Preparation

Day 0 was spent travelling from London, via Bordeaux to the town of Hendaye. A 4am wake up call started a long day of travelling and logistics. 11 bike bags meant, in addition to two hire cars, a hire van followed by a trip to the nearest DHL depot to have them sent to the other side of the mountains ready for the journey home.

Many thanks goes to Dominique and her son Michel, organiser and van driver extraordinaire. Martin has many contacts but who could have guessed that his cousins best friend now lived in Bordeaux and would be so helpful!

The hire cars stopped for a grotty sandwich in a petrol station café which saw Geoff fishing around in the bins for his kit kat bar that someone had hidden. The van crew, which included Martin, made a wiser choice and waited until we got to the hotel where they had a far superior salad and cheese arrangement.

The Bergeret Sport Hotel is a family run affair and the rooms varied from a single to a four man arrangement. Our four course meal was excellent, mussel soup (which Tony missed out on due to a mussel allergy – Greg polished it off for him though), melon and a great local ham, politically incorrect but very tasty veal and fresh tagliatelle finished off by apple tart.

Grandma was watching soaps on the telly so the football fans only saw the end of the football after she went to bed. They all turned in shortly after that ready for the big day tomorrow!