Jour zero – Le prelude
Unbelievably its “Grand Depart”eve…..that really has come round insanely fast. I thought that whilst I still have the physical and mental capacity to think (based on last year I would expect both to be gone by the end of Day three) I would give you an update on a few of the last minute bits and pieces that I have been sorting out.
I have now put up a page with a link to all the route plans here – Le Route (or is it La route?) Its not the most scintillating bit of prose but some of you might be interested in tracking what we are doing and when….hey why not come and find us en route…we would love to see you!
In terms of planning its the route itself that has probably been the biggest challenge. It has been surprisingly difficult to find campsites that are a/ open this time of year, b/ near a town where we can get something to eat and c/ have a reasonable distance between the last campsite and the next one. Hopefully I have cracked it now, only time will tell. I wouldn’t be at all surprised though if I am telling you about the night we spent wild camping at some point in the next two and a bit weeks.
Our ferry out is all booked up and sets sail tomorrow night from Portsmouth at 20.15 and arrives in Saint Malo Sunday morning at 0815….we have an “inside large 2 / 4 berth cabin with en-suite”…..I mean it sounds dreamy doesn’t it. Travelling back to London at the end of the trip has proved a good deal trickier to organise but I think we are sorted now. I suspect its going to be a bit of an adventure all on its own so perhaps I can share all the toing and froing with you nearer the time.
I have done my practice packing, my pre-departure packing and my final packing now….I just have to do the final packing cross check packing and then I think we should be done. It looks heavy doesn’t it?
I think the only other part of preparation worth sharing here is the now mandatory personalised cycle jerseys.
You cant really see it in the photo but each collar is personalised with either “vieux”, “plus vieux” or “le plus ancien”….I will leave you to work out which belongs to who.
Today it has all hit home in a big way…..we are really doing this! I am reliably informed that it is perfectly normal to feel nervous, to feel anxious and sometimes maybe its ok to even feel a bit sick the day before such an enormous challenge but I have to confess I am just barely clinging on to my emotions today. Winston’s Wish very kindly shared a link to our blog earlier today and honestly I felt myself welling up….I really am a wreck.
The thing is, I know what’s going on, I know what I am feeling and I know why. Its not the size of the challenge, the height of the climbs or even that I have to share a man fug tent with the other two (which coincidentally makes yours eyes water as well)…it is nearly all about being apart from Jo my incredible partner for over two weeks (she has been an incredible partner for longer than two weeks in case you were wondering)
No disrespect to Marc and Dan, who are both really good mates, or the French as a nationality, who I am sure are also (probably?) lovely but Jo is single handedly responsible for every facet of my happiness not to mention general wellbeing (is it ok to say she is responsible for bits of my personal hygiene regime as well…not sure). Why would any sane person want to spend any time away, let alone nearly three weeks, from someone that makes you feel so downright amazing every single day. I really can’t describe how much I am going to miss her……it is so, so much.
At the risk of taking the blog away from its intended aim of being entertaining (lightly) and amusing (mildly) and moving it into Greek tragedy territory I also know that the deep, tight knot of anxiety in the pit of my stomach I get from thinking about being apart from Jo is all wrapped up with something else I have become all too familiar with throughout my life. Of course many people, if not most people, frequently find themselves managing some level of anxiety or nervousness in their lives and often for any number of different reasons. For me I can track the cold, dark and if I am truly honest still slightly terrifying centre of my anxiety directly back to 25 April 1980 when I saw my mum and dad for the very last time, hugged them and waved them off on their well deserved and first ever holiday without their three sons, Andrew eight, Neil five and me, twelve. Thirty eight years later I guess you would call it “fear of abandonment” or “attachment issues” or something similar and that is I think probably a perfectly normal reaction to what for anyone, but especially a child, is a life changing and tragic event. All I know is that, again like most people, I like to feel safe, secure, wanted and loved but perhaps sometimes to extremes. My amazing wife makes me feel all those things and so much more.
I do count myself as being extremely lucky because, for the most part, I have always had people around who love me and who care about me. Unfortunately that is just not always the case for others and this is where the work Winstons Wish do with bereaved children makes such a huge difference and why it is so important to me …..please, please if you are able, help them to make a difference and make a donation however small (although preferably big!)
I guess I need to go now and think about preparing our (very loosely) French themed final meal for this evening. The other two musketeers will be here around 7pm and then all things being equal we will head off around 830 tomorrow……gulp!
My aim is to try and get blog updates on here by 8pm every day so do please keep an eye out. I am also hoping to return to entertaining (lightly) and amusing (mildly) tomorrow but perhaps I should apologise now in case I have just set myself up to fail on all counts.
Thanks for all your support so far, please do keep it coming….it is truly inspiring and amazingly motivational.
Ps if you are on Twitter you can also now follow us @THEUT_2017 ….I have no idea how it works or why it’s good but I am told it is….please share as far and wide as you able.