did I not explain to you once before that no one is ever told what would have happened? Aslan in response to a question from Lucy about what could have been had things been done differently. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C. S. Lewis.
My tours normally run from a beginning to an end with perhaps some rest days and I tend to think that, in part, it is the journey and the journey's end that keeps me motivated to move forward. Today is my last full day in Fumay where I will have stayed a full seven nights doing day rides and I haven't felt the need to be moving on and I haven't contemplated what would have happened if I'd arranged my traditional tour. In fact I have enjoyed the relative luxury of having access to a kitchen, beautiful surroundings in which to cycle and building some small degree of familiarity in the area.
Today, I am heading out to do a repeat of yesterday's ride but hopefully without the dreaded bonk. With that in mind I will try not to repeat myself. Seeing an intriguing aperture in the hillside I zoom in to investigate.
It is a spring coming out of the rock of the hillside with small ferns and mosses arranged as if it were a show garden at Chelsea Flower Show. You can have that one for free Zoe Claymore.
It is a Sunday and there are weekend cyclists out though non of the larger groups I have seen on other tours. I conclude that this part of the Meuse isn't heavily populated.
Today's ride is between major population centres and the map below shows how the border with Belgium here pushes north. My guess is that when the border was drawn it made sense for the mining activity that extends north up the Meuse to rest in one country.
I stop for a coffee and have a Paris-Brest. This simple patisserie comes to me today in a long éclair format and is very good with the creamy filling neither too soft not too hard which can be an issue; I know this following extensive selfless research undertaken during previous bike tours in France. My one observation beyond the deliciousness of the Paris-Brest is that it isn't round as this sweet treat was created as a celebration to the Paris-Brest bike ride, specifically round like a bike wheel.
Paris-Brest-Paris is still a bike ride run every 4 years and is open to amateurs who satisfy certain criteria. The duration is 1,200km and the time limit is 90 hours during which you eat and grab whatever sleep you deem essential. Maintaining a 20km/h average speed would mean 60 hours of pedalling which translates to being on the road and moving 16 hours a day for 4 days. 25km/h would be a more normal target speed and the average finish time was just under 80 hours in 2023.
Remote areas are wonderful if you are looking to build a nuclear power station.
On leaving Givet for the return journey I checked the map to get my bearings and saw that the road went through the church. Yes, the road goes through the church. I try to imagine the thinking at the planning office.
APPLICANT: "I would like to rebuild the church on it's current plot, but as I also have a small plot over the road I'd like to extend the church to that plot as well."
PLANNING OFFICE: "Yes, go ahead. Only don't touch the road or obstruct the flow of traffic."
In practice the church is built on a slope dipping down to the river so the road goes through the undercroft, or rather, the undercroft which acts as a foundation for the church is built around the road. As the saying goes in Central London, when you are short of ground on which to build then build in the air.
A last look at Fumay. It was always heartening to see the high bell tower as my gîte was 18 feet in front of it.
I have been kept entertained this week by Jack Thurston's podcasts which grew out of the Resonance FM radio bike show.