THE PILGRIMAGE - DAY 9

14 May
Ben's Blog:- "God Works in Mysterious Ways"
Four days ago, Ben's money belt - carrying an undisclosed amount of cash reserves - snapped. He rolled it into a small ball, secured it with string and placed it in a safe place at the bottom of his cycle pouch (the pouch that carries his valuables). Strangely, Paul's money belt had also snapped (are the pedallers putting on weight?) but he was able to repair it. Germany 3 & 4(please see previous blogs) had asked them a couple of days ago if either of them had lost a money belt which held a few (good ploy, and discretion, on the part of the Germans) British pounds, having found it en route and on the roadside. Our guys said 'No' and that was 'end of story' ----- UNTIL Ben discovered his belt was missing when he re-packed his belongings this morning. A vast panic erupted and England 1 & 2 backtracked in an attempt to find their German cycling adversaries. After much searching of campsites, they found the couple in a cabin who then enquired as to the name of the English village where Ben lives. If the question appears bizarre, it is because there was a cash point receipt from Weston Post Office in the belt - along with the money. Thank God for your cash machine MALCOLM!
It goes completely without saying that Germany 3 & 4 are angels and Benjamin really does love this couple . Shame he doesn't know their names . No more future cycling competitions for Ben with Germany on this particular Pilgrimage.

And now, to proceed with the day's cycling blog -
With 20 miles of cycling under their belts (whoops!), in extremely cold weather and very heavy rain, Paul and Ben put down their anchors at Arzacq-Arraziguet. It was 1.20pm and they were very, very wet. They checked in to a 77 bed gite d'etape and are in a '4 man room'. At the moment of their phone call, there was only one other French man sharing - leaving one bed unoccupied. A fourth man - also French - had fleetingly been in the room, but had done an immediate exit due to recognising the already ensconced Francois as being a man with whom he (Michel) had already shared a room earlier on the route. The reason being that both French men experienced a sleepless night due to each other's excruciating volume of snoring.

Ear plugs in for everyone tonight. The gite will be rattling.

E.T.A. at Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port (Saint John At The Foot of The Pass) is anticipated to be Saturday or Sunday.

Jenny