so i'm back now...and although jetlag wasn't that big of a deal this time around, think i'm experiencing a strange sort of reverse culture shock, having spent the past three months in france. everything here is so much bigger than i remember, from refrigerators to cars to malls... and i swear i didn't know what to do with my left foot when i got into the car to go run errands my first day back! being more used to driving a stick-shift car now, i put my foot on the brake before starting the automatic and then thought, "i don't think i need to do that with this car..." very strange!
anyways, the last three months were a lot of fun but tons of hard work too... spent most of may and june living in a town called annecy, on the border of switzerland and a short drive from geneva. those two months were relaxing but busy, checking out the music festival in town, preparing for the upcoming tour, traveling to see other bike races, working on the new pioneer cycling tours website (www.pioneercyclingtours.com), and practicing my french!
beginning in july, mark and i started following the tour de france, heading up to the northwest of the country to see the team presentations and the first few stages, and spending a few days with some friends in chateaubriant. we then went back to annecy to pack up our apartment and get ready to pick up the 14 americans who signed up for our tour de france trip this year...
so from july 11-20, it was non-stop work, from constantly assembling/disassembling bikes, loading/unloading onto the rental vans, cleaning, topping off water bottles, interacting with hotel staff, making sure the clients were happy and healthy, camping out at viewing spots along the tour de france race route, buying groceries, setting up tents and tables, the list goes on and on!! think the other guides, mark, and i averaged about 4-5 hours of sleep per night, and i don't think i've ever done so much physical labor in such a short amount of time, ever! but despite a few unfortunate incidents, the trip went off beautifully and we received a lot of positive feedback from the guests. for our first year, think we did pretty darn well! there's always room for improvement though, and we learned a lot about the tour business in general, what to expect, how to better prepare...so hopefully next year will turn out even better!
after dropping everyone off in geneva or toulouse, mark and i continued on to paris to watch the finish on the champs-elysees, meeting up with some friends and cheering on the riders. although the day started out cold and wet, as soon as the riders entered paris and made their way up towards the arc de triomphe, the sun came out! we watched them circle the route from the arc to the place de la concorde seven or eight times, plenty of time to get some decent pictures. of course, lance ended up in yellow once again, and i guess it's nice for him to go out on a high note. i can't wait for next year though, and the opportunity to watch a REAL race, in which the cyclists actually battle it out, as opposed to one guy dominating the entire scene...
with the end of this year's tour de france, mark and i decided to go up to the northeast and scout out strasbourg and the alsace area, in advance of tour de france 2006, which is departing from strasbourg. we spent a few days in wine country, driving around vineyards and small towns with a decidedly german influence (architecture, food, language), booking hotels, learning about the area, and then went back to his aunt's place in the alps to pack up and get ready to come home!
i've now been in nc for a week now, just relaxing and running errands... it's nice to have a home to come back to, since my parents spend most of the year in hong kong, and i can have this place to myself. still, guess i now have to figure out what most of you are probably asking yourselves: what next?! i'm not really sure, although i have applied to some random consulting jobs here in north carolina and elsewhere. i've also sent my resume in to unesco's young professionals program in paris, so we'll see whether that pans out. otherwise, i'm just hanging out down here until my sister's wedding in october, helping her out with the wedding preparations. other than some side trips to d.c. and austin in the next few months, think i'm staying put for a little while!
