A Perfect Rest Day...with a HUGE surprise at the end!! Part 1 of 3.

I have just had the BEST REST DAY EVER!! In fact, I'm having the best holiday ever! It beats the misery of the attempted and then abandoned Lancashire cycle tour last August (ex-hurricane Bertha got in the way).

So, to finish the story from yesterday first. The trains in France are literally bang on to the second. So there was no issue getting the connections for all 3 trains. And I didn't need to scramble across platforms or anything; I just walked off one train and straight onto the next with my bike and all my belongings. The trains were not too full which helped. And the scenery was incredible.

The 3rd train of 3 was the mountain railway from St Gervais to Chamonix. I LOVED this ride! It was a bit like a rollercoaster ride - the tracks climbed up and down, the railway went round and round, clinging to the mountain edges and went over rushing rivers, past waterfalls and through seemingly enchanted forests, I swear!

I got the bike off at Chamonix Mont Blanc station as planned with the help of 3 lovely people. I saw Lorraine running along the platform waving and I waved madly back! Then I realised she was shouting "Get back on the train! Get back on the train!" I did as I was told and the 3 lovely (and now bemused) people helped get the bike back onto the train. Once Lorraine had got her breath back, she explained it would have been a mega long walk to the campsite from there.

So we stayed on the train the Les Praz and it was still a 15-20 minute walk in the nearly-dark to the campsite.

I was still in my Summer cycling clothes after a lovely warm pedal to Grenoble earlier. Lorraine gave me her fleece as apparently I was "turning blue". Grenoble had been 27 degrees, Chamonix was in single digits!! There was some laying snow.

I got my sopping wet, smelly tent up before it became pitch black and then left it to air as best I could. Lorraine and I had planned a lovely meal out but given the time and the rather freezing conditions, we went to the creperie stand for a rather incredible cheese and egg crepe which I then followed with a lemon and sugar crepe and Lorraine scoffed chocolate. Good girl!

The tea Lorraine ordered was the usual adventure. This time it came in 2 large bowls! That suited us perfectly so we drank tea from the bowls!

And, given the circumstances, we just howled with laughter at so many silly things. It was brilliant to see her again!

And to end the day's adventure, the campsite didn't seem to be able to contact any taxi company, so Lorraine got a lift in the creperie van back to her hostel!!

So, onto part 2 of 3........

PS The photo of Lorraine and me is us both enjoying a pizza lunch in Chamonix today.

Sent from my BlackBerry® smartphone on O2