June 12, 2011

Oh dear!  The comfortable bed wasn’t quite as comfortable as I’d hoped.  When I laid on my left side my right knee hurt, when I laid on my right side my left knee hurt and if I laid flat-out – my back hurt.  I’ve woken up with two solid poles for legs that won´t bend in the middle.  Strangely enough they seem a lot better when I’m on the bike – they are just no good when walking, sitting or lying down.

We whiz down the mountain at breakneck speed – nobody passes us downhill!  The sun is out and it is hot; very hot.  The road leads us straight into the city of Grenoble – many parts of it are modern but still it is beautifully organised with wide boulevards, lots of trees and parks and cycle tracks all around the city.  It features often in the Tour de France and from its setting you understand why – all around are high mountains and the only way out is up.

We start our long, slow climb out to St Nizier-du-Moucherotte at 1109 metres altitude.  It seems harder than yesterday´s climb – I don’t actually think it is harder but it just seems it.  We decide that we will find a camp-site in a nice spot and have a rest day tomorrow.  When we reach St Nizier-du-Moucherotte there is no marker board for us to take a photograph, so we feel a little cheated, although cheered up by a very nice French racing cyclist who shouts ‘bravo, bravo, superb’ as we hauled our way into the village – at least someone appreciates our efforts. 

We cycle along a ridge for a short distance before finding just the spot we had in mind for our rest day – a camp-site surrounded by alpine meadows and fantastic views.