Day 4: Our faithful canal, its accomplice the Marne… and Lady Rain ☔️

Our faithful canal, its accomplice the Marne… and Madam Rain ☔️

A gloomy wake‑up this morning in the Marne: grey skies, damp cold, fine rain.

For a brief moment, we even thought that one of those famous taxis might have been a perfectly reasonable option… 😅

We tend to our little aches and pains right there in the street — the charm of the cycle backpacker works its magic, attracting a few elderly ladies delighted to strike up a conversation outside the pharmacy.

Then a gentle start. Two locomotives today to follow our friend the canal. Its meanders grow more and more photogenic, playing with its sister the Marne, crossing her again and again, sometimes treating us to infrastructure from another era.

For now, it’s dry… but we fear the worst. The forecast is bad. We hope to slip through between the showers.

The average speed is good, without pushing too hard. A break, then we set off again… and what had to happen, happened.

Torrential rain from the restart. Caught cold. Headwind, rain straight in the face.

We quickly take shelter, slightly dazed: more than half the stage still to go, and it doesn’t look promising.

A short lull, and we’re off again. Even a small ray of sunshine warms our bones. Spirits lift. We move on. Tailwind — perfect timing.

Until the next downpour. Too late. Soaked to the bone.

We push the second break a little further on, afraid of getting cold, but the bodies are tired. We have to stop.

Back against a barn, under a makeshift roof. Sheltered from the wind… not really from the rain. A quick stop. We cool down. We dream of pizza 🍕

We set off again, cold. Our old engines don’t like that. Final stretch.

We eagerly await the final climb: riding slower, but finally warming up with the effort. It comes. A beautiful RAVeL path winding along the hillside…

But our minds are elsewhere: the end of the stage, a hot shower, hands and feet thawing out.

We grit our teeth, we hang on.

The shower? Hot. Well… for most of us 😄

Morale is high.

More forgiving weather tomorrow. We’ve been through a small ordeal, but we’re happy to be back at the stable.

Now it’s time to rest and take care of our bodies, chilled to the core.