Today is the last day of biking. We didn’t have too much of an early start today, waking up at 8:00m for a delicious breakfast of coffee, croissants, and cornflakes. We got ready for the day’s ride, which had a few options. While some people started right from the chalet, Matt started at Courchevel 1850.
Off for the last ride of the trip!
Smiling before the hard part starts
Jo has the easy job of sitting near the sign rather than riding the route
The ride started with a few kilometers from 1850 to the start of the grueling 6km up to Col de la Loze where part of the route was an insane 20% incline.
While the bikers were riding, I stayed in the support van until the start of the Col de Loze, where there is no access for cars. Once the riders came through and got their snacks, we went back to La Praz and had some time before the riders finished their day. I went for a run along the lake and dirt bike trails, then met Eileen for lunch.
Right as we were finishing lunch, most of the riders returned to the chalet. Matt and I relaxed in the living room, caught up on the blog, and watched the Tour. We leave very early in the morning to get to the airport on the first transport, so part of the day was spent packing up and getting ready to leave.
After a very long day yesterday, we got a bit of a reprieve today. We had a relaxed breakfast and left the chalet at 9:30. The plan for the day was to bike right from the chalet and ride down towards Bozel. Jo and Eileen rode the support van and enjoyed the views of the surrounding Alps, and Matt got a head start in the van and started his ride in Bozel.
Heading right out from the chalet
From Bozel, we went through Planay to Pralognan with the support van stopping along they way to provide snacks and water to the riders if they needed anything. Once everyone arrived at the main road in Pralognan, we went through the side streets of the small ski village for cappuccinos and to prepare for the next part of the ride.
If we don’t get coffee in Le Planay, we can always go with Plan B
Plan B
Cappuccinos always make me smile
Matt left the cafe about 10 minutes early to get a head start on the 6km, 3-7% ride to La Bergerie, the restaurant and inn where we had lunch. Once everyone arrived, we got a table outside to take in the amazing views as we ate.
Matt is having a great ride
Beautiful scenery exhibit A
Exhibit B
Exhibit C
Walking up to lunch
Lovely little lunch spot
Having reached our furthest destination for the day, and with plenty of time to spare, there were a few options to get back after lunch. Matt decided to bike the entire route back to the chalet, including the 6 switchback turns at 7% up to the chalet.
Looking at pictures before food arrived
Getting ready to head back to the chalet
Nice views for the ride back
It’s hard to have a bad view here
Climbing up to La Praz
Jo and Eileen took the van back and picked up a rider just at the start of the 6 turns. We arrived at about 2:00 (much better than the 11 pm last night) and took the free time to relax and watch the Tour on the chalet TV. Matt arrived less than 2 hours later, in time to recover and watch the end of the race.
Recovery and Tour de France
The other guest were trickling in as it got closer to dinner time and all spent time together in the living room. We had a great dinner and prepped for tomorrow — the final day of biking before we fly home on Sunday.
Alpe d’Huez day! Alpe d’Huez is a very popular climb and has been a stage end quite a few times. There are 21 switchback turns, some of them themed, leading up to the top. The town at the bottom of Alpe d’Huez is about 2 hours away so we left the chalet at 7:30 this morning.
2022 Tour de France stage 12
I think the drive there went well, but I slept most of the way. We found a place to park about 3/4 of a mile from town and got ready to head off for the day. The bikers took the road leading to the start of the climb, while Jo and Eileen walked into the town. We wandered around for a while, keeping an eye out for both sandwich shops and a place to sit.
Heading out from the parking lot
Mission: find food and shade
Le Bourg d’Oisans all dressed up for the tour
It was about 85 degrees at 10:00 am so we knew that shade was a must. Last time we came, we sat on turn 2 in the sun all day, and we learned from that mistake. As we were walking, Nick messaged that he bike was not working for him, and so he met up with us. We found a bakery and picked up sandwiches for the day and started looking for a spot to sit along the route. We found a spot under a tree just before the 15 km banner. As luck would have it, we were also right across from a bar.
As we were waiting, Matt biked up to the top of Alp d’Huez. Along the way are a few notable turns, such as Beefeater Corner and Dutch Corner. It’s a party all day on the mountain, but I think Bastille Day added even more flair.
Beefeater corner
Friendly fans
After making it to the top (or as close to the top as was allowed), he made his way back down. The decent was a bit slower than normal due to the giant crowds. At the bottom, Matt ran into Paul, one of the riders from our trip on 2018. They chatted for a bit, then Matt met the group under the tree. Bob and Phil had already joined. We all are our lunches with refreshments from across the street (in souvenir cups!).
In case you forget where you are
It’s hot here. Shade would be nice
This guy prepared for the sun
The horses found a good place to watch the race too.
Beefeater Bend was rocking
Hi Paul!!
Made it back to the shade to watch the race
We relaxed and waited for the caravan to pass. Because the crowds were up on the mountain, there weren’t too many people on our area. We were able to get more swag and were entertained. Abut an hour later, we cheered the riders as they came through. After the peloton had passed, we packed up our bags and beelined back to the van. As we were walking back, another group of riders passed by and one of the members of Asana threw their water bottle to Matt – great souvenir. It can get crowded and heavy traffic getting out, so we wanted to be able to leave while the race was still going up the climb.
The plan for today was to split in two groups. After breakfast, Jo and Eileen stayed in Courchevel to see the views and do some hiking while the bikers headed off early (at 7:30) to get to Col du Galilbier and Col du Télégraphe, where Stage 11 of the Tour will be going through.
2022 Tour de France Stage 11 map
Australian Marc representing
Onward!
The two climbs for the riders are both difficult. The camper vans and crowds make it even more technical, plus the concern of finding a place to watch the race without getting stuck, but all this makes for an exciting ride and they certainly had fun getting there.
Dedicated fans got here waaaayyy early
Trumpet Man warming up
Not a bad view for a bike ride
Matt ride up the first climb, the Télégraphe, and started the decent towards the next climb when he realized it was a better idea to stay at the top. He got swag from the caravan and a good view of the race.
Bike riding is really big here.
All sorts of fans are coming to town.
More free polka dot shirts!
Lunch provided by the caravan
Allez Rohan!
After the tour had passed, Matt rode back down to where the van was parked, but the rest of the group were in a different area watching the rest of the race on TV. Matt rode to a bar in St-Michel-de-Maurienne, the nearest town, for lunch. There was no TV in the bar, but he found a friendly French man who shared his phone screen.
Looking down on St-Michel-de-Maurienne
Thanks friendly man with a phone!
While Matt and the others were biking and watching the tour, Eileen and I started our day a bit later (9:30, woo!) by walking through La Praz towards the gondola. On the way, we stopped at a farmers market and bought pan au chocolate for second breakfast and saw some ski jumpers practicing on the courses. We took the gondola up to Courchevel 1850 (to indicate 1850 meters) and walked around the town for a few minutes. It is a very popular (and expensive) ski resort in the winter, but since its summer, there a few people wandering about and a few stores open, but mostly empty.
View of La Praz from the gondola
From there, we took the next gondola, called Vernons, up to the next area. Each gondola stop has it’s own name to help the skiers know where to go, even though they are not towns. We ate our pan au chocolates while enjoying in the view before taking the next gondola up to Vizelle, the highest point you can get to with the (working) gondolas at 2,659 meters. We admired the amazing view of Mt. Blanc, the surrounding mountains and glaciers, and of course, a giant gorilla Captain America statue.
Giant Captain America gorilla at the top of a mountain, obviously
We took the gondolas back down to Courchevel 1850 and started to hike from there to our lunch reservation at Le Bouc Blanc at 2,000 meters. We walked along a small dirt road between the ski slopes to get there. While the walk was only about 3.5 kilometers, there were some up and downs as we went around the hills. The last kilometer was pretty steep as we walked up from the base of a chairlift to the top of a gondola route (but a bit below the chairlift end). We had a lovely leisurely lunch with spectacular views.
This lunch view will do
Once we had our fill, we took the gondola that is right next to the restaurant down to La Tania, where the 1992 Albertville Olympics were held. The town was built for the Olympics and has been growing into a destination ski town ever since. From there, we decided to forgo waiting 30 minutes for the bus and would walk instead. We started walking along the road, but quickly came across a path with a sign pointing to La Praz. We started on the trail, which became canopied by trees and surrounded by a variety of plants — including raspberry bushes! The 3 km walk through the trees was perfect and the trail ended just past the ski jump routes in La Praz.
We found the secret trail!
We took a quick walk around the lake where they were setting up a firework/pyrotechnic display for tonight in honor of Bastille Day tomorrow. Back at the chalet, we agreed that we needed to test out the hot tub. Yes, it was 80 degrees outside, but the hot tub was pretty nice.
80 degrees out? Relax in an 85 degree hot tub!
After we were cooked, we came back in the chalet to relax before dinner and the bikers were soon on their way back as well. After dinner, Matt and I walked to the lake in town to watch the aforementioned fireworks show. After a rocky start, it turned out to be pretty cool, with the display telling a story more than just making a bunch of colorful explosions.
Bastille Day firework and light show
Tomorrow will be another long day – Alp d’Huez on Bastille Day. It should be a blast!
Today’s plan called for an earlier wake up call in order to get a head start on biking in and around Megève the location of today’s finish of Stage 10 the Tour de France. We fueled up on breakfast and hopped in the van for the hour-and-a-half drive. Parking just outside of the village, the bikers set off while Jo and Eileen walked to town.
2022 Tour de France Stage 10 map
Make sure those bikes are secured!
Domestiques doing their job
Starting in Megève, the bikers rode downhill 12 kilometers to Saint-Gervais-les-Bains. Once everyone arrived at the bottom, they met for a cappuccino break. After re-caffeinating, they started the route back back up the hill to the base of Megève, and onward to the end of the stage at the top, about 8 km up at 7% incline.
Tour flag bikers
Camper vans parked and ready!
Good thing Hirschi didn’t drop out before this stage
While the bikers were riding, Jo and Eileen wandered around Megève, finding shops, bakeries, and official tour merchandise. There were shuttle buses to take spectators up to the top of Megève, but we did’t want to get stuck when they closed the roads. Instead, we chose one of the many (and appreciated) boulangeries to pick up sandwiches for lunch. With our picnic in tow, we scoped out a few options to watch the caravan and race and found a great spot along the route to park ourselves for the rest of the day.
Found a shady spot
Meanwhile, Matt had biked back up the same hill he went down and briefly stopped to see Jo and Eileen before continuing up the road to the finish line on the Megève Airport runway. Having reached the top, he biked back down all the way back to the van to get his day bag and regular shoes and finally stopped back along the route with Jo and Eileen.
Almost there!
View from the top
Airport finish line
Matt made podium!
Phil had also finished his ride and met us on the route as well. By that time, more people had also claimed their space and it was started to get crowded. We spread out as much as we could and had our lunch. We met a few women standing next to us who were from BYU and were studying abroad. They came to watch the stage because one of their professors was a “diehard biker” and talked about it, but they had almost no knowledge about the Tour or what was about to happen. We tried to be helpful by telling them about the caravan and where to stand for the best chance at the freebies (namely, away from us). Eventually, the caravan came through and we had fun grabbing as many goodies as possible — including a can of non-alcoholic beer right off the float.
Well earned lunch treat
On the shoulders of giants
The Earth is flat… On an incline.
Thanks for the drink!
The Tour was about 35 kilometers away from the finish when there was a demonstration taking up the road. The race was paused until it was cleared and safe. The race officials had to make sure that the same time was kept between riders once they were able to start again. Soon enough, everyone was back on the route and racing towards the finish. We had a great view when they passed us about 25 minutes later. Pro tip- if you are a young cycling fan you want to get a good view, convince your parents to take you to the route more than 5 minutes before the riders pass.
Once the main peloton went by, we started making our way back to the van. Everyone else was already there finishing getting their bikes secured. Matt and Phil added their bikes and gear and we were quickly on our way back to the chalet.
Tomorrow will be an early start (at 7:30) for the bikers to get enough time to climb a couple of routes before the tour passes their route. Jo and Eileen will stay in Courchevel to hike around and go up to 1850 for lunch.
Up and early this morning excited for the first day of biking. We packed our day bags and fueled up on a delicious breakfast. Once the vans were loaded up with bikes, gear, and riders, we were off.
Breakfast of cycling champions
The loading of the bikes
The route for the day started at Bourg-Saint-Maurice, heading up 24km to the ski resort of La Rosière, and then another 8km to the Col du Petit Saint-Bernard. The very good bikers (Dave, Marc, & Mike) started at the bottom and tackled the entire route, while the rest started a few kilometers up the road. Meanwhile, Matt was perfectly happy to let Ben drop him off in La Rosière (same as 2018) knowing he’d be coming back up the other side of the mountain later in the afternoon. Meanwhile, Eileen and Jo strolled around the ski village after all riders were on the road.
The send-off
8k to Italy from here
Morning sunshine for days up here
Arriving first to the pass “€ which was not even close given his head start (yeah! totally won that climb!) “€ Matt recalled the advice we were given last year to pedal a few extra hundred meters and cross the border to get a cappuccino at the ITALIAN coffee shop. Real tough break having to pass the time at an Italian coffee shop in the Alps with great weather and a nice view of Mont Blanc.
Benvenuti!
Are any St. Bernards truly “little” though?
The real deal
What sort of moron parks their bike like that? But In my defense, I was the only one when I got here!
After the rest of the gang and the van arrived, additional cappuccinos were consumed. Because the weather was good today (unlike 2018), Dave’s next plan for the day was to continue onward into Italy, dropping down about 12.5km to a pizzeria/pasta place in La Thuile. Matt is not Julian Alaphilippe on disc brakes, so to make the timing work, off he went ahead of the gang. Arriving at the restaurant in La Thuile, the bad news was the restaurant wasn’t serving pizza today (sorry, Ben). Fortunately, Italy is pretty good at pasta, too.
Lovely La Thuile
No worries, the wheel came off AFTER descending to La Thuile
Italian pasta and espresso for lunch is not too shabby
Once we had enough food and another round of espressos, the day’s route now reversed all the way back to Bourg-Saint-Maurice. The catch, however, is that the climb from La Thuile back to France “€ while only 12.5km “€ is much steeper than the climb from the other side and you always get a nasty headwind in that direction.
So, with that in mind, the alpha riders (Dave, Marc, & Mike) headed back to France by bike and everybody else hitched a ride in the van to the top “€ except Matt, who jumped off the van about 6km from the top and rode back into France on two wheels as the Tour de France gods intended!!! (Also, you know, the rest of the riders already put in plenty of work on the French side earning their well-deserved lifts out of Italy.)
The view of Bourg-Saint-Maurice from La Rosière
Another view from La Rosière over Montvalezan
Reminder the sixth-to-last episode of Better Call Saul debuts today, and we are gonna have to wait an entire week to catch up. No!!!!
After traversing the pass, the 32km descent back to Bourg-Saint-Maurice was underway. On the descent, a tree fell and made the road impassable for cars and trucks. The timing of this was crazy because only Mike and Matt were still behind the tree when it fell (and found the road blocked with only one other motorcyclist), but Ben and the van had only passed Matt about 5 minutes earlier. So, while Matt didn’t see the tree fall (likely do to stiff winds, or perhaps the sonic boom Dave & Marc left in their wake) it couldn’t have happened more than mere minutes earlier.
Well, there’s another thing to worry about!
Fortunately both Matt and Mike navigated their bikes around the tree and continued descending at speed to meet up at Le Tonneau (our trusty Bourg-Saint-Maurice cafe from 2018) marking a successful day of biking up, down, up and down again over the Col du Petit Saint Bernard.
Only one more 12km stretch of biking was in store for the day, which was a flat ride from Bourg-Saint-Maurice to Aime-la-Plagne on the bike path along the L’Isère river. We then loaded up the vans and headed back to the Chalet for a late afternoon snack and an Italian-themed dinner in honor of our bike route today.
Marc absolutely deserves the rest of the Tiramisu
Tomorrow is a Tour day with a slightly earlier start, so off to sleep we go.
Travel day! From Geneva to Courcheval, home base for our TdF bike tour. But first things first, we started by enjoying a relaxing morning and the free Ibis breakfast (primarily the espresso machine). Even better, while we finished packing, we found a music video channel playing the top 50 hits from 1986.
Prime seating right next to the espresso machine
The trip from the city center back to the Geneva airport was a snap. We swapped a few dollars for euros at a currency exchange and made our way to find Dave at the same designated meeting point we used in 2018. Right away we spotted some familiar faces “€ Eileen and Phil – and introduced ourselves to some new folks, including Mike and Jon (long-time friends of Dave). After chatting with the group for a couple minutes, Dave arrived and we loaded up the van & trailer.
Deja vu!
Airport pickup success
Along the way, we stopped for lunch at Le Boulangerie de Lèon, the first of what will surely be many top-notch recommendations from Dave this week. After making some tough decisions on which of the many delicious sandwiches and drinks to order, we hopped back in the van to continue the journey. The route goes past the town of Annecy, home of beautiful Lake Annecy, which “€ as one would expect “€ is a very popular place on a glorious Sunday afternoon.
Just terrible weather. There are at least 10 clouds.
Fresh jambon and emmental sandwich (on left) was the winner
We arrived at Chalet Nicola in Courchevel around 2:30pm and met another group member, Jim, who was already there relaxing on the porch after an afternoon ride. With plenty of free time before dinner, we decided to explore the town with Eileen who visits Courchevel nearly every year to go skiing with Phil. This pretty much makes them experts on the town, and Eileen was able to give us the inside scoop on the best bars, secret paths to nearby villages, and upcoming events “€ such as the Alpine World Ski Championships which will be hosted right here next February. After walking for a bit, we stopped at a fancy hotel for drinks and Phil joined us as well.
We have arrived. Bike-building time!
The living room of the chalet
Ski jump in Courchevel
Another Courchevel attraction – manmade lake and park area
Back at the chalet, Dave returned with the group’s next rider, Marc (an Aussie that knocks out triathlons for fun!), as well as the pedals for Matt’s bike. With all the equipment on-hand it was time to evaluate the bike situation and see if Matt still remembers how to ride one of these machines. Happy to report that after a couple adjustments, the answer is yes. Even better than last time, Dave brought a snazzier bike that weighs only 7.3kg, which is… amazing. Matt spun up and down the road a couple times, successfully recalling some 4-year old muscle memory. No falling over this time!
Comparing the S-Works and the Boardman
Back in the saddle again
With all bikes sorted and ready, the group met with Dave who reviewed the game plan for the week, including both tour and non-tour days. After the plan for tomorrow was set, we all sat down to dinner where the final two riders, Bob and Nick, joined. Recalling that France is the land of “dinner starts no earlier than 8:00pm” we finished the delicious three-course meal and headed back to our rooms for the night.
Tomorrow is the first day of biking! We will start in France and head into Italy for espresso and lunch.
As with our previous trip to France, we started once again by taking shots of Chartreuse and eating some French flag-colored M&M’s (so lucky they sell those in the US!). We made our way to O’Hare for a 3:50pm flight. Despite gambling with basic economy tickets, we were seated together with extra legroom and the flight went off without a hitch.
Carrefour is the best King of the Mountain (polka dot jersey) sponsor
If you know what’s good for your future, you will avoid the stairs at O’Hare
We landed in Zurich a little early, giving us some leeway before or our connecting flight. We overcame our minor jet lag and breezed through customs (got a real stamp!) to find the correct gate once it was announced. The flight from Zurich to Geneva only took 35 minutes in the air, during which time Matt grabbed the Swiss Sky magazine and thumbed to the maps section, whereupon he noticed the town of Lausanne was only about 50 miles from Geneva…
“I’m pretty sure stage 8 of the Tour de France ends later today in Switzerland in a town called Lausanne, right?”(yes it does) “According to this map, that’s really close to Geneva.”(it is!) “But I thought Lucern was further away.” (that totally different city sure is!) “Are there multiple spellings of Lucern because of different languages?”(nope!) “What about Luzern?”(another different city and nope again!) Are these all the same city?”(DEFINITELY NOT!) “Well regardless, seems like we should hop a train and definitely go to Lausanne!”(yes indeed!)
TdF 2022 Stage 8 Map. Hey, is Lausanne Lucerne???
Welcome to Switzerland!
If fortuitous map-reading wasn’t enough, arriving at the hotel three hours before check-in did the trick, so we proceeded to venture out. Taking the train from Geneva Airport to Geneva City Center was quick and easy (with a free transit pass from Ibis). But for Lausanne, figuring out what train to take and how to buy a ticket was a bit trickier. Also, as noted above it is super important to know that while Lausanne is pronounced like “Lucerne” (we think), it is an entirely different city from both Lucerne and Luzern. We eventually figured this out, bought the correct ticket, and found a train that got us there.
From the Lausanne train station, we wandered towards where the final kilometers of the stage would be winding through the city. The streets were decked out in celebration of the Tour. We eventually found the Fan Zone where we ordered a duck sandwich and coffee for lunch. Jo’s Tour de French Foods has officially begun.
Even my nails match lovely Lausanne
Tour de France chaos has gripped Lausanne ahead of the peloton’s arrival
Crossing the Place Chauderon and walking the 12% gradient route to the finish
Making our way back down the climb, we found a grassy and somewhat shady spot to hang out until the TdF Caravan arrived. As loyal blog readers know, the caravan is basically a Mardi Gras parade with sponsor cars/trucks/vans driving the route ahead of the cyclists and throwing swag at the crowd, usually courtesy of enthusiastic French 20-somethings harnessed to the vehicles for their safety.
Today’s caravan haul: 2 E’Leclerc King of the Mountain t-shirts, 1 King of the Mountain flag, 1 King of the Mountain hat, 1 yellow jersey hat, 1 metal bike keychain/bottle opener, an espresso pod for an espresso machine we don’t own, 2 packs of cheese crackers, and a luggage tag. We also spun a wheel at the EF booth in the Fan Zone and nabbed a drawstring backpack and a passport holder. Education First, people!!!
Our view just before the hard right turn under the 2km banner
E’Leclerc is the best King of the Mountain (polka dot jersey) sponsor. We have always been at war with Carrefour!
Swiss dog knows the last 2km are going to be ruff
Once the entire Caravan passed, the Tour soon followed. From our location at the 2km banner, we busted out our cameras and the Cubs W flag. Obviously not a traditional TdF flag one would see in France, but definitely the right choice when you are trying to speak to a subset of friends who are both Cubs fans and know who Wout van Aert is.
As a bonus, it turns out that the white W flag is pretty easy to spot on camera (we’ll have to do better than the split second we got on air today). And oh (spoiler alert), Wout Van Aert ended up winning the stage, so our flag was totally appropriate.
W is for Waut!
After the last riders passed, we walked back down to the train station. We successfully figured out which train would get us back to Geneva the quickest and without requiring a train change along the route. We stopped in the hotel to officially check in, then left again to eat dinner. Last time we were here, we tried a burger place called “Holy Cow,” so this time, we had to try the competition, “Burger Factory.” After determining that Burger Factory is in fact delicious, we took a quick stroll to the waterfront before returning to the hotel.
We did not take the “Grandson” train back to Geneva
This is the Brunswick Monument near our hotel. Built for a duke who got kicked out of Germany for being a tyrant, but agreed to give the Swiss a lot of money.
Tomorrow, we meet our Alpine Chaingang group at the Geneva airport and drive over to France where we will stay for the remainder of the trip. Tomorrow should be a relatively uneventful travel day, and biking starts Monday!
Continuing our quest to make up for lost travel time, we are headed back to the Alps for another Tour de France. In 2018 we booked a trip with Alpine Chaingang and had so much fun we are doing it again. This time, Matt will be biking while Jo rides the van and eats baguettes. Two people we met on the trip in 2018 — Phil and Eileen — are also returning this year. Eileen will be enjoying the non-biking route with Jo.
Starting with a red-eye flight to Zurich on Friday, we will connect to Geneva and spend the night before meeting the group on Sunday. From there, we stay in a swanky chalet in Courchevel for six days of biking adventures. The route each day will include roads used by past or current Tour de France stages, and three days will feature the Tour itself (stages 10, 11, and 12) — including the ever-popular caravan. I’ve been meaning to stock up on random office supplies, very sharp magnets, and gummi snacks.
This is the controlled start blog post!
While the chalet will be our main base, one night will be spent in the town of Les Deux Alps in order to better access Alpe d’Huez, a famously difficult and popular climb for cycling enthusiasts. The last time the Tour de France included Alpe d’Huez was when we were there in 2018. But this year, the Alpe d’Huez stage (stage 12) is on July 14th, which is Bastille Day. This is the French equivalent of the Super Bowl on the 4th of July. Should be nuts.
Once we conquer all six days of biking, we will head back to the Geneva airport and connect thru Frankfurt en route to Chicago. We’ll have two weeks to chill until our next adventure… Peru! (But that’s another blog)
The final day in London has arrived. Thanks to our 2:25PM afternoon flight, we had plenty of time to wake up, eat breakfast, finalize our packing, finish sorting all the perishables (aka. is this thing a plane snack or not?), and make sure Ellen’s flat was back in pristine and platinum Rolling Stones condition.
One more time departing the flat
We originally planned on taking the Tube back to Heathrow (same way we arrived), but due to track work, staff shortages, and the Easter weekend, we (accurately) deemed the Tube was probably not the best route. Instead, we booked a trio of discount tickets on the Heathrow Express, from Paddington Station directly to the airport in 15 minutes. The Tube would have probably taken an hour or more. Definitely lives up to the “Express” label!
To LHR Terminal 3 in no time!
Online check-in for our flight was unavailable, so we went directly to the American Airlines counter using the VeriFLY app to show all our Covid-related tests/tasks were complete. We were randomly given two seats in the middle section and one on the aisle next to those. We thought about asking to adjust, but the flight was so empty (nobody was next to us), it ultimately didn’t matter. Heck, if they won’t let you sit in the completely empty exit row, then might as well have row 33 completely to yourself and drink a beer or two.
Empty row! And the air vents are back!
Adios, Heathrow
Now qualifies as “Later”
The flight was uneventful and quite enjoyable with all the extra space. Watched a couple of movies, including the latest James Bond, CODA, and maybe half of Ferris Bueller’s Day off. For the geographically-inclined, we caught a glimpse of Greenland’s southern shores at some point as well.
Passing Greenland
Greenland from 36,000 feet
Anybody concerned this plane is too large?
We landed about an hour early, and since there were so few passengers, we disembarked (from basically the back of the place) in about five minutes. Arriving at customs, we bid farewell to our travel partner Jenn. Once again, Global Entry is the best thing ever. It took about 30 seconds to get our security check, and we were on the CTA Blue Line in about 10 minutes. (By comparison, we think Jenn eventually made it thru the Customs line in ~50 minutes.)
Well, turns out we may have been too fast to the CTA, because Matt took a bad (extra) step heading down to the L and tumbled down the rest of the stairs. A bit scraped up and bruised, but otherwise ok.
That’s what I get for taking the stairs
Those steps are tricky! One time in 2014 a Blue Line crashed on them too.
Knee wounds notwithstanding, we eventually made it home safe and sound. The early landing and Global Entry allowed us to pick up Poe from boarding, visit the grocery store to restock the fridge, and catch up on sleep. It was great to travel again and we can’t wait for the next adventure.
Here are a few remaining photos from London that we didn’t use in the blog…
We found three more of those Tube maze prints
If you are walking thru a park in London, the route probably has a name
