We spent 2 beautiful days in Paris. We stayed in a nice little hotel (our regular one) in the Marais at Place Saint Paul, also metro-station. This is right in the centre of the city, so that we could do almost everything on foot. We visited some musea of course, with special reference to Jan Fabre, a Belgian modern artist who had an exhibition amidst the regular exhibition in the mighty Louvre.

The TGV that took us to Bordeaux appeared not to be "grande vitesse" in the end. After a regular fast ride to Poitiers there seemed to be something broken and we were stranded there for 50 minutes. So a delayed arrival. But we were picked up as planned by our friend and 45 minutes later we met all our Zandberglaan friends at Chateau la Grange in Blaye, we were 10 persons altogether. A wonderful chateau, where we spent 4 very lovely days among each other.

On Sunday 15/6 everyone left: some by car, some by plane and we on our packed bikes. The first days were cloudy and rainy, though not so bad that we couldn’t camp. We rode up la Dordogne, then Le Lot, le Célé and le Lot again. Than the real climbing began, up in the Auvergne and Cantal. The weather is hot (over 30 C) and the riding sometimes very heavy. But the scenery is often overwhelming and our moods are great. Last night we spent in a wonderful Chambre d’hote. The terrain is so heavy and so deserted that we didn’t succeed in making a schedule that would end at a camp-site. But we were glad to be in the chambre d’hote, it was a very nice experience. Now we are in Saint Flour, app. in the middle of our tour. Everything is closed, nothing going on, so the right time and place for the internet in the library. Now for a nice "pression" and/or white wine on a terrace in the late sun. We’ll report later for more and add pics as soon as we can. Ciao.

Bergerac

Le Lot near Cirque Lapopie

Done some laundring at the Chambre d’hote

View from Saint Flour

From the other side