clairedavieswriter

Bernard and I put in a proper shift today – Dolly Parton could accurately have described it as pedalling from 9 to 5. We also passed the 1,000 kilometre mark for the tour overall. Unlike the nice French couple I chatted to on the voie verte yesterday, who were spending what sounded like a very…

Four days of rest and refuelling in the company of friends provided the perfect restorative after the first leg of my Franco-Swiss tour. And Bernard, for his part, was raring to go. Although Le Pécile is a hard place to leave, and if you don’t believe me you can see for yourself by joining one…

The first leg of my triangular trip is complete – I have pedalled 857kms from Fleet to the Lot et Garonne. On arrival at Fiona’s house, I literally received red carpet treatment. Sadly my luggage didn’t stretch to a gown, but the paparazzi did their best with the material in front of them. It turned…

Phrase of the night: ‘Madame, il y a une chouette hulotte outside my chouette roulotte’ (‘there’s an owl outside my cute gipsy caravan’). Despite the nocturnal noises, I had no trouble sleeping in my dream accommodation – for which I paid not a penny. Warmshowers really is fantastic. Breakfast was pretty dreamy too: And it…

This afternoon I definitely experienced one of those ‘can’t believe I’m here’ moments. It seems that if you start in Fleet and keep pedalling more or less south for over 700km then this is what happens. At the risk of repeating myself, it was another lovely day on the bike. Not having so far to…

Learning from my first night in the tent, I dressed accordingly, and slept very well, once the local likely lads had finished their ‘whose moped has the loudest exhaust’ competition. I was awake early – it’s definitely coldest before dawn – and was packed and ready to go by eight, while the motorhomers slumbered on.…

Today was a glorious day on the bike – cycling south east with the sun on my face and the wind at my back, with scarcely a hill in sight. Bernard may be relieved to know that, notwithstanding his performance over the last couple of days, I would happily ‘adopt the bicycle’. It helped that…

After a night free from neighbourly snoring, I was outside Arnaud’s bike shop when it opened at 10am. Sadly, he wasn’t there, but his colleague willingly set aside whatever he was working on to discuss my situation. Within the hour, he had fitted Bernard with two new Schwalbe Delta Cruise tyres with inner tubes. And…

I’m not a religious person, but I’m starting to believe in guardian angels. More on that in a moment. First though, phrase of the night: “Mon voisin ronfle comme un train”. There was only one other camper on the site – another cyclist. His (competently pitched) tent was about 20 feet from mine and in…

Word of the day: dégonflé. Today was a bit of a let down, metaphorically and literally. Metaphorically, because after five glorious trouble-free days on peaceful voie vertes, in perfect cycling weather, my luck seemed to turn the moment my domestique caught his train home. At this point, I had no idea what trials were in…