Wednesday dawned bright and sunny but unfortunately it was to be the worst day for many. Over half the party rose itching terribly with raised spots and had had an extremely uncomfortable night. Bedbugs were the cause though the reception staff looked blank and in denial. The bedbugs became a secondary issue when it was discovered Helen's bag had been stolen with her passport, money, phone and other stuff. She was distraught and plans were made to backtrack to the police station in Beauvais to begin the slow process of getting a temporary passport to enable her to travel home. WE REALISED THE IMPORTANCE OF HAVING YOUR PASSPORT NUMBER WRITTEN DOWN SOMEWHERE OR A PHOTO OF IT ON YOUR PHONE .
This was the day with two ride options, a long and a short. The majority had opted for a shorter day and this enabled them to support Helen in Beauvais but still ride in the afternoon to reach Chantilly.
Lillian, Christina and I set off in very hot weather but did have a great day on the Avenue Verte route, visiting Bresles, Clermont, Sacy le Grand (where we lunched at a traditional restaurant) , Senlis and finally climbing up to an area of national forest with many footpaths running through it. We descended to the magnificence of Chantilly with its extensive parkland, stabling and chateau. A memorable day for many reasons. We were pleased to learn that Helen now had an online form to complete however it was difficult for her to access her mail accounts on someone else's phone so she would not easily be able to receive the document they wanted to send her. (In the end a visit to the Embassy in Paris on Friday secured the temporary passport at the very last minute and she caught the train with us to Dieppe.)
Accommodation at Le Avenue in the centre of Chantilly provided us with comfortable rooms, a garage for the bikes and good dinner.
Day 4 - Chantilly to Pontoise
The group set off together to view Chantilly chateau before joining the route to Pontoise.
A lovely day on small roads that followed the River Oise and the small villages along it. A lovely lunch was had at Beaumont-sur-Oise with supplies from an award winning boulangerie and drinks at a bar opposite. More gentle meanderings, at one point on a narrow track by the edge of a field of sweetcorn until we climbed to the significant village of Auverrs sur Oise where Vincent van Gogh and his brother are buried and where he painted some of his most famous paintings. It was a very relaxing afternoon in glorious sunshine. At Pontoise Lillian, Paul and Maggie stayed at L'Hermitage, Tim and Pat said their goodbyes and headed off for further adventures, and the remainder lodged in Le Petite Reine, apartments a little too close to Pontoise Station, but very bike friendly with bike parking on the ground floor below the apartments. The 3 storey town house was tradionally shuttered and charmingly decorated with a bike mounted on one wall and 3 wheels on another. We felt at home until the hourly express trains made themselves felt in the rooms at the front !
Day 5 -Pontoise to Paris
Helen got an early train to get to Paris first and obtain the vital temporary passport. Pinky's cousin who lives in Paris was a huge help at this point. The remainder of the party were ably led by Paul and Maggie in an impressive debut partnership to get us directly to Gare Lazare for the 3.45 train to Dieppe. There was no time for anything but the briefest of photos and we were so glad we'd left time to negotiate the lifts, the platforms, the carriages (we were looking at the wrong numbers ...1 and 2 being first and second class). Eventually on carriage 3 - some had there allotted bike spaces others just had to stack them and help bemused Parisians lift their suitcases over us to find their seats. Helen arrived in the nick of time. Madelaine was staying on in Paris. With a combined sigh of relief we departed to raid Dieppe.
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