Woke up early and Amnon started kibbetzing immediately. He was very excited because we were going back to Rouen to a wedding of a couple - Thierry and Chantal - we had met the previous week. We were meeting Thierry in Paris and were getting a lift back with him. Amnon was worried about keeping him waiting on his wedding day and Rouening it. Too scared to take our bikes into Paris so we hitched to the nearest Metro.

Much traffic en route back to Rouen. Spent the afternoon in Rouen walking allong the river and then got ready for the wedding. Can't say we were the best dressed. Illana's hiking boots are not exactly dainty dancing shoes.

The wedding ceremony was much the same as old fashioned SA ones with a couple of exceptions; the bride and groom have chairs under the chuppah and they sit while the rabbi speaks to them, only the parents stand under the chuppah with the couple, no pole holders, no bridal rotations, speach in French, groom breaks the glass away from the chuppah, tunes are different and the rabbi gives the bride a big French kiss after the ceremony (only joking).

The first round of dancing was the usual horas to familiar music. Then the sephardie music started and things really livened up. Illana could not manage to shake her shoulders, wave her hands around and generally girate in time to the music - too much coordination required, but the rest of the women were really something to see. The men seemed to do a lot of jumping up and down and the rabbi started doing cartwheels (no joke). As the wedding progressed things got more and more North African (as opposed to South African) - galibayas (can't remember what they are called here), fez's and music in arabic. Everyone at the wedding was so happy because this is the first Jewish wedding in Rouen for about 17 years - everyone gets married in Paris. Ate a fortune and drank enough to make us get up twice in the middle of the night and walk 200 metres to the toilet. Wonderful time.

Daily total : 0kms

Went back into Paris for a last visit. Posted off unwanted weight and went to the Jewish museum. Really interesting with wonderful artifacts hundreds of years old (hagadahs, torah scrolls, a succah, menoras etc). Amazing that they are totally familiar to us. Really worth a visit.

Got back to the campsite and began packing up at about 6:30 with the plan to get a train out of the Paris area to avoid having to cycle in the traffic. Easy in principle. Everything went well for about 20 minutes until we got to La Defence from where we had planned to get a train. La Defence, we found out, is a huge linked area and our point of access was very far from the station. The only way was for us to take the lift up to the open air mall that links the different areas of La Defense. Obstacle number 1: the bikes didn't fit in the lift. Managed to get them in balancing them upright on one wheel. Then we got to 2 flights of stairs with very thin escalators. Illana's bike made it up the escalators with some manouvering and a lot of concentration. Amnon's bike didn't quite fit, but Illana was determined not to have to carry it up the stairs and, despite Amnon's protests, insisted on getting it up the escalator. Not a good plan. Landed up falling backwards with the bike on top of her. Quite a frightening experience. Luckily Amnon's front wheel got stuck and the escalator came to a stop. No damage to Illana although Amnon's new bike did not make it unscathed. His front wheel was buckled and the mud guard slightly damaged. Still shaking, Illana then decided to take her bike up the second escalator and miscalculated again. Landed up going up the escalator on her bum under the bike. No damage to either the bike or Illana. Amnon was furious with Illana but we both had a good laugh about it later. Could have been serious - now we have a healthy respect for escalators.

Getting to the station platform was another mission with the only mode of access being escalators. This time they were wider though, and both Illana and Amnon accompanied each bike. Finally got to the right platform in time for a train. Only problem was that the bicycle carriage was on the other end of the train. Despite running hard we missed it and had to wait another half an hour for the next train which was delayed. By the time we got on the train it was 10:30. The train was absolutely packed and people insisted on getting on in our carriage making things pretty uncomfortable. An hour later we arrived at what we thought was our destination which was also the stop for EuroDisney. We asked the station attendants how to get to the campsite and they told us it was not accessable by bike. Great. They suggested that we take the next train back from whence we came to find a cheaper hotel.

Back on the train. Arrived at our destination at about 12:30 to find that the hotel was complet. Bad luck. By this stage both Amnon and Illana were very irritable. Amnon was especially annoyed because he didn't really want to go to Paris at all, and now look what had happened; velos vol?, new bikes damaged on the escalator, 1:00 and nowhere to sleep. Finally rode past an Ibis Hotel and checked in for the night. Got to sleep at about 2:00.

Daily total :10kms

Woke up determined to fix the bike. Amnon got busy with his wheel and Illana went shopping. By the time she returned Amnon had managed to straighten his wheel and was in a much better mood. Illana still felt terrible. After attaching various odds and ends to the bike we left at about 2:00. We got out of the urban area and were back on our way on our holiday in the country. Both felt much better.

Got to a lovely campsite at a place called Changes sur Marne (Amnon was really irritating Illana with his shocking pronounciations of places). We negotiated an improved price for the night, and got to sleep early in preparation for what we hoped would be an early start the next day.

Daily total : 50kms

Woke up reasonably early and packed up. Just as we were about to leave it started raining so we had to wait a while for the weather to improve.

Cycled through picturesque towns where most of the houses were badly in need of a plaster and paint job. Ate lunch outside a church in a town that used to have shops.

Made good time on our way until we got to a Route Barr?sign which we interpreted as only having significance for cars. A couple of km's later we understood that this interpretation was incorrect as the road had collapsed into a river. We had to augment an existing stone footbridge and with some effort managed to cross it with fully laden bikes. Illana's left foot the only thing to get wet.

Got to our destination, a camping site at a place called Fismes to find it was the cheapest accommodation since Tregadillet - 21 Francs for the night. Amnon went for a shower at about 10:30 to find they were already locked for the night. Illana had to share a tent with a sweat bag.

Daily total : 80kms

Actually managed to get an early start in anticipation of a mamoth day of cycling all the way to Verdun. Believe it or not we were on our way at 7:00. Got to the next town called Reims 30 kms away at 9:00. Had to do some shopping and return Illana's odometer which did not work. Stopped to have breakfast in a park. Managed to pfaff around until 12:30. Couldn't believe we had squandered our early start.

Cycled on for about 35kms until Illana started moaning as a result of hunger pangs. At about 3:30 we stopped on the side of the road at a little town with no facilities and absolutely nothing of interest called Jonchery.

Continued on our way still beleiving we could reach our destination. At about 6:30 we realised this was not going to be possible. We therefore decided to see if we could get a train from the next largish town called St Menehold to our destination at Verdun. Lucky for us we could, and so avoided cycling the equivalent of a 40 minute train ride.

Got to the campsite a little tired. Very nice place. The only problem was the distance to the toilets from the tent.

Daily total : 100kms

Cyced up to the forest above Verdun - a famous battlefield of the first WW. Quite a shocking experience to see the remaining impact on the forest and the fortifications that still exist. We went to the ossuary in which lie the remains of 130,000 unidentified French and German soldiers who died during the battles of Verdun. Huge cemetary as well. Actually unbeleivable. Can not imagine what was so important to waste so many lives.

Continued through the countryside to a place called Mars la Tour about 20 kms away from our destination at Metz for a late lunch. Illana got another puncture - maiden puncture on the new bike. (Ray, what is the score?)

Arrived at Metz at about 6:00 and found the campsite on the banks of the Moselle river where we pitched our tent. Excellent view of the ducks swiming by from our bed. Made hasty preparations for shabbat, during which it started to drizzle, and went to shul.

Got the third degree from the security guard and finally were allowed to welcome the shabbath queen. There was a Barmitzvah so the shul was pretty full. Interesting that they have the security monitor in the shul so if you get bored during the service you can watch the comings and goings outside the shul. Very thoughtful. During the Tour de France they show the cycling.

After the service ended we went upstairs to the Sephardie service and both Illana and Amnon were invited for meals independently, Amnon by the rabbi and Illana by a teenager who guarenteed Illana that her parents would not mind. After the service there were some negotiations and it was decided that we would go to the rabbi for supper and would go to the Charbit family for shabbat lunch.

Supper at the rabbi was wonderful. The rabbi's wife was in Israel so his two remaining children at home prepared the meal. It was a great meal and the feeling of shabbat was wonderful. The rabbi knew many of the Gateshead rabbis in JHB. During the meal it poured and we were very thankful not to be in the tent. The rabbi invited us to sleep over but we decided to see the state of our tent and come back if disaster had struck.

We got back to find the tent in one piece with everything dry. Lucky.

Daily total : 90kms

Woke up a little later than anticipated and went to shul. Visited the large shul in Metz which was built in 1850 and is a national monument. During the war the nazis used it as a stable.

Went home with the Charbits for lunch. They are an Israeli family who have lived in Metz for some years. Conversation was in English, French and Hebrew. In fact most of Illana's sentances were in Hebrew, French and English. Meir and Esther (parents) lived in America for a few years and could speak English. Had a wonderful meal and enjoyed meeting the family.

Went back to the tent for a sleep and had an early night.

Daily total : Okms

Went over to the Charbits to get their contact details. Meir showed us the riverside paths and university. Decided to spend the rest of the day walking around Metz which is a really lovely city. Surrounded by rivers, pretty gardens and fine examples of something centuary buildings.

Daily total : 20kms

Spent the morning on chores - shopping, internet, etc. Ready to leave fairly late and decided to go towards Strassbourg.

Scenic countryside here in Lorraine with lots of farms. Got to a campsite in a place St Avold in a forest at the top of a very steep hill.

Daily total : 59kms

Woke up and packed up our stuff. Made our way into St Avold for yet more chores; internet (couple of hours) and bicycle shop to attach a dynamo light that Amnon has been looking for since the velos were vol?. Left the laden bikes at the bike shop and walked around a bit. Decided to leave at about 12:30 to find that the bike shop had closed for lunch untill 2:30. Walked around some more until then and then pfaffed around till about 3:30 when we finally set off on our way.

The journey out of St Avold consisted of continuous rolling hills which are actually quite hard to cycle. As you get up one hill you can see the next hill so you have to keep pedalling to build up momentum on the way down (unless you are Amnon and you take it easy and put your breaks on just before the start of the hill - but only if Illana is behind you). Incedentally, Amnon has really found his wheels with the new velo. He is now mostly ahead of Illana and takes the bigger paniers - hard to believe. Certainment he will beat Illana in the next Argus which will be hard for her to take. Anyway she now enjoys slipstreaming behind Amnon.

Next stop was a place called Saverne. Great downhill into the town through a forest. Uphill to the campsite though. Arrived tres late, found a quiet spot and settled in for the night.

Daily total : 82kms

Illana was quite keen to see the sights in Saverne but Amnon was of the opinion that the towns are all the same. Luckily there was no debate on the matter as it started raining really hard as we were about to deflate the matrasses and put away the tent. Decided to wait out the storm and nap at the same time. A couple of hours later, we were off on our way. Managed to see a little of the town on the way out. Looks lovely. Spend more time here next time.

Interesting to see just how German the surroundings have become. Road signs are in both French and German and there are many more German looking buildings (not that we would know anything about German architecture). The French appear to have remained concerned about a German invasion as there are a lot of military training sites in the area.

Back to the cycling. We followed a bicyle path allong the canal into Strassbourg 55kms away. Flat all the way but avec beacoup du vant dans notre visages.Also Amnon got us lost up a hill. You would think that an Actuary would be able to follow a simple cycle route allong a canal.

We got to Strassbourg and rode to the office de tourisme where we enquired about terrains de campings and other places of interest. Made our way to a kosher restaurant where we each had a pizza for supper and shared another for desert. Very nice. Got to the campsite to find that we had forgotten to dry our towels that got soaked in the storm. Debate as to whether or not to go to bed badly scented. In the end decided to rough it and shower with the wet towels.

Daily total : 62kms

Woke up to a less windy day. Decided to do some washing as Amnon had run out of undies entirely and was onto inside-outs. Not pleasant ever, but especially after cycling many miles. While getting ready to go Amnon struck up a conversation with a neighbouring lone cyclist who turned out to be a cycle courier in Chicago who delivers packages within 15 mintes in the city. He tries not to do more than 150kms a day because it tires him a little. He told us that the Tour de France would be in Strassbourg on Friday and that there would be time trials in Colmar on Saturday. We were planning to go to Colmar anyway so hopefully we will get to see some of the action.

On the way into the centre ville we rode passed a family of cyclists (parents and 2 young children) on tandems. They are from the States and travel in Europe this way. Looks great and the kids were loving it.

Went to see the old mikvah in Strassbourg but once again it is only open on Saturdays. Entry is free however.

After spending many hours updating the website we made our way back to the campsite. By this time it had started raining and needless to say we were very concerned about our washing. Got back to find it drenched. Lucky there was a dryer and in no time we had clean, dry and warm linen.

Daily total : 10kms

Got up to grey skies. Packed up and went into Strassbourg to stock up on kosher supplies. Then tried to make our way out of the city which proved more difficult than it looked because we landed up on the wrong side of the canal and the bridge over it was being repaired so the route was barr?. After some time and schlepping the bikes up more stairs and Illana's moaning we were on our way.

The route to Colmar was along the canal or the Rhine river all the way so it was totally flat. Also totally boring. The view was not of the river, but of trees and more trees. Then it started raining a bit and the head wind started to really annoy. Anyway we made it to Colmar a little tired, pitched the tent and cleaned up.

We managed to find the shul, but after walking around it for a few minutes we were convinced there was nothing doing as everthing looked firmly closed up. Then a bearded and hatted man walked by and we tried a tentative shabbat shalom. This worked and he told us that the service would start at huit heure et demi. After the service he invited Amnon for supper in French. Amnon accepted without quite knowing what was going on. Luckily there were some other guests who could parlez anglaise and expliqu? the goings on. Israel Suissa, our host, is the chazzan at the shul and does not speak English. His wife, who is in Israel on holiday is an English teacher but has never managed to teach her husband. Thus the conversation was mainly in bad hebrew and worse French. Illana really put her foot in it when, during the meal she was offered chicken and tried to tell Israel in French that she does not eat chicken. Between her bad French and the noise from the rest of the table conversation, Israel heard her say that she did not eat pork. He nearly had heart failure and had to sit down. That kept everyone amused for a good while. Then when that had worn off Illana asked if one guy was the father of two brothers who were at the meal. This got a huge laugh out of the brothers but not out of the 'father'. It appears he has gone grey and lost his hair prematurely and is more their contemporary. During the meal to describe the difference between light and dark beer, green and black olives, white and red wine etc, Israel used the terms ashkenazi and sephardie. All around a very lekker meal - cooked entirely (including the bread) by Israel.

Daily total : 92kms

Woke up to more rain and grey skies. Got to shul late. the service was in the main building which is a national monument built originally in the 1830's. It is huge and definately worth seeing.

We had lunch at Israel after shul. He was most insulted that Illana would not eat his dafina. Amnon said it was delicious. Once again had a wonderful meal with much laughter and fun despite or perhaps because of the language difficulties.

After lunch we walked into town to await the arrival of the Tour 'day' France (as the Americans say). Many had come to Colmar from far and wide for the event and the roads were lined with people. We squeezed in between two umbrellas and waited for ages for anything to happen. About half an hour before the tour arrived there was a procession of the race sponsors, who throw samples and little gifts at the crowd. There is much excitment and many attempts to catch whatever was on offer. We caught some non-kosher sweets which were refused by the children near us, so we threw them back into the next vehicle much to the surprise of passengers in the car and the amusement of the crowd. Finally after a long time, the winner came through - a Frenchman called Laurent something or other. He was a good way ahead of the next couple of leaders who in turn were 4 minutes ahead of the peloton. Very exciting indeed.

Got back to the campsite just before it started raining yet again and went to sleep. Exhausting day with all the eating and spectating.

Daily total : 0kms

Rained the entire night and was still raining when we woke up and continued for the rest of the day. Starting to get a bit depressing.

Waited for the rain to abate a little before we made our way back into town just in time to see the departure of the Tour. Once we had seen everyone whizz past we looked around the town. Went to a museum of a Mr Bartholdy who was the artiste for the statue of liberty. Turns out Colmar is currently hosting an international music festival. Very lucky for us. Bought tickets to see a famous violinist (Vladimir Spivakov). Had to race across town on our velos to make the concert in time, but the only problem was that our map had disintegrated because of the rain so it was quite a challenge. Luckily the town is not big and racing across it took no time so we made the concert. Really excellent, thouroghly enjoyed especially because it was indoors and out of the rain.

got back to the tent to find that we had not closed up properly and our stuff had got wet in the rain. Managed to sort ourselves out for the night but really wish it would stop raining.

Daily total : 10kms

Went to meet Israel to see if we could buy some kosher supplies for the journey. On the way we met another lone cyclist - this time a woman - who warned us about Germany (bad roads and poor signposting). Well timed as we were on our way to Germany that day.

Got to Israel, forgot all about the supplies and went with him on a tour of the winelands in Alsace - makes Stellenbosch look a little silly. He took us to see beautiful little villages like Riquewhir, Bergheim, Kaiserville. We also saw a millitary cemetarzy from one of the last battles of WW2. Interesting that there is such a strong Jewish history here. Riquewhir has a Jewish Ghetto and Bergheim has a shul that is no longer used as all the Jews were killed during the war.

We finally got cycling at about 4:00 and crossed the border into Germany. We made our way to Freiburg and found a campsite in the heart of the black forest: very beautiful. Navigation did prove to be a bigger challenge than in France and has the potential to cause serious marital rifts. Better leave soon

Daily total : 60kms

Decided to try some of the moutains in the area and cycled up to a lookout point called the schauinsland which has stupendous veiws of Alsace and Germany. The climb was about 1000m and took us a good hour and a half. Makes the hills in CT look as silly as Stellenbosch.

Had lunch at the top and then had a 16km downhill. A just reward. On the way down we stopped at a lovely waterfall. The black forest is really something.

Found a small campsite and had a well deserved rest.

Daily total : 55kms

Cycled along the Rhine and enjoyed the scenery. People here are not as friendly as the French, probably because they have to eat those horrible looking sausages.

Stopped at a lovely campsite in a place called Waldshut. On the way we nearly got lost and realised we were going the wrong way when we almost crossed the border into Switzerland. The only other thing worth noting is that we passed a car that had spontaneously combusted. The owner was very shocked and we thought it would not be nice to take a picture so we watched for a while and then left to get lost yet again.

Daily total : 84kms

Decided to make our way to Switzerland. Lucky for us one of the German owners of a little permanent caravan at the campsite took offense to our having pitched our tent so near to his little place and our placing our bikes against his little picket fence that he decided to mow his lawn right up to our tent pegs. He looked like a miserable type, old, fat and dressed in a nipple exposing vest. Needs to chill a bit so we decided to go and chat to some other cyclists who had been to Venezuela, Columbia and Argentina by bike. Definately higher than us on the hierarchy of touring cyclists. Great to talk to people who are real experts.

Crossed the border into Switzerland and took a scenic route through a forest to get to a place called Zurzach for lunch. We bought a cycling map for a small fortune and decided to make our way to Zurich.

The map turned out to be a real liability as we kept getting lost in the middle of nowhere. Decided to stick to road maps in the future.

Got to Zurich and found a very congested, very expensive campsite on the See which is really a lake. Had to pay extra for a hot shower - Equivalent of R10 for three minutes. Quite hard to get all the soap off in three minutes. Try the next time you shower.

Daily total : 62kms

Happy birthday Am. No present unfortuantely. Packed up and left as it started raining. Horrible weather. At the campsite we met an ex South African now living in Oslo. He told us they have a saying there: "There is no such thing as bad weather, only bad clothing"

While on the street of Zurich, we passed a religious looking youngster (payes, Kippa, etc) and asked him whether there was a kosher deli in Zurich for us to get some food for shabbat. He took us all the way to a deli where we started chatting to some people in the store. Before we knew it we had been invited for supper and then for lunch. The woman who invited us for lunch then made a very generous offer of accommodation for shabbat (caused some problems with the hotel we had just checked into - Swiss Nazi). Really wonderful hospitality.

We went to shul with our host who took us to a Yekkishe shul (German Jews) - real black hat, beard and black suit affair. We really looked conspicuous and got more invitations for supper. Another coincedence, Tziona Tanzer (Illana went to school with her and was taught by her mother) and her husband were at shul as theey were passing through Zurich on the way back to SA. They also looked a bit out of place in the shul so we didnt feel so bad.

Supper was wonderful at the home of Naftali Morsbach and his family. His wife is from Manchester and Naftali has spend time in England so English was no problem. Relief - no chance of putting Illana's foot in it again.

Daily total : 10kms

Shabbat for Illana was a wonderful rest as she bunked shul. Amnon got up really early and went to a different shul also very religious. We saw more dati people in Zurich where the population of Jews is far lower than CT than exist there - amazing.

Our hosts, Rochel Leah and Moshe Glass were wonderful to us. We were treated to wonderful meals and had a great rest. All their children have left home so they have plenty of space.

After shabbat we planned our next stage of the journey with the help of Rochel Leah and a huge atlas.

Daily total : 0kms

Got a moderately early start and cycled around Zurich before we left for Luzern. Zurich looks much better when it is not raining. The ride was very scenic with a couple of big hills on the way but nothing too strenuous (equivalent of the round house road in CT only a lot longer).

Wonderful to see the snow capped mountains in the distance which will provide us with our next challenge.

Made our way to Luzern and on our way out we landed up getting another puncture. Decided to sleep at a campsite nearby rather than head for our planned destination.

Daily total : 70kms

Left the campsite and met another German family (sans girls who were left at home) on a cycling holiday. They told us that bicycle route number 9 would take us all the way into Interlaken. The route was exceptionally well marked and the scenery was stunning - truely the most beautiful on our trip to date. A couple of huge, steep mountain passes though. At every corner there was the anticipation of a downhill that usually turned out to be another uphill.

We stopped at a place called Lungern for lunch and rested on the banks of the lake while it got progressively more cloudy. At the first sounds of thunder we decided to make haste. Unfortunately not in time and at the top of the next pass up a very narrow dirt road we had to take shelter until it dried out. Good spot for a nap. After the break came the real steep stuff - couldn't muster more than 3 or 4 kms an hour up that part.

After a couple of kms of downhill we found ourselves in Brienz and in the midst of another downpour. Decided to have a cup of tea while we waited out the storm and were treated to the hospitality of a Swiss woman who tried to shortchange us. Lucky Amnon was vigillant - saved us 80 Swiss cents (still don't know what they are called). Still, its the principle.

Had to wait until about 7 for the rain to abait and then made our way another 17kms to Interlaken and our campsite. Best showers to date but no other redeaming features.

Daily total : 78kms

Went into Interlaken to do internet and a couple of other chores. Very quaint with lots of horses and carts. Very inefficient from a traffic perspective. Decided to head for the hills and take a ride up towards Murren, a good couple of hundred metres above us. Lucky no panniers this time to the uphill was fairly easy. That is, until we got to a mountain bike track up a steep hill that we had to walk up. The rest of the track was great fun and we fear the mountain biking bug may have bitten. The thrill is wonderful if you can stay on the bike. Coming down also required a bit of walking, simply too steep.

When we got back to the campsite we found a family had decided to eat supper at a table right by our tent. Turns out she was South African so we were more friendly than would have been the case had such an infringement on our personal space taken place in another circumstances.

Daily total : 55kms

Decided to give the Jungfrau a miss. At 125 francs for the cheapest ticket (about R700) and so many Japanese tourists, we decided the money could be better spent on an additional week of hoiday somewhere in France.

We left Interlaken and headed for Meiringen. But before we could even leave the town, Illana got a puncture. Not to be outdone, Amnon got a puncture soon after. Finally we made it to Meiringen for lunch. Lots of Sherlock Holmes things there for some reason, and lots of American tourists. Not our style.

Carried on up the Susten pass through Innertkirchen to a place called Gadmen. Very tough cycling including another puncture for Amnon up a hill just outside Meiringen (Illana had to cycle back down the hill with the flat tyre to see if she could get it pumped up, only to find that the valve was broken. Had to cycle back up to Amnon to get money, then down again to get the tyre. A lot of effort for air).

Very lovely cycling in the mountains, despite the uphill for about 2 hours.

Daily total : 57kms

Left Gadmen and continued up the Susten pass until we reached 2224m (Gadmen was 1205m). Lucky this was followed by 19kms down to a place called Wassen at 916m. Ate lunch at Wassen in a school yard. Both absolutely exhausted.

After lunch we had a horrible uphill to a place callled Andermatt at 1447m. The route was on a busy road which had tunnels running on the side of the mountain. Why they can't build the tunnels through the mountains, we can't say. We reached the campsite where you had to cross a busy road to get to the toilet. Made sure we didn't drink anything with supper.

Daily total : 45kms

Decided to head for Chur, because it looked big enough to have a Jewish community. Went up the Oberalpass (2048m) which wasn't so bad after the first 600m up. It was effectively downhill from there all the way to Chur, except that we took a mountian bike route which had many inefficient downhills (too steep to freewheel) and steep uphills. Gave that up and followed the main road.

After a little rain and 105kms we finally made it to Chur through some very scenic gorges, absolutely exhausted and a little disappointed to find there was no community after all. Had to make use of our travelling shabbat kit and had a quiet Friday night with a camping casserole for supper.

Daily total : 105kms

Woke up more exhausted than when we had gone to sleep. Absolutely must not do 105kms in Switzerland again. Very tired. Went for a walk in Chur. Not much to see, and then went back to the tent to sleep. Both of us felt a little sick.

Daily total :0kms

Spent the day doing maintenance chores, like cleaning the bikes, and resting our weary bodies. Fasted (9th of Av) so we were not up to much. Lots of cyclists at Chur. In fact all the tenters were bikers, just about.

Daily total : 0kms

Once again failed to get an early start. We were the last cyclists to leave. Amnon insisted on taking a more direct route out of Chur, despite the fact that this required going up a very, very steep mountain - over 1000m, instead of around it, in order to save 23kms. Well done Am. We would both have preferred the extra 23kms to the 14kms of uphill at 4km an hour.

Relived to get to the top. Had lunch on the way down at a place called Tiefencastel which has no castle and so was a bit disappointing. Went on to a place called Filisur from whence we caught a train to Samedan just outside St Moritz. This enabled us to avoid climbing almost 1000m in exchange for about R300. A worthy exchange.

We had heard that St Moritz attracts many Jewish holiday makers so we were quite looking forward to a kosher restaurant meal. We met some frummies on the train who told us there was a kosher hotel.

Made straight for the hotel on arrival in St M to find that a meal cost the princely sum of 68 Francs (about R400) and 350 Francs for a room. They did not have a special price for Jews. Decided to opt for pasta at the campsite

Daily total : 60kms

Decided to have breakfast at St Moritz see. Very pretty but the pain by association has diminshed the beauty of the mountains. Time to get the hell out of Switzerland and away from the alps. Flat all the way to Molojo pass and then downhill for about 40kms. Certainly empasthised with the poor soles going the other way. Crossed the border into Italy. Farewell to the hills (we hope).

Camped at a place called Novate Mezzola with many many mosquitos.

Daily total : 69kms

Play soduku.