Friday 29 July 2016

Cycling In Provence: The Rhône Valley Outbound

Saturday -- the first 'proper' day of our holiday - dawned a little on the grey side. This was a blessing somewhat, as I had a migraine (triggered by a phone call that jolted me out of a deep sleep the previous evening). On my personal scale of 1 - 10 (with 10 being "shoot me now" and 5 being the threshold for "no longer able to pretend to function, must lie down in dark room"), this was running only about 3-4, so "bearable" but it certainly was casting a pall over my morning. 

Breakfast was disappointing in its lack of protein but the coffee ("American", our host said proudly) was strong and I drank two cups. 

Our bicycles had been stored in the garage overnight. It didn't take long to pack up and be on our way, with the plan being to find a grocery store on the way out of Avignon to supplement our meagre breakfast and buy provisions for a picnic lunch. 

First stop, however, was the chemists (pharmacy) around the corner from our B&B, where I bought extra-strength paracetamol + caffeine tablets to try and keep me going. 

Tuesday 26 July 2016

Cycling In Provence: Getting There

The alarm went off at 4:15am on Friday, 3rd June. Having prepared the bikes well in advance and then packed up everything but our toothbrushes the night before, we were out the door in time to catch the 05:13 train to London St. Pancras. Admittedly, I did not feel awake yet, even though I had downed a cup of coffee and then experienced the thrill of freewheeling a loaded Brompton down the 'black run' of Cutenhoe Road. 


Brompton? Yes, we were off to France for a week's cycling holiday on folding bicycles: me on Lucy my 3-speed Brompton and Adam on his heavily-modified early-1980s era Bickerton

All packed up ready to board the Eurostar service from London to Avignon.


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