Preparée à la direction du nord

Today I wandered around the old city along a mapped route. The leg is improving rapidly but I am still hobbling a little. Still better than watching daytime TV, which whilst good for learning French is, as it is at home, the new opiate of the people at best and just plain mind numbing at worst.

I wonder who else spotted an embarassing typo a few postings ago. Vince did and now it is corrected!

Another brief word on food and bike travelling. I deliberately did not plan to carry food except for chocolate and a few pieces of fruit. This creates a small difficulty on the backroads where many of the villages don't even have a bakery andifthey do they don't sell sandwich bagettes like the do in large towns. So, where this happens it's chocolate and fruit! Bear in mind the chocolate is 70% and very goodfor you.

A parting few generalisations about the French. I think they are a wonderfully practical people with a delightfully ironic sense of humour. They have laughed with me and not against me about my stumbling French. Two small criticisms: the young, particularly the femmes smoke too much and there is too liberal a view to dog shit. Jim would love it but I think an element of fascist control is in order over this latter issue. Of course as for contolling women - that is an entirely different issue!

After these generalisations I am allowed back.