Fall Road Trip

The best time of the year in the midwest is the fall. And the best way to experience it is a road trip on a motorcycle. Bob, Kim, and I hooked up in Lake Geneva, WI, then we headed south along the Rock River on Illinois Route 2. A great day and a great ride!

More Carcassonne Pics

Click on the above pic to see the rest.

More Toulouse Pictures

Click on the above pic to see the rest.

Carcassonne

Last week, I was sent to Toulouse, France on the usual 2-day Moto-notice. We were scheduled to be here for a week, but that has turned into two weeks (so far). So, I ended up "stuck" in southern France with a weekend off (I know, I know.... boo hoo, poor me!).

My travel buddy from work (Kai) likes to hike around and run around as much as I do, so we headed for this medieval fortress/castle called Carcassonne. Saturday started out rainy and humid. The weather then turned great and we took the train from Toulouse to Carcassonne past huge fields of sunflowers. Once there, we stumbled into a nice little Chinese restaurant and had lunch. From there, we hiked to the fortress. I have many more pictures to post, but I hit my limit on flickr, so I'll wait a couple of days before I post those.

Le Dragon!

On Sunday, after visiting the (horrible) Museum of Modern Art, we walked to the Japanese garden. It was a beautiful place, but I was too lazy to haul the big camera around for a 2nd day, so I will post Kai's pictures later.

Le Menu

Choose your poisson (fish that is!) I'm actually learning enough French that I can read these menus. Who says old dogs can't learn new tricks. If you click on the picture, you can see some of the prices. 1 euro is currently about $1.57, so a 22,50 E plate is about $35 US.

Night time

Night life in Toulouse. Lots and lots of little street cafes. The weather is great, unfortunately, the people at the next table are usually smoking. I'm spoiled by the smoking ban in Illinois!