France 2026 - Arrivals

It takes weeks of  lists and spreadsheets, route planning and logistic planning, bike box hunting, disassembly, cars and buses and planes, reassembly and trains, but somehow it all comes together and we start our bike tour, 2026. 

First we drove the bikes to Toronto airport. 

Then we drove home and gathered our bags and took the TTC back to the airport. 

Checking in the bikes has been tricky in the past, but this year it was super easy and the very helpful staff helped us tape the boxes up and get them on their way. 

An overnight flight of almost 8 hours was calm and quiet, restful and on time. 

We survived the EES line at Charles de Gaulle airport, and accomplished bike reassembly in personal best time, less than two hours.

Paris is hot. 

But we arrived at Gare du Nord in time to ride 3.5 km to Decathalon to gather camping fuel and a phone holder. (First mechanical malfunction of the trip, my phone case / quad lock came apart.) Alternate options found and bonus of water bottles filled for free thanks to the very nice Decathlon security guy. 

The first 7 km are done!

Gare de L'Est is beautiful. Inside and out 

But a wee trip to the loo is not a free ride 😉

That's $1.60 Cdn! But hydration is key today. 

The TER train is a great way to travel with bikes.

With our bikes secured,  we were comfortable enjoying the French countryside as we moved from flat fields to rolling hills. 

Chaumont is known for its amazing viaduct. Of course when you are riding on it, you don't get the view, but here are some images (from Google) to show you what it looks like. 

Arriving in Chaumont we found a cute little town with some big steep hills. It will make for a tough start tomorrow but for tonight we are settled into our new tent, in the municipal campground. We have a lovely private grass pitch.

 

And we are letting the birds sing us to sleep. 

I am blogging to share our travels, inspired by the poet Mary Oliver:

Pay attention 

Be astonished 

Tell about it 

Tomorrow the tour begins...

2025 Christmas / Hanukkah Letter

A baby is coming. If you have been incarcerated at CECOT in El Salvador and are therefore unaware, Maggie is due in April. Sorry, let me restate that: Maggie and David are due. That’s what the kids say, “They are pregnant”. In this case the pronoun is  actually plural (‘OG’ – Original Grammar). It’s like each of them will carry for 20 weeks and they will flip a coin to see who delivers. Put simply, impending grandfatherdom is triggering me back to Dazed (Grand)Dad status. Out of touch and out of time.

I’m aghast at how much stuff, by which I mean expensive stuff, is required for the little one. Don’t worry, I have counseled the young couple that by foregoing these gadgets and investing these funds appropriately, the future value would probably cover our granddaughter’s first year of university in 2045. Bandit the dog, who can be a bit ‘reactive’ is in training for the big day. Maggie is smearing a life-sized infant doll in hamburger and putting it in the baby rocker on the floor. Nothing to see here Bandit, move along.

Beyond insemination, 2025 has been a good year. Civil rights and rule of law in the US took a severe beating, but the stock market is up, up, up and the Toronto Blue Jays very nearly won the World Series.  You don’t need global stability if you have world domination in pro baseball.

The extended family enjoyed heading to San Diego for our nephew Robert’s wedding at a classic Southern California resort called Rancho Bernardo. It was a magical setting eating under the stars in mid-September with perfect weather and outstanding food. When I got home, I immediately sent out emails of apology to our friends and family who had attended our wedding reception at the Appleby College dining hall and got a chicken breast and few green beans! Things have changed. 

Hannah and Adam work with kids. Adam supporting kids in Grade 6 with special needs and Hannah visiting kids under 3 yrs in their homes and daycares. Hannah provides the kids (and parents) with exercises to help them meet developmental goals. At Adam’s school the kids put their phones in a signal-blocking pouch when they arrive and the teacher locks the bag with an electronic “key” until the end of the day. In return, the kid gets a dose of Concerta and a loaded handgun for self-defense.  Okay, the phone thing is true – the rest is my suggestion for the next phase of the pilot. 

Hannah works with quite a few families in marginalized communities. She has a front row seat at the circus of American decline. She carries cards in a wide variety of languages that explain what to say if ICE arrives at the door. Nonetheless, the kids are getting the therapy and services they need – supporting the idea that “what’s wrong in America can still be fixed by what’s right in America”.

It all reminds me of my own professional work with teens – older teens mostly. Getting them started on the right brands of alcopops uh – “coolers”, and beer before moving them on to spirits. Luckily my deficiencies as a marketer are benefits to society. In the last 20 years alcohol use among high schoolers has nosedived from 65% to 35%. I am considering philanthropically pivoting to social media and sports gambling.

 

In August Carolyn and I were in British Columbia on the northern tip of Vancouver Island. We had a chance to visit with people from the first nation of Gwa’sala-Nakwaxda’xw. It is an indigenous nation of roughly 1,100 people and 8 square kilometeres. As a group they were particularly disadvantaged because in 1964 the government “relocated” them from a few hundred kilometers away on the mainland across the inner passage that your cruise ship takes to get to Alaska. The “Indian Affairs” Minders found it too inconvenient to track these people up in Smith Inlet so they promised them housing on Vancouver Island and burned their village once they were on the boats. Of course, the “housing” was fake news. Today the Nation is doing their best to rebuild their community and has nearly finished their “big house”.  It is a community-arena-sized building that is at the centre of their spiritual rituals and cultural practices. Sort of like the big church in small town Quebec. When we entered, we were bowled over by the massive carved pillars, the timber work and the huge sand floor and fire pit for traditional dances that have preserved their oral tradition for 10,000 years. To build it they traveled back to Smith Inlet to gather the sand from their ancestral home and that is what they will dance on. The grand opening, likely this summer, will draw thousands, many by canoe, from all over the inner passage and Vancouver Island.

The Big House

 

Our family’s holiday rituals and traditions seemed paltry by comparison. Nothing against Elf on a Shelf, but that experience certainly made me wonder about the vestiges of both Christmas and Hannukah that we practice. Facing the resilience represented by the creation of that “big house” it seemed obvious. Go and get the sand from your metaphorical Smith Inlet and dance on it. 

Scotland 2025 - Sept 27 - The Last Hike

 

Our last stop on this trip (before returning to Edinburgh) is Blair Atholl. And after having hiked and walked over 180 kilometers, our bodies are sort of "Killie" and "crankie". So it seems we are at the correct intersection 🤣

After breakfast and chats with other MAC adventure hikers, we walked out towards the River Tilt. We said goodbye to the fellow Canadians Sonia and Pete, as they crossed the river towards the train station, and we stayed to do the river hike. They are one day ahead of us, on the same MAC trip. 

The hike up the river was a rich green forest, and the river was loud and energetic. 

We came across an old shelter or auditorium or amphitheatre, or, we are not sure what? It was on the other side of the river. 

Today we chose to "hike our own hike" so from here we crossed the river and went back towards the Castle grounds. A few cool nights and we are witnessing the transformation of the trees to Fall colours. 

And guess who we ran into again today?!

Some sleepy cows! 

Gotta love those cows! 🤣

Back through the Castle grounds and into Blair Atholl, to the Watermill. 

At the Blair Atholl Village Hall, we discovered the

We enjoyed meeting some locals, and wandering through the craft sale. There may have been some shortbread purchased, as well as some Christmas shopping started here today 🥰

The skies were threatening rain all day but we continued our journey, through the small town, and across the railway tracks. We were careful and avoided the trains, but enjoyed watching this one come through this lovely old stone archway / bridge. 

We then crossed the River Garry and found a hiking trail along its shore. 

Complete with fly-fishermen. 

Pretty flowers.  

And hidden bales of hay. 

We had to climb an embankment and hop a fence to get back across the River Garry and to the road headed home (don't tell our mom about the fence hopping). 

It was a tough walk from here. Although it was categorized as a "hike" it was far too much road walking for us, and far too little shoulder, and the added complications of driving on the left. Actually the most stressful few kilometers of the trip, to be honest. 

We couldn't even walk facing traffic because there was a stone wall on that side of the road,

This road is actually labeled National Cycle Route 7. What??? Absolutely no shoulder, and blind corners... Yikes. 

 

We made it back safely to our Bridge of Tilt, and the cute little community of our Bed & Breakfast, the Ptarmigan House. 

(Photo above from internet, we did not see blue sky today) 

This little community has many restores old stone houses and has lovely art and fixtures. 

We made sure we were back in time for the main event today. The Woman's Rugby World Cup finals. Canada was an underdog in the tournament, but we beat the odds and made it to the finals against the #1 ranked English team. So we did what all good Canadians would do, we found a pub to cheer our girls on. 

Sadly, our pints did not help them in the first half, so we resorted to the truly Scottish pub experience and got fish and chips (and another pint). 

 

But, alas, the English team was not to be beaten tonight. Still so proud of our team and their amazing rise to play in the world cup finals. 

A rainy walk home from the pub, and some comfort for our loss. 

Tomorrow we say good bye to Blair Atholl and to the Hike and Rail Grand Tour of Scotland. 

Thanks for reading along and in particular for those who left comments ❤️. 

Scotland has been grand, indeed.