Ok so full disclosure this will be short and sweet. Yes we are all safe and sound and tucked up in Charleville - Meziures (no chance that’s the correct spelling) but it has been another enormous day….11 1/2 hours of travelling, 9 hours 40 of peddling, 5000 feet of climbing and (wait for it!) 112 miles!!!! We are both totally broken and so here are just the unedited notes I typed or dictated during the day….poor spelling and grammar included.

Good night sleep don’t wake up till about six. Have a fairly leisurely breakfast and cup of coffee sort ourselves out and then we’re off just before 8am.

After yesterday‘s navigating debacle in the morning, we decide to follow the hopefully more successful plan of plotting a route from town to town heading in the general direction of where we want to get. It might mean we see less of the pretty backroads but I will take that over the very high risk of finding a dead end or yet another grassy path even a goat would think twice about.

The first 10 to 15 miles on any day are always super hard and a real grind. Today is no exception and it’s not helped by uninspiring scenery. Eventually though things do change and the mood starts to lift ..

Fortunately it is reasonably flat for the first 20 or 30 miles and then slowly but surely…..well then slowly but surely it isn’t. It moves from mostly flat to, gently rolling to  positively hilly.

We do of course manage a few refuelling stops on the way. Similar to previous trips we have developed a fondness for pre - prepared salad boxes you can pick up at most supermarkets. In addition to the salad you get two breadsticks and one of those mini American style cakes. As we eat by the side of the lake a group of young ducks try and sneak up on Marc to have a nibble on his little Twinkie….those cheeky little minxes!

The scenery does eventually become way prettier and we roll through the avoisnois and Ardennes national parks …..actually that is an understatement….it is stunning!

The problem is that we still have too far to go for the day to reach our campsite but no matter which way we look at it all we can do is keep pedalling and grinding away at every mile.

On the back of two already gigantic days I have to say that today really is too much. It’s also a bank holiday in France today so the only realistic chance we have of eating tonight is looking ahead on Google Maps and finding an open supermarket in the town we are staying in . There is one that closes at 8pm but we are still more than 30 miles away. The rest of the day is just a blur of pain and exhaustion but we do make it with 15 mins to spare and so we do eat tonight and bag a cheeky but much deserved beer.

That’s all….thanks so much for your support although quite frankly if only based on today we are amazing and well worth it! Donate away!