If yesterday was the day memorable because of saving the little deer, today has been more memorable for human interactions.

We left Noyon about 0930 a late start but it’s Okay as we are doing a bit shorter ride today.

After one hour on the road we saw a cyclist riding towards us with a fully loaded bike and decided to stop and have a chat.

Catalina is cycling from Breda in The Netherlands to Santiago de Compostela. We are meeting a few people on this famous journey. I walked some of it in 2011 on my 1500 mile walka2b (see my website)

We chatted for a while, shared some long distance cyclist in-stories and said goodbye. There is a certain camaraderie on the road and it is very lovely.

We carried on in the direction of Compiègne. This is a really important place is European and indeed world history. It is the place where the armistice that ended the First World War was signed and later where the Nazis high command accepted the surrender of France in 1940. It is worth reading about this place especially if you happen to be a Russian President.

Just before we arrived here we met Stephane and Christine these lovely people are on a hugely important personal pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela. I won’t tell their story here as I think that it is highly personal and sensitive and deserves maximum respect. If you read this guys, you have our love . To paraphrase Vegan Queen V – YOU CAN DO IT!

We went to the Compiègne wagon (railway carriage) museum here and spent a good hour reading about this important place.

On from here up some killer hills and into Senlis a lovely town and our springboard to Paris tomorrow . We drank wine and ate large pizza here. I would love to immerse myself in the famed French cuisine – alas it rarely provides for vegans. What did provide for THIS vegan was some lovely people whom we met after admiring their dog. We chatted to them for a good while about the ride, President Macron / the Johnson character we have at the moment and the disaster that is Brexit.

We are going to the Médecins Sans Frontières office in Paris on Thursday and have received a lovely e-welcome from them. It makes me so happy to feel supported by the organisation. MSF Belgium and France have been amazing.

The Ansell stage of Ride to the Rock is still in its infancy but so far it has been absolutely remarkable. The scenery, the wildlife, the weather, above all – the people – it’s always the people and we know / meet the best of them. It’s an honour.