No sooner had we said a fond farewell to Juan, Reyes, Lucia and Miguel, than we were saying a happy hello to Christophe, Susanna and Ava, the German family we met in Morocco. The kids were surprised again when we drew up outside a familiar-looking camper van.
(Well, it wasn’t quite that quick because we had to drive almost 1,000km through the Alps first, including the Mont Blanc tunnel, but these things are all relative).
On their way home to Koln, Christophe, Susanna and Ava have been staying with Christophe’s father in a beautiful barn conversion in this rural French village. We rocked up last night to join them and were treated to a feast in our honour, with English-speaking neighbours and friends invited too.
We ate far too much (delicious hunks of Portugese beef, a cheeseboard to die for), drank far too much (Champagne – obviously – , wine, homemade cassis and homemade pear schnapps) but had a great time. It was a truly European evening, with English, French and German all being spoken around the table, sometimes all at the same time!
We’re spending today recovering before heading up Mont-Dore and spending the night on the Col de la Croix Saint-Robert in anticipation of tomorrow’s climb by Le Tour. The kids have designed banners to encourage the cyclists, who are expected around 4.30pm, so if you fancy watching Billy in his maillot jaune asking Cadel Evans who won the Ashes, tune in to ITV4 then.
Until next time, two words: La belle vie!