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Yeah we took the plane back to London, it's very close to the city center and you can get a bike cardboard box direct from the airport for the princely sum of €20 (but it's there and convenient).
Poor guys sitting next to us!
We had an outline of what we wanted to do each day and the area where we'd like to bivy. We did a mix of wild camping and proper camping and I had an hotel night in Briançon when I found myself stretched out at the front and with a developing cold. But it could have been adapted depending on how we were doing etc.
One week was a good duration for us. We took the short version for the last day but apart from that more or less stuck to the route.