There's an the Old Alternative way to arrive in Heidelberg

Okay I admit it. I got a bit lost on arrival at Heidelberg. I had made the booking of a hostel months before departure after discovering there wasn't much in the way of affordable hotels in Heidelberg. Heck I even checked the Airbnb listings and for some reason people thought they were hotels.

What I was saying was I didn't really do a head check for the hostel location. I would normal make sure it was central to the train station but on arrival the phone GPS was telling me I had to walk 1.5km from the train station to the hostel to 50 Eppelheimer Strasse. A decent walk when you've got a 20kg backpack on.

So I walked. And I walked. And I walked. Yes it seemed a bit shalt we say industrial / commercial by the time I made it to the number 48. And there it was Bauhaus... a giant German version of Bunnings.... Definitely no Hostel.

And I walked past it.... number 60 something... hmmm problem.

So about then I pull out the phone and activate the emergency data plan. Data on an international SIM isn't cheap in Europe I had previously found. So I had reserved it for this type of situation. I find the hostel online and look at the booking address. 50 Alte Eppelheimer Strasse.

Damn it. I had just thought it was a reference to "old". The fact was these were 2 totally different streets. And it meant a return to near the train station. Do over! Another 1.5km walk back to square one.

Stupid Apple maps I blame you.

Not that the hostel even then was easy to find. The normal end of the street started at 48. But skipped 50. To find the hostel you needed to really read instructions. Look to the big carpark, before number 50, and see the big building in the carpark. There on the 3 floor would be the hostel. People have you ever heard of street signage! Get with it.

I had earned the beer that evening.

Too busy with Patisseries for Charcoulterie

My time in Strasbourg with side trip to Colmar was quite the walking festival. Every day I would be walking more and more in the wrong direction.

The improvement of GPS tracking via maps lets me know when I have been walking the wrong way. However what I have found is that this feature requires one to look at the phone more frequently. If you don't then maps can't fix stupid. I also tend to just keep going longer than before this functionality. So mistakes are bigger.

Arrival into Strasbourg was attacked with an immediate canal tour around the old town. Alas it was not until 4:15pm I completed the tour. By the end I felt like a ice cube. Strasbourg was definitely cooler once the sun disappeared.

Later that evening marked the opposite dinner for me. I caught up with a couch surfer I hosted in Brisbane. It's always good to meet others on the other side of the world. This dinner also ticked the box in my having a traditional Alsace meal.

The next day I spent taking a day trip out to Colmar. Highly recommended for the historical appeal.

Lyon must mean - must like stairs

So how did I recover from the previous day's stair climb in Grenoble. With another stair climb in Lyon.

This one I think was more insane. More walking to the start of the climb was involved. What is it with the French and putting things at the top of steep hills?

I also have heard that Bouchon is the dish of the region. Did my study before actually getting a meal. Learnt I wouldn't stomach it. I just struggled with the thought of what it consists. I settled for more crepes.

The Bastille of Grenoble. Never taken over for a reason

One of the major historical facts I've learnt on this trip has been the story that "The Bastille" has never been taken over by invading forces. Of course the main threat came from the Italians I'm told.

Well the is a reason for that. It's so far up a steep hill anyone would have just gone "screw that I'll go skiing instead".

OMG how many stairs and switchbacks there were. Alas visiting in winter also meant no restaurant after making it to the top. Only an empty coke machine which still takes donations, and will continue to do so until the summer.

And I did this walk on my first non skiing day. No rest for the weary. But for the patisserie after.

Val d'Isere skiing is hard to beat

Looking back on the week in Val d'Isere it's hard to knock anything about the mountains. They big and up high. The worst negative really would be that the majority of green runs are up top. Which makes for an interesting ride home on a red or blue. But during the day that makes it great for
beginners normally assigned to sloppy slopes lower down.

In January there are no slushy afternoons. It only warmed up to a balmy -3 at best. This meant by the end of the week I could still walk, and ski out an afternoon if it was good. Negative though was there was a day with -34 degree wind chill.

Importantly with Val d'Isere even when it's a poor snow season it still has it. Enclosed into the mountains protects what it gets for longer.

Getting to the mountain via an English all inclusive tour company meant the accommodation felt like "Little Britain". But I wouldn't try to manage it any other way for convenience.

Famous before I got to Val d'Isere.

In the week before travelling I realised we could book hire skis online cheaper.

So I went about this in my nonchalant way on the net. However true to form I made a mistake. After pressing back to add in. Ski helmet the date changed. My booking went to starting the week before I arrived.

In the days preceding departure I madly tried to send emails to France asking it be corrected. After a flurry of emails I was initially informed the booked couldn't change as it had already started. Eventually I got a response saying it had been corrected and the ski helmet cancelled. So I gave up... Who knew what I would get.

So it was not such a surprise that when I did collect the skis eventually it tweeked that ahh, you're Chad, and the assistant pointed to a sticky taped message on the cash register. They had been waiting for 3 days for my arrival. My futility was famous.

No I don't have a stutter... It's Tarte Tartin

One of the joys of travel in France is the food. Within 2 days I had been introduced to 2 new items. The favourite Tarte Tartin is a caramel apple tart. Prepared by a local and you're set.

The second has led on a challenge. Speculoos. It's a spread a
bit like Nutella but different flavour. Sweet of course. So overdosing isn't good. The challenge thou his to find a supermarket stocking it. Not all the small ones have it.

Extending the day.

Off I am again on another trip to be everywhere.

This time around I organised to make use of my leave by extending the 1st day off. Friday! Wow what a long day that was.

Flight left Brisbane at 2:30am. Managed to fend off initial muffin on boarding. I guess airlines have to been seen to provide a meal at whatever time they get up into the air. But for me the goal was sleep. So yes indeed I can confirm I got next to nothing.

Importantly I became the poster child for in flight exercise and water consumption. Once is enough for me and DVT.

Singapore refuel went without hitch. I got my coffee and re-boarded. And then connection in Dubai was tight again. I managed to walk straight from transit over to boarding gate with 10 to wait. Less than the refuel stop!

I did manage to find sleep on the last leg. I guess I mentally knew I needed it.
Flight into Lyon arrived at 7:40pm. And this was where the fun began.

Plan was to meet at 9:30pm in Grenoble. By the time I left customs it was 8:15pm. Instead of taking the easy option, a bus, I instead arranged to hire a car. Nothing like driving after a 26hr flight. At night. On the other side of the road. Luckily there was an automatic car available. My booking had been apparently only "preferred" not "definite" auto.

The drive after I found the highway was easy enough. Only thing I learnt was French are crazy fast drivers. 130 speed limit. Whoa! I was comfortable with 110 thank you very much.

On entering Grenoble I kinda lucked into the SNCF station. Right at 9:35pm. 5 min late. Good by my standards.

Alas I didn't fill my passengers with confidence in the 5 min drive back to where we were staying. But we were alive. Left is still left when driving on the right.

And I finally got real sleep at about 11pm local time. Nothing like having sleep after a 30hr something day.

Psycho Chicken and I are off to go to France and Germany. Psycho is Psyched.

Who's afraid of a little travel. Not me. Nor is my new mascot Psycho Chicken.

Psycho Chicken, a rubber chicken pet's toy, was given to me recently by my good friends at the Sheer Transformations Gym. Sure it was a joke gift. But what an awesome joke gift to get.

I immediately had a profound idea. What if I took Psycho for a world trip. And Send the gym family photos of all the things Psycho has done, and seen.

Challenge accepted.

In fact I'm barracking for Psycho to get his very own display cabinet at the gym. After all Psycho could become the most travelled rubber chicken I know. Heck it already is. I don't know many rubber chickens.

Already in our gym community there have been offers from others to take Psycho on holidays to Cambodia, India, and Spain.

What's with the name?
The name Psycho Chicken came from an obscure 1980s song I remember.
It fits. Psycho Chicken likes to work out hard, travel harder!