It is Thursday night, we’ve been awake for a day and a half, just rode 90 km (57 miles), and it is almost 10 pm, so this might work better as an enumerated list of thoughts. I can’t sleep in planes. I can fall asleep in 15 seconds on a...

We slept in… longer than ever… Birds woke us up at about 4, but we put in earplugs and fell back to sleep. I slept until 8:30. It was amazing. The bed was really comfortable and there were 4 windows open and a fan. The temperature was perfect. We loved...

Natalie again… Thirty years ago this summer (so, 1987) I did an internship in French-speaking Belgium, after completing an intensive university program of French. It was an amazing experience; I learned so much, and not just about French. I traveled for 2 weeks before beginning work, to London, Paris, Dijon,...

Today we slept in, awaking to the sound of rain. The air was clear and cold. A perfect Sunday morning. Our host left us a basket of food for breakfast. We are really pleased with this Airbnb.

Natalie didn’t sleep well last night. Maybe her body clock is taking some time to adjust. Maybe it isn’t used to getting more than 5 hours of sleep the night before…. She eventually fell asleep but we were up early getting ready for the ride to Bastogne.

Natalie writing today. This morning Pete and I went to “Le Mardasson,” the beautiful World War II memorial in Bastogne. I of course had been there in 1987, but in 2014 they had built a new museum. The outdoor memorial really is as beautiful as I remember. The new museum...

Pete writing…  We slept great. Our body clocks must have caught up. Woke to rain, a lot of it. Forecast was rain all day, so after breakfast we rode off into the rain. We followed a route suggested by Google - you know the ones that have a note that...

This morning we rode from Sedan - rain was threatening, but never materialized. The weather was perfect. Today we didn’t have any sustained climbs, but several short ones over 10% grade. Our legs are getting stronger, but still hurt on these steep climbs. (Natalie’s note: Emphasis on the word “several.”...

Pete again… If your trip through Europe doesn’t include the GPS directions lady saying “now turn left onto cow path” you might be doing it wrong.

(Co-writing today, but the “I” is usually Pete as he was typing.) We are writing this from an Indian restaurant near where we are staying in the 18th arrondissement. We are happy to have found a vegan-friendly place to eat (recommended by a local on the street and also our...

(Pete writing)  We slept great. We are at an eclectic artsy Airbnb flat. At first it seemed extra cramped, but after a short adjustment period it felt great. It seems like the owner just goes and stays with friends when she is able to rent it out - so it...

(Pete writing again) Another good night for sleep! We thought about trying to time our departure from Paris so that we could miss rush hour, but rush hour is several hours so we just decided to embrace the madness and roll whenever we were ready to leave, which turned out...

(Natalie writing) Happy Fourth of July, America! Today’s ride was the longest segment of the trip: 85 miles. But it was also one of the best so far. We really had perfect weather, some clouds for about half the day, becoming sunnier in the afternoon, a nice breeze, and temperature...

(Pete today)  Today’s ride was to Calais, a simple 50 miles jaunt to the North. When you are skilled at navigating as I am you don’t need a GPS, so today we decided to declare our Independence from the oppressive GPS directions lady. Using my carefully honed scouting skills, I...

We are team writing today. Today’s ride from Calais to Bruges felt a lot longer than 77 miles. We are physically and mentally tired, so it is great that tomorrow is a rest day.

(Natalie writing today)  I am beginning this post in the early evening at a small shady park in Old Bruges, a quiet respite from the tourist area. People are napping, talking, reading, walking. The sound of the fountain is calming.

(Pete writing) Today’s ride from Brugge to Antwerp was much easier than the ride from Calais to Brugge. It helped that it was about 10 miles shorter (66 miles) and that we had rested and that we had the wind at our backs. The trails were good, with a few...

Team writing today… We slept well, as happily has become our pattern on this trip. We are not looking forward to returning to our 4 AM wakeup routine once we return. It has been amazing to not awake to the sound of an alarm clock. We both are ready to...

(Natalie writing today) Surprised ourselves by sleeping in. That’s always nice, especially on vacation, right? We had expected a little rain but happily didn’t get any until we were checked into our AirBnB. It was a perfect temperature again today, some clouds too. 

Pete writing tonight… Today was our final ride for this trip. We are really sad to be finished, but very grateful for the experiences of the last 3 weeks.

(Natalie writing) I’m going to try to be concise, as we’re waking early tomorrow (early for this trip’s standards but not our normal life).