17/7/10: I set off today along an incredibly long straight road for the 1st 10 miles. The wind had picked up during the night and I was straight into it almost all day which made things much harder. After a while on the roads I decided to join the Canal du midi where I had my bike&bones thoroughly rattled thanks to numerous tree roots making their way onto the path. Peering over to the other side of the canal, I couldn't help but feel it looked far smoother on the other towpath. I crossed over at the next bridge and enjoyed all of 20m of smooth tarmac before it became far worse. I refused to turn back so battled on until I was winding my way along a 15cm wide strip of dirt inbetween brambles. The terrain was esssentially mountain bike worthy and although my bike didn't fall apart it wasnt really ideal for the job. The track then opened up into a vineyard and came to a dead end! I was blowed if I was going to turn back because by now I had travelled about 5 miles since the bridge. Instead I pushed my bike through the vines and found another track to follow. Luckily it came out at a road after a few miles and then crossed the canal again. I was able to rejoin on the original side and continue the relatively smoother track most of the way to Carcassonne-oh how the grass is always greener.....! I stopped at the ancient part of Carcassonne to have a look around the walled city. I locked my bike up and walked through the gates. It was very impressive from the outside, but sadly all a bit commercial inside. I did a brief tour before the smell of sweaty tourist and cigarette encouraged me to head back to my bike. When I returned to it, disaster had struck in the form of my first puncture of the trip. I wasn't particularly bothered about having to fix it, but was highly disappointed that I wouldn't be able to say to customers at the bike shop I work in 'I cycled all the way around France on these and had no punctures!' There was a convenient water fountain next to me so I could find out where the puncture was. I couldn't understand why the tyre had gone flat in the 10 mins I was in the city as the hole in the tube was tiny. I identified the valve was a bit dodgy so popped in a new tube and after half a million pumps with my tiny mini pump I set off to the campsite. On the way I stopped at the most grotty bike shop I've ever been in. I realise the bike shop I work in is very presentation orientated but here it was definitely the other end of the scale. Everything was a few years out of date or mildly soiled, and the man who ran the place appeared to just open his delivery boxes&scatter the contents around the shop in random in piles. He bugrudgingly went into the back to get me an innertube, after telling me he doubted he had anything that would fit. He returned with the right thing and once I told him about my trip his mood lightened and he changed his mind about how much the innertube was going to cost! I found the camping municipal in Carcassonne, it is on the playing field of a school. The wind had settled down by this point, but the moving air all day meant it was finally a bearable temperature. Total mileage today was just 52.48 miles, although with the wind and off road sections it took me just as long as a normal day. Just spotted the question from Rob earlier-I am using my map all the time for routing, as the garmin is really just for accurate stats about distance&speed as the screen is too small to display an entire days ride. I do use the Garmin for navigating cities and big towns as my normal maps are too big a scale to show details of streets. The main use of the Garmin is the almost yellow pages function it has. I can search for banks, campsites, B&B's and supermarkets nearby and it shows me where they are. It gives contact numbers for everything so I can ring ahead to make sure a campsite or B &B has space. It's also nice to have something accurate if I ever got lost-like in the vineyard today.

18/7/10: I set off at 9.20am today in order to meet Alex at the aiort. I suddenly remembered all the shops would be closed today after midday so nipped into a supermarket to buy some food. When I arrived at the airport Alex was already there with his bike, piecing it together and keen as a beaver to get cracking! We spent an hour getting everything together and set off. We planned to see the tour as it passed through Gioux and were cutting it fine to be there on time. We had to really cycle as fast as we could for 2 hours in order to make it on time. It was not an easy start to our trip&we didn't get much chance to speak! However, we arrived about 4 minutes before they came through. It was quite amazing seeing Armstrong, Wiggins and Cavendish. There were 3 helicopters, and lods of team cars and motorbikes. I cycled up the road they had just gone down&found myself a waterbottle one of Lance Armstrongs teams had thrown out-Alex found one too! We then continued at a far more relaxed pace into Mijoux and stopped for lunch on a bench. We enjoyed a more steady afternoon cycling into Palmiers along some fantastic, small roads. We found a campsite and pitched our 2 identical tents. After the usual mound of pasta we ventured into town to the 'feista' that was going on to celebrate the tour arriving. We could ssee all the team buses arriving with cyclists, but sadly they were not joining the festivities-more a case of early night with plenty of water for them! total mileage was 52.58 miles today.

16/7/10: I had decided to make today a rest day. I filled up on breakfast at the B&B I was staying at and used their free wifi to sort out various things which required the internet. I then cycled the 2 miles or so to the coast. It was incredibly busy, but I managed to soap myself up and squeeze into a space to 'catch some rays.' I was delighted to find a group of 4 dutch girls next to me on holiday together. I saw this as too good an oppertunity to go missing so engaged in converstaion, they were touring around France camping and visiting various cities&beaches. We exchanged tips of which places are good to visit and enjoyed a good swim in the sea and then after the usual bagette and sausage/cheese lunch set off on my bike at about 3pm. Unfortunately getting changed on the beach meant sand in my lycra shorts-lucky I only had 30 miles to do! I was very pleased to find the 'Canal du midi' and was able to cycle along some nice flat cycle paths for 20 miles or so. Even better was the fact that there was an 'Ed' supermarket on the way-they are basically a wearhouse with food in unorderly crates&shelves. But everything is spectacularly cheap-I stocked up on 5 days pasta for 85p, and fig rolls were on special offer so that will be my snack food for the next week! I then found a good camping municipale at a very reasonable 6€-most campsites in this area area more like 15€ for 1 person for 1 night. I got chatting to a man outside the showers, it turned out he had been evicted from his house&had been in the same campsite for the last 2 months while he searched for a job. I also met a dutch woman in her early 60's who was cycling the Canal du midi all the way to Bordeaux-it's amazing the range of people you meet in these places! I carefully pitched my tent in a spot which would be in the shade tomorrow and had dinner. Total mileage today was 31.35 miles.

13/7/10: I started the day by descending into Sault to buy some breakfast. I filled up my waterbottles and also forced as much water down myself as I could before setting off up Mt.Ventoux. I knew that there would be no water available until the top&Ventoux is famous for being exposed to the sun for a good part of it. 2hrs 11 mins later I found myself at the top, the journey up was made easier by the fact there was a running competition going on to the top-every time I felt tired I had to feel for the runners! I paused only once on the way up to see Tommy Simpsons' grave-a famous British cyclist who died about 1km from the summit during a stage of The Tour de France in the 80's, he was heavily dosed up on amphetamines at the time which didn't help. Luckily I was dosed up on Croissant so made it to the top. I enjoyed an amazing 13 mile descent from the top down to almost sea level. I clocked 55.6 mph at one stage so have finally cracked the 50mph target. Next up, 60mph.....only joking Mum! I stopped at another odd bike shop at the bottom which only appeared to sell custom built road bikes above £5,000-very nice but a bit of a niche market! I was hit by the heat when I got down from the mountain, a temperature gauge I saw was on 39 C. I have never been great with coping with heat so drank as much water as I could and carried on to a town called Orange. By 4pm it had reached oven like temperatures and the roads were melting like butter. I stopped in an air conditioned bar and watched the Tour on TV. By the time it had all finished it was about 5.30pm and the temperature was ok. I carried on to a town called Saint-Martin D'Ardeche which is, as the name suggests, at the southern end of the Ardeche. I arrived at my selected campsite at 4.50pm to find reception had closed 10 mins early and they wouldn't let me camp and pay the next morning. I pointed out they had closed early, but was given the gallic shrug. I headed to another campsite which turned out to be cheaper anyway. I enjoyed watching the final of their 'Petanque' championship. When I arrived my neighbouring campers lent me their mallet to hammer my pegs into the dry ground. They also brought me several cups of ice cold water-now that is 2 star camping! I must have looked like a dying man for them to have kept on bringing me so much water. I then spent most of the evening sweating before the temperature dropped to a bearable level to go to sleep. Mileage today was 76.76miles.

14/7/10: Woke up in the immense heat again-unbearably hot! I noticed a few people sleep outside their tents, maybe I will follow suit tonight. I cycle up the Ardeche North West as far as the Pont D'Arc. I stopped here for a swim and soon found the cool water and decent wind in the gorge made me feel the need to stay for about 2hours! It was so nice to escape the heat. I then headed South West down to Ales in the afternoon. I knocked on somebody's door for water and a very kind woman invited me in where she was watching The Tour on TV. She filled my bottles with ice which was great, and gave me a glass of cold water too. I stopped in a bar at about 5pm to watch the tour de france finish in Gap. They were doing the exact same route I did only a few days ago so it was fascinating to recognise the same roads they were on, I even spotted the house I stopped at for water where the man had told me where he would watch the tour! I finished the day rather late and was starving by the time I arrived in Ales. Unfortunately with it being Bastille day most shops were closed. Luckily there was a certain chain of fine cuisine restaurant by the side of the road starting with a Mc... sound, so I was able to induldge in some 'mal bouffe' in the form of a large portion of chips. I got to the campsite at about 8pm just outside Ales in a village called Cendras. I cooked dinner and got talking to the family next door who had a son and daughter my age. I soon found myself sitting with them with a glass whisky chatting away until late about everything from car insurance to the nudist town near Carcasonne! (Alex take note.) They were actually Belgian and were really friendly and interesting. They even invited me for breakfast with them the next morning as it was the mother's birthday. I am a bit ahead of shedule and have 3 days to get to Carcasonne so have decided to press on tomorrow and hopefully have a rest day by the sea. Milegae today was 65.91 miles.

15/7/10: Not a great nights sleep thanks to the French in the campsite celebrating Bastille day until 3am. Mind you, I am in their country! I enjoyed breaksfast with this Belgian family, it was a shame to say goodbye to them as they had really taken me under their wing over the last 18 hours. They sent me on my way with their contact details should I ever want to visit Belgium and also a couple of chocolate croissants for the road. The sky was cloudy so it wasn't too hot. I decided today was going to be a big one and set my sights on a town called Agdes, a town right on the coast of the Med' . I headed through various villages on a hilly but not moutainous route, the landscape has changed completely now and it looks very much like Greece. The heat began to rise, and I was told 36 C by a man who topped me up with water. I barely stopped for lunch and soon hit a flatter region with fantastic tarmac, so was soon pounding along, munching the miles. I stopped for more water and a very deaf old man invited me into his house. No sooner had I entered before he was offering me ice cold coke and anything to eat from his fridge! It turns out he was a keen cyclist 'back in the day' and was very interested in my trip. He offered me a 2L bottle of coke for the road, but I declined as I thought this was too much to take from him. He got out his map of France and got me to show him my route, and he made useful suggestions of where to go next. He spoke good English too as he had lived in the USA for 5 years. I had to press on so set off again. I really managed to clock some miles over the next hour as the wind was behind me and the route was slightly down hill. The next house I stopped at was again a fascinating experience! The man who opened the door this time immediatly took me to the garage to fetch some water from his fridge and also gave me a can of lemonade. I couldn't fathom where his accent was from, it was not a southern accent but sounded similiar with words like 'quinze' It turned out this man was Spanish, and lived in France. He showed me his shed which contained a little shrine to Spain! He then proceded to tell me all about his son who does road racing to what sounded like quite a high level. We discussed how well Spain were doing with Nadal in tennis, winning the world cup and Alberto Contador a strong chance for Le Tour-he liked this a lot! I set off again for the final 10 miles into Agdes. I played the 'Garmin lucky dip' again to find a B&B. I had cycled 89 miles, so some pampering was justified. However, I was set on reaching 90 miles so did a quick lap of town to take the total to 90.10 miles. I ate in their restaurant which overlooked the river where there was a full sized orchestra playing on a floating island in the middle. It is the 1st time I have done the 'eating alone in a restaurant' I felt a bit lonely and did wish I could have had someone with me for the whole trip. Still, Alex arrives on the 18th which will be good!

11/7/10: Again the tent was wet in the morning! I packed up and bought some croissants I had ordered the night before. My route today followed the exact same course as the Tour De France stage for the 14th July. The start was very up and down but no huge climbs, then I began the long but not very steep ascent over the Col de Noyer at 1646m. The valley which lead into this was, without exaggeration, probably the most amazing place I have ever been to. There was a great smell of pine all the way&it seemed to be a bit of a backwater so there were no cars or motorbikes or other people! I stopped for water at a house and the man who opened the door seemed very keen to tell me all his plans about where he would sit to see the tour when it came through his village. I had lunch at the top and then descended into Gap with another very small col before I arrived. I had foolishly forgotten it was sunday so couldn't find anywhere to get food for dinner. I cycled about 8 miles south of Gap to a campsite and set up camp. I managed to catch the last 15km of the tour-shame to see Armstrong crack so early! I cooked dinner with the remaining ingrediants I had (cheese,sausage,pasta) and will have to find somewhere to buy food tomorrow if I want breakfast. I then enjoyed watching the football with the numerous Dutch tourists in the campsite TV room.

12/7/10: After a dry night the tent and all my clothes were dry which made packing up far easier. I rode about 5 miles south to the nearest town (Tallard) to stock up on food and have breakfast. Todays route was relatively flat,more rolling hills between mountains and althought I did take in 2 Cols,they were small ones. I particularly enjoyed cycling up the 'Gorges de la Meouge' where I stopped for lunch and had a refreshing swim. In search of water, I approached a man in his garden and he soon invited me in for some ice cold lemonade. He was keen to hear about my trip and it was a good chance to speak some French. In the afternoon I was considering trying to make it over Mt. Ventoux, but as it was 5pm by the time I reached the foot,it would be about 8pm by the time I reached a town on the other side. I passed a bizarre bike shop just before entering the town. They had an enormous range of saddles and tyres and a few other bits, but that was all they sold. They didn't sell complete bikes, but did do repairs. I stocked up on chamois cream (if you don't know what that is, it's best to remain in the dark!) and managed to get them to oil my chain. I got chatting with them, and asked about Mt. Ventoux and how long it would take. Surprisingly none of them had ever done it despite living about 5 miles from the foot of it. I decided to spend the night in Sault, a really nice town with a huge Camping Municipale. Unfortunately the pitch they gave me had ground like concrete so I couldn't get my tent pegs in, still better than having soggy ground! I chose a better slot nearby.

9/7/10: I woke up behind my bush by the side of the road&packed up and had a wash in the river. I stopped immediatly to fill up on water for the day&buy some food. The first 8 miles was done in 21 minutes as I had a really smooth,gently downhill road to the bottom of my main climb for the day. I then spent the next 4hrs 5mins climbing to the top of the Col du telegraphe and then onto the Col de galibier. On the way up I stopped once for a drink in a bar and met a couple from Sussex who were planning a route through the Alps for their classic car club. I also met a young Brit who was cycling from Geneva to Nice and taking in numerous Cols along the way. I considered asking to join him and his friend but as the conversation went on it was clear they weren't doing many miles per day and were on more of a cafe crawl! From the top of the Col du telegraphe I had a short descent of about 2km to the start of the Galibier. I was almost driven off the edge into the Valley floor by a mad frenchman on the way down, needless to say he received a highly graphic gesture of the sort of person I felt he was! I then climbed up to the Galibier summit at 2645m, it was quite a climb, definitely the hardest so far at 37km from bottom to top, which gave me plenty of time to work out all sorts of statistics. For example my feet went around about 16,800 times in order to reach the summit. And also I should consume one of my small 'gallette' biscuits every 1min 30 secs to provide enough energy for this. And finally, had I not had 15kg of luggage I'd have been 1hr 2mins quicker to the top. I decided to have lunch a short way down the descent as a group of german motorbikers seemed intent on smoking the summit out. I then cycled down all the way to Bourg D'Oisens at a mere 700m. I did not have the energy for L'Alpe D'Huez at this point so finished here. Total mileage was 62.61miles today. I looked at a few campsites, but they were about €15-20 per night for my small tent&bike so I decided to 'go wild' again. I found a nice field which didn't appear to have had any form of tractor in for some months. Cooked yet more pasta and went to sleep!

10/7/10: This morning there was unfortunately a very heavy dew so most of the clothes I'd put out to dry overnight were wet. I hung them out on the line (bungeed onto my panniers) and set off. I stopped at the foot of L'Alpe D'Huez to leave my bags in a shop I had bought some food from. I thought if I was going to the ttop&immediatly down then there was no point in hauling them all the way. I set off up the 21 bends with seemingly every cyclist in the Alps doing the same thing! I was amazed just how much quicker I was going without the panniers, it was fantastic. I went fairly slowly all the way as I had a fair way to go after this. However, with 3 turns left a young teenager passed me with his dad. They did not even give the slightest flicker of response to my cheery 'Bonjour' so feeling snubbed and in a moment of 'testosterone surge' I had to race them to the top. I soon found my nice amble to the top turning into a flat out, lung bursting attempt to race a 13 yr old to the summit! Needless to say I pushed him off the edge into the valley floor. At the top were tens of cyclists all buying their 'I've done it' T-shirts. I decided €35 was a bit much and settled for a Fanta instead. The whole thing took 1hr11mins up and 18mins down so it wasnt as if it was anywhere near the torture of the Galibier, so I thought a T-shirt was a little OTT! I picked up my bags at the bottom and continued along the valley and up to the Col de which wasn't too bad, as it was only 1367m high. However, on the descent after I bumped into a full on thunder storm. I donned the waterproofs properly for the 1st time in 2 weeks and carried on. Sadly I seemed to by following the storm and got utterly soaked. I was offered a lift by a passing couple in a van but politely refused as I thought it was a shame not to cycle all the way, and this would be cheating! I arrived in La Mure in time to watch the last 20km of the tour. I dried out and it stopped raining. I then cycled to a campsite I thought was nearby (not realising the steep descent and ascent leading to it which took an hour!) The campsite is great and after explaining how I found them using the lodging function on my Garmin, the owner was more than happy to charge it for me. I pitched the tent with thunder in the background and it soon began raining again. Luckily I was allowed to cook in the games room, so all was well. To top it all the football was on so I cooked and watched TV. Covered a total of 52.70 miles today.

v6/7/10: Set off from campsite after refreshing face wash in ice cold water! My route to chamonix was relatively flat and shorter than expected so I arrived there about 2.30pm. I am staying in some friends' chalet which is fantastic! So many thanks to Barbera& John! During the cycling today I received a helping hand along the way from 3 frenchmen who I managed to draft off for a good 10 miles thus being protected from the wind nicely. I decided to sort out the creaking sound from my bike headset when I arrived so took the whole thing apart. Unfortunately I dropped a vital piece in a small gap in the ground&spent the next 3 hours going to every bike shop in the valley in search of the part. I eventually got a similiar piece which means I can continue although it isn't perfect. I was able to watch a thoroughly exciting stage of the tour de france in the evening.

7/7/10: I set off at 8.31am from the chalet in order to catch the bus from Chamonix to Courmayeur through the Mt.Blanc tunnel since you are not allowed to cycle through it. Yes, 14 minutes was cutting it fine and I nicely arrived in time to see the bus pull away. I decided the best way forward was to chase it through Chamonix until it stopped, not really very realistic! I sadly lost contact the moment it got onto the dual carriageway leading to the tunnel: I decided rather than wait 4 hours for the next bus I would attempt to hitch hike from the tunnel entrance. So I made my way up the hill to the tunnel and befor I even had time to stick out a thumb a very kind French couple pulled up and asked me if I wanted a lift! Quelle chance! So I soon found myself in Courmayeur having saved the €20 bus fee. I climbed out of Italy back into France on the Col du petit St.Bernard, although after spending 2hrs15mins getting to the 2212m summit from 480m I can't quite understand where 'petit' comes from. The road all the way to the summit still had things like 'Allez Lance' sprayed on it from last years tour. On the way up 3 cyclists came down the hill who were all riders for Cofidis&Francaises des jeux (2 top end pro tour teams) they later passed me on the way up having been to the bottom and back,and later on again on the way up to Tignes! In short they had done both sides of the St.Bernard and were setting off up the Col De L'Iseran by 1.30pm,who knows what they had left to do! I enjoyed a great descent down the St.Bernard and then spent a good 1hr30mins getting up to Tignes. This was a route I knew well having done it a few times when I was in Val D'Isere in the winter, but it was nice to do it in the sun not wearing ski gloves. By the time I had got to Tignes I was seriously tired, in Total I spent about 5 of the 6.5 hours climbing. I staggered into the Tourist information office and was dismayed to find the only campsite was down in La Breviere (a village wayy about 40minutes riding up hill to Tignes I had passed through.) I was not about to cycle down to it and then back up the next day so I splashed out on a B&B in Tignes which the very helpful people in the office booked for me. The Spanish cross country ski team are staying here for their summer training and I am watching Spain .v. Germany with them. I did a total of 70.31 miles today.

8/7/10: Early start as I wanted to go skiing on the Glacier in tignes. I bought my lift pass and rented some kit and headed up the funival to the glacier. The snow was ok, but reallly quite slushy as you'd expect. There were about 6 runs open,so I spent a few hours doing these. I headed back to the B&B to collect my stuff and descended back down to the magnificant barrage/damn in the valley below Tignes and Val D. I climbed up to Val through the various tunnels and stopped for lunch just outside the town before the road steepens and winds up through the Solaise area of the resort and into Le Fornet. It was quite different seeing it all in the summer. I climbed for a good hour to the top which is at a towering 2770m, the highest I think I'll reach on my trip. The descent down was quite something,it was incredibly steep with great big drops off the edge of the road into the valley and no form of barriers at all, not that I was complaining given the slog to the top! When I got to the bottom I was still at 1850m so set off along the valley floor hoping I would slowly descend into Modane. The road was downhill all the way really but there was an incredibly strong wind blowing into me all the way so I didn't arrive until about 7pm. I couldn't find a campsite in any villages after Modane as I'd decided I didn't want to stay in the town. I knocked on a few doors to collect plenty of water and then as a was feeling like saving money I set up camp in some long grass by a small road next to a river which runs through an EDF hydroelectric power station just up the valley. I washed in the river/stream and cooked dinner. Total mileage was just 58.49 miles as I didn't stop skiing until 1pm. Tomorrow I continue SW towards Alp D'Huez.

4/7/10: Having had a fair but not great nights sleep I set off from the campsite at 9.30am. I thought that choosing to pitch next to a family with 2 young children would be quiet....but amazingly they were buzzing until late and still got up before me! The first 30 miles or so where dead flat with the wind behind me so I was soon cranking along at a healthy 25mph thinking I'd make it to Chamonix for lunch. After a brief pause to help 2 Dutch boys with a puncture (they didnt have a puncture repair kit with them&were cycling around France!!!) I entered a more hilly area. I did 1 small climb of about 400m in altitude gain and stopped for lunch on the plateau. I also bought a drink at a cafe where I was informed 'Bien sur, ca monte en plus!' in reply to my question 'how much more climbing?' I cycled along the plateau before ascending to 855m above sea level. The climb passed 'Clairvaux les lacs' and peaked just after. I was then rewarded with 3 fantastic descents down to St.Lupicin, they were classic winding roads down through the trees and the tarmac was perfectly smooth and dry meaning I could really get some much needed wind through the helmet vents! At one point I was bombing through a village and a crowd of people at the side were all shouting 'allez allez allez!' I appreciated their enthusiasm although was a bit suprised. About 20 seconds later a car behind me began furiously hooting his horn. I turned round to see 'voiture de controle' written on his bonnet. I pulled in and about 10 seconds later a single cyclist came past followed by a peloton of about 30 cyclists. I did not realise I had wandered onto a race course! The reason the crowds were so loud was because they thought I was the breakaway man from the race. I waited until they had all passed and then set off with some furious pedalling in attempt to catch them! Sadly this did not happen (blame the panniers of course!!!)and I continued alone into St. Claude. I found a small bar where I could enjoy watching the last 15km of the tour de france despite the awful pileups. I then discovered a great campsite with swimming pool and showers for 4.95€/night. After a quick swim I boiled up my usual pasta and wolfed it down. According to my Garmin I appear to be burning 1Kcal every 3 seconds so not surprising I need 250g of pasta per night! In total I covered 79.05 miles today.

5/7/10: Struggled to get out of the tent today due to the outer part being still a little damp and couldnt face packing away a wet tent! Eventuallly managed to stir myself into action and set off at 9.45am. I was aware I had a bit of a hl ead at the srt of , and soon found my first 1hr30mins spent grinding up out of the valley. I bumped into a very chatty Frenchman and his son who were out for a ride, he was very interested in my route&gave some useful advice about where to watch the tour de france. He was a retired Ecole du ski francais instructor. I reached the summit with this man (the highest village in the Jura region at 1,150m) and then enjoyed a great descent into Mijoux, where I was shown how to descend the switch backs properly! My route for the rest of the day followed the exact roads as the TDF does during stage 8. I however, finished after a fair few less km's! I enjoyed bumping into this man Lee who is cycling around the world for a 3rd time-what are the chances of that in France?! We cycled about 5 miles together before he had to head off in a different direction. We had a drink in a bar at the crossroads where we would depart and watched a little of the tour on TV. As we set off we bumped into 2 Australian men who were walking across France from Annecy to La Rochelle. We enjoyed a good chat and I finally set off as I was a bit concerned about making it to Annemasse in time to find a campsite. I continued to cycle until 7.30pm and passed through Annemasse to Bonne. I could not find a campsite so knocked on a door and asked for some water, during the conversation that followed I slipped in how I was cycling around France and couldn't find a campsite. I then asked if I could camp in this man's garden. Instead, he gave me directions to a field 200m away down a track near his house. Down there was space to camp and a fantastically cold stream which I had a very refreshing bath in. I cooked my dinner and pitched the tent. After an exhausting day with many hills (70.58miles) I was glad to get into bed. It is funny how you can get used to anything, I am now in the pattern of sleep, eat, cycle, eat, cycle, eat, sleep.........Today I managed to spend £5.17 in total,even though I have some food left for tomorrow. This is such a small amount considering how much I have eaten and seen!