Hello!
So it has been about 3 weeks since we cycled to Paris and I am fully recovered! However I'm still not in any great hurry to get back on my bike! I'm often asked if I enjoyed our 'holiday' and my response has consistently been 'It was the worst thing I have ever done'. Yes, this was mostly down to the terrible weather conditions as if it hadn't have been so rainy I think the whole experience would have been far more enjoyable. Plus in stark contrast, the weather was absolutely stunning during our England day; that's not how it's supposed to be! I remember repeatedly telling my mum when we were planning the trip that 'Camping will be fine, it won't rain in France - it's France!' I was under some delusion that the whole of France had a Mediterranean type climate..
But beside the cold, the wind, the relentless rain and being in a permanent state of soggyness I can still say that I am 100% glad that I did it. It was one huge crazy adventure and the sense of exploration and excitement was well worth the pain. I saw some beautiful parts of both France and England and explored little towns and cafes that you would never normally care to explore on your standard holiday. One memorable part for me was diverting off of our path around 9am on our first day in France in order to take shelter from the rain. We stumbled upon a quaint little cafe type place (although I'm sure it was actually just someone's dining room) where we poorly put our GCSE's in French to use and managed to order two wonderful hot chocolates. It was a little bit of salvation from the cold and wind even though I think we were interrupting the owners breakfast!
The experience was very strange and surreal and I'm still confused as to what actually happened during our trip. We met some great people along the way and I saw many animals (highlight for me) to whom I yelled 'Bonjour' to as we cycled past. I wish I could say arriving at the Eiffel Tower was the best part for me... but our campsite was at least a half hour cycle back the way we had come from the tower. So once we arrived at the tower all I could think was 'I've still got to get back on the bloody bike! It's still not over!' However I was highly impressed with how big the Eiffel Tower is, I wasn't quite expecting it!
Would I do it again? Yes, on the condition I had a racing bike and a support car to carry all my stuff in. Oh, and hotels to stay in. No more camping - ever.
Would I reccomend it? Yes! Okay, I know our blog won't inspire confidence in anyone but honestly it is so worthwhile and such a good experience that you can gain so much out of!
Best moment? Very occasionally beasting up hills past Jamie..oh and nearly causing a crash on the cycle track around the Hippodrome de Longchamps by blindly turning down it the wrong way into the path of an incoming peloton! It was funny!
Worst moment? Waking up in the middle of the night to realise my arm was in a puddle and the rest of me wasn't too dry either.
