PARIS. WORLD CUP RUGBY DAY 314 -317 510km

FESTEIT TO PARIS   510km  7 hours.

Rode for three hours in the rain, my rain suite worked for about twenty minutes so made for a long day.

Kinda dried out a little for the remainder of the four hours. Hotel is on the Seine but on the outskirts of Paris near the stadium, the rooms have been recently update thankfully. 

Eat dinner in the hotel and it has a lot of South Africans but none had any spare tickets for me.

DAY 315.         27 October 23 

Went into Paris to the Oz Bar where someone said I may get a ticket there but that was a waste of time, but had dinner at an Irish bar and then went back to my hotel.

DAY 316 

The one Dutch couple I met here who's cousin is here for the rugby has a ticket for me, so that was a pleasant surprise, five hours before the game. (€350) 

Went and walked around Arc de Triumph down the Champs Elysee then along the Seine to the Eiffel Tower. 

Met Ron and Eddie and paid for my ticket and at 6pm we got the tour bus to the stadium where everyone was mostly New Zealand supporters in a festive spirit.

Then had to walk in the rain about 1.5km to the stadium with police and military everywhere armed to the teeth.

My seat was up there, not quite the nose bleed section but was okay and it was an amazing experience  and the Springboks won by one point, there third game in a row where they have won by one point.

Tomorrow will head to a friend in Holland and then visit a few more there and then head to Munich by Thursday to store my bike on Saturday  and fly home on Sunday 5th November 23.

AUSTRIA - FREISTETT, GERMANY. 370km DAY 312 & 313. 25 OCTOBER 23

Left Oekotel in Hohenems, Austria at 7:30am and it was still dark. Took a route on the secondary roads which was a mistake because it took way longer and was in the rain for hours. Really battled with navigation as my phone screen was wet and it would not work properly, just a nightmare and finally arrived at 3:45pm, cold and wet.

Staying with Reinhard who I met in Romania and it's a few kilometers from the French border near Strausburg. Had a tasty home cooked meal which his wife Regina prepared and it was so good and even had ice cream for desert.

DAY 313    NEW TYRE & VISIT STRAUSBERG

Went to Reinhard's tyre shop and he put on a used ture on my front and balanced the wheel and thoroughly inspected the wheel and spokes because of all the punctures i have had, but all looked good.

In the afternoon we got the tram into Strausburg and walked around the old part óf town with the beautiful old German houses and buildings. 

We then stopped at a restaurantand had a Tarte Flambee and Picon beer and got the tram back at sunset.

ITALY - SWITZERLAND - LICHTENSTEIN - AUSTRIA DAY 111 354km.

Left Torino and went over the Bernina Pass, same route as the train and was in St Moritz in an hour, freezing cold. Continued on to Chur then to Zurich. Weather was great, no rain, sunny with high clouds, going over the passes was cold with the fresh snow from Saturday.

    Hotel in Torino.

    View from the room.

Met up with Erich who I had'nt seen for 37 years, and was unreal to meet again and catch up at his place over some coffee and snacks. I then took the road along Lake Zurich to Lichtenstein and then into Austria to Hohenems  arriving at 6pm.

    Near Lichtenstein.

The route I did last Monday. CALICO TO MO ACO. Not exact but close.

Route back to Calico - Torino - Switzerland- Liechtenstein - Austria.

MONACO BACK TO CALICO, ITALY DAY 309 437 km. 21 OCTOBER 2023.

Did a couple of laps at Monaco and then took of on the toll road all the way to Milan ($30), then up along Lake Como to the same hotel in Calico where I checked in exactly a week ago. 

Went and got pizza and beer which was pretty good and then one restaurant put on the rugby game for me, Springboks beat England 16-15 and are now in the finals against NZ next Saturday in Paris.........

DAY 110   22-10-23    TORINO  66km.

Rode up to Torino where I did the train ride to St Moritz and back which is 2.5 hrs each way and the weather was almost perfect. Met a Zimbabwean in my coach so was great to talk to someone again. 

Got a hotel across from the station which worked out gret didn't have to ride around and the breakfast was most enjoyable. 

 ST. MORITZ.