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Old 07-06-2008, 05:14 PM   #1
Cyclefrance
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Bloody hell, not another Cyclefrance biking holiday!!

Afraid so.

Calais to Paris this year - pure madness - 220 miles in three and a half days. Website to come (god knows how long it will take this year!) but some photos to give you a flavour of what was on offer.... starting with....

Well, it was a puzzling start for some - I don't think he was reckoning on his bike having so much on the back - let alone the hills that followed( Ok so it's a downer I'm showing - but we had to get up there first!):

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Old 07-06-2008, 05:16 PM   #2
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BUt the views from on top made it all worthwhile

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Old 07-06-2008, 05:19 PM   #3
Cyclefrance
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...and when we did get donw to river level, there was an intersting bridge on view. We arrived just as the barrier came down.

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Old 07-06-2008, 05:21 PM   #4
Cyclefrance
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Then the guy on the left started pumping up and down with a lever, while the one on the right inserted this 'key' into a socket in the middle of the bridge...

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Old 07-06-2008, 05:24 PM   #5
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Seems the first guy was jacking up the central column of the bridge - just enough to break the contact and remove the frictioneffect, which then allowed the second guy to turn the key....

... and the bridge started moving:

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Old 07-06-2008, 05:27 PM   #6
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...and in no time at all the bridge was open so the boat could pass by.

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Old 07-06-2008, 05:31 PM   #7
Cyclefrance
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But you can overdo the bridge thing - let's move on.

We passed through a few places we'd visited before, like Rue (if you check the link you will see that the church was being renovated last time - this time it's finished):

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Old 07-06-2008, 05:36 PM   #8
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...and we also stayed at some places we'd stayed before - well, where I had in this case, Froissy - not too much I can add from last time, except that Francine is very artistic, not only in the design of the rooms, and with her cullinery skills, but also with the way she mounts her pictures - example below:

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Old 07-06-2008, 05:42 PM   #9
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At least this time I can add some more stuff about Paris.

We stayed in the same B&B I lodged at last time in Asnieres, but this time the visit to La Defense was all about their jazz festival which was in full swing when we arrived.

Thursday lunchtime saw us supping beer and enjoying a free 90 minute concert from one Yaron Herman (the link takes you to some videos of his work) - he's the guy you can barely see in the second picture below:

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Old 07-06-2008, 05:46 PM   #10
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...and naturally, we coaxed someone to take a picture of the four of us with the Arc de Triomphe just visible in the distance. From left to right, it's me, Neil (newcomer this year), Barry (newcomer last year - obviously couldn't remember how bad that had been!) and my regular cycling partner, Paul.

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Old 07-06-2008, 05:49 PM   #11
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A business pal of mine based in Paris took us to a few places we otherwise wouldn't have seen - like the top of the tower Lafayette - with its great views across Paris - enjoy!

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Old 07-06-2008, 05:53 PM   #12
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Those two pictures above should join up side-by side if you fancy a bit of screen-grabbing and manipulating in MS Paint.

We did a couple of trips outside Paris - one to Versailles Palace - but there was a queue over 100 yards long to get in - we calculated that as being about 4 hours waiting - strangely, others still joined the queue - we didn't - hence the only picture worth showing is below:

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Old 07-06-2008, 05:57 PM   #13
Cyclefrance
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Hmm, I might just get the gold Hammerite out and do my own gates back home - second thoughts....

Second thoughts, I'll just show you something else with gold all over it in Paris - the dome of the church at Invalides:

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Old 07-06-2008, 05:59 PM   #14
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That's your lot for now - for all the grit and gristle of the trip in it's bare entirety, you'll have to wait for the website - but I'll keep you posted on progress.
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Old 07-06-2008, 06:51 PM   #15
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Just one word.... awesome
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