We just checked into our "aparthotel" in Paris. This is the last leg of our trip, and one that will incorporate some work-related meetings.
As I mentioned in an earlier post, I plan on doing a comprehensive review of our accommodations, since this is a real estate asset class that I'm increasingly interested in. But before doing that, I'd first like to "live" here for a few days. So in the interim, here's a photo of the fire safety plan for our building that some of you may find interesting:
We just checked into our "aparthotel" in Paris. This is the last leg of our trip, and one that will incorporate some work-related meetings.
As I mentioned in an earlier post, I plan on doing a comprehensive review of our accommodations, since this is a real estate asset class that I'm increasingly interested in. But before doing that, I'd first like to "live" here for a few days. So in the interim, here's a photo of the fire safety plan for our building that some of you may find interesting:
The building has 6 floors (remember, in Europe, you typically need to add 1 to the top floor to capture the ground level). The vide space in the middle of the floor plate is actually a courtyard that is open on one side. So graphically, these drawings aren't entirely accurate. But the two things that are most noteworthy to me are the small floor plate (only 2-3 rooms per floor) and the single exit stair.
As many of you know, this would not be allowed in Canada.
Yesterday, Bianca and I biked around 60 km from Cortina d’Ampezzo to Dobbiaco and then back again. It was the most beautiful bike ride that either of us had ever been on. Here's the Strava report.
Leaving Cortina, we were on a paved bike trail that had one side dedicated to cyclists and one side dedicated to pedestrians. The views of the valley were breathtaking — both the mountains and the community itself. It felt like we were riding through an idyllic mountain town that couldn't possibly be a real place.
The trail then switched to gravel and that's what we rode on through most of the mountains, including over bridges and through mountain tunnels. I couldn't tell you how many times we had to stop to take photos.
Our first official stop was for a picnic at Lago di Dobbiaco.
Here we were greeted by a bike counter. It was 13:11 and we were cyclist number 243 for the day. The counter for the year was acting up, but I'm guessing it was trying to say between 50-60k cyclists year to date. It was also here that we learned we were on a 560-kilometer trail that runs from Venice to Munich, all the way through the Alps. That would be a fun adventure for another day.
Overall, the cycling infrastructure was incredible. It was one of the things we were most impressed by. When we arrived in the predominantly German-speaking town of Dobbiaco — which is also known as Toblach in German — we were on a dedicated bike path that looked like this:
I couldn't even find any roads leading to some of the homes we were passing. It seemed like residents would have to drive their car onto the bike path just to get home. And once we arrived in the center of town, we were presented with bike lanes, like this, to take us around and underneath busy traffic roundabouts.
This is some of the most impressive biking infrastructure that I have ever experienced, and it's in a small town of 3,300 people. It's also an alpine town that gets bitterly cold winters — significantly colder than even cities like Toronto. So if they can make this happen, why can't we?
The Mediterranean is out, and the Alps are in. Yesterday, we hiked over 12 km up to Lago di Sorapis in Cortina d’Ampezzo (here's the Strava post). It was definitely on the more difficult side, but not as difficult as something like the Grouse Grind in North Vancouver — which has been called "Mother Nature's Stairmaster." The difference here is that there are a handful of exposed faces with steep drop-offs, the kind that immediately make my palms sweaty and force me to grab the steel support cables with everything I've got. The views and payoff (Lago di Sorapis) were worth it though. The Dolomites are such a beautiful and unique mountain range.
The building has 6 floors (remember, in Europe, you typically need to add 1 to the top floor to capture the ground level). The vide space in the middle of the floor plate is actually a courtyard that is open on one side. So graphically, these drawings aren't entirely accurate. But the two things that are most noteworthy to me are the small floor plate (only 2-3 rooms per floor) and the single exit stair.
As many of you know, this would not be allowed in Canada.
Yesterday, Bianca and I biked around 60 km from Cortina d’Ampezzo to Dobbiaco and then back again. It was the most beautiful bike ride that either of us had ever been on. Here's the Strava report.
Leaving Cortina, we were on a paved bike trail that had one side dedicated to cyclists and one side dedicated to pedestrians. The views of the valley were breathtaking — both the mountains and the community itself. It felt like we were riding through an idyllic mountain town that couldn't possibly be a real place.
The trail then switched to gravel and that's what we rode on through most of the mountains, including over bridges and through mountain tunnels. I couldn't tell you how many times we had to stop to take photos.
Our first official stop was for a picnic at Lago di Dobbiaco.
Here we were greeted by a bike counter. It was 13:11 and we were cyclist number 243 for the day. The counter for the year was acting up, but I'm guessing it was trying to say between 50-60k cyclists year to date. It was also here that we learned we were on a 560-kilometer trail that runs from Venice to Munich, all the way through the Alps. That would be a fun adventure for another day.
Overall, the cycling infrastructure was incredible. It was one of the things we were most impressed by. When we arrived in the predominantly German-speaking town of Dobbiaco — which is also known as Toblach in German — we were on a dedicated bike path that looked like this:
I couldn't even find any roads leading to some of the homes we were passing. It seemed like residents would have to drive their car onto the bike path just to get home. And once we arrived in the center of town, we were presented with bike lanes, like this, to take us around and underneath busy traffic roundabouts.
This is some of the most impressive biking infrastructure that I have ever experienced, and it's in a small town of 3,300 people. It's also an alpine town that gets bitterly cold winters — significantly colder than even cities like Toronto. So if they can make this happen, why can't we?
The Mediterranean is out, and the Alps are in. Yesterday, we hiked over 12 km up to Lago di Sorapis in Cortina d’Ampezzo (here's the Strava post). It was definitely on the more difficult side, but not as difficult as something like the Grouse Grind in North Vancouver — which has been called "Mother Nature's Stairmaster." The difference here is that there are a handful of exposed faces with steep drop-offs, the kind that immediately make my palms sweaty and force me to grab the steel support cables with everything I've got. The views and payoff (Lago di Sorapis) were worth it though. The Dolomites are such a beautiful and unique mountain range.
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