This is really the first moment I have had to sit down and truely contemplate my trip so far. I am now in Dijon after ten days of travelling, bar one rather energetic days rest in Paris. My trip began on Sunday the 14th of September. As I left my grandparents bungalow and my humble abode, the caravan that sits in there backyard the rain began to fall, this however, has been the most significant weather I have had so far (touch wood) . The first day was a relatively short journey and mostly down hill in to London to a bar in Brixton named the pow (prince of Wales). The second day went well save for a spoke breaking at the top of crystal palace hill, and a short excursions on to the lead of which shall remain nameless I travelled from London to a place just out side of Canterbury named Bridge where I met my dad who would be coming with me to Paris. Information up until Paris can be found in my other posts. In Paris I met a fellow traveller who had come by bike from Poland over 18 days named Pawel Koch who you can see with my first phone uploads album on facebook. I said farewell to my dad at the Eiffel tower too and found a nice hostel in the south of Paris there I met lots of nice people including Claudia who I exchange a massage with. She was from New York and was about to begin her training in massage and obviously had a lot of raw talent. I stayed at the hostel for two nights and on my full day of rest went to jardan des tuileries as set up the couch cycle with a nice girl from the hostel who had offered to assist me with my project for the morning. It was slow to begin with, and many people were looking but when asked if they would like a massage were reluctant and some also laughed prohaps nervously, this could be due to massage not normally being so exposed and out in the open. In the end we managed to get a couple of people on the chair however they were all tourists. After around 45 minutes to an hour we were shut down by the police who were very nice but explained that not everyone who said they were there for charity were telling the truth. I decided that it was time for a break and parted ways with Annie and got some lunch. After lunch I was talking to some guys in the hostel who wanted a massage and I found my self with lots more people coming through the door with there heavey bags in desperate need of one. I found the international community more accepting of this type of massage in Paris weather this was due to there more open minded state of mind or there large amounts of free time is uncertain. I had a great evening in Paris and arose felling a little wobbly on my legs. After a shower and some breakfast I was on my way to Sens 117kilometres south east of Paris. After 550meters climbed, over 6 hours on the bike and with a slightly worse for where bum I arrived in the picturesque city of Sens. I met Alban in front of the oldest gothic Cathedral in the world and we made our way to his appartment where we had a fabulous vegetarian meal with his friends and I massaged each of them for my supper. Desert was a homemade tiramisu the recipe for which was a family secret and had been made by one of there grand mothers. In the morning I departed for montbard which was again exactly 116kilometres but this time with 881metres climb. I stayed with Fanny who like Alban had offered me a place to stay through couchsurfing. This was a nice quiet evening and in the morning I woke refreshed ready for the day. At only 75 kilometres and leaving at 8:30am I thought I would be in Dijon by 12:30 with ease however with a strong head wind and with over 900 metres climbed in such a short distance I arrived at around 2:30 this was the most challenging day yet and I am glad for my couple of day rest here in Dijon before I begin the really tough stuff on Friday. Currently other Thanks some messages to people I have eaten and slept in Dijon. And given a small massage to one of my hosts Maja, Rosa's flat mate who I again met through the couchsurfing website. I will let you know how the next few days go soon.
Matt 😊
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