Getting home, July 27, 2011

After putting the gallant little Pilote back into storage it was off to Rotterdam where there is a small airport with a connection to London City Airport. London City is a recently added airport on the east side of London, handy for a tube ride into town.
We were greeted in London by Michelle and Nick and spent a couple of days in their new condominium in West London. At the appointed time they made sure that we got to Waterloo Station to catch the train to Southampton in southwest England where were embarked on the Queen Mary II.
Seven day later we were in New York at dawn and safely back home in Indiana by lunchtime. Priceless and painless! Pictures here as usual.

A French Bicycle Race - July 10, 2011

On a quiet Sunday in July, we were motoring sedately through the winding lanes of the French countryside when suddenly we ran into flashing lights, folk running around in emergency coveralls and a policeman screaming "Depechez vous, depechez vous" at the top of his lungs ("Hurry up, hurry up" - from a policeman?) while indicating wildly that we should get out of here.
Turned out that we were about to be crushed by a hundred burly bicyclists who were threading through the lanes at what would be in-the-ditch speeds for poor old Penny. Without more ado, we pulled off into a side road and enjoyed the show. See here for more pictures.