On my second day of cycling in France I ran across the French jumping nationals in a small town in the Pyrenees. There was no entrance fee so I watched horses and riders clear different obstacles for a bit. The course looked pretty exhausting. (7/31/04)

The museum of berets (although you probably gathered that, seeing how I did and I do not speak French) in a small southern town called Nay on my second day of cycling in France. The beret is truly the greatest hat on earth, and I think it only fitting that the French have built a museum to honor and preserve this unique advancement in the constantly-evolving field of forward-looking fashion. No matter who you are, they will make you instantly look seven times cooler, I assure you. (8/01/04)

Let me just say that France is cycling paradise. There is a perfect spiderweb of tiny "highways" - which are the tiniest of country roads - extending throughout the country and passing through one quaint French town after another. And the roads are quiet. I have gone for stretches of thirty kilometers without running into another car. Unlike the desert plateau of Spain, the countryside is totally lush green, in bloom, and criss-crossed with glassy copper-green rivers such as the one above. And the French. It is so great walking into the French patissieries, boulangeries, brasseries and hearing the French language. I love starting the morning with the fresh daily baguette and pastries. And while I am on the topic of baguettes, it must be noted that this is the best part of waking up - NOT Folgers in your cup. Everyone is at the boulangerie picking up their daily baguettes - little kids sent on errands, old women on cycles, everyone. At the campsites even if there is nothing else there is a list that you sign for your morning baguette. I am pretty sure that if you wanted to cause French riots you could do so easily by taking away the treasured baguette. And rightly so. (8/01/04) *

In the evening as I was approaching Dax and exiting the Pyrenees (thankfully) and entering the French plains I ran across a criterium. These cyclists were flying past in a blur. That day I encountered daytime rain for the first time on the trip, which has followed me for several days now. The first day I did not even pull out my rain gear because it was such a novelty, and let it soak me while thunder rolled in the distance. But the rains have not gone away and I and all of my clothes are now soaked to a musty dampness. Every night I hang them out to dry at camp, and every night the rains come again. But no worries, it makes for a cooler day of cycling. (8/01/04) *

A protected forest in the Medoc near the French Atlantic coast. The fog and rain were always there. (8/02/04) *

This river was about twenty feet away from my tent in a town just south of St. Jean. I have been cycling for seven days straight now on my way to Paris, from morning until night, and I have another three days to go. I am looking forward to the capital and to giving my right hamstring a rest in the Bois. (8/03/04)

Arriving in Paris I felt a wave of energy upon seeing the sign marking the city limits. I zoomed to the Avenue le Grand Armee, rode through the 9-lane turnout at the Arc de Triumph and continued down the Champs as it was turning to dusk to celebrate after nine days of cycling from the French/Andorran Border. I had the elated feeling that you get when you enter the most beautiful city on the planet. Paris. Does anything more than that one word need to be said? But it has to be said that the Gateway Arch in St. Louis is still the grandest of all monuments, and eclipses La Tour Eiffel by leaps and bounds. But location is everything in the hierarchy of monuments, so it will remain in undeserved obscurity. (8/07/04)

A random street corner in Paris. It does not matter where you go - all of it is amazing. I spent a fair amount of time in the cafes and cycling around the city-and as little time as possible in the campground where all the campers were thrown on top of each other like refugees. I also saw the first movie since I left the states - Farenheit 911. I will be voting absentee. Luxembourg is next on the screen. (8/08/04)