“Tour de Monde” is how I explain what I’m doing to the French. One man said “brave” as I explained him my route. Another said something like “courageous”. They want to be nice. They probably think I’m stupid to do something like this. Bad things do happen. I know that too. But so do good things. There is no point missing the latter because I’m afraid. This isn’t bravery. It’s just how things work. The day is just as beautiful as the night is scary. And you miss it all if you stay inside.

The days are long up north at this time of the year. The dusk light takes its time before it gives way to night. I get to do long rides before I camp. Somewhere south of Moulin, rain clouds gathered and the sky turned dark blue. I remember this color. It’s the color of depth. It’s the color under the ocean just before it turns black. The idea disorients me. For a while I enjoy and play with the idea of riding downwards instead of forward. The clouds descend even further. I now feel the load of electricity. Sudden flashes of lightning break the atmosphere around. I can see some of them landing on the fields miles ahead. It’s beautiful. It’s as beautiful as anything can be. It’s as beautiful as I can see; take in… I remember the stories of riders hit by lightning. One of them survived it. He didn’t remember a thing. Should I be afraid? Would there be any pain? How much pain can I feel? How much beauty can I see?

The rain starts instantly. Within thirty seconds everything gets soaked and I feel as if I’ve been riding in rain for hours. I see a neon sign on the side of the road and pull over. It’s a hotel. I ask the rates but I’m not interested in staying there. They offer me a hot chocolate instead. The parrots in the lobby are singing the theme from The Bridge On The River Kwai. The rain stops before the parrots are finished.

I was very close to the campground I found earlier on the GPS. It turned out to be a deserted chateau. The building itself was a ruin and the long garden on the front seemed to have been designated as a campground last season. There was nobody around except two deer. They also ran away as soon as I entered. I turned off the engine and stood still for a few minutes, judging the area. There was something eerie about the place. Something was absent. It wasn’t the deer. A dog barked in distance. There was almost no light remaining so I set up my tent and tried to sleep, keeping quiet and listening to the sounds around me. A few small animals walked nearby. Sleep overcame fear a few hours later and then I woke up to a beautiful day. It’s amazing what daylight can do…

This was all after Paris. I spent my first night in the city, and the night before on the road, in a very cheap and simple hotel chain. I wanted to meet an old friend who lives in Paris, but couldn’t arrange it ahead, so ended up staying one more day. I’m glad I did, because Cüret and I ended up having a really good time. He took me walking by the banks of the Seine river. Chinatown, Biblioteca Nacional, Notre Dame and then to Pompideu Center. We had some fries and a bottle of bordeaux by the sculpture pool. I don’t know if it’s the long dusk or the well lit city, but walking in the streets of Paris has a very stimulating effect. This really is the city of the flaneur…

I passed Lyon today, stopping only to have an espresso in a small cafe by the church. Everything is slightly more Mediterranean here. I can feel Italy ahead. But first I need to cross the Alps.

I did expect ‘riding around the world’ to be hard. But the hardship does not rise from the distance or the length of the journey. In the end, you can only ride so much in any given day, and people can tolerate more than they think they can. The real challenge for me so far has been trying to keep things in working condition. One month into the trip, and I already had my camera replaced, had a problem with my charger, torn and repaired the flysheet of the tent etc… Today, one of the pins on my GPS mount fell off. This means that the GPS won’t be charging and I’ll lose a lot of time finding my way around without it. I’ll need to get that somehow replaced before I leave the EU. I now know what it takes to have something sent over customs… The bike needs an oil change anyway. Maybe I’ll stop for a few days in Italy…