This is what we came for, sweeping bends, rolling hills, fields as far as the eye can see and sunshine, glorious sunshine. Today's ride from Lille was bliss. At the risk of sounding hideously romantic the birds were singing, you can smell the flowers and the continuous run of small French towns is overwhelming, sometimes they have as few as two or three houses. Blink and you will miss them. It's like a personal Tour de France. Legs 11 vs Wobbly Wheels. It was a manageable 90km or so, with a tailwind for the final 25km, to a town called Le Cateau-Cambresis. We had no idea what we were coming to, but it's where classic French painter and sculptor Matisse was born. There are also 40 different kinds of cheese made in the area. Cheese! We are in a cooky French hotel run by a crazy guy called Jean-Claude, with fabulous food and even better wine. Tomorrow will be more of the same as we go to Albert (pronounced with a silent t) in the Somme department, one of the biggest and bloodiest battle areas during the First World War.