Nantes - Paris 30 km by bike

Waiting for better weather is the name of the game at the moment, so I might as well write an entry. How was yesterday? I got up at 5 a.m., packed my bike, in my hotel room and then took the elevator. Why make it complicated when it's easy and if reception doesn't open until eight o'clock and I can't get to the bike otherwise, then so be it. Why walk twice? I was at the station on time and then the announcement was made that the TGVs were all late. I had booked a slow train with my bike because everything else was sold out and paid 70 euros less and, best of all, my train was running. On time! That's how it is in France, these reliable TGVs with their lanes. I'm curious to see who's going to take up the cause, the combustion engine activists? It's France, it's a popular sport there, the Gauls. I had time on my train, I was still trying to get a ticket for the opening ceremony, but the reduced number of spectators caused me problems, that and the ticket price, I didn't want to spend €1290 after all, €90 would have been okay. On the train I made the acquaintance of an older French woman, also a touring cyclist, who had also been traveling in the Loire Valley. She lives near Versailles and invited me to stay with her, or rather wanted to rent me a room for the duration of the games. But I already had a place to stay (for 18 months, that's when the panic in me was at work again). But when I'm riding dressage, I go to her place for a coffee. In Paris I thought I was about to be searched or something, there were a lot of policemen and soldiers around, but nobody wanted to know anything about me, so I went straight to my accommodation. Back then, 18 months ago, when I booked it, I was mainly looking at the price and so I found something for 2 weeks for about 500 €, a bit out of the way but well equipped (with kitchen and washing machine). The location was such that my chosen sports facilities were all about the same distance or equally easy to reach by bike. At the time, I also thought that booking around the time of the games would be beyond the scope of the game. When I look at the portals today, well, there is accommodation closer to the center for twice as much. You're always smarter afterwards, now I have to make the best of it. So now I'm 25 km south of everything in a small suburb in a small, well-equipped apartment with a washing machine, very good internet, a train station around the corner, a coffee bar with really good coffee (the barista can do his job!), several supermarkets, an excellent boutique de pain (no, not pain, French pain) and everything else within walking distance for 35 euros a night. And my plan is really not to spend so much time in the apartment.

My route into the city center takes me on cycle paths along the Seine that are reasonably okay. So all in all, of course it's better, but..... also worse. As soon as I arrived at the apartment yesterday I went shopping and then I was already on my way to the city center, unfortunately I chose public transport. It's not that the connection into the city is bad, it's just that I actually want to cycle and I sorely missed it in the city center because I did everything on foot. I got off at the northern train station and headed down towards the Seine, possibly trying to find somewhere to watch the opening ceremony. No chance, everything was cordoned off. There were a lot of video screens in the city, but it started to rain and so I decided to go back to the apartment and watch the opening ceremony on TV. No sooner said than done, off to the Gare de Lyon and back, the one-way ticket costs 6 euros, hefty. The opening ceremony: Art can do anything!

This morning I had to take care of my bike, my rear brakes weren't quite as good as they used to be and now I'm waiting for better weather to go to the individual time trial. I don't have tickets until tomorrow, first I have to acclimatize in the city, maybe I'll move in week 2? Who knows, oh the rain is letting up, on that note.