Hey all, just want to let everyone know I made it here safely. Worked until lunch on Wednesday, went to my parents` for lunch, then headed to the airport. I may have lied to the baggage guy, when he asked if my bag was holding golf clubs and I said yes (best way to avoid paying the unnecessary $50 bike fee).
Made it to Montreal quickly, could not find a poutine for the life of me, so I entertained myself by texting lots of people before having to shut off my phone for a week. 8pm flight to Paris, 5.5h in length, with a 6h time change...trying to get sleep and re-adjust my schedule was going to be tough. I made sure I stayed awake long enough for dinner (and wine), and when they came around to clean up, asked for a second dinner (Adam, you proud son?), and a double whiskey and coke (flight attendant started calling me Mr. Double after that). Passed out hard watching Prince of Persia, woke up an hour before reaching Paris with at least a couple hours of sleep.
From the airport, I eventually found the train to Paris, and took it towards downtown Paris. Matthias lives just north of the city center, so I got off at the appropriate stop, and luckily found him meeting me near by. Another short train ride, and we made it to his cozy (read: tiny) apartment....on the sixth floor (too many stairs for my liking, especially with a huge Ogio bag with a bike).
After I built my bike, and Matthias updated his blog, we went for a bike ride around Paris. It was around noon in Paris, which is 6am at home for me, so going for a bike ride around this time didn`t even feel too bad haha. Biked around, saw the Eiffel tower, lots of cool looking French architecture, saw the Opera riding spot, and lots of other neat things.
After being taken to an American cafe, with Indian cooks, for lunch with a friend of Matthias`, I stayed back while Matthias went to go meet Adam Kun at the train station. I crashed for a couple hours to help adjust and avoid jet lag, which definitely helped me since we had a long night ahead of us.
After Adam arrived and built his bike, while Matthias serenaded him with some unique and original songs, we headed off to Opera, where Raphael, Joris, Mike, and others were already riding.
It`s a really weird feeling to go ride a spot that you`ve seen lots over the past 8 years or so, but felt really good. My nankai is acting up, which frustrated me, but was able to hit most of my usual stuff.
Ended up going to a little bar after that, met some interesting friends of Matthias again, and had a few drinks. Still not 100% sure what "pastis" is, but if you ever come out here, you should try it, Adam really enjoyed it haha.
Came back and crashed, woke up and headed to the supermarket and bakery for some french breakfast, now just chilling at Matthias` place.
Really good trip so far, and its only been a day. Heading back to Opera again tonight, and probably riding another spot in the afternoon as well. Adam didn`t ride too much yesterday, so looking forward to actually riding with him today.
We`re heading to Pessac early tomorrow morning, for Vibration Urbaines, so not sure what the plans for tonight will be, if anything. I`ll try to post again from Pessac after the contest hopefully. Peace.
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