bushes beside the road. We all sat in silence, I felt I would throw up for the way Erik must be feeling. As Erik reversed and we came upon the bike, the bike lay there in what we thought would be a mangled mess of carbon fiber. How wrong we were. There is a reason they make $5,000.00 bikes. The bike was perfectly intact, with only damage to the front wheel. At this point I couldn't tell if Erik was disappointed or happy. As we were reversing the car to survey the damage all I could think to myself was boy he really got out of riding up the top of all the mountains they are going to ride. We actually had a good laugh and felt very lucky. Lucky to have no one driving behind us and lucky the bike was intact.

Rebecca grabbed her camera and pulled it out and I am so glad she did.  I always will remember this memory having this picture.

You can see how the tire is bent.  But that is it!!

We then crossed into France, ate lunch in Annancy, and then ended into Grenoble. The boys will be riding up the famous Alpe du Huez in the morning.

5th Day- Germany

Well today we are leaving Germany and heading to Zurich to meet up with Daniel and Rebecca. We have loved our stay and are very grateful to Michael and Irina for sharing their time and their place with us.

We have learned a few things about Germany that we take home with us.

1. The German men LOVE to wear capri's even more then English men. WOW!!

2. The German men are also so confident that they walk the STREETS in their SPEEDO's

3. It costs to use the bathroom so you better plan ahead... Check your location for the nearest community toilet. The toilets are also self cleaning and they sanitize themselves.

4. No one drives an SUV's. Most everyone drives a small hatchback.

5. Everyone SMOKES (hack, hack)

6. It is true, the autobahn is super FAST- the fastest car passed us going 140

7. AusFahrt ironically means Exit.... (That just never seems to get old!)

On to Zurich, Switzerland. The drive was beautiful! We are staying at the Marriott, meeting up with Daniel and Rebecca. We decided to walk the city because it looked so interesting. Interesting it was. I think we are staying near a youth hostile. Yesterday we passed a boy on the street that had a 10 inch mohawk that was died black. He was wearing rugged looking clothes with chains and substance on him. His shirt had holes in it and hanging from those holes were real large rats. Yes he had rats hanging from his shirt, trying their hardest to hang on while he walked. I really wanted to take his picture but was scared to look at him. Ne

edless to say we couldn't wait to get out that area. The graffiti on the walls is incredible here.

4th Day- Germany

A Journey Down the Rhine

This was one of the most exciting moments of my trip to Germany and I believe for Erik as well. It was an absolute breathtaking drive down the Rhine. I wanted to know the name of every castle we drove by. We teased Michael because he knew none of their names. We told him that he gave us a great picture book and when we were with CJ in England, he gave us a great history book. CJ has always been fascinated with facts and could rattle off everything about England to us. We were very impressed. We were also impressed with Michael's ability to know just when the next castle was coming and when to snap the picture.

The road is small and there is not a lot of places to pull off, so most of the castles we had to drive by and snap the pictures. Im not sure I give the pictures justice. There must have been 30. Every new bend had a castle upon it.

On this one you can see the old castle behind the new and refurbished castle. They turn a lot of them into hotels.
Another Hotel

These pictures of Erik and I are when we did get to stop and get out. It has been a long time since we have had our picture taken together that I let Irina take a few. Im glad I did, they will always be a memory

3rd Day- Germany

This morning we left Manchester, flew into Zurich, Switzerland drove 400 kilometers to Kaiserslautern to see Michael. It was a long day of traveling again, but beautiful scenery on the drive. We saw lots of things from the road, but did not stop only so we could get to Kaiserslautern quickly. The weather was about 90 degrees when we arrived. Within the hour a thunderstorm rolled in and cooled things off quickly.

In Germany everybody eats at little cafe's on the street. We are beginning to think the Europeans do not work. The English love to shop and the Germans love to have tea and coffee at all times of the day. Here we are with Michael and Irina and some friends of theirs that found us on the street.

This was taken from the car on our way to Kaiserslautern. (like the telephone poles) Of course I do not know the history of it, but it looks like it holds gobs of historical facts doesn't it?

We stayed at Michael and Irina's house which is a cool little place. They have a cute new puppy named Daily that Erik just adores.

2nd Day in Europe!

Today was definitely a better day, full nights sleep and well rested. We spent the day in Liverpool, touring the City Centre and their shopping district. If we came to Europe to shop, England would be the place. Erik found the Liverpool FC store and was in heaven. You can’t believe the things we saw. We bought Liverpool airfreshner. We also ventured to Anfield where Liverpool play their home games. Pictures down below. From there we went to an amazingly huge church. We were in time for their evening session, where the choir sings. It sounded beautiful with the acoustics.

We have enjoyed our brief stay in England and have loved the people. They are “quite lovely”. We have also learned a few things about the Brits that we never knew.

#1- The men love to wear their Capri’s and flat espadrille shoe.

#2- The English are the only Europeans that drive on the right side of the road. That was very scary as a passenger up front with CJ.

#3- the trunk of a car is called the boot. The bathroom is referred to as the toilet. The elevator a lift, a jumper a sweatshirt,

#4 They don’t have any sprinklers, yet their yards are so beautiful with English flowers. You must ask for your bill or you will sit for hours waiting for them to bring it., The sun goes down at 11:00pm, The weather is never predictable,

#5 One drawback, they don’t care much about food like we do in America and therefore have not mastered the fine cuisine their country is capable of mastering. I have great faith by the next time I visit they will, CJ is bound to change the way they think of food.

#6 In Chester, the City Centre Clock tower has 4 sides. On 3 of those sides is a clock. The side that faces Wales does not have a clock. The people of Chester “Don’t give the time of day to the Welsh.”

#7 we also learned that some old laws still apply because no one has bothered to abolish them like….

If a pregnant women has to go to the bathroom, a policeman is obligated to tip his hat for her to “wee” in, taxi cabs are required to carry a bail of hay in the boot of their car,( to feed the horses) If you are on the Chester wall on Sunday after 12:00pm and you see a Welshman, you are allowed to shoot him with an arrow???? And kill him.

All in all, we had a great time with CJ and Carly. They were great tour guides and hosts. Hope we can return the favor soon. (Thank You)

From Liverpool we decided to stay in Manchester to stay close to the airport. We leave for Germany tomorrow morning.

Until next time!!

Erik and I in the Church

Anfield

Anfield Museum

I am having technical difficulties loading pictures here across the pond. I will have to post more as the week goes on.