Camping Les Deux Rives, Charmes sur Rhone

Today should be a good day. Up as the sun rose only the annoying warblings of Amy Winehouse being piped around the sanitaires irritated Angela. She liked to spend the first fifteen minutes of her day peacefully, not being told by Amy she should have gone to rehab. It was just a half bottle of Bordeaux Amy!

A large Brocante market was taking place down by the river. No doubt the best buys already bought by the early treasure hunters. Probably on ebay or on resale in another Brocante by now. We felt fresh from taking a rest day. After the first two miles despite a headwind our legs dropped into a steady rhythm. We had around thirty miles to cycle, passing through the large town of Valence on the way.

The route took us through a market in Valence, the smell of roasting chickens wafted in the air. We stopped to look at and smell the food cooking on a Vietnamese stall. The cycle through the town was a nightmare and we were glad when we'd passed through it. And then it all went very badly wrong. John was cycling a little way ahead as he likes to take down hill sections as fast as he can, Angela more cautious these days took her time. A shout from behind in French that a cyclist was behind prompted Angela to move to the right as is correct. The French cyclists impatient overtook her on the wrong side. It didn't end well for Angela. Long story short, paramedics were called, a lady cyclists asked for a description of John so she could cycle on to fetch him back.

Serious injury to her left hand and face and an even more serious head injury resulted in her being loaded into the ambulance. Our worst nightmare! John was left with the sauf pompiers of which three vehicles had attended. Angela suggested he ask the group of gathered French to help him with translation. Which hospital and who would help with the bikes. He received no help with the bikes, and tried to wheel them off the cycleway to the other side of the bridge. A kindly Frenchman came to help him. As luck would have it an Amazon delivery driver had stopped for a smoke and the Frenchman asked for his assistance. Bikes and John loaded he took John to the hospital around ten minutes away. Angela was sure he'd enjoyed a more comfortable ride than her. She been drive at a fast rate, blue light and sirens. A French hospital is not like a British NHS one. It was stark. I.D. please. Remove rings off fingers because of swelling. X-ray on wrist. Wait will be around two hours. Well it was lunchtime. Eventually she was doused in stinging iodine, her forehead aneathesised and sutures begin before the anesthetic took. Then more iodine just to be sure she was in maximum pain. The doctor laughed, stunk of garlic and bumbled about. Angela's grasp of the French language does not stretch to medical talk, so she felt a little vulnerable. Issued with a prescription for pain relief and instructions that the stitches should be removed in ten days time she sat and waited to be discharged. The doctor was now fast asleep in his chair. She took it upon herself to leave. No the x-ray must be checked. Nothing broken, compression bandage prescribed. The bill would be posted to her home address. She presented her British medical card as instructed by saga insurance No the invoice would be sent from the medical office.

Another problem no doubt to deal with. John wanted them to take a train to Avignon, but Angela just wanted to cycle the ten miles to the next campsite. She was shaken by the accident and just felt she should ride her bike. Tonight's campsite is one of the worst ever. The sanitaires are clean but very dated. Saying that plenty of people arrived for the night. There are seven cyclists tents, motorhomes, vans and caravans. Hopefully tomorrow Angela won't ache too much. She looks like she's been in the wars, her face not too pretty. Perhaps she should have gone rehab today instead as Amy suggested!