Sweet Blog o' Mine

High Maintenance

I do not consider myself to be particularly high maintenance (if anyone I've dated wants to chime in here, knock yourself out).  That said, I have my limits.  I hereby declare that I will no longer take any bus except for the one between Boston and Portland, Maine.  NEVER AGAIN.  I stopped taking buses after a heinous Greyhound experience over Fourth of July weekend when I was in law school, but have now been convinced twice to take the Bolt Bus, once to Boston and once back from DC. 

Don't get me wrong.  The Bolt Bus is lovely, particularly compared to Greyhound all those years ago.  Yes, it's sooooo much cheaper than Amtrak.  Yes, there's wifi, which I am taking advantage of as I write this.  It's clean.  The drivers are nice.  But.  But I get headaches on the bus.  I can't read on the bus.  I hate the bathroom on the bus so I don't drink water and am thirsty for hours on end.  There is inevitably  traffic, so it takes longer than it's supposed to to reach your destination.  The train, in contrast, is pleasant.  It rocks me to sleep.  The bathrooms are, well, nicer than the one on the bus.  There are snacks on the train.  And booze.  And no traffic.  Even if there are delays, there are snacks and booze, which makes up for the delays.  And it is worth EVERY DAMN PENNY to take the train to DC or Boston rather than the bus if at all possible.

At least it's worth it to me, given the fact that I am now officially high maintenance.

Kismet Vacation

Didn't take all that many pictures, but I captured some of the big meals including the grilled pizza experiment and the seafood extravaganza.  You can find them all here.

Beeeeeeach!

I'm out on Fire Island for the week and after a week of feeling like crap, not exercising, and not sleeping particularly well, I'm happy to report that I slept over eight hours straight and went for a run this morning.  I'm hoping this will kick off my vacation quite nicely.  Not sure how much I'll be posting, but there's some good eating on the horizon this week -- I'm sure I'll report back with pictures and all. 

And now off to wiggle my toes in the sand.

Pictures!!

Photos from London and Bordeaux/Dordogne are up.  The few photos from Paris, which are mostly food, are coming shortly.  You can find them here.  Enjoy!

Good News/Bad News

The NYC Triathlon is under three weeks away, so my training is kicking into the home stretch.  The good news -- I completed a 6 mile run last night without walking a single step.  I've never done this, even in the actual triathlon last year, where I walked during the water stops.  The bad news -- the replacement running shoes gave me a blister on the arch of my right foot.  Not sure if I should give them one more shot this weekend or go back to the old, old ones for the race.  Any advice from the runners out there.

In other news, I'm making slow and steady progress on the pictures from my trip.  Here's one to tide you over:

London Post-France and the Journey Home

I arrived in London at about 5ish on Sunday and stupidly took the wrong bus to Rob and Sara's.  After an hour and a half unexpected tour, for what should have been a 10 minute bus ride, I arrived at their place.  We relaxed for a bit then took a long walk to Yauatcha for a delicious dim sum dinner.  I was originally scheduled for an 8pm flight on Monday which would have gotten me in to New York at about 11pm, which would make working the next day kind of rough.  So, I called to check that there was no fee, and headed out Monday morning to try to get on the 11:55 flight instead.  I got on, no problem, and arrived in NYC at about 2:30pm, with plenty of time to relax at home and get a good night's sleep. 

And now, bracing myself for heading back to the office and the piles of email that await me there . . .

France, Days 8 & 9: All Good Things Must Come to an End

My last 33k from Sarlat to Souillac were peaceful and serene. I biked on my own, as the rest of the group were continuing on and I had to be sure to make it in time to catch my train to Paris. Sadly, I said goodbye to everyone at breakfast, and headed out. Most of the route was on a quiet bike path - no traffic, flat, through woods, fields, and even a tunnel. A lovely way to end the week's journey. I arrived in Souillac with plenty of time to spare, so I picked up a sandwich for the train. Given the ridiculous amount of duck I consumed during the week, there was one duck product that had eluded me thus far - duck rillettes - so that was my sandwich of choice, topped with a few cornichons. Lyn met me at the Souillac train station to take off my pedals and saddle and to load the bike onto the train, and then I was off. By coincidence, Margie was in Paris, so we made dinner plans at Restaurant Itinéraires - recommended by Vanessa (thanks!). We were joined by two other friends of hers from San Francisco who were in town as well. The restaurant had a very modestly priced menu, with some creative dishes. Overall, we all preferred our first courses to our mains - I started with a mushroom carpaccio with lemon and clams, and next, a roast monkfish with mushrooms and shallots. Lotte and cabillaud are my two new French fish vocab words for the week - I've also adopted the Aussie term "reckon," as in "how far do you reckon we've gone up this hill?" The evening was great fun, and we ended up drinking quite a bit of wine, which made today a little rough. Luckily, the only thing on the agenda was lunch. Also luckily (and very kindly), Margie let me stay in her hotel, which was a much-welcome step up from the one I had booked. I think I forgot to upgrade from the "basic" Blue Marble hotel, which I meant to do, and although I certainly could have stayed there, after a week of cycling, a comfy hotel was magnificent. We had a very good lunch near L'Opera at Drouant - a perfect roast chicken with frites and a clafoutis and cherry sorbet for dessert. And now, I'm on the Eurostar to London. Check in was a huge clusterfuck, and some kids dropped a large suitcase on me while trying to put it above my seat, but things are improving rapidly. Time for a nap.

France, Day 7: The Hills

Given yesterday's adventure, I opted for a somewhat shorter route today, which would also leave me a bit of time to explore Sarlat and buy gifts and postcards for the family. A 35k loop from Sarlat seemed minor, until we started reading the route sheet and seeing a piece of our route to the hill town of Domme described as "4k that will feel like 40" and a stretch on the way back as "a ridiculous 2k hill."

The hill up to Domme was formidable (that one's for you, Eric), but the "ridiculous" 2k hill lived up to its name. Despite all that, the views of the countryside and the river were gorgeous.

In non-cycling news, although I failed my Harry Potter quiz miserably, I apparently earned a smidgeon of respect by (almost) knowing the set of numbers from LOST. Dinner tonight was great, at Restaurant le Presidal, in an outdoor courtyard on a gorgeous evening. I made sure to get my last few tastes of duck products - a bite or two of some others' foie gras and duck breast w truffles, and my own escargot stuffed with duck confit. I also had the pave de boeuf with cepes, the local wild mushrooms. In addition to the local bottles of white and red we drank woth dinner, we accompanied our desserts with a Montbazillac - the dessert wine we had tasted at the chateau a few days back. All in all, a great send-off dinner. Everyone else is continuing on to the Cevegnnes, where they are being joined by a father/son team. Dad - bike trip next year? You can even pick the route, although if it's Tuscany, I'd start training now.

France, Day 6: Quite the Day

Today I opted for the long route - 57k. The good news is that we got a break from the heat. The other (not particularly bad) news is that the moment we set out from Les Eyzies it began to rain. And then pour. The 25k before lunch were comprised of stunning scenery and seriously torrential, absolutely laughable rain. Rain so hard that I was wishing for windshield wipers on my glasses. It was great, and felt delightful after so much heat. Since it was raining we didn't stop in "Parc Prehistoric," (we are in cro-magnon territory) but we did see a dinosaur on the way.

As we arrived in Montignac, the rain stopped, leaving us to do the hilly portion of our route in sunshine. Our route sheet made it sound like the last 15k were going to be some sort of hill torture, but fueled by a perfectly ripe peach and a few French pringles (my secret hill snack, only in foreign countries), they weren't too dreadful.

After a day of rain and sweat, I was filthy - wait till you see the picture I took of the laundry water. Blech.

In Sarlat, our home for tonight and tomorrow, we were wandering around the old town looking for a dinner spot when, on a goof, I whipped out my Blackberry and googled "Michelin star restaurant Sarlat." Lo and behold, up came Le Grand Blue. Full recap on that (as best as I can) later - too exhausted and sore now, and have to rest up for tomorrow! I

France, Day 5: This One's for the Ladies

Today was our girls-only ride from Lalinde to Les Eyzies. We set out early as we knew we had a sizeable hill in store before lunch. And we did. But, we made it intact, and the boys didn't even catch up with us!

The scenery has slowly shifted from vineyards to farmland, although much of it is nestled into wooded areas. Two crops that we've seen most often since the grapes have lightened up are corn and sunflowers, and even some kiwi.

After our hot, hilly morning the afternoon wasn't bad with the one exception of a long, flat stretch with no shade cover from the 93 degree heat. We actually picked up the pace to get it over with more quickly. But during that stretch, and at all other more challenging points in the day, I kept my mind focused on one thing -- the pool waiting for us at the end of the ride. Once we made it, it was glorious, even more so because we had earned it.

Dinner was a more casual affair tonight, and I had my mind set on a salad after some of the heavier meals of the past few days. Scanning the menu, I laughed out loud when I saw the salad Perigord - greens topped with nearly every regional duck product available: foie gras, pate, gizzards, smoked duck breast, and walnuts (also common locally).
Had to get it. It paired nicely with a bottle of rose.

For those of you who are wondering, I can't post pics as I go due to limited technology. This is also why I haven't been approving comments (it's nothing personal).