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Well here we are again and yes this time it is …..EN FRANCAIS! “Zut alors,sans doute pas!” I hear you cry! Mais il est…..oui, c’est vrai! Ok well that is pretty much all my O ‘level French out there and on this page so anything that follows is a total bonus!
Those of you who followed Marc, Dan and I last year on our amazing (well we thought it was amazing!) LEJOG adventure will probably remember, as we do only to well, the ups the downs (literally), the trials and the tribulations and the tears and the tantrums (again, literally!)….it really was a never to be forgotten challenge.
Above all else though we were all three totally bowled over by your support and the fantastic sense of achievement it gave us…….so much so that we have been burning to do something again, maybe something bigger, maybe even something en Francais!
So inspired by the existing France en Velo cycle route that is what we are going to do….cycle right across France down from St Malo on the English Channel all the way to Nice on the hopefully sunny Mediterranean coast. As it stands its over 1000 miles and passes through some of the most amazing scenery (and climbs!) in France. Its a frankly mind boggling and intimidating challenge even without our little “add ons” which include –
cycling from London to Portsmouth and getting the overnight ferry to St Malo. Primarily this is just because starting any adventure in London sounds better (well I think it does anyway) but also because I haven’t slept in a bunk bed since I was 11 years old and Brittany ferries have now promised me one!
cycling on to Monte Carlo after we get to Nice if only because I have never been and because if you started in London…..well you just have to don’t you?
we are all three older and very much creakier. Since we completed LEJOG two of us have now moved into a totally different and fairly significant age bracket altogether (our 50’s and 30’s respectively) and the other one passes a similar milestone (although to look at you might think he was already well into his 80’s) just after we are scheduled to return
and lastly, but in no way leastly (is that a word?) we are going to take on the beast, the absolute monster that is Mont Ventoux and not only that…..we are going to do it with panniers…..just look at it!
In total we will be testing ourselves against around 1200 miles, 19 French regions, three different countries, a language barrier that we are laughably poorly equipped to deal with and so much climbing that we will be approaching six figures (in feet) by the end (its such a big number I cant bring myself to share it here in case Marc or Dan read it!) ……in my very best pigeon French it is fair to say that this really is the “tres grande one”!
We set off from London on Saturday 30 September so I will post more details about what we are up to nearer the time. As before I am hoping to keep you updated along the way with news, anecdotes and photos of our progress (and maybe some of you can even help with our French?) and I will be posting updates “en route” (wow look at me…my french is maybe better than I thought).
We are raising money for Winstons Wish again and so those of you that feel so inclined please do take the time to donate via our Just Giving page. You really will be making a massive difference to children who need all the support they can get and Marc, Dan and I will be truly grateful.
If you want to be really inspired and find out more about what Winson’s Wish do please take a few moments to look at some of their Video Stories
Ok….that’s enough for now I think…..back soon!
Ps – for anyone reading this that is French, or has French friends and relatives or can speak French I am truly, truly sorry for the horrors that I am about to unwittingly inflict on your lovely language….je suis desole!
Pps – as we post new updates you will see links to them appear below….please do check back regularly.