22/7 Friday Evening

The bikes in the entrance hall!

The Chunnel was very busy, probably because it was the start of most schools' summer holiday. Loaded onto a train half an hour later than planned, on arrival in France we had our obligatory fag and coffee at the services. Caffeine and nicotine supplemented and the bikes full of fuel, we set off for our first stop, the Hotel Etna, at Mons.We found it OK, as it's opposite the station, but were unsure where to leave the bikes safely. The hotel provided a very pleasant reception for us, in the form of Virginie, an attractive and buxom young French woman who, thankfully, spoke excellent English - our communication skills being rusty after a year without use. She told us where there was secure bike-parking, just up the road near the Police Station and with 24 hour attendance, but we couldn't find it. In the end, the Patron offered to let us put our bikes in the narrow entrance hall, once the bar and restaurant were shut for the night. They specialised in Greek food, so Simon had a lamb kebab with grilled Mediterranean veg and I had 'hunter's' rabbit. The food and beer were good, if a bit pricey for our budget, but WTF?