July 11, 2006
Day 13: Seyssel - Aoste: A swim in the Rhone
Beautiful weather again this morning, and in the afternoon just too hot. The day starts with a hill to warm up but then the ride flattens out as we approach the Rhone.
Sometime around noon we're in Belley and meet an elderly English couple, I'd say in their seventies for sure, cycling from Spain where they now live. Presently they are on their way to Switzerland to buy some equipment they couldn't find at home and of course they will cycle back. They travel with a tent. I am amazed. They looked very weathered and gnarled, like old trees, and walk in a posture that suggests they are still bent over their handlebars. As the French say, 'chapeau', I take my hat off to them.
In the afternoon the temperatures rise and when I see a spot where people are bathing in the Rhone, we pedal to the shore and have a look. My first and last dunk in the Rhone but I had to go in just once. With the effort of undressing, getting into my bathing suit and dressing again, I am warmer than I was before I went in.
We find a nice hotel in Aoste-Gare de l'Est and vow to start much earlier tomorrow to avoid the heat of the afternoon.
Today's ride: 61 km (38 miles)
Total: 790 km (491 miles)
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