J49 – 2/4/2006

We have adapted to the time change without difficulty.  Serge always leaves around 8H00 – 8H15 (7H00-7H15 French time).  Christian has taken the wheel of the 4×4 since he arrived and is completely familiar with the way feedings are handled.

Serge was silent during the whole stage, he winced from time to time.  The national road E90 that we are taking is used by a stream of trucks and busses.  During one of his feedings, Serge told Eliane that his head rang from the noise.  We went along two lakes, Koronia and Volvi, before reaching the sea, more exactly the gulf of Stymonikos, which Serge reached at the end of the afternoon, to finish his stage 4 km before Asprovalta.  He was limping with his right leg and we understood why he winced.

We can’t read the Greek alphabet, which is more than 3000 years old and the pride of the Greeks.  Historically, it is older than our Latin alphabet.  Luckily for us, the sign postings are often in Greek and Latin, which helps us find our way.

At noon the team doesn’t stop to eat: we snack along the road on sandwiches we have prepared in advance or on food bought along the way.  In Greece along the roads the ever present “Kantina” (small vans selling kabob) allow us to feed ourselves quickly and it’s a real feast even if it’s the same every day.

In the evening we eat at the hotel where we have arranged to stop.  English is not spoken much so to simplify the ordering of meals we have Greek salad every evening.  Serge also has meat and French fries.  At 20H00 we are all in our rooms.  Serge can only think of sleeping, the best way to recuperate in this long race.  Serge’s secret: sleep ten hours per night.

English translation by Lee Hecht