77.41km – 10H27’
Altitude : 281m
2°C this morning, which is not very warm but we are heading slowly but surely toward autumn. Bertrand wanted to start the RV at 7:15, while serge was preparing his feet. The verdict, it won’t start. The guys get out the jump cables, Serge arrives and starts running back and forth to warm up, whereas the RV still doesn’t warm up, it won’t start. Enough time lost, everybody leaves and I call for help. At 10:00 a.m. the garage mechanic arrives, get’s it started right away and I leave fast to get a new battery. This good dose of stress this morning causes me to forget tooth brush, tooth paste and alarm clock. That’s serious because this alarm clock has been with us since 2001, when we were in South American and for years it has served to wake us for work. It has a history; it’s not just any old thing!!!
The sun comes up and there is almost no wind. It’s a beautiful day. At km 35 we meet some globe-rollers: Michelle, Eric and their daughter Marylou, age 6. There have traveled the roads of Europe on bicycle for the past six months and are going home at the end of September to start work October 1, after a 6-month sabbatical, which is not easy when you are a factory worked. Maybe we will see them in October because they live near Nevers. Here is their blog if you are interested in reading about their adventure: http://les-kanaky-s-roulent.over-blog.fr/.
5 km further on, Bruno finds us. It’s a comeback because he ran with us for almost a full stage in Luxemburg at the beginning of august. He is from Nancy but not certain he would be free Monday, he took today to run half the stage with Serge. So the rhythm increases; 37 minutes between two refueling and both men run at a good pace! Thanks for the Bergamot candies.
Serge was tired and didn’t eat the sauerkraut last night. He says that he is fed up with eating all day long. In the evening he is quickly full; his 15 refueling per day mean he is stuffed in every meaning of the word.
We have entered the Meuse: the 9th department we have touched since our return to France last September 6. It is our fourth region; after Nord-Pas de Calais, Picardy, Champagne-Ardenne we are now in Lorraine. On the secondary road we take, which are deserted, cellular telephone connections are intermittent. Since the beginning of the week connections have not been good.
Lastly, some people have told me they can’t open our itineraries. Since our update the weekend of September 6, the Openrunner site (very practical) is not accessible via Internet Explorer. You have to use Mozilla Firefox or another Internet access.
Town : Cornieville (Meuse)