# When is the best time of year to ride across France?



## Bigtallfatbloke (4 Dec 2007)

..Ok so I've already ruled out January, but having no experience of weather over there I wondered if there were generally good times/bad times etc?

I'm looking at 2-3 weeks ish and I would prefer it to me warm (not baking) and dry...Spring? Summer? 

Also whci way do the prevailing winds and hills etc tend to favour cyclists? Should I look to ride from Calais south or South to Calais?

Also what are the cool places to see en route? I know thats a toughy to answer but what places floated your boat?

I'm going to start getting my trip organized over the winter.

Ta.


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## Dayvo (4 Dec 2007)

July, when there's a lot of 'other' cyclists on the road! 

France is a BIG country, a lot bigger than most realise, and with plenty to see and places to visit.

Here are two books that should help you.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/France-Lonely-Planet-Cycling-Guides/dp/1864500360


http://www.amazon.co.uk/Long-Distance-Cyclists-Handbook/dp/0713668326/ref=pd_sim_b_title_5

Bon chance


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## rich p (4 Dec 2007)

May/June is good as the weather is usually pretty good and the French aren't on their hols so campsites and b&b's are easily available. The municipal campsites are generally superb if you're camping and cheap too. We paid between 4 and 10 euros per night for a 2 man tent. You can't really go wrong in France for countryside but 3 of my favourite areas are the Auvergne, the Vercors and the Cevennes.


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## Cathryn (4 Dec 2007)

France is basically amazing. I'd back May June or September - we had a long weekend this Sept and it was blissful.

Not sure of your route, but I'd recommend the following places:

* Normandy - Honfleur, Suisse Normande, Les Andelys
* The Charente valley - Cognac, Saintes, La Rochelle
* Dordogne
* Aix en Provence
* Loire Valley
* Champagne - esp Eperney
* Strasbourg and Alsace (route du vin)

I've not done the Alps yet but am planning the Vercors next year and that looks gorgeous. The Gordge du Verdon looks incredible as well and I'd also love to try Franche Comte and the Burgundy area.

You kind of can't go wrong.


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## John the Monkey (4 Dec 2007)

+1 for Normandy. We stayed in the Perche, which is lovely, and has some nice climbs  Lots of nice little towns to explore, and some larger ones if you get fed up of that. There's a few shots from my hols here. 

We stayed in the gite here but they have lots of camping available. Owners are English, and nice people - worth a stop anyway, but if you feel a bit homesick/fed up of struggling with the language, it might be a good stopover (they have mini golf too  )

I'd love to go on a proper cycling holiday there sometime, rather than sneaking off for an hour here and there


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## Ben (4 Dec 2007)

Though I would generally concur that French campsites are good one thing you might want to consider if you are camping is their seasonality. It is my experience that quite a few campsites, particularly the municipal ones, don't open till late June. Several times I've turned up in a town to find the campsite opens next weekend or even in one case - tomorrow(!) - so don't depend on them being open in May.


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## snorri (5 Dec 2007)

Bigtallfatbloke said:


> Should I look to ride from Calais south or South to Calais?
> Also what are the cool places to see en route? I know thats a toughy to answer but what places floated your boat?


When I tried it from north to south it was unbearably hot and boring. You really have to tell us what you find interesting, for myself I found very little of interest apart from the insight to our military past. Not a popular view on cycle forums, but you have to tell it as you find it.


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## Bigtallfatbloke (5 Dec 2007)

thanks...so if I were to aim for the last week in June and the first two weeks of July say? ish...


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## rich p (5 Dec 2007)

You should be there at the time of the tour ( first week anyway) if that's of any interest. I have never found France boring myself but maybe I'm easily pleased. It has everything from mountains to hills to vineyards to beaches etc. Rather like England it also has a myriad of small roads to choose from so you can plan a route avoiding main roads very easily through sleepy villages and quiet countryside. It's whetting my appetite just thinking about it!


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## xilios (5 Dec 2007)

I would recomend you cycle through the Massif Central. You can follow the rivers in and out. My wife and I cycled through it spring 2006 and it was fantastic you won't regret it.
cheers


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## Tim Bennet. (5 Dec 2007)

As people have said, before mid june and after mid September, you will find a good number of campsite closed. The ones that are open tend to be the more expensive 4* commercial ones, which I would normally avoid like the plague. Even worse is that the facilities (such as bar / disco / kids play area / swimming pool / tennis courts, etc) that differentiate them from the cheapest sites, are often closed. Although I can do without all these things, they still charge you the same full price to stay there. I could stay in the UK and go to a Foerstry Commision campsite if I wanted to be ripped off and charged over ten quid a night!

Although the weather is obviously generally better than in the UK, it can be pretty unsettled in May. This year was particularly bad - I still had a jacket on to ride along the sea front on the Cote d'Azur in May!


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## bof (5 Dec 2007)

The French flood on holiday the weekend closest to Bastille Day (July 14th), so to time your holiday to finish about then is a good idea. If you want to do the mountains bear in mind that the weather may be quite poor up high until June - I have had snow in the Pyrenees in early June. 

Also a lot of places in northern France more or less close up between Mid July and late August. I remember really struggling to find a reasonable restaurant
in Reims, which is a big place, once.

IMO most of France is worth a visit and my tip to avoid getting too fed up with the dull bits is to plan a route that more or less follows rivers/canals across those stretches. The only extensive bit of France IMO that is totally dull is the Landes - it is endless flat woodland and almost devoid of interesting towns and villages


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## Tynan (6 Dec 2007)

no expert but it can be really hot in summer, they like cyclists, and every single village will have at least one place doing a plat du jour every weekday between about 11 and 1ish, always different but three courses of good food, sometime with wine or cider, usually no more than 10e, hammer it is my advice


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## will (6 Dec 2007)

Like all things it depends where you are going.

If looking for the classic Alps climbs, remember they are often/usually closed until MID JUNE. 

On the other hand Provence can be a furnace (and full of tourists) in the summer - I avoid in July/August.


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## Ben (7 Dec 2007)

Tynan said:


> no expert but it can be really hot in summer, they like cyclists, and every single village will have at least one place doing a plat du jour every weekday between about 11 and 1ish, always different but three courses of good food, sometime with wine or cider, usually no more than 10e, hammer it is my advice



I would be careful recommending 'every single village' it can be quite difficult nowadays to find an open restaurant in small towns and villages. In the last ten years a huge number of small village restuarants have closed down , if you cycle into a village at 11.30am to find one open I'd choose to eat there and not expect there to be something in the next village or the one after that. But you are right that when found they are generally good and cheap.


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## vernon (10 Dec 2007)

Ben said:


> I would be careful recommending 'every single village' it can be quite difficult nowadays to find an open restaurant in small towns and villages. In the last ten years a huge number of small village restuarants have closed down , if you cycle into a village at 11.30am to find one open I'd choose to eat there and not expect there to be something in the next village or the one after that. But you are right that when found they are generally good and cheap.



I cycled from the Channel to the Med in August starting at Calais and finishing up at Monpellier.

The route was largely one from the CTC:

*CALAIS*
*Wissant*
*Marquise*
*Desyres*
*Beussent*
*Montreuil*
*Abbeville*
*Yzeux*
*Amiens*
*Roye*
*Noyon*
*Blerancourt*
*Soissons*
*Chateau-Thierry*

*Montmirail*
*Sezanne*
*Mesgrigny*
*Troyes*
*Verrieres*
*Ville Noyenne*
*Merry-s-Arce*
*Chatillon-s-Sa**ô**ne*
*Dijon*
*Beaune*
*Chaion-s-sa**ô**ne*
*Cuisery*
*Pont-de-Vaux*
*Pont-de-Veyle*
*Trevoux*
*Lyon*
*Pierre** Benite*
*Grigny*
*Givors*
*Vienne (West Bank)*
*Tournon*
*Valence*
*Le Teil*
*Viviers*
*Pierrelatte*
*Orange*

Then onto Avignon, Arles south to the med and turn right to ride through a chunk of the Carmargue.

The first bit of the ride was boring through a monocultural agriculturla lanscape with nothing to distract the rider from the emptiness of the lanscape. Rode along the Somme battle front and visited a few war cemetaries.

Campsites especially municipal camp sites were cheap and normally plentiful. I did a bit of stealth camping. Caped in vineyard. Smapled the grapes. 

Things pick up around Chateau Thierry as far as visual appea. There's plenty of patisseries to tempt you to spend more than intended. SUpermarkets have cheap table wine which is quaffable at €1.5 per litre fruit and veg much better quality and more flavoursome than here. Plenty of cheap restaurants/cafes. 

Riding through the Rhone Saonne gap toward Orange is very pleasant. Provence is very heady with the smells of resins and herbs when the sun is out. Orange, Avignon and Arles are very interesting places. The Roman amphitheatre at Orange is breathtaking. The pont at Avignon is a tad disappointing as a large bit of it is missing :-)

As for the weather - totally unpredictable. The week before my ride I was baking in Rhodes in 44C. There were severall nights in France including Provence where I had to wear a cap, cycle shirt and gloves to stay warm at night and the day temperature didn't exceed 32 C. Some of the locals were moaning about the rotten summer that they'd had. I found the weather perfect for cycling...

I used the Eauropean Bike Express to get to Calais and back from Montpellier. A painless solution to geting to the start and back from the finish.


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## vernon (10 Dec 2007)

will said:


> Like all things it depends where you are going.
> 
> If looking for the classic Alps climbs, remember they are often/usually closed until MID JUNE.
> 
> On the other hand Provence can be a furnace (and full of tourists) in the summer - I avoid in July/August.



I was lucky - Provence wasn't on form temperatures never got above low 30s. Didn't find the roads too busy though some of the honeypots were such as Orange, Avignon and Arles.

I had palnned on doing Ventoux until it hove into view as I approached Orange. Put it off for later when i'm considerably lighter....


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## gwhite (11 Dec 2007)

Bigtallfatbloke said:


> thanks...so if I were to aim for the last week in June and the first two weeks of July say? ish...




Good luck as that's what I did this year. Dressed in my summer Lycra I was met by torrential rain and sleet showers for the whole of the way from Belgium to the Ardeche.


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## vernon (11 Dec 2007)

gwhite said:


> Good luck as that's what I did this year. Dressed in my summer Lycra I was met by torrential rain and sleet showers for the whole of the way from Belgium to the Ardeche.



The hapless riders on this year's Paris-Brest-Paris ride in mid-August nearly drowned during their endeavours. 

When one picks a slot based on liklihoods of good weather one has to remember that weather can be unpredictable.

Last year during my JOGLE I found Somerset, Devon and Cornwall unseasonably cold mid-late August.

This year during the same time slot I would have drowned and the previous year going in the opposite direction I got a great tan...


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## gwhite (12 Dec 2007)

It didn't used to be like this. When I started touring in France thirty-five years ago the weather was pretty predictable and certainly south of the Loire, you could be confident of good weather.


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## Bigtallfatbloke (12 Dec 2007)

..well after my baptism of fire in East anglia this summer (and the miles of subsequent wet and windy weather) I have promised myself never to ride on a tour without taking full waterproof winter gear in my panniers, even if I never use it, I'll take it.


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## Henry Quick (15 Dec 2007)

Wow..what a question and almost impossible to answer..!! It has become a bit of a tradition with me to spend a week cycling across and around Normandy every September, usually with different mates, depending on who fancies it that year/ or who can get the time off work.( I am retired now,...YES!!!!)( Now know Normandy and the WW2 sites like the back of me 'and) The weather there can be as different as chalk and cheese( (or cheddar and camembert, if you prefer).I always go the 2nd week of the month...this year was fantastic..sun all the way..but last time the rain just pelted down. Also three of us drove down to Bordeaux in the middle of May 2007 to leave the car, due a 450 mile loop and end up back at the car ( south along the coast, east thru' Gascony, north and then west back to Bordeaux) I expected to melt...after all we were 1000 miles south of Stockport..but the weather was cold, gloomy and wet for the whole time except for two days..try doing the Channel to the Med..like I did in May 2006...you are bound to get SOME good days...!!! Henry Q


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## vernon (16 Dec 2007)

Henry Quick said:


> Wow..what a question and almost impossible to answer..!! It has become a bit of a tradition with me to spend a week cycling across and around Normandy every September, usually with different mates, depending on who fancies it that year/ or who can get the time off work.( I am retired now,...YES!!!!)( Now know Normandy and the WW2 sites like the back of me 'and) The weather there can be as different as chalk and cheese( (or cheddar and camembert, if you prefer).I always go the 2nd week of the month...this year was fantastic..sun all the way..but last time the rain just pelted down. Also three of us drove down to Bordeaux in the middle of May 2007 to leave the car, due a 450 mile loop and end up back at the car ( south along the coast, east thru' Gascony, north and then west back to Bordeaux) I expected to melt...after all we were 1000 miles south of Stockport..but the weather was cold, gloomy and wet for the whole time except for two days..try doing the Channel to the Med..like I did in May 2006...you are bound to get SOME good days...!!! Henry Q



Another indicator of the variability of French weather is the Le Mans 24hr motor cycle race weekend - usually around Easter. I've been to three events and have suffered from exposure, trench foot and sun burn though not all on the same weekend.

That reminds me, it's about time I paid another visit to Le Mans...


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## Bigtallfatbloke (4 Jan 2008)

...does anybody have a good source of French campsites and hostels contact details/maps etc?....also it's looking like I'll need to go in the last two weeks of July...after bastille day...is it really thatt crowded on the camp sites then??


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## domtyler (4 Jan 2008)

BTFB, if you want to take in a bit of the countryside around Limoges my parents own a small holiday property near here that you would be most welcome to stay in for a night or two (or three or four or etc....) FOC. The roads around there are magnificent, not a pothole in site and no other traffic apart from the odd pootling old Renault.

Also, I believe Asterix from off here has a place near there, so maybe you could hook up with him for dinner too?


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## Brock (4 Jan 2008)

Why don't you leave in April BTFB? We might cross paths then, we could cook each other our Trangia specialities and meander down together 
Do you have a route in mind?


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## Bigtallfatbloke (4 Jan 2008)

> BTFB, if you want to take in a bit of the countryside around Limoges my parents own a small holiday property near here that you would be most welcome to stay in for a night or two (or three or four or etc....) FOC. The roads around there are magnificent, not a pothole in site and no other traffic apart from the odd pootling old Renault.
> 
> Also, I believe Asterix from off here has a place near there, so maybe you could hook up with him for dinner too?



That is a very kind offer and i thank you very much. I dont know exactly where I'm going yet though. 




> Why don't you leave in April BTFB? We might cross paths then, we could cook each other our Trangia specialities and meander down together
> Do you have a route in mind?



.... restricted by Holiday dates to after july10th

..otherwise we could have ridden down together inApril!

When are you going? Which way?

..... still planning the route at the moment ...I want to cross France avoiding as many hills and towns as possible in two to three weeks. I had intended to follow the CTC route suggested earlier in this thread...but I can vary that .

I need to get down to some nitty gritty route planning soon though.

...what i need now is a GPS system to arrive free of charge in the post!


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## Brock (4 Jan 2008)

Bigtallfatbloke said:


> When are you going? Which way?



Looks like we'll probably leave mid April, no idea which way, but most likely Southish from Calais. 



Bigtallfatbloke said:


> ...what i need now is a GPS system to arrive free of charge in the post!



Yeah I'm certainly in the market for one of those now too 


The CTC route Vernon posted looks interesting, I'll feed that into autoroute later and see what it looks like.


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## vernon (4 Jan 2008)

Bigtallfatbloke said:


> ...does anybody have a good source of French campsites and hostels contact details/maps etc?....also it's looking like I'll need to go in the last two weeks of July...after bastille day...is it really thatt crowded on the camp sites then??



There's lots of campsites, Chanbre d'Hotes and Gites that you'll come across on your ride. I had no lists or guides but relied upon my recollection of just about every town having a municipal camp site or privately owned campsire nearby. I only had to resort to camping sauvage on two occasions and the two campsites that were full that I turned up at found a spot for me.


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## Bigtallfatbloke (5 Jan 2008)

...Thankyou. 

Has anybody ridden a route this way around?

 *Calais,normandy, bretagne, les landes, down to bordeaux going east from there, north of the pyrenees to montpelier/nice etc*

I'm thinking it may be a bit more scenic ...

...any good routes for these areas?


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## Abitrary (5 Jan 2008)

Bigtallfatbloke said:


> ...Thankyou.
> 
> Has anybody ridden a route this way around?
> 
> ...



There's a couple of months cycling there. Don't rule out trains though if you want a bit of variation though. 

If from somewhere in brittany you can get to Royan, just below la rochelle on the map, get the ferry across to soulac-sur-mer, then that's a great coastal ride down to Bordeaux. 

Once you're in bordeaux, it will open it up a bit


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## Bigtallfatbloke (5 Jan 2008)

here is an initial rough idea of a possible route...any good?


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## bonj2 (5 Jan 2008)

A really good tip for you BTFB:




























Zone Alarm's rubbish.


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## Abitrary (5 Jan 2008)

Don't listen BTFB, zone alarm's fine.

























I'd worry more about AVG free edition


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## Abitrary (5 Jan 2008)

Bigtallfatbloke said:


> here is an initial rough idea of a possible route...any good?



Anything with lot's of coast is good... makes it feel like more of a holiday.

Still looks like at least 6 weeks of cycling to me though. Remember, you don't have to do it in one linear journey. I'd be inclined to pick a couple of places that look good, and get the train if need be.

Just have your entry and exit points clearly set


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## Brock (5 Jan 2008)

I agree with bonj, zonealarm is pukeware. AVG is good though. Your route looks good, think I'll go the same way


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## Abitrary (5 Jan 2008)

Brock said:


> I agree with bonj, zonealarm is pukeware. AVG is good though. Your route looks good, think I'll go the same way



like, er, turn right and keep going?


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## Abitrary (5 Jan 2008)

Brock said:


> I agree with bonj, zonealarm is pukeware. AVG is good though. Your route looks good, think I'll go the same way



I can't see the map in detail BTFB? Is there not away of posting the original link?

-I think I can see St Malo, which is a must. Also Rennes if you're down there is nice
-Brest I guess must be done so you can say you've done it.
-It looks like you're going from nantes to bordeaux, that looks boring. I'd go to La Rochelle, and straight down the coast where possible


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## bonj2 (6 Jan 2008)

just take a compass and if in doubt, head south.


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## mcd (6 Jan 2008)

Abitrary said:


> -I think I can see St Malo, which is a must. Also Rennes if you're down there is nice



Yes, the old part of St Malo is good (even though it isn't old - re-built after being flattened by, err, us during WW2). Mont Saint Michel is near by, as is Dinan - both a must if you are in the area. Jersey is an hour away from St Malo by ferry - let me know if you want someone to show you around.


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## xilios (6 Jan 2008)

Bigtallfatbloke said:


> here is an initial rough idea of a possible route...any good?



While doing some research on routes for our upcoming tour to Santiago de Compostela I came across this site that you might be interested in.
http://www.francebalade.com/chatdlen.htm
Riding along the coast would be nice for a while but it could get boring. This section of the Loire has some of the best castles in France. And naturaly there are campings all over the place. We plan on finding a campground somewhere in the middle of all those castles and take a couple days to check out the area.
cheers


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## vernon (6 Jan 2008)

Bigtallfatbloke said:


> ...Thankyou.
> 
> Has anybody ridden a route this way around?
> 
> ...



Scenic can ba a euphamism for hilly....

Brittany isn't particularly flat.

You might want to play around with one of the googlemaps mash ups to get a feel for the lie of the land.

www.mapmyride.com does a decent job at profiling a route.


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## Brock (6 Jan 2008)

Bigtallfatbloke said:


> ...does anybody have a good source of French campsites and hostels contact details/maps etc?



This site lists well over 2000 camp sites in France and has a nice clicky map thing 

http://www.eurocampings.co.uk/en/europe/


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## rich p (6 Jan 2008)

Brock said:


> This site lists well over 2000 camp sites in France and has a nice clicky map thing
> 
> http://www.eurocampings.co.uk/en/europe/




That's a good site, Brock, cheers. I can confirm that it has a very nice clicky map thing!!

All the best for your trip too - what a great experience. My longest is 5 weeks which wasn't long enough.


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## Brock (6 Jan 2008)

rich p said:


> All the best for your trip too - what a great experience. My longest is 5 weeks which wasn't long enough.



Cheers!


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## Bigtallfatbloke (7 Jan 2008)

Thanks for all the comments so far chaps...very helpful indeed.

I've been playing around on map my ride...it seems to have all I need except it is so dam slow to use...the page loads often get locked up...oh well...maybe the site is just choc a bloc


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