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Today we cycled 90 kms, fully loaded, from Givet to a town called Charleville-Meziers. This route was not part of our plan and we had never heard of Charleville so we had no expectations. The most important reason for us to stop there, at that point, was because we found a nice AirB&B. We really needed the rest, Horacio had a ton of work to catch up with, and as a family, we needed to re-group and re-think our route (and our packing). It was far away but we thought we could pull it off. The forecast was beautiful and the scenery was quite like a fairytale. We also found a pharmacy along the way where we arranged our paperwork and got our french QR sanitation code. No charge to do this, the pharmacists said that as pharmacists they follow a code of honor and they didn't charge for such services. Cool! We continued pedaling. When it was too hot and no where to purchase water, we sent Sol and Camilo to ask for water in a house along the way. We thought they had a better chance of a good reception than we did. And success! A very kind woman refilled all our water bottles. Thank you! And so, all was good and well in our 90 km stint until the sky decided to fall down on us again, and this time quite suddenly. When going through a small town, a man waved his arms and shouted something at us in French, a few times. I had no idea what he said, but still I shouted back “Oui, merci!” and continued. It was only until the heavy rain, lightning, and thunder broke off that I understood his intentions. Surely he was trying to warn us about the bad weather. And bad it was. With all our waterproof clothing, we still got soaked, as if we had jumped for a swim in the Meuse. And we still had over 30 kms to go. We took refuge under bridges here and there, trying to wait off the rain at different moments. It was getting late and there was no sign of the weather tapering down. When we found out that it would continue pouring until 10 pm we had to make a choice. We either stopped somewhere (where, though?) or make it to Charleville. We decided our best option would be to make it to our AirB&B and get a dry and good night’s sleep. And so we pedaled on. Eventually it stopped raining but of course at that point it was quite dark. Exhausted, drenched, and in the darkness–this is when accidents are prone to happen–we pedaled slowly, communicating among ourselves, and being extra aware not to fall, slip, or anything else. And thankfully we made it–safe & sound. Something that came through is that despite the very uncomfortable situation we were in, we stayed positive. No complaining, no giving up, no sourness. We got through and out together, by remaining calm and focused. Making it to Charleville gave us a big sense of accomplishment. While we got dry in our AirB&B, Horacio went looking for dinner. He found a kebab place. In his words, “I must’ve looked terrible, all wet, trying to lock my bike to go get the food, as both the owner and the cook came out to help me!”
Now off to a well-deserved rest! Comments are closed.
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