Nun, das ist was ich rufe Musik drei

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Straight Lines

We are mostly following the Paneuropa Radweg - more of a concept than an actual thing.  It stitches together a number of local bike routes, connected by stretches of road and the odd farmers field or forest track.  I had already modified the route in several places to suite our needs but, yesterday, a glaring opportunity presented itself.  The 77 mile day followed a chuffing great loop that incurred a 40 mile penalty compared with what the crows have to do.  So we became crows.

As a result of the much shorter day we were able to do 25 of the following day's miles and get a bit ahead of schedule.  This is NOT cheating!!!!!

The Fool On The Hill

Today we had our 25 mile head start so had a 2nd shorter day and still managed to eat into tomorrow's mileage by a dozen or so.  We have done a measly 55 miles but they were hillier than a hilly thing.  With 12 days under our belts and no rest days, hills are becoming a bit of a nuisance.  Whereas bottom gear is usually saved for the very worst part of the very worst hills, it is now engaged the moment any sort of incline appears in the distance and isn't released until we are safely on the downslope on the far side.

Under Pressure

In Germany everything works much better than in France.   I think this is because they have more money to invest in making things properly (and they they have more money because they occasionally open their shops).

A case in point is the hotel shower.  In France every visit to the bathroom involves a frisson of excitement.  Yes, of course there is the whole 'will there be a seat? will there be toilet paper' thing but also:

'Will the shower work at all?  Will the shower head be attached to the wall? Will the water be tepid (the pinnacle of French shower craft)? and will there be enough water pressure to actually get wet?'

The answer to at least one of the above is always no.

In Germany life is very dull.  Turn the shower on and blasts of scalding hot water drill holes in your skull.

PS 'Jet' would also have worked but it reminds me of Lynda McCartney and her silly socks and tambourine.  Not only that but she gave the world vegetarian sausages - a crime against humanity. 

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