J57 – 2/12/2006

Istambul has a population of 13 million souls and the suburbs stretch for kilometers.  After an early morning departure, Serge found himself swallowed up in a constant stream of cars.

A tough day after a difficult night spent in a hotel which was noisy until 5:00 AM, just one hour before our alarm rang.  Everyone had the same sleepless eyes so it wasn’t necessary to ask if the night had been good — it was dreadful.  That’s why Serge forgot his gloves and cap when he left and Laure arrived at the camper without a key: A disaster!

As we approached Istanbul, rain and melting snow greeted us, to the point where we couldn’t see the bridge over the Bosporus, which was so sparkling yesterday.  It must have been a bad omen because at the foot of the bridge Serge was picked up by the police.  Night fell.  I found Serge and Fulvio at the police station.  We spent 1H30 explaining our case but there was nothing to be done, Serge was unable to cross the bridge on foot.  We were sick that this link between Europe and Asia couldn’t be joined.

We had dreamed about this symbol, too bad that Serge can’t  walk on water yet.

Our consolation is that the first part of this transcontinental race is over.  Serge has mastered Europe.  Many thanks to Virginie, a French expatriate in Istanbul, for having come to run a few kilometers in the snow with Serge.

As I write to you some strange things are happening at the French embassy in Istanbul (this news came by SMS this evening) even though we didn’t notice anything in the streets this afternoon and young couples seemed more intent on looking at the sea.  Serge’s crossing is a way of thumbing our nose at all these depressing events, which so far haven’t affected us.

We hope that our good luck will hold for our caravan, which is seeing some changes this evening with the arrival of Joël and Georges and the return of René and Pascal.  Eliane, Christian and Fulvio will leave us tomorrow: bonjour tristesse.