Cycle Tour The Channel Tour

Beautiful and sunny morning on our way into Caen, in Paris warm and cloudy, between Maubeuge and Mons overcast, windy from the south east and chilly, in Brussels cloudy and somewhat warmer.

Half transport day, half cycle day. Ouistreham - Caen by bike along the canal with a stop at the famous Pegasus bridge to the station, where we have breakfast at a nice café - Caen-Paris St. Lazare by train - cycle trip in Paris from the Lazare station via Place de la Concorde along the Seine river to the Eiffel tower and further on to the Arc de Triomphe on the Place Etoile. From here down Avenue des Champs-Élysées, across Concorde once again and past the Madeleine-church and Opera Garnier along Rue Lafayette to the Gare du Nord station - train to Maubeuge via St. Quentin - coffee and an icecream at McDonald's in Maubeuge - first with a headwind on heavily trafficed roads out of town, then turned north and with side- and tailwind into Belgium - somewhat difficult and dangerous to find the entrance to the temporary railway station of Mons - train to Brussels - cycle trip from the Zuid-station along the ring road with a pitstop at a fine and cheap pavement restaurant and then on to the hotel in the EU quarter out Rue Belliard - after checking in at Aloft a late night stroll to a splendid beer pub in the fashionable EU quarter near the Berlaymont building.

The stage is cut into four parts, divided by train transport stretches. First part 16 km from Ouistreham to Caen, second part 12 km in Paris, third part 30 km from Maubeuge to Mons and fourth part 4 km in Brussels.