Week 2

Day 8

6th July Dijon to Bourg-en-Bresse

to Bourg-en-Bresse (can't believe we've been going for a week). Woke to a clap of thunder and the curtains blowing. It's going to be a wet one. Set off trying to dodge the rain but it caught us. Torrential rain - hot then cold. Good that we were awash with Boulangers today - so several coffees later and me feeling a bit light headed with caffeine, we set off again. The strong winds dried us off and we arrived in Bour-en-Bresse hot as the last few miles were hilly. Sitting in the square looking at the cathedral .

Day 9

7th July Bourg-en-Bresse to Saint Vallier

to Saint Vallier on the Rhne - overnight stay courtesy of the lovely Clare who cooked us pasta with cauliflower (served separately of course) then suggested that we go salsa dancing. Fortunately (or unfortunately- depending on your view) the class wasn't running so we watched a lovely light show French style! As I dosed with flashing lights in front of me I dreamt of my bed- which Clare generously provided - eventually. Set off with Clare heading to Lyon. Obligatory coffee stop - then navigated our way through Lyon oblivious to the women's football. The Rhone finally appeared after several sweaty hills then disappeared to be replaced by a steep climb on pave with a tree in the way. Anyway after a stop at a kebab shop for a drink (only thing open) - we made it complete with a blooming heat rash.

Day 10

8th July Saint Vallier to Roquemaure

. Almost to Avignon. Today was one of those days... we all have them... no coffee in the village, stopped at fruit stall for 2 peaches and got stuck behind a women clearly fearing pestilence and buying accordingly. Alice (the tandem) has enough carrying one bag and flung it into the road (causing a bit of a wobble).. we waited 25 mins for a fillet of fish in McDonald's (rather than 5 as advertised) then the tool bag broke. And Raz cracked her ankle again on Alice who was clearly in a foul mood (the bike not Raz) And it was hot. Not just isn';t this lovely hot. Really hot. I found myself around 70 miles into the ride falling asleep on the AstroTurf outside the decathlon shop (where we went in search of isotonic to replace the lost body fluid) much to the bemusement of shoppers. All this said we did cycle over 95 miles with glimpses of the Rhone between the power stations as we hurtled down the N7 into Chateau Neuf du Pape country. Will check out Avignon tomorrow #tandem

Day 11

9th July Roqemaure to Septemes-les-Vallons

Just north of Marseille. Fell asleep to the campsite karaoke- decided I didn't want to stay up all night to get lucky (or otherwise) so fell asleep with the beat still going strong after midnight. Easier day today - so decided to have breakfast at the campsite. Was served the smallest piece of bread - hard to know what to do with the jam. Looked up hopefully at the waitress who asked if we wanted juice we nodded our heads rigorously and was brought two thimbles. Feeling fortified for the day's Ride we set off two by two in a storm of biblical proportions. Headed to Avignon to see the pont- singing songs about a bridge! Second breakfast later we headed off - late but at piece with the world. Lumpy ride through Cheval Blanc park. Stopped at a fruit stall and had hyperglycaemic episode having drank a large bottle of fruit juice. Over a dug up road and on into rush hour traffic just outside Marseille. A pizza later we set off - to the campsite. Short day's riding - big effort tomorrow over the hills to Cannes for a day off.

Day 12

10 July Septemes-les-Vallons to Cannes

to Cannes. Today was about cycling. Started early after a slight oversleep, packed the tent, forced some croissants down and set off. Undulating country around the outskirts of Marseille then into Provenance wine country land past the posh wineries. Stopped at a lovely fruit stall - keeping up the 5 per day. Glanced at Twitter to see that Steve Redgrave had tweeted about us. Really exciting and a real boost. Met the interesting Sylvester a double bass player from Poland on the road. Then pushed on onto what felt like the M25 at rush hour which was supposed be a bike friendly route. In spite of the French suddenly disliking cyclists we pushed on knowing we had an epic climb 86 miles into the route. Couple of stops to douse the jerseys in cold water. Then the climb. The first bit had a 20% section in. Apart from regurgitating a bit of sandwich we got up it ok- but it was the mountain that kept giving. 2 mountain passes later we started to descend only to find we were going up again. Finally got to Cannes and the sea. Amazing views. A dance with a pole as we tried to get on the cycle route - then another hard steep climb to Louisa’s amazing villa which she is kindly lending us for a day off. 

Day 13/14.

11 July rest day; 12 July Cannes to Sanremo

Cannes to San Remo. Day 13 was our first full day off. We stayed in a lovely villa courtesy of Louisa writing our blog, cleaning Alice (tandem) and generally sorting. We were doing really well until we were offered a lift down the very steep hill to the supermarket and so we could see Cannes and have dinner. What we didn't realise is that we were driven to the largest supermarket for miles - the wrong direction from Cannes and with no transportation links. We only needed a can of tomatoes! Anyway it was certainly an initiative test to get back- tandemwow does SAS!

Today was lovely. Down to the beach in Cannes (we were determined to see it) and the coast to Nice. Beautiful views and amazing buildings. Monster cruise ships! Steep and sweaty climb out of Nice and onto Monaco looking at the views and taking the corners like James Bond in his Auston Martin (or maybe not). We arrived in