Parked in the appropriate velo parking area while Ken hunted down a morning espresso.

It seemed to take forever to get out of Reims…over 10 km and we were still in suburbs. Ken made us go off route to go to McDonalds…which made me don my cranky face for just a wee minute. But in retrospect it turned out to be an important landmark. Finally back on the road and in order to avoid yet another really busy 4 lane highway, Googlemaplady took us on a parallel path which ended in the parking lot of big box stores. And sadly this is where our cycling ended. As I was turning right into an intersection, Ken yelled stop and as I was stopping on my none too stable bike I noticed a car coming at me on the wrong side of the road. I turned my front tire too sharply and crashed it into my foot. Which in turn swelled up like an egg. I couldn’t walk much less ride.

Taxi took Ken, Rawley the Trolley and me to a motel type place less than 3 km away beside good old McDonalds, dropped me off, and taxi took Ken back so he could walk the two bikes to the hotel. Taxi driver had arranged with the garage beside the incident to look after the bikes until Ken returned.

Meanwhile a lovely young lady got me settled, brought me ice for my foot and a drink and then helped me get to our ground floor room as close as she could get us to the reception. When Ken returned with the bikes, she met him at the door with a cold Perrier. Her name is Skurta and she is our Camino angel.

Ken and I are assessing our plans…we will take a bit of a hiatus for a week or two, but hope to still complete at least the Italian section of the Via Francigena. It all depends on the foot. So stay tuned.

Song of the day is about looking for the good aspects of what happens to you. As Ken says if life gives you lemons, have a beer instead. Keep on the sunny side by Alison Krauss and the nitty gritty dirt band. Terry prefers “Always look on the bright side of life” by Monty Python.