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Sunday 5th September Again another bright early start at 5am we quickly packed away our stuff and blissfully zoomed down the hill towards Charleville Mezieres, which passed by relatively easily despite those down hills! We were soon drinking coffee in the central square by 9.30am accompanied by one huge slobbery chunky dog which was kindly offered to Kate… on a temporary basis of course! ...whilst the owner got his paper! Having discovered that practically no shops are open on Sunday, we were resigned to the fact that we would be staying here another night! Luckily the campsite was 5 mins walk from the centre! Apart from the dog muck on our original pitch, the campsite was generally pleasant with decent showers and a river running by. Must say, we were quite amused by the karaoke resonating from a tiny cafe near the river on a Sunday night! We were extremely relieved to have been able to wash our clothes properly by scrounging powder off friendly fellow campers who seemed to have taken pity on us, presuming us to be first time campers away on a foreign romantic holiday! Well it worked! We also managed to contact our folks, from a telephone box just outside the said karaoke bar! Delightful serenading! Monday 6th September 302.8miles, Charleville Mezieres Rest day No.2 Paul trotted off this morning and brought back freshly baked brekkie (getting him gradually trained!) and served with a cup of black cha! Kate was particularly amused by a fellow camper climbing out of his tent dressed smartly in a suit and driving out to work! Hopefully we'll venture into town and catch up with everything on the internet and find some grub! Tuesday 7th September We rode from Charleville Mezieres to Verdun which is nearly 70 miles. This was a tough day, especially in the heat but still quite manageable. This was probably helped by the fact that we left the N43 and followed the river Meuse. Along this route, we stopped in between two fields of lazing cows, the inhabitants of which found us fascinating, and before long the road was lined on both sides with curious faces! Wednesday 8th September Today our plan was to ride from Verdun to Nancy (about 50 miles) but half way this all changed. After meeting a pair of friendly British cyclists - two lads with appalling taste in eye wear (Kate begs to differ as she thought Owen's delightful large plastic orange children's glasses were perfect!) who were going to Pont a Mousson, we decided to continue with our original plan and go to Nancy. Ten miles on and the sign posts to Nancy disappeared! Paul's temper frayed and so Kate quickly accosted a woman who promptly told us that the best idea now was to go to Pont a Mousson as it would be the quickest route to Nancy! After four hours of cycling up and down the biggest hills we've seen on this trip on our 60lbs bikes we finally arrived, hot, bothered, exhausted, dehydrated and despondent at Pont a Mousson! We were ready to camp and take stock of our route however this was not to be the case! There is no campsite, no youth hostel and no cheap hotel in P-a-M! Instead we had to cycle another 30 miles on hot dusty roads to get to our campsite in Chateau Salins. This was completely mentally and physically draining bringing us both to tears at points! As it was, the campsite was really cheap and pleasant and actually left us in a better position to reach Strasbourg in the following two days. Here there were 3 other cycle tourers - a Dutch couple (who kindly donated us some fresh food) on their way to Barcelona and an Austrian on his way to Reading! We were able to swap information with Martin on our respective routes. Our campsite was invaded by a group of gypsies in caravans and we finally fell asleep to the sound of them furiously attempting to fix their car and the relentless braying of a young donkey next to us! Thursday 9th September With our newly acquired knowledge we were heading for Saverne today. This was a mere 50 mile trek (far less than 70 miles the previous few days) and allowed us to have a lie in! 7am is bliss after 5.30am the previous few days! We decided to take it easy today, not worrying so much about reaching a campsite early and making more of a point of breaking the route into sections. This definitely helped our morale although getting the motivation to leave Phalzbourg for the last 7 mile section of the day was extremely difficult, especially in the 35° heat! As it was, the final climb wasn't too bad and we then had a 6km decent into Saverne (big respect to Martin for doing this the other day round!). There was a lovely campsite, if up a very steep hill. The owner raved about his toilet facilities when we arrived and quite rightly so - they've been the best so far! Although it had been a really hot day, the clear skies and the relatively high altitude meant that it was a cold night with both of us bundling on extra clothing to stay warm! Hot tea and choccie biccies always helps before bed though! Friday 10th September We had a reasonably hilly start and believe us our legs are starting to complain! Squatting down to cook or climbing a few steps is now a major undertaking normally to be avoided! Soon we arrived in the largest city on our trip so far - Strasbourg. It's nothing like the alpine resort town we imagined to be! The scenery, people and language have changed quite dramatically in the last few days - becoming more severe and more Germanic! First job on arrival was to pick up Paul's credit card from, the DHL's office - supposedly in Strasbourg itself but actually 15-20km away! Paul's temperature started to rise and steam started to come out of his ears as we tried to solve the situation. Kate had no sympathy for him but attempted to calm him down nonetheless! In the end, Paul took the train and Kate stayed with the bikes at the station cafe! Due to his excellent French and sense of direction (of course thanks to Kate's teaching!) Paul found the DHL office and was back in Strasbourg in just over an hour! On his return, to no surprise at all, Paul discovered that Kate had made her acquaintance with half of the staff in the station complex! Nothing changes then! Finally we made our way to the campsite where we washed our clothes in the extortionately expensive washing machines and Paul tried to wash out the smell from his embarrassingly aromatic shoes - no luck so far! Kate is now adamant that the shoes be kept outside the tent! Sitting down with a couple of beers, having had a refreshing shower last night made all the difference! The amusing hotel-on-wheels that arrived later on kept us entertained along with 'Princess', the little terrier pup that was very territorial! Saturday 11th September 515.6 miles Finally found an internet cafe so sitting down with a drink and attempting to catch up on the diary. (Just glanced to the left of us and there's a guy wearing yellow crocodile print trousers and waxed legs! Have we missed out on something in the fashion??!) We're now in Strasbourg after what turned out to be a gruelling three and a half days of riding. The monotony of the riding, the continual steep hills, the strong head wind and the blistering sun have made the last few days of riding the most unenjoyable, depressing and disheartening. After the first real rain last night today is again sunny but fresher and we're glad to give our limbs a rest even if it is just for one day! Right off to find some grub now and then to the pharmacy for some much needed spray for Paul's shoes! Paul and Kate x
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Challoner's, Fasiledes, Amersham, Buckinghamshire