Woke early, as planned. Rolled over and went back to sleep, not as planned. Finally forced myself and eventually set of around 9:30. There was a lovely down hill in to town, almost 60 kph. Rode straight out of town, and, straight up a hill. It was obviously going to be one of those days. The climb itself was quite pleasant, and at the top, much to my pleasure, a Col!!! My first one of the tour. It made the climb all worth while. Then down the other side to the town of La Reid and a patisserie for a rewarding eclair :) Then, guess what, up hill again. This one was not too steep, and, guess what, another Col! Two in no time at all. Cool. A modest down hill and then just before the town of Remouchamps I passed a school group going up the hill I was zooming down. They were nearly all walking :)
I needed lunch when I came to the town of Barvaux. It isn't much but there was a nice quite side street which had several restaurants. I saw a pair of German touring cyclists leaving a restaurant, I took a look, pizza, good enough for me. I had a lovely Quattro Stagiono (Four Seasons). Delicious :) Not long after I went in the Germans came back, they hadn't been in here, they had still be deciding, good choice though.
Next came Hotton and from there it was off an on along the side of the river Ourthe, quite pretty, lots of bicycles. There was also a bike route in a few places which I took, very nice. I saw some cyclists stopped at a Patisserie and I decided that was a good idea and at the next one I got a Glace and a Coke, perfect for such a hot day. After that a pleasant ride into La Roche.
I finally arrived at my destination, La Roche, the town is lovely so I decided to have another rest day, all these hills are really taking it out of me. I started to ride back towards the camp grounds when I noticed a hotel, that was just across the river had prices up. Hmmm, 39 Euro's with a shower. Cool. No planning, just decided to have two nighs in a hotel. Better not make this a habit :) Even worse, better not let Paul know, he might get the wrong impression.
The room was on the second floor :( Hard on the thighs. There was a storeroom in the basement at the back of the hotel where I could lock up the bike. I showered and then watched a bit of TV, yes it has TV too. There was all sorts of Tour stuff on so I decided to go into town before it started. A very nice town it is too. A lovely church, lots of charming shops, restaurants, a fort on the hill, and a museum of the Battle of the Bulge. Tomorrow. I bought a Black Forest cake slice and a fanta and then went back to my room. I got back just as Lance Armstrong was starting his time trial, so I watched the rest of the tour live, about 3.5 hours until 7:30. I actually dozed off at one point, fortunately I didn't miss any of the important riders :)
After watching that I went into town, walked from one end to the other, picked a restaurant where I got a menu. First off was a regional speciality, Jambon d'Ardenne. I actually saw some in a charcuterrie, looks awful, tastes nice though. Then there was an Ardenne Trout cooked in the La Roche style, basically in butter. Delicious :) As I walked home I got a two scoop gelato, Rum and Raison and Stracciatelli. Hmmm.
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