Day 7: Paris to Dormans, July 8th, 132km.

Awoken by someones incessant alarm. It genuinely took them about five minutes to turn it off. I grabbed some buffet breakfast feeling somewhat hungover. I checked out, left my bags to be overseen by some Australians while I bought anti-diarrhea stuff and failed to find a stamp for my postcard.

I cycled out of paris around 11. I stopped at a confusing post office in search of a stamp. Thought better of it. Instead I sped out of Paris by canals and river paths. I stopped around midday in a small village, bought a baguette and some salami. Later I stopped by a river and ate half of it. I then set off up into the country. It was hot. From that point on I was beset by small black bugs. More deet needed tomorrow I reckon. They kept crawling over my sunglasses and I had to blow them off. The road took me through tonnes of small French towns. Many looked rundown in a charming sort of way. Exposed stones and beams spoke to their age. They felt like something out of WW1 films.

I stopped in the shade of a war memorial and was convinced by a sign to visit the “Museum of the Great War” in Meaux. I took a detour to it and walked around for an hour or so. It was decent – lots of tanks and trench reconstructions, every different variation of uniform. But I was conscious of daylight slipping away. The cool sculpture near it was shrouded by scaffolding anyway.

From then on I was on a less picturesque route for a while. I stopped in a grassy area around 5 to eat the rest of my baguette. The up and down of hills were becoming more frequent. By 7/8 the sun had grown low in the sky and I’d entered champagne country. I cycled by vineyards and more cows than I’ve seen so far as the golden hours stretched out. I got water from a kind of public fountain in one town, which was a lifesaver. Water will definitely be a real issue later down the line.

I’d now committed to making it to a campsite in Dormans rather than wild camping, so I picked up the speed. Towards the end was an unwelcome huge hill. At least the viewpoint was nice, as was the downhill on the other side.

I got to the campsite around 9:15. The reception was closed. I set up my tent anyway. We’ll deal with it tomorrow. I took a cold shower. It told me if I held the button down for a “tres tres” long time it would become hot. Lies. After I’d finished it was dark. I was craving a beer so I walked ten mins across the river to “side project café” where I’ve drunk half a pint and am writing this. They have karaoke on inside. Someone just sang lion king… don’t tempt me! I’m going to bed.

Video of this day