First Real Day of Riding

The photos took all night to upload (the wifi in the country n'est pas bon), so I'll just do a bit of a photo dump for yesterday's ride. It was a long and very hot ride, but wonderful to be back at it again. About 70 miles and 5,500 feet of climbing.

We had a bit of an inauspicious start rolling out of town . . . 

But it picked up soon enough. Here is the group!

We were in the country side in no time at all - just about 6 or 7 miles, the city turned into this . . .

With miles and miles of cycling-perfect roads . . .

I'm a sucker for all of the religious iconography in France, I know there are just so many crucifixes you can look at back home. Sorry . . .

At the top of our first real climb of the day . . .

Mark and Neil on coming up to the summit . . .

A little coffee stop in a two cafe village. Always some cool public art on display, no matter how large or small the town is.

Cafe kitties seem to be a theme this year . . .

But this is the first moto doggie . . .

Sunflowers and grapes (and lots of olives) all along the roadside . . .

And right in the middle of no-where is a craft beer cooperative!

Our lunch stop for today was a charming little town square. Every town has a monument to the lost boys in the world wars.

And a cool fountain to dip your head in . . .

Mark and B!

Sweet little moto . . .

Leaving town, some amazing steeples and bell towers, some colorful, some see-through . . .

The final col of the day and ready to go get a drink and some dinner . . .

We are by the Verdun gorge now, and the nearby lake. The water is an amazing blue - it doesn't come through in the photos.

The hotel - wifi aside - is a beautiful place. Putting my feet up on the terrace.

Looking up to our rooms.

The backdrop is a massive cliff face . . .

We had a nice walk into town for dinner. Charming.

With a stream running down to the lake

And a chapel perched high above the town.

And some clown taking selfies in the middle of it all.

Walking up to the restaurant.

And dinner for the night!