Well. We end the day with high spirits, but it started bad and just got worse. This tale has a happy ending, and the Ligne will continue - albeit on a slightly different course.
We woke up in Clermont, and over breakfast decided that given it was chucking it down we would stay for breakfast and look at accommodation options in the mountains. The day was meant to be about 75 miles, but a quick search on the internet revealed no results for hotels. The options were - 11 miles less, or push on an extra 12 to Saint Etienne. We opted for the latter.
It was raining hard during breakfast, and a quick check of the forecast made us none the wiser as to what the rest of the day had in store. Some sources had things clearing through, and others had thunderstorms. Eventually the boys set off in the rain at around 11. This normally would spell bad news - the boys favoured an early start at around 8am to avoid cycling in the hottest part of the day.
With accommodation sourced in Saint Etienne, I set off at a similar time to the boys in order to do the usual - supermarket stop, find the lunch spot and locate a picnic area. The route was very hilly. As in, very hilly. The views were amazing but I couldn't help but feel sorry for the guys.
I must have been about 2 hours ahead of the boys when the car started making a ticking sound - similar to that my Corsa made when the water pump went. I parked up, and after consultation with james' dad and james, decided to leave the car for an hour to see if it cooled down.
I went back to the car an hour later, started it up and continued on to the next town. It's a bit difficult to judge a car's performance when it's up and down mountains and literally no flat road at all!!! It was down hill all the way to the next place, so the car sounded fine.
I eventually rolled up at Ambert, and once on the flat it started making horrendous squeaking sounds, so I decided enough was enough. Thankfully we had got European breakdown cover sorted, so I phoned it in. They were great and so helpful. At this point, the boys rocked up, having cycled something like 50 miles up and down the same dramatic hills that had ruined the car. I was told the tow company would be about an hour, then a taxi would take me to collect the replacement vehicle... That's the short version of events. It actually took about 2 or 3 hours of stress and admin to sort out!!!
While we were waiting, the thunderstorms started. Along with the biggest hail I have ever seen!!! Nightmare!!
The tow guy was lovely. Didn't speak much / any English but we got by. He came with me to collect the hire car too, which he didn't have to do so I appreciated that.
The hire car was a fiat panda - slightly different to the estate car we came in! But oh well I told the boys the gather about three days worth of stuff and the rest stayed in the big car.
Once the boys were happy that I was being taken to safety, they carried on with their bike ride - a further 40+ miles to saint Etienne. They clocked up 93 miles today. A late start, bad weather, a break down, a three hour rest and some pretty nasty mountain climbs. Poor buggers.
France being France, the garages close at lunch time on Saturday and doesn't reopen until Monday. And us being us, of course the breakdown happened just around lunch time on a Saturday. It's a miracle they found us a hire car, and we can only have it until Wednesday. This will have a big impact on the rest of the trip. The further away we go, the further I have to go back to swap the cars back over. The consensus was to have a rest day tomorrow, and perhaps chin off mont ventoux... We'll see.
We all arrived there at around 8.30, completely shattered. A quick bite to eat in the restaurant next door and then to bed!
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