Geo: 43.6659, 7.20666Tuesday, July 2, 2013A quick breakfast of yogurt & fruit (we opted to not have the dry bread, as we'd planned) had us on our way by 9 or so. We changed plans along the way, and instead of trying to get to the start of the team time trial, we set our sights on a corner that might be a little less crowded (and easier to get to). With the help of 3 apps on an iPhone and an iPad, a MiFi for internet connectivity, and an old-fashioned road atlas, we found a target parking area. What looked like a Parking area on one of the apps (Michelin) turned out to be a small shopping mall. That's great – we can stop in after the race, to pick up a stepstool to make ... read more

Geo: 41.9266, 8.73529Sunday, June 30, 2013After grabbing a coffee and pain au chocolat at a hip little boulangerie, it was back on the road. The roads out of Propriano were a touch less twisty, but not by much. We made it into Ajaccio by about 10:30 to find a vantage point from which to watch the finish of stage 2, and again managed to find a parking spot across the street from the tourism office, and got the scoop. In fact, the finish line wasn't in town at all, but further out, at a tower near the sea. Since we needed to be at the airport pretty soon after the peloton passed through, we took the advice of the tourism office woman and decided to watch from the beginning of the Cat 3 climb, through town.But ... read more

Geo: 41.591, 9.27949Wednesday, June 26The flight from Denver to JFK was uneventful, though the small child in front of us did screech for the first hour. It was the kind of screech that you make when you're first discovering your voice and just like the sound of that screech you just made. But for an hour? Oof.We had about 3 hours to kill, by the time we got off the plane and transferred over to Terminal 4, so we opted to purchase entry to the Delta Sky Club. Free drinks, snacks, wi-fi, and a fairly quiet place to kick back. It would be more worth the $25 apiece (which I thought only 1 of us would need to pay, but…) if you were there longer, but even for a few hours, it was nice. There were ... read more

Geo: 39.3759, -104.86Twenty years ago, I started my off-again, on-again career in the travel industry, at Rail Europe's call center. It was a pretty ideal job for me. "Hmmm....they're going to PAY me to talk on the phone.......about Europe. Okay...."I really enjoyed helping people plan their vacations in Europe, and I was able to draw (in some small way) on my personal experience traveling through some of Europe. I was fortunate enough to be raised by parents who valued travel as a part of life, and consequently, I had been to Europe twice by the time I graduated from high school, and once more with my family when I was about 23.So, here I was, at Rail Europe, becoming an expert on European rail travel. One of the benefits offered to the employees was a free ... read more

Geo: 39.3759, -104.86I have found relatively little about HOW to plan one of these here Tour de France-following thingies. But hey, I'm a (part-time) travel agent, so this ought to be easy-peasy, yes?Um................No.I have learned by reading the articles at VeloNomad.com (and his ebook, Guide to Campervanning in France) enough to know that I needed to get the camper reserved by mid- to late August. In a normal year.Easy enough.Except that I have to guess at what dates we want the van, and where we want to pick it up & drop it off. Oh, and the actual TdF route isn't announced in full until late October.But at least this time -- because it's Super-Special and all -- they announced the dates and locations for the 1st 4 stages.Apparently, we're going to Corsica -- cool! But ... read more