July...........France

We finally said our farewells to the BVI, which was a bit scary having been so happy and settled there for over two years, but we were also ready to move back to the cruising life and so we headed off to the lovely french island of Martinique which we enjoyed so much on our last visit and where the ethos of France has been imported to the Caribbean....quite remarkable.

We gradually made our way back to Puerto la Cruz in Venezuela where John could begin his Etape du Tour training in earnest.

Yes, despite his serious cycling accident just the year before, he was game for an entry to the Etape du Tour, an amateur stage of the Tour de France, held on closed roads just a week before the actual tour takes place, when Cara suggested that it would be fun! So then he began the really hard task of training to comlete the tenth stage, a ride of 110 miles up Tourmalet and Hautacam in the Pyrenees, which, I'm pleased to say he completed without mishap in 8 hours 55 mins in cold, wet and windy conditions on the 6th July.

only Hautacam to go now...95 miles under his tyres and still managing to smile or is that a grimace??




Our son in law, James, also put himself through the pain barrier, seen here at our improvised feeding station.

I'm afraid that we weren't all taking it as seriously as the cyclists. This is the support team having a delicious lunch prepared by John's dear sister, Judith, in the car park a la Twickenham style.

Had the weather been clear this is the view that John would have enjoyed from the top of Tourmalet.

And this was the view from the top of Hautacam the week before.



We were then joined in France by Zoe and Allister with whom we watched the Lannemazan stage of the Tour de France with all the razzamatazz that that entails.

Allister, Zoe and I excitedly waiting for all the goodies, well probably me more than them!

We managed quite a few loads of washing after this entourage came through.

As if it wasn't hard enough without having to cycle round an ambling heifer.