An Impending Journey

My blog begins today but the planning for this trip began more than a year ago. My husband, Dave, and I have dreamed for many years of traveling to France and following the Tour de France. It was one of those great adventures that we added to our bucket list that I think we both probably thought we'd never get to. But if you really want to do something, why not just go for it?

We are both huge cycling fans, we ride almost every day and follow the sport closely. We're also both active cancer advocates and LIVESTRONG supporters. And we love to travel and explore new countries and cultures. It made sense.

The whole adventure started as one of those ah-ha moments when all the pieces fell into place. I remember it clearly, we were driving home from work one day (stuck in traffic as usual) and talking about how it was time to plan a big trip again. Lance Armstrong had just recently announced the formation of Team RadioShack and we were getting excited about what the next year had in store for the cycling world. And then I remember looking at Dave and saying, "let's do it. Let's really do it. Let's go to France and follow the Tour next year. Let's not just talk about it. Let's just do it." And we shook on it.

The planning began in earnest in October 2009 when the Tour route was announced. Dave and I went to Barnes and Noble, pulled out every France book we could find, spread out on the floor with our laptop and started matching towns to the Tour route. We knew that little mountain towns where the Tour came through would book up quickly! After a few weeks and a lot of research this is the route we mapped out:

July 9-13 in Paris
July 13-16 in Aiglun (the Alps)
July 16-18 in Antibes (French Riviera)
July 18-23 in Luchon (Pyrenees)
July 23-26 back in Paris

I'll post again with more details on our destinations of choice. And I will also post on how this itinerary aligns with the Tour. Dave will also post as the resident cycling expert!

So what is La Grande Boucle? Well, technically it's The Large Loop. It's what the Tour de France is sometimes called in France. It's my description of the adventure that Dave and I will take around the country. And it's the journey that Dave and I also hope to take you on in the coming weeks. We'll post about the trip (hopefully post pictures). We'll comment on the cycling, the adventure, the food, the culture and of course on our own epic bike rides. We'll post a few more times before we depart on July 9...and then the journey begins!

Thanks for taking La Grande Boucle with us!