The plan solidifies

After a bit of to-ing and fro-ing we have now got the end-points established and flights booked for Bert and Garth.  Dominic will make his own bookings as he is flying to and from the UK.  Bert and Garth fly out of Sydney on August 28th on Etihad via Abu Dhabi to Paris, and the return flight is from Paris on 10th October.

The internals of the trip have also changed a bit in their order and content:

• 31st August Garth and Bert start a Bordeaux wineries self-guided cycle tour (Sherpa )
• 8th September Garth and Bert finish the cycle tour and meet Dominic in Bordeaux
• 9th September pick up car (Citroen lease) and begin drive to Tuscany
• 11th September arrive Tuscany and begin stay at Rifugio Prategiano in Maremma.  The booking for this has been requested.
• 12th - 20th September alternate cycling and day-touring from Maremma.
• 21st September check out of Rifugio Prategiano and begin drive back to France - Puget-Theniers for Bert and Dominic and drop Garth at/close to St-Cyr-les-Lecques-la-Cadiere (SCL3C for short) in Provence.
• 22nd September - 30th September Dominic and Bert walking/climbing in the Alpes Maritimes NP and surrounding areas, Garth in Provence at cooking course.
• 1st October Bert and Dominic fly from Marseille to Glasgow, Garth prepares for his Roman (Provencal) cycling tour (to 8th October)
• 1st/2nd/3rd October Dominic and Bert travel to Ben Nevis, 'do' Ben Nevis.
• 3rd/4th October Dominic and Bert head south via Cheshire (possibly visit Renshaws) and then to Nottingham.
• 5th/6th/7th October Bert in Nottingham, Dominic heads down to London
• 8th October Bert back to Paris to meet up with Garth
• 10th October Bert and Garth fly back to Australia

The main points are pegged down and only Bert and Dominic's Alpes Maritimes bit and the UK bit are left to be a bit more unstructured.