Where are Ron and Ellen?

September - October 2005



Ellen in France Ron in France

Travel plans, September 2005 - October 2005

On Wednesday 7 September we fly from Washington DC to Paris, arriving Thursday morning 8 September. We'll take the bus from Charles de Gaulle airport outside Paris to Gare Montparnasse in Paris, and then take the train to Bordeaux. We'll spend a long weekend in Bordeaux, visiting friends, getting oriented, getting bikes and camping gear organized, and overcoming jet lag.

At the beginning of the next week, probably Monday 12 Sept, we'll start cycling from Bordeaux along the Canal du Midi, a canal that runs approximately 400km from the Atlantic to the Mediterranean.

We plan to camp along the way, although there are a few towns with International Youth Hostels and we will probably stay in them if available.

The route takes us to Toulouse and Carcassonne (and a lot of other places in between). In Carcassonne, instead of continuing along the Canal du Midi, we plan to take a route that curves northeast through the Languedoc region to Mazamet, St. Gervais-sur-Mare, and Clermont l'Herault to St. Andres de Sangonis, a small town just east of Clermont l'Herault.

We'll visit friends in St. Andres de Sangonis for several days, exploring the surrounding region before heading back to spend some time in Paris.

Ellen flys home from Paris on 20 October.

Time zones? France is 6 hours ahead of Afton, Virginia, so when it is noon in Afton it is 6 pm in France.

As usual, we'll send occasional bulletins along the way in France, and Ellen will mount on the Web the bulletins and photos from the trip when returns.

Maps? Consult your own atlas or try either MapQuest, copyright 1997 by GeoSystems Global Corp and Mapping B.V., or the fine map collection at the University of Texas.

  • Map of France from Universtiy of Texas map collection. St. Andre de Sangonis is ~30km NW of Montpellier in southern France.

  • A general map of the Canal du Midi is here, with links to more detailed maps of the individual sections.


Travel plans, January 2006 - March 2006

Note added, December 2005: Because Ellen's mother died while we were in France, Ron came home with Ellen to attend the memorial service. He now leaves for Ethiopia from the U.S. on 24 January, returning on 30 March. See the Ethiopia pages for plans and reports about that trip.


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Last updated: 29 January 2006