Paris...

Sunday - Amiens to Paris

Busy day... with a super early start having to move the car. Ary and I had breakfast and then left the hotel in Amiens after the cyclists. We went off on a mission to find some champagne for the finish line. I'm not sure whether the man in the shop was chuffed to have such a big order or whether I just looked like I needed wine at 10am on a Sunday morning but he sent me on my way with a massive bottle of Rose! Maybe my beautiful long eyelashes actually do work!!

Off we went to catch the team at lunchtime in Chantilly. The lunch stop was in Pizza Napoli so all morning Ary and I had been thinking about pizza. Alas they were serving lasagne so as we stood over the bikes and took photos to let everyone else eat, we decided we were having pizza anyway! It was a spectacularly good pizza, although it may just have been that it was verging on mid afternoon before we ate. The ice cream with Chantilly cream for afters was just unnecessary but eaten all the same so we pretty much rolled out of there after lunch.

We made it to Paris, in what can only be described as London traffic. It's a beautiful city but the drivers are mental, more mental than London or New York. A little bit stressful as we saw some of our lot up ahead, that moment when I thought shit... we can't not be at the end when they finish... that would be a disaster. However, they still had another stop to go and a photo opportunity at Arc de Triomphe so we made it with a little while to spare. Nice car boss's wife and kids had arrived the day before so I met them at the finish and we waited for the team to finish which they did, as you can see, very happily, whilst trying not to consider the prospect of doing all again the next day. And the day after that. And several more after that!

There were many happy/relieved/grateful faces as everyone arrived at the end, toasting with champagne from plastic cups, meeting friends and family who had come to support the masses which was just lovely.

We went out for dinner after we managed to sort the parking situation out with help from Sarah. It was lovely to stay in a nice hotel, the Ibis are good but there's something to be said for having a fridge in your room and a bed that's not so narrow your arse sticks out the side.

Ary and I decided to take a wander after dinner and find a nice bar with pavement seating and enjoy a little bit of Paris. I only had one glass of wine but it somehow turned into a 2am finish, realising that the Eiffel Tower was right outside our door and the urge to get my tripod out became too much for me. Probably not sensible but it was such a fleeting visit I wanted to make the most of it.

As another early start looms, definitely more sleep required!