Saturday 25 July 2015

A taste of France

The first three and a quarter days were great. Helpful tailwinds pushed me along empty, smooth roads with farmers and wildlife for me to watch. I stayed at campsites until yesterday when the tourist information man said "no campsites here, and the only hostel is 48 euros a night", i decided to wildcamp.
When i was sitting at the roadside picnic benches scoffing baggettes, brie and ham, I ignored the darkening sky until the rain made me shelter under a tree. A massive storm came through like a tornado - blowing branches off trees and a deluge of rain. Afterwards i headed back into town to find any hotel, but there weren't any. So wild camping it was; at least the storms and rain meant no sane person would be around to find me.
Later the next morning a local rider - Didier -asked if I wanted anything to eat, so I went to his house where Pascalle - his wife made a lovely 3 lunch finished off with plum liquor on vanilla ice cream.
Must end here, in a campsite at Raon l'Etape next to the Vosage mountains, just heard thunder.
Hope you like the photos.
Wild camping in wild weather
Cycle touring -its a hard life

4 comments:

  1. Sounds like your trip has got off to an interesting, varied start. Looking forward to hearing the next instalment!

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    1. Thanks Tim. I am in austria now, the Danube cyclevway is great. Hope your summer plans are working well.

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  2. Hopefully you'll meet more Didier's and enjoy their hospitality.
    Enjoy living your dream. Julia. X

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  3. Hi Dom, Great to hear that you're ok and that within a few days your adventure has produced some great stories. �� Nevermind your heavy load, spare a thought for the bloke who has just completed the Tour de France route on a chopper!
    We're going to start building a go-cart with the grandkids next weekend but have struggled to find some wheels, and then realised that we have a load of old bikes in the cellar!!!!
    Look forward to your next blog. S&S xx

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