Whirlwind of Travel and Time

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Well some 17 hours after I left Toronto I arrived in Toulouse, the starting point of my journey. The plqne ride wasn't all that bad. I sat beside a couple from Swan River, Manitoba who were on their way to visit his father in Nice. Talking to them definitely made the 8 hour flight go by much faster. Didn't mqnnqge to sleep though.
I arrived in Paris (with all my luggage accounted for) and immediately searched for the train station. Next time I bring this much oversized luggage I'm hiring a porter to carry it all. For some reason you can only keep the luggage trollies on the same level, which meant having to hand balm the gear up and over barriers and 7, yes 7 escalators. Anyways long story short, I managed to get my train pass validated and reserved a ticket on the TGV to Toulouse for only 3€!! The train ride was long...even at the famous TGV speeds. In total it took another 7.5 hours to get from Paris to Toulouse. Fourtunately I was able to get a bit of sleep on the train. Pure exhaustion definitely helps to drown out a screeming baby.

My hotel room here is a decent size for a broom closet. It's more then I budgetted for but I spose I saved money in the porter fees. It's only for a night so I think I'll manage. Tomorrow is a day reserved for acclimatizing before I begin to ride. My next destination is Castres which is about 80km away from here and is the finish line to stage 12 of the TDF.

Anyways...time to sample some local cuisine
ttyl
Mike

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