After ten days of cycling in France, we now understand why most people start their trips in Holland. It has been a challenging introduction to long distance cycling - even Champagne, which our guidebook described as 'flat or gently undulating' provided hills which reduced one of us to tears and swearwords. However, Northern France does have many perks, and we have been guzzling champagne and eating our bodyweights in cheese. We've also visited La Clairiere de l'Armistice, where the 1918 armistice was signed in Compiegne, been to the (alleged) birthplace of the bicycle in Bar-le-Duc, and whizzed on an underground train through 18km of champagne cellars in Epernay. The one thing we really hadn't planned for was the diversity of the French weather. We have had a little sunshine, quite a lot of icy rain, some blasting winds, and over the last couple of days, several snow storms. Luckily our kit, if not our bodies, seems up to the challenge!