Le Tour Part 6 - On the way back to Paris

Good news for the non cycling fans – there are no velos in this part.

There is however a picture of St Emilion I forgot to add last time….



I woke up in yet another lovely little camping spot (“Aire”) along the autoroute to the sound of the start of the French holiday month of August. *Everyone* goes on holiday in France in August. England’s not quite as bad, but I’m writing this on my way back from the Newcastle office which was no more than half full. Of course, it’s the equivalent of xmas season over here – the school year starts in September.

Then I headed towards Cote d’Argent (literally Silver Coast, I guess they were on a role after the Gold Coast along the Mediterranean). Absolutely incredible!!!! I got there pretty early, about 9am, parked in an extensive but empty area, walked to the beach….. GASP - an Australian quality surf beach! Magical. The people did arrive later on, but there was plenty of room for everyone. What the hell are all those people doing along the Cote d’Or? Sure, it was a little chillier than the bathwater down there, but still. I spent the day putting on sunscreen, reading, walking and taking regular dips. Felt a little overdressed in my bikini though I must say. I also started getting annoyed at the lifeguards who seemed to want to prevent people from going out to far (hey, I can handle surf, I’m an aussie!). But when I moved away for a bit more freedom I decided they weren’t so wrong after all, as it was pretty fierce surf. I met one surfer who said it was too big for them that day. It did make the (lack of) clothing choices made by the swimmers seem sensible though!

Then I was off again, seriously heading north this time. The next morning was spent walking through a beautiful, albeit somewhat damp forest near Paris. So I’d seen mountains, beaches, vineyards, farmlands, rivers and now forest. What a spectacularly beautiful country.

And then it was time to head back to the airport to drop off the car. It was a bit sad really, after nearly 4000 km and it certainly took me a while to clean it out. Still, I was now ready for Paris and the last leg of my Tour.