Day 03 – Vichy to Montelimar
Welcome to Day 3 of Le Tour de la Liberation!
Tonight we come to you live from a town just outside of Montelimar called Montboucher. But more about that later!
The last update talked about paying for the free High Speed internet access, but we must confess to the fact that we were too lazy to go downstairs to the Hotel Lobby at 2o'clock this morning and wait for their aged PC to boot into Windows 3.1 (if we were lucky!), so went for the GPRS / Bluetooth option – and it worked superbly!
However it's back to the good life tonight, as our hotel, despite being in the middle of a Golf Course about 3 miles from the main road, has Orange Wifi Access again (which is at least 1Mb!)– so thanks to them – and if they carry on like this, we might have to approach them for sponsorship for next years rally!
The day started bright and early as per most days; not so much bright, just early.
Breakfast at 8.30am – usual affair (need I go into detail!) – the days briefing from Chip in the hotel lobby at 9am, except today we were so well organised that we collected our days clue sheet and went straight to the car, having already loaded it up, to begin the first task of working out where to go.
Due to the pouring rain, for the first time in a long time the first town saw us all wondering around under our brollys looking very British.
The first location was Puy-Guillaume – the clue to get us there being "Pee! You! Why William?"
Once there, the long search for the answer to "Snap yourself and find the hidden number" began over coffee in a local café. Once downed, and allowing a few minutes for the caffeine to kick in, we began the hunt.
The first clue is always the worst to find. But it has to be done. Discouraged by the usual flurry of people arriving after us and departing before us, we eventually stumbled upon the following:
Lifting the flap on the front showed that written in permanent marker in the top left corner at the back of it was the number 3.77.
Confident in our find, we hurried back to the car and head onwards to location number 2, a small town called La Chaise Dieu ("Is this where God sits")
We had managed to catch and pass 3 of our competitors on this leg of the journey (its NOT a race. I must re-iterate this point!!), and even saw the Channel 103 car of Alan and Jackie heading in the opposite direction to us. Initial doubts in my Navigators abilities were soon dispelled when we arrived and saw other members of the pack!
The search began, and eventually led us to the side of the Abbey, where the clue "Who connects 600 with 2261952" led us to the following:
After much deliberating, we decided that Ange Jos Roncalli was the connection between the 600th Centenery and the 22nd June 1952. We were later to be proved wrong, when we discovered later that evening that the correct answer was "Clement VI" - but lets not dwell on that!!
Following lunch of Croque Monsieur, Coca Lite and Coffee, we headed for the 3rd destination of the day, which saw us driving on some fantastic roads with wonderful views.
Arrival at Pradelles (A backward 'arp finishes with some French girls")(Not to be confused with a Rarp, for all you networking guru's out there!) found us trying to solve the puzzle of "How far would you have travelled if Veglia told you"
A few coffees and over an hour later, having searched EVERYwhere, an old rusty moped was discovered leaning up against a shop in the centre, and the following was discovered:
100% confident in our answer of 16517km, and delighted in another "Chip Classic Clue" we headed to the final clue destination of the day, passing a few low flying aircraft on the way..
… crossing plenty of these..
…and overtaking many of these…
..and eventually found ourselves at Thueyts (They have you amongst them for teas).
Sustenance was required before any clue hunting could begin, so the local supermarket was quickly tracked down for the daily Smarties fix, and so begun the hunt for "Who was Lolita's right hand man".
After not TOO long a wonder, we tracked down the following:
In the bottom of the painting there is a list of hand written names; one of them was Lolita, to the right of which was Quentin. So Quentin it was!
Onwards then, to this evenings hotel, which was found 187 miles away from the morning departure point.
After following Chips excellent directions..
…we arrived safely, and after unloading our luggage, had a relaxing drink in the bar enjoying the beautiful views…
Dinner was fantastic, and soon it was time for a brief debrief of the days results and standings.
At the end of Day 3, the leader board stands as follows:
3rd Place: Paul Fox & Nicky Ward 319points
2nd Place: Garry Taylor & Mike Nolan 336points
Equal lst Place: Matt & Steve Barnes 345points
Jock Taylor & Frank le Maistre 345points
Guy Le Sueur & Ed Bennett 345points
I don't wish to make you feel guilty Lynn, but the pressure was too much! As previous Tour Champions Jan and Alan Dart always used to advise us… "Never peak to early!" So it's all downhill from here onwards!
As can be seen though, all is very much to play for; dropping one question on the final day of the Tour could see many changes in the leaderboard, and added to that, we have a breakfast time quiz to throw into the mix, so who knows what will happen!
Whilst writing up todays report, most people have been downstairs watching the Football; some game between a team called Chelsea and Liverpool. I have no idea what it's all about, but Paul Fox did come up with the brilliant idea of having a sweepstake for picking the minute that the first goal would be scored. 90 squares to select, 10 euros a pop. As all you budding mathematicians will have already calculated, that's a whopping 900 euros, of which we agreed 50% would go to the Bush Hospital Foundation, and 50% to the winner.
All 90 squares were sold, and adding to Jennifer Bridge and Anne Forbes successful day where they scored 100% on the clues for the first time this trip, Jennifer picked the 4th minute!
Very generously, Jennifer donated her share of the winnings back to the BHF, so a very handy 900 euros was made for the charity by lots of drunk football fanatics. Well done all involved.
Do we know who has won yet? Do we care?! (Yes we do !!!! And it was a fantastic 1-0 to Liverpool..!!! See you all in Istanbul... Mike)
Well hopefully a few more hours sleep can be had tonight – its half eleven (which is about 3 hours early for us!!), and all that's left to do is give you the days Route, upload this update and hit the sack! Perhaps one quick beer first though….
Thanks for all the comments – they have been passed on to all concerned, although we only found one Ben on the tour, and he has no recollection of any of his staff ever doing any work!
Tune in tomorrow for the next Tour update and the final standings; until then, Bonne Nuit.
Garry and Mike.
