T+10: Bucheres to Troyes

After the previous day's incredible feats of cycling we were left with only a short ride into Troyes to complete on the morning of our eleventh day. This was particularly fortunate as it absolutely hammered it down all day. The short ride from Bucheres to the South into the city itself was conducted in a full downpour. It was pretty unpleasant, but thankfully as short as we could've hoped it to be.

Therefore the day was spent, soaking wet, and walking around Troyes (which is pronounced 'twah'). This was a great idea, because the city is amazing. There are so many old wooden buildings: it's like you'd imagine pre-Great Fire London to have been. It was such a shame that it was so wet, because we'd have liked to explore further, but our shorts were providing precious little protection against the cold and damp.

We actually treated ourselves to a hot meal in a real food establishment (sausages and chips, and an omelette) for lunch, which was amazing, but didn't dry my socks out at all. We then walked down to the cathedral, which was quite impressive, albeit cold inside. Apparently Troyes has 10 churches.


I'm not really sure why I'd not heard of the city before, because it's genuinely very picturesque and has more historic buildings than the whole of the UK. If one of the wooden, warped shops was in an English city centre, there'd be photos of it on all the tourist information. Here there are frankly too many things to take photos of. This is definitely a place to visit, and one we'll be returning to in the (hopefully significantly warmer) future.

Despite the short ride in the morning, we're beginning to feel the effects of so much tandem cycling: general tiredness, weakness and soreness in the buttocks. However, the upsides include the patented "shorts-tan" where my legs are bifurcated by a distinct line halfway up my thighs, and increased muscle gain mostly everywhere.

The weather forecast wasn't too good, so we spent much of the evening planning the next day, so we don't get stranded in torrential rain when passing les grands lacs on the way towards St Dizier. When I'm not cycling I'm either planning future cycling, blogging about past cycling, or just getting wet and cold through other means. Still, we're actually doing it, and that's pretty good to know.

T+10 - Bucheres to Troyes - 5.85 miles