A day of three halves! Firstly to London, watching the green English landscape roll by while fielding questions from clients.
The second on the Eurostar to Paris via the refurbished St Pancras, now with more in common with an airport than a Victorian station.
The third from Gare du Nord to a campsite to the south east of the centre – and so it begins. We were lucky enough to spot our bikes being unloaded from the train and were able to retrieve them without trekking to the baggage depot (hard to imagine being allowed to in the UK). This saved us a good half hour but meant we were plunged straight into the streets of Paris at rush hour!
By stitching together cycle and bus lanes we made it to the Pompidou Centre and then Notre Dame. We felt conspicuous amongst all the other tourists, but they didn’t seem to notice. From there we cycled along the southern bank of the Seine, trying to find a suitable bridge to cross over to the promise of cycle lanes. We eventually found one and were rewarded by the first stress free pedalling through Bois des Vincennes. Google maps on the phone came in handy negotiating the one way system around Joinville and steered us to the campsite by Champigny sur Marne.
Pitched the tent, grabbed a shower, then back to the river Marne and a restaurant we passed on the run in for ‘moules et frites’ and a bottle of wine. Cycling the rush hour in Paris was one of the most daunting things I’ve ever done on a bike, that said the drivers were courteous and gave us lots of space. The scooter riders are a law unto themselves though.
Back at the tent I can here the campsite bar blaring out beats and the rumble of the Perifique is constant, not totally dissimilar from the first night of Glastonbury which also started today. But for us the road to Fontainbleau beckons…