Leg 1 of the World Auto Tour 2014 - Yokohama, Japan to Paris, France
Leg 1 Days 1-3 Yokohama, Japan
Leg 1 Day 6 Lake Biwa, Otsu, Japan
Leg 1 Days 25-27 Ulan Ude, Russia
Photo Credit: Vladimir Kvashnin
Leg 1 Day 28 Lake Baikal, Listvyanka, Russia
Photo Credit: Vladimir Kvashnin
Leg 1 Days 47-49 Moscow, Russia
Leg 1 Days 49-51 St. Petersburg, Russia
Photo Credit: Lindsay Fincher
Leg 1 Days 54-55 Vilnius, Lithuania
Photo Credit: Lithuanian State
Leg 2 Partial Route Paris, France to Hirtshals, Denmark
Leg 3 Retracing the Yellowstone Trail, the 1st Transcontinental Automobile Highway

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Leaving Paris !!

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The group in front of the Eiffel Tower

The group in front of the Eiffel Tower

 

Hello all…..This is John and I’ll be taking over the blog post for Leg #2 of our world adventure…..

 

On leaving the Paris, we made a quick stop at the Eiffel Tower for a photo op and were able to get a couple shots of the group between tour busses and crowds. It’s hard to believe after over two months of travel we finally made it !!! Above is a pic of the final group at the Tower…

Another of Luke and I….

 

"Team Roadster" at the finish line....

“Team Roadster” at the finish line….

For whatever reason, I can’t seem to get the picture to keep from rotating, so oh well…..you get the idea

After the photo we left for Brugge, Belgium where we spent the night and left for Amsterdam this morning where we are tonight. The drive from Brugge to Amsterdam was really great as we took mainly back roads, getting a chance to view the scenic Belgium and Netherlands country side….bicycles are everywhere traveling alongside the roads on special bike paths; something you rarely see along American roadsides. The weather was great as well…short shelve shirts and sun for the entire day!! The route also included driving along the coastline of the North Sea giving us the opportunity to experience several very long car tunnels under the shipping channels as well as a few drawbridges. All in all a great drive…

I’ll post more pic’s of Brugge and Amsterdam soon…two very unique areas; especially Amsterdam!!

Onward towards Iceland……

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Day 66: Reims to Paris

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Number of tie wraps: 50 (final count)

Countdown: 8585 miles down, 0 to go. We’re in Paris!

Proof that we are really in Paris!

Proof that we are really in Paris! (Eileen Bjorkman photo)

We arrived at our hotel in Paris this afternoon at 2:10, officially ending Leg 1 of the World Auto Tour. Congratulations to Jennifer Quam (who guessed 35 tie wraps) for winning the tie wrap award! I’ll let you sort the prize out with John.

In 1908, the German Protos was the first car to arrive in Paris, but the Thomas was declared the official winner when it came into town four days later on July 30 due to the 30 day penalty assessed to the Protos (15 days for using the train in the U.S. and 15 days for the Thomas to drive to and from Alaska). When the Thomas first entered Paris, George Schuster was almost arrested for not having a headlight, but a bicyclist offered his headlamp. When they couldn’t remove the light from the bicycle, bystanders simply lifted the bicycle into the Thomas between the two front seats and the problem was solved. The Thomas then proceeded to the Grand Hotel for a dinner reception. Click here for the original New York Times article about the Protos arrival in Paris, and click here for the original New York Times article about the Thomas arrival in Paris.

Our arrival into Paris was much less dramatic. We had a short, but wet, drive over from Reims, as you can see from the photo below of a bystander in Paris taking a picture of the Roadster as we passed by. No one was shouting, “Vive le car Americain!” as we passed by as they did for the Thomas in 1908!

Wet arrival into Paris

Wet arrival into Paris (Eileen Bjorkman photo)

Our hotel is very close to the Eiffel Tower, and I even have “une petite” view, as described by the hotel receptionist when I checked into my room.

View of the Eiffel Tower from my hotel room

View of the Eiffel Tower from my hotel room (Eileen Bjorkman photo)

The rainy weather limited our sightseeing this afternoon to a few views of the tower and the Seine River, but we still have tomorrow! We’re also hoping to get a photo op with the cars and the tower before John, Luke and Leo depart for Leg 2 of the tour and tomorrow evening we have a celebratory dinner at a traditional French restaurant. So stayed tuned for more pictures!

I fly back to Seattle on Tuesday, but I plan to continue blogging about the trip as Luke sends me updates.

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Day 65: Chimay, Belgium to Reims, France

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Number of tie wraps: 50 (holding steady)

Countdown: 8496 miles down, 89 to go

Before we left Chimay today, the Roadster was treated to a professional photography session by Steev’Art. You can see the entire collection at the Steev’Art facebook page. Many thanks to our hosts for setting up the session and for the terrific hospitality the past two days in Chimay.

 

Roadster photo op in Chimay

Roadster photo op in Chimay (Eileen Bjorkman photo)

France announced our arrival the same way as Belgium two days ago — a chirp on my cell phone! I guess this is the modern version of border control in Europe. After taking a few minor detours for GPS errors, we arrived in the small town of Betheny, which is located just outside our destination for this evening, Reims.

 

We're not lost any more!

We’re not lost any more! (Eileen Bjorkman photo)

In 1909, one year after the 1908 New York to Paris race, the city of Reims hosted the world’s first air race. The meet was actually held in the nearby village of Betheny, which had (and still has) wide open spaces for the slow aircraft of the day to use. The stands used for the race have been replaced by a sports complex named after Louis Bleriot (Stade Louis Bleriot), a famous French aviator who participated in the races.

 

Site of the world's first air race, just outside Reims, France

Site of the world’s first air race, just outside Reims, France (Eileen BJorkman photo)

Sign for sports fields now at the site of the world's first air race in 1909

Sign for sports fields now at the site of the world’s first air race in 1909 (Eileen Bjorkman photo)

Before we found Stade Louis Bleriot, we took a wrong turn and stumbled over the gem in the photo below. We found this at the end of a house in a residential area and it depicts the year of the race (1909) as well as some of the race participants and sponsors, including Glenn Curtis, Louis Bleriot, Hugh Farman, Gordon Bennett, and the Wright Brothers.

 

Surprise monument in Betheny to 1909 air race

Surprise monument in Betheny to 1909 air race (Eileen Bjorkman photo)

After a picnic lunch, we arrived at our hotel in Reims about 2:30. At the Cathedral, a five minute walk from the hotel, Karen and I found some pictures of Reims from 1908, which show what Reims would have looked like when the original 1908 racers drove through.

 

Reims in 1908, picture from Cathedral

Reims in 1908, picture from Cathedral (Eileen Bjorkman photo)

Reims in 1908, picture from Cathedral

Reims in 1908, picture from Cathedral (Eileen Bjorkman photo)

Karen and I went out again after dinner to see the “Dream of Colors,” a lighting display on the outside of the cathedral. The 25 minute show began at 11 p.m. and included different lighting effects on the cathedral figures accompanied by music. The still photo below doesn’t really do a good job of conveying the show, so I took some video that will be posted in the next couple of days.

"Dream of Colors" at the cathedral in Reims

“Dream of Colors” at the cathedral in Reims (Eileen Bjorkman photo)

Tomorrow is our last day on the road! We have a short 143 km drive to Paris tomorrow.