May 24
120 km (with 907m of gross vertical climb)Hit the road at 9am this morning. Had a big breakfast just outside of town. The route was hillier today, which meant that I was always a few minutes ahead of Al. He'd catch me quickly whenever I stopped to check the map or grab a snack.
There are lots of grocery stores and boulangeries around, so its easy to find things to eat. Al loves to get cheap food at grocery stores. Lots of fruit. I count on Snickers for my emergency energy. We both like the big baguette sandwiches for lunch.
Weather started out nice today, but it began raining off and on in the afternoon. Not ideal, but it didn't really slow us down much. Al fell once on a wet corner, but was ok.
Got our first glimpse of the Eiffel Tower when we were still 10km outside the city. I was very tempted to take a photo, but was going down hill at 40km/h, in the rain, on a 6 lane highway with heavy traffic...and the view was gone in a few seconds. Other than that 2km stretch, the ride into Paris was simple. There were small, quiet streets that ran alongside the main highway in. By chance we picked a road that led us into Paris right past the A1rc de Triumph. It seemed the ideal way to arrive.
After several photos, we went to the Eiffel Tower for some more tourist shots. It was raining again, so we didn't stay long. It felt a bit artificial too, since we went out of our way to get the photos there.
The youth hostel that Al liked was full, but we found another cheap hotel nearby.
Got our first glimpse of the Eiffel Tower when we were still 10km outside the city. I was very tempted to take a photo, but was going down hill at 40km/h, in the rain, on a 6 lane highway with heavy traffic...and the view was gone in a few seconds. Other than that 2km stretch, the ride into Paris was simple. There were small, quiet streets that ran alongside the main highway in. By chance we picked a road that led us into Paris right past the A1rc de Triumph. It seemed the ideal way to arrive.
After several photos, we went to the Eiffel Tower for some more tourist shots. It was raining again, so we didn't stay long. It felt a bit artificial too, since we went out of our way to get the photos there.
The youth hostel that Al liked was full, but we found another cheap hotel nearby.
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