Stage 14: Samoreau to Paris

After a sleep broken by passing barges, Tom was up early to go on the Boulangerie run. Full of almond croissants and lemon tart, the team said goodbye to Samoreau and set off into the muggy grey morning.

The weather brightened as we wended our way along river side roads, through pleasant tidy villages on the edge of the Paris commuter belt. Greg's veracious appetite forced a food stop at intermarche where Tom rediscovered one of the highlights of the Coleys 2009 Paris ride: flat peaches!

The ecstasy of the moment was short lived however as shortly after the re-start things started to go downhill (not in a good way) Just as we started to hit some big nasty peripherique roads and needed a safe passage into the city, the GPS broke. With his navigational right hand man way laid, Dad broke. We struck off aimlessly down a road with our squadron leader trundling along at the back in an angry and frustrated haze when the weather broke too.

Paris was throwing everything it had at us. Fighting for elbow room on a 6 lane artery road, Tom powered away at the front, leaning horizontally into a galeforce headwind that was sending roadside tables and signs flying through the air. Behind him, the other team members attempted to navigate a safe passage between the constant stream of foot deep potholes. To complete the ordeal, the background rain turned into a torrential downpour, drastically reducing visibility as well as morale. And we got stopped at every traffic light on the road.

Just at the crucial time, Gps came back to guide us onto a cycle path that led us straight into the centre of Paris. We swiftly found our hotel and enjoyed the hot shower, the promise of which had kept us going for the past couple of hours.

As if to reward us for surviving the hellish entry into Paris, we were presented with our perfect scenario: a quaint locals bar right opposite the hotel showing Le Tour on a big screen. Installed at a table with beers and hot chocolate we felt the life seeping back into our bodies. And to put the proverbial cherry on the croissant, the friendly bar man went on a special baguette run to provide us with some spectacular camembert sandwiches.

We watched as Cadel Evans destroyed Andy Shleck's lead to effectively win the Tour de France. Then we retired to the hotel with a bottle of Ricard and some chocolate to anticipate the excitement of the following day when the Tour would roll into town.