Etape Diary Monday 19th July

A leisurely start to the day but became more stressful as the taxi to the train arrived late and took 10 minutes to get the bike boxes into the back. The 1144 train turned out however to be running late. Hardly surprisingly dozens of cyclists needed to get bike bags and boxes onboard and there was hassle fitting them all on board exacerbated by the fact that the doors to my carriage had malfunctioned. Safely aboard we travelled northwest to Bordeaux before whizzing off to Paris. The train was a little late which only increased the stress of getting across Paris on the crowded Metro. With a bit of mutual assistance Angus and I managed alright and probably much faster than any taxi. I was, though, beaten to the Eurostar check in by two guys who had travelled light and not dissembled their bikes – so they rode from Montparnasse to Garde du Nord. This struck me as a good idea which I will look into if I ever do this again. It would save the shoulder wrenching experience of the Metro. There is one thing our transport services do much better here than in Paris and that is step free access.