The sun glinted off the water as we cycled along the sea front and we were lulled into a false sense of security. Wandering around a couple of seaside villages built up with endless blocks of apartments began to chip away at our huge margin of time allowed to get to Montpellier. Not having a course preprogrammed into the Garmin meant we had to rely on a paper map not quite detailed enough.
It seemed we were caught on the horns of a dilemma-
For once technology seemed to work with iPhones used to hook up tablets to the Internet and download a Garmin route to follow.
Getting through the final few km into Montpellier was not the high point of the holiday, certainly not enhanced by going to the wrong Leader Price supermarket for the pick up.
But we made it!
A lovely lunch with Grimbergen and a pichet of wine revived us.
The coach with its enormous trailer hove into view and after much scaling of ladders to fix the bikes on
we were whisked off to Calais, passing the refugee camp in the early morning mist.
It felt good to be back on the bikes after a smooth crossing
with bacon sandwiches and we managed the route back to Canterbury to Tom's sister's and our waiting campervans.
So Verity and Jim left for home directly and Tom and Helen headed off via Birmingham to see Tim.
What a good holiday!
The French seem to have got the important things in life about right: romance, food and wine, glorious scenery and smooth Tarmac. But they just don't seem to get the idea of a Nice Cup of Tea. So we were glad to be home.
Today's stats km cycled 48 (+ 9 English Miles) metres climbed 183.
A few pounds lost and thighs increased by 3cm (Jim) and 2cm (Verity)
Total for trip 1452 km. Well done!
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