Saturday, April 21, 2012

Stage 8 to La Romieu

A birthday stage for me today! Race director Patrick's delightful teenaged twin sons presented me with a gateau religieuse at the finish - apparently a birthday tradition here. Loved it!

The course today started with a pleasant flat run for 10 miles along the Tarn canal towpath. Then it was back to muddy paths and roads. The last few miles were quite taxing, with headwinds, hills and the mileage on our legs. Wisteria is in full bloom at the moment, and seems to drip from every building:



The finish line for today's stage outdid all others - the Collegiale in La Romieu, a typically splendid building dating back to the twelfth century. We finished in its cloister:



Four days to go, and as usual by this stage I'm ready to be done. But celebrating a birthday with thirty European friends - both old and new - in an ancient building is decidedly cool.

Location:La Romieu,France

3 comments:

Christian Marti said...

Congrations to your your birthday and your performance so far! And hold back with the bubbly ...

Ursula and Christian

Claire said...

Happy Birthday! Glad you had a good day. Enjoy these last few days of running!

Clint said...

Happy Birthday. Relax, Float, and Cadence to the end!