Here we are, still planning a bike tour under the cloud of COVID, still unable to travel to Japan, still unable to travel to Korea without a mandatory 14-day quarantine. France became our backup plan in June, when there appeared to be light at the end of the tunnel in the U.S. Life slowly started returning to normal, enough that we counted on at least being able to tour within the States. When France opened up to U.S. tourists, we took a leap of faith by purchasing plane tickets and booking an Airbnb near Charles de Gaulle Airport to get us started.

Since then, the U.S. State Department has issued a "Level 4 health travel notice" for France. Level 4, in their words, means do not travel. I don't mean to take such warnings lightly, but France has a higher vaccine uptake rate than the U.S., a lower per capita case rate, and a more sensible containment policy that includes a vaccine passport. There's a bit of diplomacy theatrics taking place here. It's understandable. I won't argue that we're safer staying home. However, my actions have also focused on doing what's best for everyone, and I believe at this point, with both of us vaccinated, and with most of our travel and lodging taking place in the great outdoors, we're creating a very small risk footprint for others by choosing to tour.

This will be our longest tour to date. We are sticking mostly to established cycling routes. We aren't expecting many surprises, but given our history of self-inflicted misadventures, I'm sure there will be enough action to keep you, the reader, entertained.