Dreux to Paris - Day 49

Date: October 6th, 2009
Distance: 121 km
Country: France
Song of the Day: Give it All - Edentree

Well, it was another day I had intended to get up early, but woke up to rain and went back to bed. I was hoping that it would let up, but sadly, no it didn't. Instead I had to get up and pack up everything in a light rain. Thankfully it wasn't pouring. It did make everything slow. I didn't leave the campsite until almost noon.

From there the day was pretty much slow. I think cranking away at 30+ kph the night before really did my legs in. They just didn't have it today. So the miles of road slowly oozed by.

I did get in touch with my second cousin Alexandra. She said she would be more than happy to give me a couch to stay on in Paris. At first she was worried that it wouldn't be comfortable. But seeing as I have been camping, basically any couch is an improvement. Plus it was comforting to know that I had a place to stay when I got to Paris. So in the late afternoon my pace started to pick up.

Of course there is one hill just outside of Paris that was trying to kill my and use my jellified bones as some kind of pudding. Awful. Plus I was expecting a good view of Paris from the top, but there wasn't any. It was blocked by trees or buildings. So lame. Still, it was all downhill from there. I love cruising through city streets and passing cars. Yeah.

I was trying to meet up with Alexandra at work. But my laptop died just before I could find it. So I had to do a little more wandering than I wanted to. When I got there, I couldn't figure out how to get in touch with her. The office was closed. The phone number I had wasn't working. I ended up talking with one of the security guards, and he finally got was I was trying to say. He found one of Alexandra's co-workers who helped me get in touch with her.

It turns out she had left and gone to have dinner with some friends nearby. So I show up after more than a hundred kilometers on the road to a nice little dinner party. Thankfully my hosts were more than happy to let me have a shower. To Laura and Brennan, thank you so much.

After that I started talking with Alexandra, who I have never met. So I was telling her about my life and what I was doing. Mostly about the bike trip, where I had been, where I was going, and so forth.

By that point dinner was being served. Laura and Braden had made pasta. Like, they had actually made the pasta. Then served it all up with a Bolognaise sauce. Mmmmmm, so good. I had a couple of helpings of that. Then we all played Scrabble. Frankly, I am terrible at that game. Still it was a great evening. Again a big thanks to Laura and Brennan for being hosts. Also, to Alexadra for inviting basically a complete stranger into her life.

-Dravis

P.S.: If anyone has any suggestions for interesting things to do in Paris, let me know.