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  Lyon, France
Friday, December 21, 2007

Itinerary : Praha - Kaiserslautern - Reims - Paris - Lyon
Dates : 18th to 21st December 2007
Mileage in Europe : 2700 km
Mileage so far : 23650 km.

This time I can see and feel the end of the trip really approaching when we finally left the beautiful city of Praha, to hit the autobahn in Germany where we did the first stop of our 3 day ride to Paris. Kevin wanted to take the blue road on my map but I had to revise the route he plotted when I told him that the blue road on the map was a river! Really cold ride where we regularly rode under 0 degrees Celsius...I think that the fact that the weather was cold gave me the kick in the butt I needed to reach Paris! Well, to be frank I was also excited to find my mom and sis that specially flied to Paris to welcome me, without forgetting my good friends that would also be there on the final day of my trip...I lost Kevin somewhere in Germany and I suspect him to have stopped for a beer somewhere without warning me! Anyway, I opted to stop in Kaiserslautern in Germany where I found a descent hotel at a reasonable price. Moreover, some of you will probably be surprised, but I had dinner in a fantastic Thai restaurant! Had a good chat with the thai owner that was married to a german woman. Weird because I've seen german men married to thai women (in Phuket for example...), but the other way around is rather surprising! He explained me that he was doing a 4x4 raid from germany to Thailand 40 years ago, but because of an accident in Greece they had to abort the trip and he headed back to germany where he fell in love...Hmmm...I then asked myself if I should have maybe faked an accident in Czech republic to marry a Czech woman!

The next day was a relatively short ride to Reims where we decided to meet up with Kevin before the last straight line to Paris. Kevin arrived first in Reims where he went for a stroll in this nice little city before taking a break in a...in a...pub! I was not surprised! And it was 4 pm! I found Kevin alone in the pub...I guess he needed a good guiness and so we had a good last night in Reims where we re-did the trip...The next morning was "D-day" and we started the day by going to the shopping centre to buy a santa outfit. I couldn't just arrive with my dirty bike clothes and I thought that covering them with a nice clean santa outfit would be a good idea. I didn't wait to reach Paris to wear the outfit and I decided to straight away wear my red wardrobe with the white beard in Reims to ride up to Paris...Had a few smiles from passing cars on the highway but I was delighted to have probably made some of the kids day...Kevin is not as shameless so he left me by myself with the Santa oufit to be laughed at!

Kev in a pub, redoing the world by himself....

In Reims with my santa outfit, heading for Paris..

off I go!

We were a bit early to arrive at the place de l'etoile in Paris so we stopped in Euro Disney to have our last drink of the trip and burn time. Felt very comfortable in my Santa outfit and I was asked by few parents if I could talk to their kids and explain them that I was working as a stuntman in Euro Disney!

last drink stop in eurodisney...

When I reached the champs elysee, I was overexcited and I could feel my heart beat accelerate when I had the place de l'etoile at sight. Then, the party started and I got what any stupid people that ride around the world have when they arrive safely, which is a big champagne shower! Nevertheless, I doubted my friend's esteem when they admitted having bought the cheapest champagne they could find! Haha! 2 euros! After having had a couple of champagne bottles sprayed on me, we had a little photo session to immortalize the moment before heading to a pub and restaurant...Unfortunately, I was too tired to do a late night celebration so we were good boys and headed home for a good night rest.

mission accomplished...

after my champagne shower....

with the french police...

with my new flatmate Aurelie...

with my umbrella girl Helene....

well deserved champagne shower...

family picture...

family picture 2....

The next day was a cold and boring ride to Lyon so that I could finally achieve the goal of the trip which was to ride to Lyon where I would celebrate X'mas with my grandma. She's 81 years old but still on top of her game! And her cooking is still fantastic! Tu es au top grand-mere!

my first comfortable seat in 3 months!

my grandma!

I guess this is the end of the adventure and my journal so I would like to thank everyone that came to welcome me back home, and special thanks to my mom and sis for welcoming me, without forgetting my dad that sadly couldn't make it in Paris. I hope that you guys had as much fun reading it as I had writing it. I didn't think that I would have so many visitors on my travel blog and I want to thank everyone that showed their support by posting fun messages or emailing me. In the same time, I would like to apologize to all of those that didn't get a reply to their messages but I was delighted to read every single one of them. I would also like to thank Kev and riding with him was a real pleasure. Two thumbs up to you and to a great team work Kev. Next time, if you enrol in an anger management program, bring spares, buy a watch, invest in a phone that works and get maps, I would do it again with you anytime!

Finally, I dedicate the whole trip to my father and my sister Stephanie, for their support and help. Without them, I would probably never had the privilege to do this once in a lifetime experience.

See you guys on the road...