5 - Paris to Nogent sur Seine

May 25
125km (725m vertical)

With sunny skies, we spent an hour taking more tourist photos this morning. A group of local girls enjoyed Al's "whiteface"...the result of using baby sunscreen because it was 3 euro cheaper. It leaves him looking like a Japanese geisha, and runs into his eyes by the end of the day. That makes for some interesting photos.

We stayed on one main road all day, which made navigating easy. We stocked up on food in Paris, since we weren't sure if the shops in smaller towns would be open on a Sunday, but many were.

My butt was pretty sore this morning. It's not used to consecutive long days in the saddle. My knees felt pretty stiff as well, so I adjusted my seat a bit. Al seems healthy, although he is still riding well behind me. I can stop for almost 5 minutes sometimes before he shows up. I think he's used to 12 hour days of riding at a steady, leisurely pace.

Al lost a fender bolt today on a long stretch of bumpy road. Luckily, I had a spare. He loaned me a spare water bottle cage yesterday, after mine broke off. I had replaced all the sexy lightweight parts on my bike with tougher, heavier steel before I left, but I forgot about the water bottle cages.

We arrived in Nogent sur Seine around 6pm, but there was nothing open....including the local hotel. Some old ladies at the church suggested asking for a bed at the railway station, but the manager there said that he had no beds and no suggestions. I found a motorcycle tourist in the same situation, standing outside a second closed hotel. After a painful initial conversation in French, his two friends showed up and I realized they were British. They'd found a 3-star hotel nearby, and showed us the way. It was a bit more than Al wanted to pay, but there was no other option. Beware of France on Sundays.

We had dinner at a Chinese restaurant, which was the only food in town. So far, our Paris dinner was our only French cuisine.