Day 7

Our final day of holiday mode, in Paris, no more cycling to be done. We metro'd down to the 'Kremlin Bicetre' in the south of the city, bought some lunch (Madeleines, cheap sweets, tropical juice and a baguette) and settled down to wait for the Tour De France to come by. More punters quickly turned up but we had a great spot. After what seemed like a year of waiting, the 'Caravan' came. Any company who was sponsoring the Tour had floats and cars that threw out freebies which the crowd went absolutely mad for. There was the mother of an African family to the side of us who was wrestling the kids around for free haribo and packets of washing up powder. Then after more waiting the Tour finally arrived. They were so close it was mad. I recognised Thor Hushovd and Philippe Gilbert but everyone else seemed to blam by in a blur. The Green and Yellow Jerseys of Cavendish and Evans were quite recognisable though. After that flash of awesomeness, we got back on the sticky metro and raced over to the Champs Elysees. It was packed. We watched it on the big HD screen for a while until the whizzed by us again. The nature of that section of the race meant that they did eight laps of the champs elysees. So we saw them about 16 times. It was the greatest thing ever. The sight of the pro Peloton at race pace made my heart race. We pushed and shoved back over to the screen to watch Cav win the stage, securing his green sprinters jersey and the tears of Cadel Evans' eyes as he won his first tour. It was a truly magical day. It even made the dire, epic journey home bearable as we were still so buzzed. Another great cycling trip over, hopefully another next year!

Day 6

Reims to Paris. This was at one point going to be a final day onslaught, 90miles through the country and blamming into the Paris Banlieue's. It was raining cats and dogs and some more so we grabbed a train and relaxed our weary limbs. Fueled with cheap sweets and more fast food, we jumped back on the bikes and descended upon more rain. When we entered the city limits, out route took us down the Canal D'lourc which was amazing. A graffiti hall of fame lined river with dark water and lots of industry around that seemed to have people everywhere on it. Whether it was cyclists, walkers, kids playing, immigrants living or us marvelling at the sight. We went back to the same hotel F1 as last summers ride but approached it from a completely different angle which of course meant for more getting lost. The shower at the end of the day was bliss. We then went for another Kebab in Montmatre, passing plentiful 'women of the night', drugdealers and other very non touristy types.

Day 5

More murky weather with an unbelievable storm somewhere along the way which had us laughing at our bad luck. We made good progress sticking mainly to big roads. At one point we opted for a motorway to avoid the wiggly windiness of the small road and ended up getting escorted off by the police. This was supposed to be a short day but for some reason took longer than anticipated. We eventually rolled into Reims to watch some Tour De France and yet more fast food.

Day 4

Day 4 brought some questionable weather but more excellent cycling. We moved out of Belgium having stayed in Charleroi and raced towards Charleville Mezieres. Finally we reached the smooth French roads and a plentiful dose of Carrefour supermarches!

Day 3

Day 3 was very rainy. We cycled past an airport right where the planes dipped low to land on the runway. The sound of the jets was incredible. After many slightly dull Belgian towns and a dark forest, we finally got to Charleville Mezieres on the other side of the French/Belgian border.

Day 2

Day two took us out of Rotterdam along the lovely smooth cycle paths, through the beautiful dutch countryside, under the sea and down toward Belgium.

Day 1

Day one of Clayton to Paris 2011. We arrived in the Hook of Holland after a long ferry into the pouring rain. Even after the first mile and the first hour, we found that Holland is the country of cycling. Even their motorways had cycle paths. A little warm up ride took us to Rotterdam to De Mafkees Hostel. We went out into the city hoping to get some food even though it was late. Luckily there were lots of Kebab shops open with the local Rotterdamese special, a Kapsilon Kebab. It was delicious. We also checked into a pub to samble some cold brews. One of which was stunning, a Floreffe blonde beer. Delicious.

Sun Sea & Film

I saw Transformers today with Andy and Bill. We soared across to the white cliffs before the film started and explored the breaker rocks.

Hearth Club

Ripley

I went to a cycle jumble today with boys. Many purchases ensued.

Meat Feast

This Lasagna is the only Lasagna.

Black Box

London Meeting

Paint

This stuff doesn't come of your hands.

To Leeroys