Day 5 – Horsin, Fra to Vrizy, Fra

21st July 2017

My sleep bag was lightweight, and the temperature had plummeted, so I didn’t get much sleep, the condensation had dampened my clothes that were hanging on his washing line so got wetter than they had when they went up! I got up to say goodbye to his wife who was leaving early, and then Oliver ran out to pick up some breakfast while I prepared for the day ahead. We sat down to breakfast us to and although limited by different languages you can still get an idea of what each other is saying. Oliver had been so kind and gone out his way to show me his town, he was a huge cycling fan and showed such enthusiasm towards my trip. I think by the time we left I felt like my French had improved and his English too.

I was deep in the French farmlands and for most of the day maize and harvested wheat was my view, the flat ground was rolling more into steeper hills, and the sun had come out. I was riding through really old farm towns, so looked like they hadn’t been touched in centuries. I stopped in a town just after 2 pm to eat the sandwich that Oliver had given me, rested under a tree and tried to take it all in.

The afternoon I took a few wrong turnings and added quite a few km to my journey, but by the evening I made it to Celine’s house. A large farmhouse in the middle of the town. Celine told me she was going to be back late so when I knocked on the door and got nothing I relaxed down the road for a while before trying my luck again. This time I was in luck, she showed me to the garage and to drop my bike and then introduced me to her boyfriend Johan a well-built fella who seemed a little cold at first but slowly warmed. Celine then showed upstairs to my room; it was in this huge barn house like room with a little corner closed for the beds. I got showered and headed down for supper. There was an extensive section of different things, from tomatoes in vinegar dressing to deer heart pate. I embraced it all, although I was a little hesitant at first about some it was excellent. I was working on my French and gradually we started to open up. They both don’t cycle, but like having people to stay to get to know the stories of other people and just help, they said most of the people are great to know.

After a terrible night sleep the night before, come 11.30pm I was starting to drift, we called it a night. It had been great getting to know Celine and Johan, but tomorrow I crack on to Bar-le-Duc.

Thank you for all the support. Bonne nuit….