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J111 - Thursday, February 4: 21km Marker on the SR206 – Follonica (entrance)

75.01km – 8H57’
Altitude : 19m
This stage was flat, we take the SR206 to Cecina, and then we take the SP 39 to Follonica.
In Cecina we were able to do the following:
•    Food shopping but there was no where to park so I waited in the van while Arlette did the shopping.  It’s so nice to be 4 instead of 3; I think I will talk about this later.
•    Go to the post office:  you get a number and then sit and wait your turn.
•    Stop at almost all the service stations to find 3 maps but we drew a blank for the map of the Latium Province which we will reach tomorrow.  Arlette went into a book store hoping to find this “exceptional” map but no; there are no maps of Italy.  But there are plenty of foreign maps, such as France and Germany.  I hope that we will have better luck tomorrow.
•    Buy bread in a bakery (there aren’t many around) and to pay for it by weight: 2 baguettes = 2.08€.  Bread in the super markets is cheaper.  Since we have been in Italy we have fresh baguette every day.
•    Fill the tanks of the 2 vehicles : 1 liter of diesel fuel costs about  1.149€
Like it or not, Serge makes headway.  It’s a long and tiring day for everyone because of the traffic.  The action of the day is teams of bicycle racers who are in training, followed by a car for the team and others on their tail to keep up with them.  It’s not just any old team it’s Lampre, the professional team which is well known to anyone interested in cycling.  Serge, who is a bit of a backbiter and to joke, wanted me to believe they had given him a can to drink and he finished by saying “tomorrow I’m in Helsinki”.  Serge loves all sports and is not the last one to watch the mountain stages of the Tour de France, but he was shaken in 1998 by all the doping scandals.  I remember when Serge was waiting to tell me the terrible news and I was relieved to know what it was because I thought he was going to announce a death in the family.  Serge’s naiveness is a childhood trait which enables him to be optimistic and it’s very apparent in this long distance race….
Serge literally fell on his face on the road when his feet got caught in a branch.  2 cars missed him, so there was more fear than actual damage; only a skinned knee.
And lastly, some real news : the van is followed by a camper as we arrive at the camping site and guess what,  it’s Brigitte and Roger, who yesterday left Vattetot-sous-Beaumont, a town near  our home.  There were with us at 4000 km in Portugal and will be with us tomorrow at 8000 km.  If my calculations are correct, they will be with us when we clock 12,000km…….
Demain : Castiglione de la Pescaia – Grosseto – Magliano in Toscano

Town : Follonica (Toscane)

GPS : N42.93474° W010.73748°