Today has been the most difficult day so far of the pilgrimage and I am feeling quite miserable this evening though a good meal and a couple of glasses of wine have lifted my sprits. Oh and that I am spending the night in a hotel after four nights under canvas.This morning I rose at 6:30am as I wanted to get packed and out of the campsite at Le Man before 9am. The weather forecast had predicted overcast skies all day with high humidity but no rain. Sure enough as I stuck my head out of the tent at dawn the skies where grey but it was warm and no sign of rain. As there was no queue for the showers I took the advantage and went straight to them. Breakfast was a meagre black coffee and a few all butter biscuit I felt scrambled eggs and all the washing up would only delay me.
I managed to get everything packed into the 7 by just after 8am. The hood was down as no rain was forecast and I set off from the camp site right into the Le Man rush hour added too by all the others who like me decided to get away early from the race track. It took me well over half an hour to clear Le Man and by then I had already noticed spots of rain on the wind screen but felt confident it would pass. About 10km out of Le Man I passed a trucker's café bar and stopped for breakfast. Determined not to put the hood up I open my large golf umbrella and covered the cockpit while I went in. Breakfast consisted of a very large white coffee and fresh French bread and as much butter as I could speared on.
By the end of my petit dejeuner it was raining hard and I was soaked while I put the hood up and set off with windows constantly misting up. It then rained solidly until I arrived at Troyes at 6:30pm and I was not a happy bunny to say the least. I had been particularly looking forward today as my route followed the Loire Valley crossing the famous river every so often as I passed through villages with impressive stone bridges. However there was more water on the road and falling from the sky than there was in the river. I stopped at Troo, Vendome and Orleans but there was little point in site seeing as it was raining so hard so there was no pleasure to be found in walking around, though I did make an effort to go into the cathedrals.
I also discovered that the French don’t seem to do Mondays. Everything was closed including garages and even though they advertised 24hrs service none of the automatic pumps would accept my British credit card and I watch with some alarm as my fuel gauge pass the ¾ empty mark and passing garage after garage that was closed. I finally found one of a section of duel carriageway and I filled up even though the price was much higher than else where. The same was true of trying to find something to eat or a toilet. Even the supermarkets close for two hours for lunch imagine Sainsbury or Tesco’s closing for lunch people would panic thing the world was coming to an end.
At Orleans I parked in a huge underground car park which was directly below the cathedral so at least the 7 was dry. I went up and walk into the cathedral and asked for the loos to be told there where none in the cathedral. Can you imagine visiting an English cathedral and there being no loos or a tea shop it just wouldn’t happen. I went across to a bar brought an espresso and then headed for the loo to discover the in cost 20cents. After then getting change I tried twice to open the door but to no avail and upon asking the bar tender he simply responded it’s not working. The problem shall we say was managed by stealth.
By now I was running 3 hours behind with a mix of bad weather and set after set of road works and a 20km detour because of an accident. I should have been at Orleans by 1pm but it was now 3pm and I had 200km to go to Troyes no fuel and no food.
The psalmist shows how we can be angry with God and my prayer or conversation in the cockpit as I drove out of Orleans was far from reverent and more akin to a husband and wife arguing about directions in the car. Just as I though it couldn’t get any worse I realised with horror that the passenger door was not secure and the hood bag which holds the roof when its sunny was missing and had clearly dropped out somewhere along the road. At least it didn’t have the hood in! I will just have to roll the hood and stow it with out the bag and order another one when I get back to the UK. Then to top it all I realized in the reflection off another vehicle that my driver side head light was not working and in this rain it was important to be a visible as possible!!
I felt like Job in my 7 wondering what calamity would strike next and how could this happen to one who has set out on pilgrimage with the best intentions. The journey from Orleans to Troyes was miserable with driving rain and more delays. I see on the French news this evening that there has been serious flooding in parts of France so in some respects I have been lucky. I was also reassured to receive a message on my phone from the hotel saying they where looking forward to seeing me and that a space had been reserved for my car in the hotel underground parking.
I arrived in Troyes at 6:30pm feeling very miserable and wet through wishing I was back at home. I was met at the hotel by a lovely French girl whose smile raised my spirits and showed me to a very nice room. The hotel is an ibis the European equivalent to a travel lodge. I always thought all the rooms were the same but the room I have seems much larger than usual. This is either due to receiving sympathy from the nice receptionist for my drown rat look or that having lived in a tent for the pass four days and then spent the past 5 hours in the cockpit of a 7 with my luggage taking up all the spare room that anything seems big after this.
It finally stopped raining at 7:30pm so I decide the best therapy was a good meal and several glasses of wine. It was a five minute walk into the old quarter of the town where restaurants and bistros where in abundance and unlike everything else today OPEN! Two hours later I am much rived and the forecast for the next four days is sunny. We shall see! I think it was Mark Twain who said that ‘until you have been delayed on your journey you have not really travelled’.
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