14 July - French National Day and a Bank Holiday.

Today was forecast to be cooler (28°C) and this turned out to be the case though the sun was still too hot over the middle of the day for cycling. We planned to spend lunch in the medieval town of Laon with its famous Cathedral which stands proud on a large rocky outcrop making it visible from large distances across the flat surrounding country.

We made excellent fast progress and reached the cycle route up to the rock and Cathedral. We started off cycling, but it got steeper, so we walked with our bikes. And it got steeper still. So we pushed for a few steps then rested to catch our breath and mop the sweat from our faces. 🥵. We did make it eventually but were a tad hot and tired. The shops and restaurants seemed closed. We got worried. We spotted a patisserie just closing so we nipped in and bought some for our lunch. However we did find one café which was open for snacks lunches. Phew! Lovely lunch in the cool shade. Recovered we toured the cathedral and benefited from an organist and bass singer practicing for a concert later that afternoon. Spine tingling and wonderful. Also a great cool place to rest and sit.

After this we set off down the four kilometres downhill ride. Weeeee 🚴‍♂️🚴‍♂️ (You see, it really was a high rock and Cathedral).

And we made good progress, but had to climb even higher than Laon to get over a ridge. And each village seemed to be on a hill on its own 😏.

We came across a church with a startling Art Deco styling. We read that the original church along with 300 others in the area had been obliterated during the First World War. 😳😳 The new church was built in the early 1930s.

So we did a lot of altitude today. 💪🏻

The highlight of the day, however, could be our hotel 😂. Booked randomly on Booking.com as it was the “right distance”, it turned out to be a working farm that has diversified. Converting its farmyard and buildings into a courtyard hotel. Admirably and delightfully quirky. Statues of Roman Godesses around the place. A massive sandpit with surf board recreates a beach scene (🤷🏻‍♂️ Why?). There is a fantastic covered and heated swimming pool with hot tub. Just the job after all that cycling. Our room was a suite with sitting room, bathroom and bedroom. And then there was dinner. We sat on tables in the courtyard. No menu, just a “formule” with two choices. I think the whole family was involved in the enterprise. And then there was the owner who brought out his keyboard and mike and sang songs to us all evening. Well just the first few bars. The diners had to guess the song and win points. Enough points, and he would bring you a prize of a glass of champagne 🥹. Unlike anywhere else we have stayed. 🥲. Quite delightfully random.

Being July 14th, we were expecting events, parades, village fêtes etc.

NOTHING 😳.

We saw more dogs than people in the villages. And everything was shut up in the towns. Where is everybody? 🤷🏻‍♂️