There are rain clouds in the sky and it rains until three o’clock. We are slightly ahead of our schedule and decide not to start cycling until after three. We now have extra time in the morning to answer emails and prepare for the last weeks of our Tour. Cycling along, programs at the sites, press contacts and so on. It is indeed dry when we arrive at the tree bike in Lesboeufs just after three. Someone is just walking out of the Mairie whom we speak to. A little later, we take a picture with the first assistant, Christian Pruvost, of Mayor Etienne Dubruque. We hand over a little tree, leaflets and a forest book. That’s how it is here, casual and natural. With Sanne, I bike toward Biache-Saint-Vaast, alternating between small villages and farmland, just like the last few days up and down hills. Richard follows with the car. The roads meander across the fields, sometimes sunken with groups of trees here and there. Many windmills in this area. The villages are a nice mix of quirky and classically traditional building styles. Quite pleasant that not raked. I also like the mix of houses, farms and small businesses. In the village of Bancourt, in the Mairie, we spoke to the secretary of Mayor Bernard Rousert, Murielle Estienne. She is super enthusiastic and calls the mayor who is busy with his potato harvest but does come walking in a little later. The village turns out to have less than a hundred inhabitants. And the mayor is a farmer and an enthusiastic cyclist. What a nice contact. Again, a little tree, leaflets and a forest book for inspiration. The first hour of cycling is sunny but soon the clouds increase and a rainbow suggests that it might rain. And yes, the rainbow is right, it is going to rain. In our rain suits we cycle from village to village as if nothing is wrong. It clears up, as predicted, and the sun returns. And so, after passing about ten small villages today, we enter Biache-Saint-Vaast. We also gave away about twenty small trees along the way, including to twins who turned ten today. Super happy they are with the two little trees. When we park the tree bike at the rather enormous city hall, two ladies come walking out. One of the women turned out to be Mayor Herve Naglik’s daughter, what a coincidence? She receives a small tree and leaflets. We did some more shopping at the supermarket and, for a change, had some French fries at a real French fry shop nearby. Then we drive back to our accommodation in Mont-Saint-Eloi. Tomorrow is Saturday and we will arrive in Lille. In a month we have cycled almost all of France from the Italian to the Belgian border, about a thousand kilometers. I don’t think the number of altimeters are recorded. But there have been a lot of them that is for sure, with the “Col de la Madelaine” of two thousand meters surely the highlight.