Our original plan was simple. We would fly into Paris, take a train to St Naziare then ride the entire length of the Eurovelo 6 from there to the Black Sea, get a bus to Istanbul and fly home. Pretty ambitious, particularly as we had fairly tight time constraints.

Our thinking however has changed a bit. We will fly into Paris, spend the night at the airport and put our bikes together. The next day we ride into Paris and after a sleep and explore set off for Chartres. We did ride right across Rome two years ago so surely Paris should be OK, hope so anyway. From there we take the train to Nantes and start to follow the Eurovelo 6 route. This is described as the 'river route'. It starts beside the Loire and via the Canal de Centre, the Saone, the Doube and the Rhine eventually reaches the source of the Danube at Donnauschingen. From here its pretty straightforward - just follow the Danube to its mouth at the Black Sea. We think however we will only go as far as Budapest, or if we are going well to Belgrade. Then back to Passau by train where our next river will be the Inn. Going over the Dolomites will be spectacular, once over the Reschenpass the river to follow is the Adige taking us down to Trento. What happens then depends on our progress, we will either go straight to Venice and our flight home. Or if we are making good time we will bike across the plain to the Po, follow it to its delta then eventually arrive at Venice by boat. All this could change on a whim and probably will. The only times and places set in stone are our arrival at CDG airport on 9th August and our departure for NZ from Venice on 13th October.

Our trip however has a more serious purpose. Our previous trips suggest that perhaps the Coffee Index may be a more useful economic indicator than the Big Mac Index. It is more wide reaching as it not only considers price but also takes into account size, quality and most importantly interaction with the staff and other patrons. We are of course in an ideal situation to research it as our bikes seem to come to an involuntary halt whenever they see a café or bar.

Of course for any of you who know Ken you will realise that a study of ancient tractors is an integral part of this trip. Ken is the major photographer so photos of these will creep on to the journal. I however have control of the computer so will attempt some sort of censorship

If you enjoy a good cup of coffee (or have a passion for ancient tractors) join us on our trip and you might even find where to go for your next inexpensive, high quality coffee while enjoying superb company !