Stranded

So I didn't think that traveling would be easy, but no one could have predicted we would run into as many challenges as we have in this first week of the tour. We are currently holed up in a hotel in Geneva, after the Messy Days Express broke down yesterday.

The tour didn't start strong, we missed the train to Dover by about 2 minutes, the next day we got lost in Dunkirk and couldn't find anywhere to eat, more problems. We finished that day in Ghent, Belgium, where after getting horribly lost again we managed to get the Messy Days bogged thanks to our parking not on the concrete tire paths provided but on the grass so that our awning would look more impressive.

Day 4 provided more challenges as our Tom Tom broke down as we tried to go into France, all of a sudden we were back to navigating by the sun, this day also saw us get to our campsite so late that the reception had all ready shut, leaving us on the side of the road for the night.

Day 5 was full of positives, we did briefly get stuck in a huge traffic jam out side of Charles De Gaulle and we didn't actually camp at the camp site we originally planned on, but all in all that day wasn't that bad.

Day 6 will live in infamy, we set off in high spirits, the Kloss had fixed the Tom Tom and we were heading for a Feed Station. Unfortunately, trouble was just around the corner as we managed to get the Messy Days stuck in a ditch when we tried to park on the side of the road. Thankfully 20 or so people on the side of the road came and helped and we manged to push the 4,500 kilo beast back on the road. The rest of day 6 was fine, except for when we arrived at the Col de la Colombiere where we were going to stay the night, the only stretch of road that the Messy Days could stop on was a serious 6 degree incline, not a comfortable nights sleep.

Day 7 was an excellent day for the tourists, we saw an excellent stage of cycling and had a fun day in the sun. the trouble struck when we got caught in a ridiculous traffic jam, a 50 minute journey blew out to closer to 5 hours, we spent another night on the side of the road. Day 8 isn't even worth a mention, we cut the Tour de France to spend the day in Geneva, Switzerland and had an all round enjoyable day. The only real problem was we missed a bus and had to spend 25 minutes waiting for the next one.

Day 9 provided the piece de resistance however when half way through the day, just as we got ready to head for the Col De Galibrier (massive hill on today's stage) the Messy Days wouldn't start. Four hours on the side of the road later a tow truck finally arrived and we headed off for the Fiat Dealership to try and get it fixed. It is now mid day on the next day, the only English speaking person at Fiat is not giving us much hope of salvation today so the trip is really off the rails. The lack of other languages amongst our touring team is really quite noticeable, and is helping us understand why other Europeans tend to treat us English speaking monkeys with contempt.

The only upside is that surely after this nothing worse can happen. Hopefully tomorrow we will be back on the road for Monaco and Anitbes, then rejoin the tour for the race to Paris.