September 8, 2019 – The Balade Ends In Disaster

The Balade is held the day after the Medoc Marathon.  It is a recovery 10km walk (distances approximated… more on this below) followed by a catered lunch.  It features refillable wine bottles from a large wine cask.

At the 2019 Balade, I hit a nadir by overdoing it… to the point that I need to send a handwritten “I’m So Sorry!” letter to the tour company.  I became the cliched stereotype of a boorish, drunken, loud, obnoxious American tourist.  And while I’m ashamed of myself with regards to how I came across to my beloved Aussie tour group, I am even more ashamed that Mom had to deal with me and that.  Not ny finest hour.  Not even a fine New York minute.

I want to say that wisdom comes with age and experience.  But maybe I am living proof that you’re never too old to do something really, really embarrassingly stupid.

To the great TravellingFit folks – the always supportive team onsite and those back in the office, to the understanding and amazing clients traveling with them, to the local contacts, and to everybody involved – my sincerest and most embarrassed apologies.  Thank you for trying to make sure the idiot Kevin abroad didn’t cause more of an international incident.

I didn’t think I could make a bigger mess of the trip… however… (*)

Because I spent the morning after recovering from the morning after recovery, I am a bit more of a rambling mess than normal.  I’ve had issues uploading photos and prose… and then today I was overcharged by Uber and RyanAir mainly because I screwed up repeatedly.  And beyond that, Mom was dealing with me and has seemingly lost her sunglasses.  It’s been a rough 24 hours… and all because of me.

Thus, in addition to the TF apology, I want to profusely apologize to my Mom who has always put up with me… and did so again this weekend.

I’m sorry, Mom.  Thanks for loving me even though I’m a screwup.

That said… I did get some good photos before it all went to hell.  So… ya know… there’s these to post.  And because of what transpired, I’m going to post them without commentary… in the hopes that the pictures are worth a thousand words of apologies ad nauseum.  Literal ad nauseum.

(*) Quick side note – my great TF tour leader told me a story whenIi pointed out during the Balade that I was told there were supposed to be winery stops during the walk… but after 25 minutes of traipsing through the French counteyside, we’d come across nary a bottle.  Lee responded by telling me “‘However’ is ‘but’s’ sexy cousin.”  Apparently it’s so much classier to say “however”… or that’s what some Tony Robbins styled motivational speaker told Lee in a former life when he worked in corporate finance.  And as ridiculous as all that is, it’s also true – however IS but‘s sexy cousin.

But… or however… let’s end on a problematic medley expertly played by this band at the Balade: