By the end of Thursday we were in a much better space. Liz and Pete were both back on board and the boat was going well. Over the course of the day we clawed back our deficit on Marne-Joinville and weren’t too far behind the Parisian US Metro crew. All was set for a grandstand finish on Friday.
Giving a lift on Thursday afternoon to the other single sculler Fred from the Seine et Oise club. Usually Fred and his wife ran between locks carrying the scull (and wheeling a bike) so they appreciated the lift.
Apart from Carcassonne, the mayors of each stage finish hosted us for aperitifs once the final crew had arrived. This was a delightful tradition which saw Andre in his element. Naturally, we seized the chance to help build Franco-New Zealand relations….beginning with the delightful mayor of Bram whose ironic t-shirt supplies the title to this post 
La Redorte (it was the 29th time in the 31 year history of the Rallye that she had met the crews)
Ventenac who laid on a delicious spread in a lovely setting 
The Mayor of Trèbes with Andre, one suspects they go back a long way
Breisacher, the third German team, an all male veteran crew travelling with their own support van which usefully ensured cold beers were available at the end of each stage (when one of the girls from Stuttgart bemoaned to me the price of beer in France, I could only agree with her after an expensive Saturday night in Toulouse).
Through Tina’s marvellously efficient networking service, we’d got to know the charming Manu (behind stroke in the photo), a young osteopath from Lyons, whose services were much sought after at the end of each day
Jose from Nice was incredible to watch, he never seemed to lose his ryhthm and kept sculling away finishing in just over 15 1/2 hours, over an hour ahead of the first quad.
Stuttgart Green, looking very tidy, although Nils behind stroke, was suffering from stomach cramps at this stage.
Stuttgart Blue, the tallest team in the Rallaye, as far as we could tell only one of the six person crew, a girl, was under six foot (182 cm)
The Marne-Joinville crew from near Paris were now our closest rivals, starting the stage just four minutes ahead of us. The Rallaye is a bit of a homecoming for Pascal (behind stroke in the photo) whose family comes from the region.
blackstrokesrowingadventure 