July 1, 2003. arrive Francais
Allo,
Arrived in Paris this morning, at 6am. After an hour an a half on a shuttle bus I arrived at a station a couple of stops short of St Jaques (Gare Montparnesse). The box being as heavy as it is really dissuaded me from trying to get closer on the Metro, so I attempted to get a cab. Noone was interested. Interesting stuff. All these cabs knocking me back. Maybe it was the shorts, or maybe the big writing on the bike box that said I was from Yarragon. Dunno.
The flight from Melbourne to Kuala Lumper was made very exciting when I looked across my row shortly after take-off to check out a nice lad from Norway. The guy he was sitting next to didn't look so bad either, so as I peered closer I was absolutely stunned to find it was Joe Hale - one of the support crew guys from the Reality Check Murray to Moyne. He was on his way to London for his 'big trip'. Having never run into people I know at any aiport other than Melbourne, to discover someone you knew on the same row as yourself was pretty amazing. We hung out in Kuala Lumper (his plane left 20mins after mine) and he helped me purchase a camera duty free. He was our 'official photographer' on the M2M, so was a sound backup for camera tech.
Anyways, the Brothers are great value, but as I arrived at the Brother's house around 10am (4 hours after arrival in France) I knew it would be unlikely that they would have the room ready for me. It won't be ready until 3pm, but thats cool. They are all amazed at what I am planning to do - so amazed that it is unnerving. Oh well, we'll see how we'll go.
Am hoping to find the following on the wanderings:
- Towel
- Australian Flag
- More maps
- 8 speed campag-compatible cassette with a 13-26 range
- Second pair of cycling shorts (only have one, and it was the pair I was planning to throw out mid-trip)
blah blah
