First stop: Tourist Information to find a route to Paris. We had meant to plan the route on the ferry, but we were all a little tired after I'd demanded that we leave at 4am in the morning and so we all indulged in a bit of a snooze instead.
Maps sorted, off we went to find Avenue Vert, a 40k cycle route that points you in the right direction for Paris. It's a nice easy cycle, which smells of cows and the countryside.
After 30k in the sticky evening heat, with flies sticking to every inch of available skin we stopped off for a beer and pizza - with Dan reporting to have had the best Calzone of his life. So if you ever make a bike trip to Paris, do stop off at the pizzeria in Neuf Chatel en Bray. But don't order a coffee before your meal, it just confuses them.
2 beers in, and I was drunk. But into fading light of the evening we cycled to find our bed for the night: like Mary and the 5 Josephs we kept our eyes peeled for barns, sheds and ditches that might house us for the night.
Peter spotted a house with a barn and somehow convinced me (I guess I was still a bit drunk) to knock on the farm house door and request (in my very best French) the use of their jardin for the night...
Anna: *knock knock*
Farmer man: *loud angry French noises*
Anna: vous parlez Anglais?
Farmer man: Non! *more loud angry French noises and the door is thrown open.*
Anna: Desole! Desole! Mais, we have a problem: we cycle London to Paris and we would like sleep in your Garden this evening. It looks very tranquil.
Farmer man: *something in French, what I can only assume to mean* oh, no worries love.
Peter: *Grinning like an idiot.*
Anna: Ta very much, so it OK for me and him....? *I jab a pointed finger at grinning Peter*
Farmer man: Oui...
Anna: ...but also 4 other garcons??
Farmer man: yeah, no worries love. park yourself up over there, there is even a hammock for you.
And so we had found our accommodation for the night: I parked up in the hammock, Peter fetched the others, and we slept.
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