Mustard Anyone?

Current Location: Dijon, France
Distance Travelled: 760 km

Well its been 8 days since our last post and a lot has happened. Not so sure we'll have enough time to go through it all as we only have a couple of minutes to spare in this Internet cafe. But here goes:


Approximately 7 nights, 1 ferry ride across the English channel, 50 peanut Butter sandwiches, 40 cheese sandwiches, 12 baguettes, 2 flat tires, 2 wipe outs, 2 swollen knees and a bruised rib since rolling away from Westminster abbey, we find ourselves 760 kilometers down the road in the French town of Dijon. And yes, this is where the mustard comes from...and its even better tasting when its fresh.



Getting here to Dijon has been the most amazing experience. we've managed to stay predominantly on smaller country roads, and have enjoyed some magnificent views. Some of the people we have met have been crazy, others amazingly nice, but all of them have been interesting to say the least.

Every night we knock on strangers doors and ask if they know of a place where we can camp for free...we either get chased off with shotguns, or essentially made part of the family. To date we have stayed in a field of slugs, next to a cathedral inside of a castle, in the front yard of woman who just happened to be turning 60 that night, inside a cow manure filled barn, in a forest...twice, and in a park inside the french equivalent of Hollywood. We hope to find a tree house soon...


Every day seems to bring new forms of suffering, followed by new experiences of joy. Two days ago we rode 120 k in a monsoon. it only stopped raining once for 30 minutes...the exact 30 minutes we decided to take a break. Fortunately all of our gear was waterproofed. unfortunately, however, NOTHING that says its waterproof actually is. Despite a very long and wet day, we found joy in knowing that we didnt let that day beat us. We also found joy the next day when chad had an brilliant idea to jump off of a 40 foot bridge into a river! The good thing about rivers is that they are fun to swim in AND they serve as a shower :)

Well I know there is a lot missing from this blog entry, but time is money, and money is something we dont have. with a 5 euro a day budget, keeping ones tummy filled AND getting lost on the web is a luxury.

We will write again as soon as we can. Hopefully we will be on the other side of the Alps by then. We will see.

- Ramsey and Chad

P.S. One day we got lost and stumbled upon a 300 acre forest of marijuana. Of course we were shocked and appalled that the French authorities would allow such a scandalous horticultural act to go unchecked. We did our part, however, by chopping down a small section of the forest for... "disposal."