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J342 - Thursday, September 23: GĂ©rardmer - Colmar


73.89km  – 9H08’   
Altitude : 214m

The stage for October 16:  Montargis - Fontainebleau (the itinerary will be posted online later)
Finish October 17 at l’INSEP – Avenue de Tremblay, 75012 Paris
There will be no stage between cities
Serge will enter l’INSEP around 9:00 a.m. and will run on the track in the INSEP until 11:06 a.m.  He will be accompanied by everyone who wishes to run these last two hours of the Around the European Union Footrace, and celebrate the 365 days of the race..  

At 7:30 a.m., 3 runners and 4 cyclists are waiting for Serge at the hotel’s parking lot.  Jean- Louis, who is a very active member in the organization here in the Vosges, and always smiling and considerate, has come to say goodbye.  Frank, of the CJD, is responsible for seeing that the relay is passed on to the chapter in Nancy to take it all the way to the border of the Vosges/Haut Rhin departments.  His wife, Christelle, runs to the 34th kilometer, which is the longest she has ever run since she is more used to long bike rides.


Yesterday evening, Bertrand’s brother, Christophe, who lives with his family in the Vosges, arrived laden with small Lorraine pâtĂ©s to supplement the crew’s snacks.  He stays with the caravan all morning and as Rene, who is celebrating his 300th day on the road with the Around the European Union Footrace, says “I put on 20 gr. per day”.  I leave you to calculate his increase in weight, which is quite a few kilos.


La Routes des CrĂŞtes is far from deserted; there are lots of tourists, a few RVs and some hardy cyclists.  Everyone rolls on and Serge is gathering no moss.  At an altitude of 1,200 meters it is chilly in spite of the sunshine.  There is a magnificent view of the peaks of the Parc Naturel RĂ©gional des Ballons des Vosges.  Serge takes delight in the scenery in spite of the hills, which take us up to 1,280 meters on the Routes des CrĂŞtes.

Then there is a long descent toward the Alsatian plain.  After Munster, Serge and the caravan are to meet with the Colmar chapter of the CJD in the small village of Zimmerback.  Jean-Jacques, the man with the hat and already present in Nancy, has come to finish the stage with Serge.  The thermometers in the towns indicate 27° or even 29°C.  It is very, very hot.

The finish at the Stade de l’Europe is very lively, thanks to the presence of about 40 children. The socio-cultural center meets every day after school to provide cultural and sports activities for the children until 6:00 p.m.  They are delighted to play on the stadium’s beautiful track, which today is the site for autograph collecting and the distribution of T shirts by the CJD, as well as a snack.  Serge answers a few questions from this young group.  We acknowledge the presence of the vice president of the General Council.  Thanks go to Willy and his team of young entrepreneurs for having gathered this fine group for a very intense moment of sharing.
 
The presence of Audrey, Anne and Bertrand’s daughter, gives us the excuse to celebrate, in advance, Bertrand’s 50th birthday, which is actually Sunday, September 26. So he blows out his candles a bit early.  Once again, it’s party time on the Around the European Union Footrace and this time we are in the company of Audrey, Steve and Philippe.

Note: We have not seen one sign of a demonstration on this national strike day!!!

Town : Colmar (Haut Rhin)

GPS : N 48.07’99.8° E 007.33’05.2°