Barnham to Paris – Day 10 – Mézières-sur-Seine to Évreux
We set of this morning at 9:50 after a good night sleep in the air conditioned Airbnb. We were suprised to have AC and doubt we’ll have it again this holiday! Shortly after leaving at about 4.5 miles in we stopped at a very nice bakery. We all had pastry and drink, the pain au raisins were hudge and gave us a good amount of energy for the ride ahead.
The ride was not too bad today, 34.5m and 1,500ft. The heat was the biggest problem, with very little shade all ride and 29 degree heat. There were 2 main climbs, the first around 10mi in and we all found it ok, not easy but not too hard. The route was very rural today, with lots of the route not even available to view on Google maps.
Thankfully at 12:33 we came across a supermarket where we could buy drinks and top up our water bottles, meaning we had plenty of drink for the rest of the day. The supermarket was closing at 12:45 so we made it just in time!
A little further into the ride we found a coffee shop, in a very small town and decided to stop for a drink. We all had a drink and it also gave Maisey a chance to watch the second half of the World Cup match. We were very shocked when we went to pay for these 4 drinks to find out they only cost €5 total (2 coffees and 2 lemonades)!!
we set off again and about 5mi later we had our second big climb of the day. The climb itself wasn’t awful, we’ve had worse this trip. Even though it wasn’t the worst it felt it, just because it was so hot! We stopped at the side of the road at the top in a slightly shaded area for lunch.
The rest of the ride was again really rural, with just empty fields and almost no shade. One very short step hill to the Airbnb and we had made it. We had to leave our bikes in the basement of the apartment blocks we are staying in, so was a bit of a pain carrying all bikes down a couple flights of stairs. Only one problem with this Airbnb is there’re were a few very wet and very smelly towels left in the washing machine.
After showers we then all walked to a supermarket, a short walk with another very steep hill. It was a small shop, so not much choice in food but we ended up having meatballs and chips. All a bit tired, but looking forward to our rest day tomorrow.