With Caribbean hotels that are some distance from the airport, they always get you to the airport very early. This was the first time I was glad for that. Fifteen minutes into the car ride, the taxi broke down. A bit of clunking and we pulled over to the side of the road.
Thankfully, he was able to get another taxi soon enough, and fifteen minutes later I was off again. I don’t know if I am mellowing, or I am acclimating to island time, or just haven’t had enough sleep, but I did not stress at all. It was actual pleasant.
I was even relaxed when security pulled me aside at the departure gate. They wanted to search my luggage. I didn’t have anything to hide, but I don’t know what they thought looked suspicious on the X-Ray. The other passenger’s suitcase was clearly being searched because of the 20lbs of coffee that took up most of the space. Unfortunately, they didn’t let me transfer some of my duty-free from my carry-on.
There was a nice vibe last night. It was more intimate with a good chunk of the people gone. I had a nice time talking to several people I hadn’t had a chance to. Of course the alcohol was flowing freely so it did get a little weird at times.
The judicial system of drunk people is rather interesting. The defendant is not allowed a lawyer, and the witnesses commit perjury with wild abandon. The gavel is replaced by a glass bottle banged on the bar (that thankfully didn’t break.) And the judge did appear to be biased from the start. The dress code is also looser.
The system of punishment should not be discussed in polite company.
I was glad I was not part of the legal system and was merely the court photographer. Keep quiet and try not to get in the range of the drama.
It also seems to be a new tradition on the last day to greet me, in a VERY friendly manner, with hands full of Icy Hot. I would not recommend it to a friend.
The evening concluded with me giving foot rubs to the two organizers. One had been awake since Tuesday, and she was still a bundle of energy. The other had injured herself early on with a fractured toe. They were still going strong. But, thankfully, they went to bed eventually. I went back to my room and packed and then got a nice three hours of sleep.
Since this is WestJet, there will be no free movie television, so I won’t feel bad about sleeping.
2012-10-26 13:45

Today is the day of recovery. A lot of people in our group left today. This is convenient because I think Hurricane Sandy is passing by some distance away. It has not caused any damage; it is just raining and windy. But it really doesn’t make you feel like spending a lot of time outside.
So far, all I’ve done today is sleep, say goodbye to friends, eat a bit, and do some lounging in the outdoor hot tub. There is still a sizeable contingent of people I know, so I won’t be lonely.
Hopefully there won’t be any issues with my flight tomorrow.
2012-10-25 18:23

It is raining a lot here. I think a hurricane is hitting the Caribbean right now. Somewhere. There isn’t a lot of wind. Just a lot of wet.
I did go snorkelling this morning. It was a bit rough, so it was hard to see the bottom. But it was nice enough.
In the afternoon was a foot massage contest. I believe I placed fourth. I may have been docked points for being too chatty.
There was some bodypainting in the afternoon. It took a long time to dry with all the humidity.
I spent a long time talking with friends and drinking coconut rum shots. A weak alcohol, so it didn’t really effect me.
Dinner. Then another get together to see who won a free trip next year. (Not me.) Then mostly conversations for the rest of the night.
A lot of people are leaving tomorrow, so the place will feel different.
2012-10-25 4:39

Today was excursion day. We loaded on to two buses and set out. They took us to a plantation, but a revolt quickly happened. The organizer of the event did not want culture and instead wanted to go do fun stuff. Most everyone was in agreement, so the tour operator had to let it go and take us to the swimming hole instead.
That was fun. And it is the first time I’ve ever seen an actual swimming hole. This was not just a pond that you can swim in. This was a small lake that was surrounded by cliffs. I’m trying to figure out why the water didn’t fill up the “hole” so I have to assume the rock walls are very porous.
The best part was that there was a zip line over the hole. So, grab the handles, lift the legs and go out into the abyss. After awhile, let go. Preferably within the designated landing zone. (One guy let go two seconds into his flight. That was scary, but he did not hit the rocks or the side.)
I think it was more fun than Ric’s Cafe in Jamaica. Less pressure to drink.
After flying through the air three times, I used my snorkel set and checked out underwater. There were some pretty sizeable fish there.
After that, we went out to the ocean. There was a nice cove that you could walk out fairly far. There was a river draining into the cove, so the water alternated between cold and warm. Beyond the cove you could see the waves crashing, surf pounding, and looking rather dangerous. We didn’t go out that far. It was also starting to rain.
On the way back, we took a small detour to a waterfall. The locals were climbing up it, and then jumping down to the pool below, a drop of about five to seven metres. The tour operator strongly recommended that we do not do that. Still two people did. They didn’t get hurt, but apparently the water at the bottom was only chest high. As much as I like to do stupid things to prove my manliness, I did not feel comfortable doing that.

I’ve had some key issues since yesterday. When I got my room, I was given a key on a bendy armband thing. However, the actual ring that attached to it was an abomination of nature. So, of course the key kept falling off. I was at least smart enough not to keep the safe key on it.
Usually I’ve been good at hearing it fall, but yesterday afternoon, during the gift exchange it went missing. The replacement key I got from the front desk just plain didn’t work. So for the rest of the day, the only way to get back into my room was to go to the front desk and ask security to let me in. Inconvenient.
I got a working replacement key this morning. It mostly works, but you really have to wiggle it. I also know where my old key is. A friend found it, and I just have to intersect with her when she is near her room.
2012-10-23 18:26

This morning the resort finally got desperate enough with their WiFi to start asking some of the tourists to do something about it. I was first approached, but I’m more of a software guy, but I had talked to a friend from Britain who works at maintaining IT. And he was able to get things working again.
The Wifi doesn’t reach my room, but the other day I noticed an Ethernet cord sticking out of my wall. I plugged the laptop in, and there was something at the other end, but it was having DHCP troubles, so no internet. Since my British friend had mentioned doing something with DHCP, I gave the cord another try. And I now have internet in my room. Not at the comfort of my desk, but at the comfort of the couch that looks out the big window to the ocean.
It might be more impressive if it wasn’t pitch black right now. And if the couch wasn’t disintegrating and covering me with grey couch dandruff.
It was mostly raining sporadically today, but we still went ahead with the weddings. Two couples were renewing vows. We didn’t have official officers of church or state, but we made do with what we had. In other words, dosed with extra fun.
It was actually very sweet. These people had been together for a long time and wanted to share that with everyone. I’m rather jealous of their happiness.
In the afternoon there was some more games. I think I did well. I popped everyone else’s balloon before they popped mine. The key is to think before someone asks you to blow up a balloon; is it better to be big, or less burst-able? And to not trust the guy who is proposing an alliance, but enjoy watching the person he does ally with get promptly backstabbed.
We also had a gift exchange. Everyone bought an item of a certain genre that they were no longer using, and then you come out of it with something new. It didn’t go that great for me, and I ended up giving my proceeds to my friend. But, in any case, I recycled things I wasn’t using.
After dinner there was karaoke. And then not much else. People are getting tired. I am too, but I can really keep going if I have a conversation to keep my mind active. It’s weird; I’ll be unable to keep my eyes open, but five minutes later I’ll be completely alert because I talked one-on-one with someone. The one-on-one is important, otherwise I’ll let other people do the talking and start falling back to sleep.
I did learn that there is speculation about my history going on. There are parts of my life I don’t want to talk about, and apparently some people are interested. I think that is the same method Apple uses with its products. Don’t talk about it and be the subject of conversation.
Tomorrow we go on an excursion. Should be fun. I don’t have the details here, but since it is for our group, it should be fun.
2012-10-23 3:42

Okay. It was an earthquake. One hit Puerto Rico and we got some aftershocks. Nothing really happened here though. No damage. No injuries. No tidal waves.
I’ve been enjoying my stay here. Yesterday, a good friend, that I’ve been wanting to see again for a long time, arrived. It was great to hang out with her.
My biggest problem is that she is one of the cool kids. Due to a very bad experience when I was young, I do not deal well with the cool kids. I like her very much, but I do not want to be clingy. So, in my mental effort not to repeat the errors of youth, (which were more bad friends of youth) I’ve found myself avoiding her, especially when she is with her other friends. Which is silly and I’m hoping to get over that. She has explicitly said I’m fun.
So today I spent a lot of time with her, when she wasn’t getting a massage. And I wasn’t participating in a second fashion show. (First one was yesterday during dinner.) Fashion shows seem to mostly involve sitting around, waiting for stuff to happen.
The games we’ve been playing have been fun, mostly. Yesterday was another obstacle course, but this one was wetter and less equestrian based. I think I placed third. There was a water balloon game today, but I didn’t find it as enjoyable. It was targeted towards the girls, so the men only got to watch. And it wasn’t what you think. Get your mind out of the gutter.
2012-10-22 3:16

Was that an earthquake, or just a really strong gust of wind? A squall hit this morning, but I think this building is made of concrete. How tectonically active is the Caribbean?

I’m feeling much better now. Some solid food in the system, and a lot of orange juice, and I’m back to normal. Whether that is a good thing is left as an exercise for the reader.
There was a bonfire on the beach after dinner. But as is traditional with these things, it soon started raining. After that let up, some people played with fire; in a semi-professional manner. They had tools to let them spin it around. It looked cool.
But I am exhausted. I’m surprised I’m up this late. I have had a good time today, including talking to a lot of old friends.
I would like to say I’m surprised and how little the people think of the guy who organized the Jamaica trips, but then, I’ve met him. With all the stories, no wonder people drifted to this.
In my bathroom I have found a spider that appears to be 10cm long. If I was more awake, I might feel freaked out about this. I have decided that the spider now owns the bathroom and I will start paying it rent.
2012-10-20 0:14

Okay, five drinks in a three hour period may not have been the best idea. Especially when you are effectively dealing with an empty stomach.
In other words; I’ve arrived!
My room is stunning. There is a very good chance that it is bigger than my condo. And at the very least, it has a better view. I could probably cook a turkey in the kitchen, and then hold an entertaining dinner party in the living room. (If the fridge had been stocked with something besides water and Coke.) This place is huge!
Still, we must remember, any time spent in the room is wasted time. There are much more entertaining things outside of it. So I left and hit the ground running.
I knew there would be some friends here, but the sheer number has astonished me. It seems everyone I knew from my previous Jamaica trips has shown up here. It’s great!
But as soon as I met up with them, I got drafted into an obstacle course. Because, why not? I placed third. I could have done better, but I placed restrictions on myself that prevented me from giving my all.
Then after that, there was a scavenger hunt. My team did well. I think we surged ahead when I came across a hermit crab scuttling across the walkway. And I did my best to sing a love song to a pretty woman. (Can’t go wrong with Elvis.) It all adds up.
We placed second.
Then I drank two screwdrivers in a row. That really hit me. In my defence, the orange juice here is really good and fresh. The vodka, not so much. But, as a consequence, I’ve now become pretty touch-feely. The inner-me has come out! And he’s a hugger.
I like being hugged! I now admit it to the world.

Apparently when I’m drunk I also admit things in a public forum. I wonder if I will regret this later?
But it is dinner time right now. Some food would probably do me good.
2012-10-19 19:05

The passport issues have gone away. I was able to get my new passport this afternoon. I’ve packed and gotten myself to the airport. Far too early, but that is the airport shuttle for you. At this hour, you don’t have as much choice as to when it arrives.
But now I’m off to the Dominican Republic. I’ll get to see my friends and be in a warm climate.
I’ve decided to not bring any books to read. Last time I was there with a book, I got sunburned from reading too much. And I missed some of the parties because I wanted to read just. one. more. chapter.
And now I’m boarding. Gotta go. Hope I not seated next to the guy with Torettes.

I would have liked to have written a summary of this run earlier, but let’s face it, running 160km is exhausting. Which, I suppose, is another way of saying that I successfully finished. 25 hours and 44 minutes. I even beat all my friends.
It was not nearly as hilly as many other ultras I’ve run. There were a great many long, flat portions that I could just run for a long period of time. Of course, near the end, I was not so much running, as walking.
This is also the smallest ultra I’ve been in. Looking at the results, there were only fifteen people attempting the 160km route. And two of them decided to bail and only do 100km. Another two just failed to finish. Of the eleven finishers, I was sixth. So, middle of the pack.
This meant that all of the runners were hardcore. This wasn’t an “event” race that is known outside the ultra community. This was a race for people who just wanted to do an ultra. Most people were wearing at least one article of clothing from another ultra.
The organizers were also new at this, and it showed. There were a number of areas that were done poorly, but might have been better handled with more volunteers. For instance, directing runner traffic.
The day before the race it was raining or snowing all day. The day of the race, it didn’t rain at all, but the ground was still a little mucky. Especially once we got on the Iron Horse trail. The mud was the nice consistency that likes to stick to your shoes and build up.
It started at night in the cold and the fog. We had a police escort us to begin with, which caused an interesting halo effect with the red and blue lights in the fog. But eventually, the sun rose and the fog lifted. The clouds didn’t go away, so I’m only inferring that the sun rose.
The biggest complaint I have is that the trail was poorly marked. About an hour in, I took a wrong turn. Well, more exactly, I didn’t take a turn. I was supposed to go off the large trail and clamber up a hill. I was just following the people in front of me. Thankfully, I didn’t go too far before we started getting suspicious and turned back. I probably added less than a kilometre to my distance. What bothers me though, is that if I had stayed on the trail, I would have found myself back on the race route, having travelled a shorter distance and with less hill. That is the kind of thing they really need to mark, or just not do. You shouldn’t be able to take a shortcut by accident.
The second leg, after the hill, had us trying to run across a ploughed field. Honestly, I didn’t run that much over that. At least we had a warning about the electric fence that was going to be in our way. They gave us a method to get past that.
But on the fourth leg, there was no way past the barbed wire fences that were continually in the way. And there was no doubt that you had to get past them. In the end, you had to climb over them. And I wouldn’t recommend that if you didn’t have to.
The organizers were also sparse with the flags. I think they were too close to the course to properly mark it. It doesn’t matter if the road is straight and correct, you still need to mark it. Otherwise, there is no way to tell the difference between being on the right route, and being on the wrong route. They may not be strictly necessary, but they help make you feel confident about the route. Especially if you have already lost trust in the course markers.
On the fifth leg, in the middle of the night, after running close enough to the North Saskatchewan river that you could fall in, the course markers disappeared. I kept on a trail, that turned into a road, but I had taken out my iPhone to try and see if I could get a map to where I needed to go.
It didn’t help that in the cold night, the fog came back. This seemed to cause my iPhone trouble and it kept turning itself off. Thankfully, another runner called her support team to confirm the route once I had used a map program to name the road we were on.
Yeah. Better marking was needed.
Other than that, it was fine. The aid stations had Gatorade bottles, and occasional chicken soup. I grabbed a sandwich at one, and tried to eat it on the road. Unfortunately, it had seeds in the bread. If you aren’t drinking enough, those seeds can really scratch your throat.
I really have to ask myself if I would do it again. It might be better marked next year. But it seems to only be useful to complete the Alberta triple. It doesn’t give me any points for the Mont Blanc, which means I’m still one point short for next year.

I’m in St. Paul, Alberta. I left work early and drove out here. For tomorrow, I run the Iron Horse ultra. 160km. I have 27 hours to do it. That’s about the same time I had for the Sinister 7, but this is 12km further. And I didn’t even finish that run. But this should be significantly flatter.
I’ve been really stressed lately, so I haven’t been sleeping that well. And I don’t see any sleep happening in the foreseeable future. At least not once I get up tomorrow at 5:00.
The weather is pretty miserable right now. There has been rain and snow the entire time I’ve been here. I really hope it improves tomorrow. Cool weather will probably help. Mud will not.

The past couple of days have been very stressful.
During the Mont Blanc ultra, I was told to bring my passport as I would be crossing international borders. Due to the course change, that never actually happened, but I never removed it. It stayed in the pouch that I thought was waterproof. Obviously if I am mentioning it, it was not waterproof. A bit of rain got in. The cover got a little warped and some blue ink stained the first page. Other than that, it was completely legible and clear.
I assumed I would have nothing to worry about. But a friend told me I should still check. So yesterday I went to a government agency and checked. No, I need to replace my passport.
I should point out, in one week I am heading to the Dominican Republic. So I really need to have a valid passport.
I left work in the middle of the morning to collect information and go downtown to get my passport renewed. When I got there, I found out that I cannot renew my passport. Due to damage, I have to get a completely new one. Which means there are a lot more hoops to jump through to get one. The very least is that I need a guarantor.
I tried to use my dentist as one, but she didn’t have the information any more. Since the new rules came out that lowered the bar, she wasn’t asked to be one much anymore.
Eventually I decided to do it in the evening. The lineup at the passport office was huge, so it would be better to do it early in the next morning.
So, this morning I got up before the crack of dawn and got myself downtown to the passport office. I had all the documentation I needed so I wouldn’t have to worry about anything.
Except that the Canadian passport office doesn’t recognize the province of Manitoba anymore.
My birth certificate is no longer good enough. I don’t know their reasoning, but my 38 year old piece of paper doesn’t cut it anymore.
And to add insult to injury, the lady confiscated my passport. She claimed it was the property of the government of Canada. But now I can’t even try to use it and hope the airplane people don’t notice it was soggy.
The solution is to get a new one. From Manitoba.
I’ve started that paperwork, and paid the extra fee to get it rushed to me. It should arrive on Monday or Tuesday. If it is on Monday, I have a good chance that everything should work out. If it is on Tuesday, I may be cutting things too close.
I’d really like to go to the Dominican Republic and see all my friends.

I bought my turkey today. The annual American thanksgiving turkey has been purchased. I usually get a Butterball, but the grocery store didn’t have any that were big. So this year I’m going with a different brand. I hope it works out.
The biggest problem was that a big turkey takes up a big portion of the freezer. And since American thanksgiving is a month away, it is going to be living there for awhile. In a way this is good, because it forces me to clean up my freezer and get rid of some things that should probably be gotten rid of. For example, I think I recall trying to maneuver these hash browns from the last time I was trying to stuff a turkey in there. Well, they shall trouble me no more.
The ice cream is my biggest regret. I had several people say they would come and eat it during movie night yesterday. I don’t blame anyone for not showing. I don’t think “Bridesmaids” was a very appropriate choice for movie night now that I’ve seen in. (It was an okay movie, just not movie night material.) Nothing to do now but mourn the passing of the ice cream.

So, the UTMB talks a good talk, but they don’t actually back it up. Despite all that they say that this was a real UTMB, their actions say otherwise.
I found this little gem on their website.

The 2012 UTMB gained finishers 3 points.

So, I do not have enough points to qualify for next year. I am one point short. Now maybe this is a good thing. I will have time to do other things in 2013; I have wanted to visit Montreal again. The only reason I didn’t this year, was my friends were going at the same time as the Mont Blanc.
However, as soon as I found out, I did start looking for any ultras this year where I could get that one point. There are a couple in California, and some in eastern Canada. None in Alberta.
If I don’t get that extra point, I will have to finish the Sinister 7 next year. And I’ll probably do the Death Race for good measure. Then I will have enough points!

Hooray, I got my UTMB finisher vest today. I was expecting to get it in October, so it was a pleasant surprise to get it earlier.
Except that I was supposed to get it after I had crossed the finish line. In Chamonix. There it would have been helpful. There was a bit of a chill in the air, and the vest is made of a nice, colourful, fleece. Here in the warm September, it is not nearly as comfortable.
Still, I have to show off. The sacrifices one has to do to let people know they ran a stupid distance race.
There were also a series of emails sent out from the organizers. Here is a couple of quotes from them.

Because the route maintained allowed those who ran it to glimpse the difficulty of the weather conditions as soon as they approached 2000m. Because even if individually you have the physical capacity and knowledge of the mountains to succeed on your own, it is quite another matter when 2500 runners are facing the same obstacles. If you were at the start, you know that it was a true UTMB®. If on the contrary you were not able to run the race, you have missed a veritable UTMB®.

and

Trail-runners who lined up at the start in 2012 were, in our minds, a lot more courageous than those who lined up for the race in very good weather conditions like we had in 2008 or 2009… Difficult weather, route in a complete mess, markers destroyed, heavy skies…altogether enough to make one give up and stay indoors, in the warm, for the day.
All the same you decided to give it a go, you knew how to keep your sense of humour, you adapted yourselves, improvised, stayed obstinate, kept your mind focussed and maintained your spirit. The North Face® Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc®, has beautiful routes to discover, but above all it is an internal conquest. Whether you were a Finisher or not this year, you passed the exam brilliantly.

It is all very inspiring. But I think the key point here, that the organizers are even trying to emphasize, is that this was an actual UTMB. That is very important.
To run the UTMB next year, you need to have seven points gained from up to three ultras in the past two years. Last year I earned three points for the Death Race. This year, because I didn’t finish the Sinister 7, I haven’t had any points. But, completing the UTMB is worth four points.
I’ve been wondering if I would have enough points to try again next year. With the race shortened, would it be worth as many points? In a way, the race wasn’t officially completed, so it could be argued that I should get no points. But with this announcement, things may have changed.
I’m feeling better about my chances now.

My flight from Frankfurt to Calgary was long. I think it was nine hours. I did not sleep along the way. Instead I watched movies. I think I saw a total of four of them. By the time I got home they had blurred together and I could barely remember what I had seen. But, hey, free movies. (Free, if you don’t look too closely at the price of airfare.)
I fell asleep for most of the flight from Calgary to Edmonton. The airport shuttle seems to get more expensive every time I use it. I rented movies from the video store before I even got home. My plants were all alive, thanks to friend Rem. It was wonderful to sleep in my own bed.
My seat neighbour from Frankfurt was interesting. She was travelling to Canada to be a model in an ad campaign. A German company that sells panniers for mountain bicycles, to Europeans, had decided to have their ads feature the Rocky Mountains. Apparently the Canadian mountains are better for photography%

Frankfurt airport seems nice.
I was a bit nervous boarding my last flight. While on the sky-ramp, I noticed that the ticket was marked “Max 1 handluggage”. This was while I was holding two carry-ons. When picking up the ticket, I had even mentioned two carry-ons. Fortunately, no one blinked twice.
This is a boring blog post. I have no idea why I am going to post it. Mostly because I don’t have anything else to do while waiting to board.
I guess I have to go back to playing “Pocket Planes”.

I should have gotten a hot dog.

2012-9-13 13:01

I got up at around 6:30. Then I started walking to the train station with my heavy luggage. At least it was better balanced now that I could also put stuff in my backpack. (My backpack was usually as light as possible because I was using it on the bicycle portion of the trip.) Then a bus to the airport. This got me there two hours before my flight to Frankfurt at 10:20.
So now we wait.
I killed some time shopping in the duty free store. I was told the local, specialty alcohol is pastis. I’ve never heard of it, but hey, “Product of Marseille” and that is all I’m really looking for.
Since I’m in France, I also grabbed a bottle of absinthe. I KNOW that stuff is vile, but I feel classy having it in my liquor cabinet. I just need to get the paraphernalia for drinking it now. If I recall you have to put a sugar cube on a silver, slotted spatula and pour the absinthe over it into the glass. Fire is also involved. I’m sure I can look this stuff up on the Internet.
The pastis just wants me to mix it with water.
2012-9-13 9:39

I nearly got run over by a scooter today. It was totally my fault. What was I thinking walking on the sidewalk? Everyone knows that’s not for pedestrians. It is only for dog poop.
I was busy today. I tried to cram as much Marseille in as possible. A bit of a problem is that next year Marseille and Provence will be the cultural centre of France, so they are trying to spruce up the place. That is the official story. But I don’t believe it. Because every time I come to Europe, the entire place seems to be under construction. It happened five years ago, and it is happening again. Obviously they are just putting up a big Potemkin village for my benefit.
I set off with an all pastry breakfast and went down to the port. There I caught a ferry to Chateau d’If. Now, this is a historical location with, probably, many interesting facts. However, the tour operators knew the target audience, and it was 80% about the Count of Monte Cristo. They even had an exhibit of any place in the world named Monte Cristo. (There are three in the U.S. alone.)
Then back to the mainland. The ferry didn’t go directly there; it is also the service to the Frioul islands, a small archipelago next to the Chateau. I suspect Russian mobsters live there, but only because on the way back I was sitting next to two pretty Russian girls.
From the ride, I saw a cathedral high on a hill. That looked like something to climb. So, I looked for it. I didn’t know exactly where it was, so I just found a hill and kept going up until I ran out of hill. And there it was, Notre-Dame de la Garde. Beautiful place, although I think I came up the back entrance.
They do not allow you to climb the tower.
From the balconies you can see all of Marseille. And it had, not one, but two Table d’Orientation! Although one was blocked by a small child standing on it.
After spending far too long up there, taking the same pictures again and again, I left, going down the main entrance. I stopped off at the park Pierre Puget. It had a very nice waterfall system. It started at the top of the hill and you could follow the stream down the paths, through several waterfalls, all the way to the bottom. Presumably where it got pumped back to the top.
I then did a quick tour of the old city. One lesson I needed to learn was how to find streets. Frequently, the map would show a street and I couldn’t find it. But that is because my eyes do not see stairways as streets. If I learned that earlier, I could have had a much easier time walking around.
A late dinner (because you can’t have one at a reasonable time) of some fish, and then back to base for packing. My flight home leaves tomorrow morning, so I should get up early to catch it.
2012-9-12 23:47

I have arrived safely in Marseille. My host had said he was going to meet me at the train station, so I was a little surprised when he wasn’t there. After looking around, I phoned him and discovered he thought I was coming in tomorrow. He showed up quickly enough and we made our way to his place. I was hauling my heavy luggage and am glad he was there to show me the way. I would have hated to do that by myself.
Marseille looks nice enough, when compared to Edmonton. I took a walk with my host and saw a bit. I’ll hopefully see more tomorrow.
I have several options as to what to do tomorrow. I could go for a run to a nice cove, but the weather is hot, and I should still recover from my ultra. Especially my ankle. Instead I will go to the old port and see if I can get passage to Chateau d’If. I should probably look around and make a token effort to absorb some culture. Hopefully it won’t stick.
I apparently didn’t sleep well last night because I’m exhausted right now.
2012-9-11 23:22

I had a somewhat boring day in Cavaillon. It wasn’t bad, and I have no regrets, but it wasn’t epic.
I had time to kill before my train leaves at around five o’clock. So I wandered the streets. It took me awhile to discover that a lot of stores are closed. I guess the tourist/shopping season is over.
The best thing to do, I found, was to climb the big hill that I think is called Colline Saint-Jacques. But that is because I enjoy climbing tourist attractions. I would have counted the steps, but they were carved into the side of the hill, and it was impossible to always determine what was and wasn’t a step.
The view from the top was nice. I could spot my hotel. I took lots of pictures. Mainly of the same thing. I want to try and get a good picture of the Petite Luberon mountains, but the distance and haze wasn’t making it easy. It was a bit discouraging to discover cars up there; there is a whole neighborhood up there near the “Chapelle St-Jacques Ermitage”.
When I found out that there was a “Table d’orientation”, all hope was lost. I love those things. I found one at the top on Roussillon, and to find one here was great. Basically, a good viewing place that includes a round picture that marks all the landmarks you can see. Apparently you can see Fontaine de Vaucluse from there, but I think it was more seeing just the cliff that overlooks it.
Afterwards, a delicious Coke. More wandering. Then a lunch of a sandwich and a chocolate croissant. I also impulse-purchased a melon that I will share with my friend in Marseille. Basically wasting time before the train. Which leaves in forty five minutes. I probably should get going.
2012-9-11 16:12

On leaving Roussillon this morning, I once again spotted the dog that runs the town. He was trotting down the street like he owned it.
We got up early and did a good day of cycling. We were on the road by 8:50. The first part started out by following the book, and that still caused trouble. There were roads that we were supposed to take that existed on the map, and in the mind of the writer, but we’re simply not there. I even checked on Google Earth afterwards, and I couldn’t see how anyone could take that route.
However, once we got off book completely and were doing our own thing, life became easier. We were now in charge of our own destiny. And if mistakes were made, we already knew we couldn’t trust the source completely (namely us), so they were easy to accept. When we were on the book, we assumed that it was semi-responsible and could be trusted. When it let us down, it was hurtful.
In any case, it was a pleasant ride in the morning. It was still cool when we made most of our distance. And when we hit the hills that form the Plateau de Vaucluse, it wasn’t that bad; it was cooler, and they were smaller than the ones on the road over the Luberon. The ride down to Fontaine de Vaucluse was steep but enjoyable,
If you do only one thing in France, climb the Eiffel tower. If you do two, then go to Fontaine de Vaucluse. The village is absolutely gorgeous. The waters of the Sorgue are incredibly clear. The restaurants serve nice crepes. The walk up to La Source is beautiful, and there aren’t nearly as many hawkers as twenty seven years ago.
La Source isn’t that spectacular if you are going by its name. Yes, it is the source of the Sorgue river, but all you see is a pool. Most of the water is flowing underground and just appears as a river further down. But the cliff is massive. It looks like half a mountain fell away to reveal the pool.
On the way back down I spent about twenty minutes wading in the Sorgue. Very cold, and probably good for my ankle. It brought back some nice memories.
After a snack of some crepes (lemon and sugar; never get any other kind) we biked on to L’Isle Sur La Sorgue. I lucked out beforehand and asked the tourist information for a good route. She gave us a nice map with a better route than the one I had planned. We even passed under a Roman aqueduct.
Along the way, I passed some people walking along the road. As usual, I said “Bonjour”, but after I passed they yelled “Canada!” The patch on my backpack had let me find some other Canadians. We talked a bit, and they gave us some good tips. Remember kids, always wear your Canada when traveling.
L’Isle Sur La Sorgue was, well, disappointing. It felt a bit like a dive. The canals were gorgeous. But the tourist route through town was really boring. We abandoned it and went our separate ways. I spent my time following the canal all around the island. I was looking for a memory.
When I was last here, I had a nice walk with my father. I don’t know if there was a purpose to it, but it was a nice way to spend time. We came upon a tree that a sign had been nailed to. But this sign had been put up years ago, and the tree was growing around it. The edges were all gone. It looked so cool. I wanted to see if I could find it again.
But none of the trees were that one. I suspect that the town probably replaced the sign with one on a pole that won’t be grown over. But I think that is a shortsighted tactic; I came to town to find a cool artifact. Others would probably do the same.
The only memory I really recovered was a restaurant I believe the family had eaten at before.
We cycled back to Cavillon. The route wasn’t that great, but it got us here safely.
2012-9-10 19:27

I have noticed a dog in this town. I first spotted him yesterday around the hotel. He was a big dog with a bit of fur missing from his tail. He didn’t seem to have many worries, and I didn’t see his owner around. He was just wandering around.
This afternoon, I spotted him again, but this time across town. He seemed to have set up camp in a cafe, and anytime a tourist wandered by with a dog, he would get up and go check it out before returning to the cafe.
This evening he was in a different section of town, looking like he was taking himself for a walk.
I think this dog is the secret master of Roussillon. Nothing happens here without him knowing about it.
He’s certainly marked his territory all over the place. So this is his town.
2012-9-9 22:32

Tomorrow is the big day. I’m going off-book. Which isn’t saying much when you don’t trust the book. I’m hoping to see a bunch of things that I saw when I was last in Provence twenty seven years ago.
My plan is to see Fontaine de Vaucluse, where I can see the source of the Sorgue river. My big goal is to soak my feet in it. I don’t think there is any spiritual meaning in that; it’s just something I did with my family long ago.
Secondly, we are going to Isle Sur La Sorgue. That is where we stayed while in Provence. I was too young to appreciate how beautiful the village was. I want to see it with older eyes now.
2012-9-9 22:27

It was very relaxing today. I did pretty much nothing.
I wandered the village a bit. The views were amazing. I particularly liked the one at the very top that included a map and helpfully pointed out the landmarks you were seeing. I could see Mount Ventoux, AKA the mountain I should have been cycling up. Screw it, I’m on vacation.
I visited the “Sentier Des Ocres” and really got to know the orange cliffs. I didn’t pay extra for the tour, and I don’t think I missed anything.
The biggest problem was the number of tourists wandering around. They kept interfering with the photos I wanted to take. But it would be hypocritical of me to complain; I’m one of them.
For lunch, I did the all-lactose diet. I had been craving a milkshake for awhile, and I saw a cafe was selling them. It was a small affair that it no way compared to a Red Robin’s milkshake that was in my dreams. So to top myself off, I had an ice cream cone. Lunch of champions.
After that exhausting day, I was tired. I went back to my room, with a bottle of Fanta to enjoy myself. I tried reading a book on the deck, but it was too hot. So I probably wasted my vacation reading in my room.
2012-9-9 19:00

We did get off forty minutes earlier, which was good. But other events conspired to make us out even later than before.
It started off well. We left Cadenet and headed north. We had an option to do a side trek to the village of Cucuron, but we decided to skip it and go onward to Lourmarin. I didn’t particularly care for that place. It had a flea market that was selling stuff that wasn’t compatible with a bicycling lifestyle. I poked around back and found a hidden castle, but that was about it.
We then continued over the “Petit Luberon” mountains. That was going to be the most significant climb of the entire trip. It wasn’t that hard. It was a tolerable grade, and the scenery was nice. Although I must admit that Provence seems very dry, but it is known for growing a great variety of produce.
I passed the entrance to the bicycle only route of the “Massif des Cedres” which I found out later would have been a lovely route to take. It is all along the mountain range, but doesn’t go up or down significantly. However, if we had taken it, it would have taken us all the way back to Cavaillon.
Once over the mountains, the entire Luberon valley opened up to us. The village of Bonnieux was just ahead of us, and we stopped there for lunch. We ate at a place with a terrace view of the valley, and it even had access to the Internet. So I updated my Facebook with a picture of my spectacular view. And then used the map program to try and figure out what all the villages we could see were. Definitely a nerd.
After lunch, things started going bad. The map, the directions, and reality didn’t always agree in this trip. Here is where the written directions said one thing, the map route implied another, and reality did whatever it darn well pleased. The directions won us over this time, and it did take us to the village of Apt, but then everything went to pot. The directions and the map route were completely confusing, and frequently in conflict with one another. We got lost several times in that village, even going up a steep hill just to find that it was the wrong way. This could have all been solved easily with a simple map of Apt, but the organizers didn’t have the decency to do that.
I got the impression that this route we are on has never been beta tested. At no point did they give the instructions to someone and see what happened. Very poor ethics there. I’ve been keeping my Garmin on at all times in the route, and I think I should send the results to the organizers, along with notes on the instructions so they can make this product halfway usable.
Despite the best efforts of the directions, we did get to Roussillon. We promptly raided a grocery store and got liquid refreshments. We accosted a German tourist with a GPS system to find out where our hotel was. There it had our luggage. It did not have a pool, but that may have had something to do with the hotel being several hundred years old. My colleague got a room with a large bed, but I got a room that feels like a converted attic. I have to go up two flights of stairs, the latter being narrow with ample opportunity to bash your head in. At the top is my room. The bed is small. The bathroom doesn’t have a shower curtain, so when I use the sprayer, water get everywhere. I also have to crouch a lot with the low ceiling. However, I have a deck, that gives me a great view of the valley. I am on it right now, at eleven o’clock, enjoying the stars as I update my journal.
I’ve been giving my Australian colleague a quick overview of the northern hemisphere’s stars. She now can find the, previously unknown, North Star. I’ve also been using a iPhone app to figure out some of the constellations I should know.
Tomorrow, the guide gives us several options, all of which return us to Roussillon. I could go do a mountain that is on the Tour de France. We could do a loop through the “Provence Collorado”. However, we have lost all trust in the guidebook, so we aren’t about to go on a 42km cycle ride on its word. As for the Mount Ventoux part of the Tour de France, I don’t feel it is advisable with a heavy, steel bike. Maybe if I had my light road bike.
In any case, Roussillon, with it’s beautiful ochre cliffs, sounds like a nice place to spend the day.
2012-9-8 23:08

My bicycle arrived in the morning. It’s a good bike, but it is obviously a rental. It looks like it can withstand a lot of punishment. I think it is made of steel. So it is heavy. I found out how heavy when I tried to go up some hills. There was one dirt/gravel road that I actually had to get off and walk.
Neither Catherine nor myself are morning people, so we didn’t get up early. We started breakfast at around nine (although I don’t think we got the famed Charentais melons, and if we did, they aren’t that special), and we didn’t hit the road until a bit before eleven o’clock. I started down one road, and she immediately thought we were going the wrong way. I wasn’t sure enough, so we turned around and went the other way. However half a kilometer later, I was getting major doubts. We consulted the map and looked over the directions and turned around again and went back the original way, which turned out to have been correct. She trusts me a lot more now, and is worried that if I wasn’t here, she would never have found her way.
The directions could be improved. Mind you, we do sabotage ourselves. We read ahead a bit, and that can cause confusion. Especially if you pass the same landmark twice in different directions. For the most part we needed to follow the plentiful orange signs, until we don’t. It would have been nice if the instructions had let us know to stop.
Provence is nice, although it is very dry. I don’t see how anything grows here. But there are many orchards with apples, pears, grapes, figs, and even pumpkins. I suppose the many irrigation channels on the side of the road explains why things are growing. It would be dangerous for me to live here, because I would be very happy to spend time trying to dam up these channels.
The first half was mainly flat and easy to do. The second half after lunch in Merindol was rather hilly. We climbed a big hill into Lauris and searched around to see an impressive view. A German tourist even gave us a history lesson on three churches in the area.
My traveling companion has been good. She is also interested in taking lots of pictures, so it works out well. We stop frequently.
I also discovered that a goat or an Ibis (I’m not sure which) with huge horns, really likes having the space on its head behind the horns scratched. I probably shouldn’t have, because I didn’t know if it was friendly, but it was a nice experience.
We got to our destination of Cadenet right around rush hour. We got to our hotel and enjoyed its pool. It wasn’t a great one, but it was nice and cool. I think it is the only pool for our entire trip.
We went out to dinner at a place called La Source. It was nice, although the terrace was full. And we had to eat inside. I really debated between having the fish or the beef. The fish is something I can’t really get in Alberta, but the beef sounded like it had a great sauce, even if it wasn’t a great cut.
Hopefully tomorrow it will be cooler and we can get off earlier.
2012-9-7 23:51

I arrived safely and got to my hotel. I even met the other person on the bike tour, a nice woman from Australia named Catherine. We went out to dinner at a nearby restaurant and had an amazing meal. It was interesting ordering from a menu where you didn’t know most of the words.
We actually start cycling today. I look forward to seeing my bike and I hope the helmet fits.
2012-9-7 8:43