Friday, September 21, 2018

19th September (sunny and warm) 85 km


Well done Jimmy - you did it!!!
Aaah the luxury of a bed, but we didn’t get to enjoy it overly long as we had to make the most of the excellent wifi and so we were up ‘til 11.45 last night and set the alarm for 7am this morning.  Pete was very nervous about getting his Dad on the train and all his tickets booked through to Olten in Switzerland so there was no lingering over breakfast this morning.  Up, showered, breakfasted and out the door before 9am.
We walked in a procession the 500 odd metres to the tram stop with Jimmy balancing his bag on top of my panniers.  We had a bit of a clear out on our overnight stop.  Pete has been putting up with an inflatable mattress that goes down every night, so we got rid of that and Pete took ownership of Jimmy’s one.  That was one less thing for Jimmy to carry.  I suggested he give his tent to one of the refugees in town but he has decided to take it to Switzerland and give it to his friends there.
We didn’t have any change to buy a tram ticket for Jimmy from the ticket dispenser so we chucked him on the tram with a 5 euro note and told him if anyone asked to see his ticket, just to plead ignorance and give them the 5 euros.  As it turned out, nobody asked him for money or ticket.  Meanwhile, Pete and I cycled into town, negotiating our way past the refugee camp.  The most direct cycle path goes straight through it, which we weren’t keen to do and nobody else was either, so we skirted round the edge.  Pete asks, “Which way are we going?” 
This is a very small part of the refugee camp and it is seriously right in the middle of town.
I just jumped on my bike and said “Away from the knife wielding angry man over there!” as I saw a bare chested man threaten his friend with a knife – admittedly it was only a bread and butter knife but hey, if he knew we had a full loaf of unbuttered bread in our panniers, we could have been in big trouble!
Ju gives Jimmy a lift with his bag

We arrived at the train station shortly after Jimmy and all proceeded around to the ticket office.  Jimmy and Pete went inside while I stood guard over the bikes so adopted my best staunch, don’t mess with me stance.  Until I got bored after five minutes and started doing a few yoga stretches.
About halfway through chavasana (the corpse pose at the end of my hour long routine – no just kidding, it was only about 20 mins waiting), Pete and Jimmy emerged victorious with tickets in hand with two changes for Jimmy – one in Paris, the other at Basel and he should arrive at his friend’s house in Switzerland about 6.30pm tonight.

Pete here.  When we entered the ticket office, we had no clue that you had to take a number and wait your turn. A nice lady saw us come in, guessed we had no clue and told us what to do. We then watched as five people assisted others with their enquiries, including the nice lady. As the numbers got closer on the screen, we were hoping we’d get the nice lady, as she kept looking over to see if we were okay….and as luck and good timing went….we did. She hardly spoke English, but between the two of us and Dad smiling in the background, she sorted everything for him and even gave him some options, which she didn’t need to do. I never got your name, but thank you so much for your kindness and may the gods smile upon you.
It was sad saying goodbye to Jimmy

It was sad saying bye to Dad, but he’s off on his own little adventure now, as are we. The most important thing for me is that he’s safe. As the train pulled away, we gave one last wave, turned and cycled off toward the coast. Julia had been busy organising a route and we had plain sailing out of Nantes. It was good to be able to get into some mileage and we clipped along at a steady speed.  Elizabeth and Phil were setting off from their campground further north so we said we’d see them on the road or at the end of the day. 

But there was also a measure of relief that we got him
through two weeks of bike touring relatively unscathed.

At about 12.30pm, having left Dad at 11.15am, we stopped for lunch at La Chevroliere, by the side of yet another, stagnant pond. It wasn’t as bad as it sounds and we enjoyed a nice meal. By then we’d covered 20kms, so now began the second session. This was longer and into a head wind, which had been there all day, but was now a little more intense. Julia was beginning to feel a little light headed, although cycling strongly and when we arrived at St Christophe du Ligneron, with a nice church and a tabac store that was open, we stopped. 
Sitting on the seat outside the doors eating some chocolate and drinking a coke and a bloody pigeon shits on my leg from up above. That’s no way to try to convert me to the other side, let me tell you. 
And a certain amount of happiness the responsibility
for his welfare had been lifted from us!
Around the back of the church, but a part of the building were some nice toilets, so we made full use of them.
Ploughing into the strong breeze, we kept a steady pace, both, now feeling good and eating up the miles. We’d had little contact with Elizabeth and Phil who were headed in the same direction, hoping to do some cycling with us over the near future, but when Ju got a call, Liz said that Phil had fixed two punctures today….bummer.





The front of the church in St Christophe du Ligneron

The back of the church at St Christophe du Ligneron......brings
a whole new meaning to "God, I needed that!"

We were heading for St. Gilles La Croix, a beautiful seaside town, just up our street, back to what we know. At 6pm outside the Super U supermarket there, we pondered on which campsite to take – so many showed up on MapsMe.  What it didn’t show however was that they were all closed for the season!  For the next hour and a half we rode around trying to find one that was open. What the hell is that about…. ? Finally at 8pm, at the sixth campground, we asked a nice guy who took us to the camp manager who agreed to take pity on us, giving us a pitch for only 10 euros. We are the only people here. Showers and toilets laid on… fantastic.
Liz and Phil finally rolled into the same town and found a pitch at La Padrelle at 8.30pm - they had wisely used the internet to check if it was open before leaving Nantes.
Showered, ate and all is well with the world……although we haven’t heard from Dad since 5.30pm so hope he didn’t fall asleep on the train and wind up in Istanbul.

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