Monday, September 7th
Route Map and Elevation Profile
The air is crisp, but the sun is shining...what to wear? Most opt for something warm which they can discard later. Most also seem preoccupied by their bikes for some reason...
It's 8:30am, but the sun has only been up for about an hour.
We have a few issues with our Garmins in the first hour, but manage to stay on route. At the top of a small climb there's a Romanic church (shown) with a 19th century steeple attached (not shown).
40km and several hours after starting the ride, not before time, we find a cafe open. Mondays in France are almost worse than Sundays for activity.
This was a nice place to stop, but a cafe that runs out of cups, milk jugs and good will has a few problems - "we're about to serve lunch so those of you where are not eating can piss off" (well, that's a loose translation anyway - I don't speak French).
The next 20 - 30km is through commercial pine forests - wait, what's that coming in from the left?!
WTF - that was close!
The only real lunch opportunity is 25km later. There's a small restaurant with a cheap (€10) menu, and across the road half of a bull ring! We all wonder whether anyone has thought of the consequences.
Avenues of Plain Trees are common in France, but this is really one of the first we've seen so far.
At the morning briefing, we were told about the church dedicated to the Tour de France, but nobody was sure where it was. Eventually it became obvious, and once we arrived it couldn't be missed.
But being Monday in France, naturally it was closed...
...except that when 15 cyclists arrive someone will find a way to open up. The walls of the church, as well as the vestibule, are covered with TdF memorabilia.
It seemed like an appropriate place for a group photo.
Not easy to organise when an Englishman called Bob insists on photo bombing (pomming, Bobbing?) your first attempt.
The sign says this was the bike used by the winner of the first TdF. Note the single speed gears, and the single front brake - luxury!
As we approached our destination, my Garmin started playing up, Robin's froze, and the two of us ended up "off piste". At least it was a nice town and it only cost us an unnecessary climb and a few extra kilometers.
Our destination and over-night stay is a spa town full of "sick old people" - that makes us all feel better.
It looks touristy, but indeed, it is full of "sick old people". And being Monday, most of the bars and restaurants are closed for the day, some possibly for the season.
But some places are still open, even if they're running out of glasses and beer (I'm not joking).
I've never seen Olive trees with such large trunks and so little foliage. At least the smokers have somewhere for their butts.
After the usual arguments and disagreements about where to eat, we find a nice terrace and spend an enjoyable evening solving the problems of the world (I'm not joking again).
This might have been an "early" evening if I didn't have two blogs to write (thanks Ronald for the free WiFi, not).
Keep yo the blogs!
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