Our rooms wiring was suss, the bathroom door wouldn't close, the shower was a claustrophic cubicle but most shockingly when we got up in the morning, the water was off meaning that an imminent bowell movement by H was threatening to turn events into a catastrophe !
Breakfast was a sad affair after the previous nights dinner with baby croissants and bread rolls the consistency of concrete.
Ross heard an ominous crack while chewing ( OK on checking) while H already having chipped a tooth on tour proceeded with caution - nothing gets between him and breakfast !
H with a sharp tooth end from a previous chip has been struggling to say anything with L as his tongue drags painfully over the cracked tooth meaning his favorite saying ....`You lousy little low life Litchfield` ... is now most painful !
What a dream start we had, cycling again with the wind in our favour and the sun at our backs as we literally flew into lovely Aix lies Brains situated on a stunning lake. Ross was particularly enjoying the scenery.
Road and bike paths took us to Chambery then on to our challenge for the day, 54 kms to Grenoble on road trying to avoid the busy motorway.
The scenery as we got closer to Grenoble was mind blowing, snow capped mtns on one side and a gigantic massif on the other with hang gliders soaring over the huge peaks.
For a city considered the base for some of the most famous cycling routes in the world the entry was an absolute pain.
Every turn we took seemed to take us on to the motorway. At one point a local cyclist directing us past a freeway filter road simply put out his hand to stop 2 lanes of busy peak hour traffic to allow us to cycle into the middle lane reserved for buses and cyclists - try doing that on the Tullamarine freeway !
After another frustrating hour we finally entered the busy city centre and set about finding a central hotel not always easy when you are on a bike.
Eventually we succeeded, turfed our gear and went out for a good dinner knowing that tomorrow, thank god, is a rest day before what will no doubt be a punishing climb out.
H and self have now covered 2,000 kms in our journey and are just 3-4 days away from joining the Camino from France into Spain with Ross departing us near the Spanish border.
PS
As H has now lost use of his L`s and K`s (working his way through the alphabet) he's off to see a local dentist for some repair work !
Have you sold all the camping gear you were carrying?
ReplyDeleteRegards Bobbert.
Sun on your back, wind behind you, now you are talking my kind of cycling! You may even get a chance to use that camping gear! �� Enjoy now I am envious.
DeleteCheers MM