REALLY this is a message to Alex, but those following along are welcome to read and learn what this silliness of mine is about.

Alex, remember when we first talked about heading off to France for our 'boy's trip' you wanted to go to Toulouse for baguettes and soupe. However, we found that the roads along the Canal du Midi might not be perfect for your first-ever tour - possibly trails too rough or roads too busy. We had to re-think this business.

You mentioned you'd like to see castles and historic sites so with a little more looking around, we chose the Loire Valley. This route would offer history, safety and good roads. We laughed when we realized there could still be une baguette dans ma soupe. So, there is nothing particularly tour-related with these references; rather, merely references to silly things we said and laughed about in the build-up for this trip. In the language of our tour.

So with that out of the way and explained... may we have many more moments of "peppercorns make me sneeze"! Sacre bleu!