It’s really not the 6th week yet but very close. It is the 6th phase of this adventure which means moving to central Paris from Rotterdam  via rail for 4 days, moving into a central Paris hotel, The Orient, sight seeing in Paris for 2 days, picking up another rental car to use to get us to Liege, Bastogne, Liege spring classic bike race and then driving to southern France to ride 3 big climbs, Alp d’huez, Mount Vontoux and the Tourmalet. Then a flash drive back to the hotel near Charles de Gaul airport where it all started.
Packed and ready to get to the train station, our hosts have arranged car transport for us, hop on a higher speed train that will take us about 4 hours to get to Paris Nord train station, looks familiar. A cab ride, expensive, from the station to our hotel and check in time. Out room isn’t ready yet which isn’t a big deal so it’s off to lunch. This is one of Bushy’s buckets, sidewalk cafe, Paris, beer, lunch, sunshine; done. Back to the hotel to really check in and look over the “cozy” room. 2 single beds, no room for the bike bags, tiny bath and separate closet toilet. This is probably a sample of the next bunch of hotel stays.
Time for a walk around, we have a map and some general idea of the area we are in so off we go looking for the Seine and some scenic areas. It takes about 20 to 30 minutes of walking but wallah! the Seine, Museums, government buildings, scenic extraordinaire. As I mentioned to Bushy, no wonder this is a tourist mecca of 7 million.