Day 1. St Pancras to Le Plessis-Robinson.

So, I am under way. I find myself in the Grand Hotel in Le Plessis-Robinson, a place that I know will be well known to all my readers.

But in case they are a less cosmopolitan bunch than I imagine, Le Plessis-Robinson is a small suburb to the south-west of Paris, more or less due south of Boulogne-Billancourt. Not quite as far out of the city as I was planning, but navigating my way out of town proved a little more challenging than I had anticipated so I was running a little late, and decided to stop at the first appealing hotel that presented itself. Very appealing it is, too, quite possibly as posh a place as I will inhabit on the whole trip.

Travelling across on Eurostar definitely a good idea. Drop off the bike at Eurodespatch behind the station, check in, arrive early at the Gare du Nord and wait fifteen minutes for the bike to be unloaded. Very civilised experience. Emerge into a beautiful spring afternoon - April in Paris - and negotiate the one-way system, cross the river at Concord and away we go. Didn't record today's ride on the grounds of its insignificance, but future days will be mapped and I'll link to them. In the meantime, here's a picture just to prove I've arrived.

Definitely feel a bit of joie de vivre coming on...