Notre Tour de France #12 (S:50mi / J:6 mi)

Yesterday evening we were presented with a clear blue sky, tarnished not with a single cloud. It must have stayed this way overnight as we both awoke a little chilly and had to snuggle down into the warmth of our sleeping bags. This morning we rolled back down into the centre of Luçon for about 08:30. There was a mist hanging about and were perhaps just a little early as places were preparing to open. A coffee later, we were exploring the streets of the town centre. I also noticed, by accident, Luçon was the starting point of the Tour de France in 1993, commemorated by a sign sat in the town centre.

Jwan purchased himself a rather dashing flat cap, and he did so at just the right time as well. A 30% off sale started today at the shop where he made his purchase. Before long the aforementioned mist burnt off to leave us with a crisp, blue sky. It looks like our solar charger will completely recharge its battery pack today.

We found a pretty garden hidden away in Luçon, with water features, a lake, lots of flowers and hedges trimmed into the shapes of animals and people. Certainly something we wouldn't have found it we were on the bikes.

There's nothing else worthy of note for the morning, unless I mention the two albino German shepherds (according to Jwan) that walked past with their owner, at which point Jwan says "Look at their testicles", to which I replied "No thanks, mate".

Upon returning to the campsite from town, we went our separate ways. Jwan spent the afternoon sunbathing and socialising with some of the campsite residents, where I again took to the bike. I headed south-west to a place that will again ring a bell with some of the readers of this blog: L'Aiguillon-sur-Mer. I had a nosey at the beach before making my way north-west along the coast to La Tranche-sur-Mer. As I was passing through this place, a weird thing happened. The road curved round to the right, with a junction for a minor road straight ahead, next to a corner shop. All of a sudden recognition of this particular junction slapped me in the face. Perhaps 8 years ago I stayed at a campsite in this area with my family and I remember cycling this particular stretch of road all those years ago. The minor road to the side of the corner shop, I could remember, took one to the beach.

I stopped my bike, turned around, and navigated myself towards this old campsite without thinking too much about it. 15 minutes later, I had found it! Camping Le Clos Cottet. It looked very busy indeed and I recognised parts of it such as the swimming pool and barbecue area. I stopped off at the toilet block to refill my water bottles, but for some reason I was attracting some strange looks from the residents and a cleaner. Perhaps it was the sweat dripping off my face? Either way, I made myself a hasty retreat and headed back towards our campsite in Luçon.

One thing I did want to mention in this blog concerns our senses. When we think about going on holiday, we can imagine the scenery and the climate, but what you don't, or what I don't think about are the sounds and smells of going on holiday. For sounds, there are the insects chirping in the grass. There are the songs of birds that aren't resident back at home and, as Jwan mentioned, being surrounded by a foreign tongue. Being a non-French speaking Englishman can feel a little alien sometimes.

For the smells, there is the smell of crops and fruit growing in passing fields. I cycled through a village earlier and the smell of peaches was that strong, I could taste it in my mouth. There are the smells of forests, flowers in the gardens, cheese in the markets and criossants baking in the boulangerie in the mornings. I love it.

Notre Tour de France #11 (68 mi)

We're getting more efficient at this packing up business. At the beginning of the trip we were looking at perhaps 2 hours 45 minutes from waking up to setting off on the bikes. This morning I think that duration was closer to 1 hour 30 minutes. Will we be able to do it in an hour by the end of the trip? Who knows.

We headed almost directly south to a bike shop in the middle of nowhere which is listed as an official SRAM distributor (the manufacturer of my broken gear shifter). There is nothing particularly exciting to report about the journey there, but when we arrived they of course didn't have the part in stock and it would take around two weeks to order it in. Another plan required methinks.

From here we headed west towards the coast, aiming for a campsite we'd selected on the iPad. Well, were we in for a surprise when we got there. The reception was closed and a sign advised us to speak to the staff at the bar, which is exactly what we did. But as we entered the building, we were greeted by a gentleman wearing nothing but his sandals. Oh yes. We'd managed to choose a naturist site. His meat and two veg were blowin' in the wind and more than willing to give us a little wave. The woman at the bar (clothed, as she was working) advised us that wapping our wangs out was mandatory. Now don't get me wrong, Jwan and I are more than willing to comply with this "hangin' free" rule, but what we didn't agree with was the price. We've been paying between around €8 and €14 a night. This site would have cost in excess of €23, so we left in search of somewhere a little cheaper.

One of the neighbouring villages had a small campsite, but it was literally a field with a toilet and sink, so obviously no wifi - something I needed to order a replacement bike part from England to have it shipped over here. Onwards and upwards. We made our way to Luçon to the next nearest place boasting wifi. It was a tough 15 miles, battling a strong headwind all the way here. The site seems reasonable, was considerably cheaper and is close to Luçon, which we'll go back to tomorrow to explore in more detail. For my family reading this - do any of you recognise the place names on the attached photo? Jealous? :)

Notre Tour de France #10 (13 mi)

The internet access here on the campsite is rubbish. Yesterday it was completely broken and today it's going that slow that pretty much nothing is working. Jwan bought a day of data from his phone service provider, and we've been using this to get by. SRAM, the manufacturer of my gear shifters, offer a two year warranty on parts, and since my bike is 13 months sold, it should be covered. I spent some time this morning talking to Halfords where I bought my bike, and they're advising me to buy a replacement over here and they can reimburse the cost when I get home. And costly it really is... £118 for just a single gear shifter.

As we walked around Cholet, it was very quiet. We found a boulangerie to grab some breakfast, but struggled to find an open (and not stupidly expensive) café to grab some coffee. The local bike shops, and in fact pretty much all shops, were closed for the day. We managed to get to a couple of big sports retailers, but they don't stock the part I'm after. The internet tells me there's an official SRAM dealer near La Roche sur Yon, so it looks like I'll be cycling there tomorrow with just two gears.

I didn't manage my 100 lengths in the pool today, though I did get 50 done. I've said it before and I'll say it again - it's a hard life! ;-)

Notre Tour de France #9 (47 mi)

I guess you could say that I'm more than a little annoyed. The blog post for yesterday was completely written (and the longest yet). It had been checked over and all I needed to do was get some internet access to publish it. Well, the blog post has completely disappeared without a trace, so I guess I'll have to rewrite it all now. Stuart grumpy.

So yesterday morning we left our campsite in good time and made our way west, again along the Loire. A couple of villages down had what we were looking for; a boulangerie and a café next to one another. I won't tell you what came next, but it was delicious.

Once we returned to the bikes, we branched off from the river and started heading away from it. The Loire has been our companion since we started this trip, and has never really been more than a stone's throw away. The countryside has become more noticeably undulating which is emphasised with lugging a heavy trailer behind you. There are lots of fields of crops here - hundreds and hundreds, and most of it is corn, wheat, sunflowers or grapes. Yum yum.

As we arrived in Cholet, it was extremely quiet. It had slipped our minds that it was already Sunday again, and most shops tend to close early. Jwan found us a nice campsite next to a lake. It is rated as 4*, and the only difference I can see between this and a 2* is the inclusion of toilet paper in the bloc sanitaire. Oh, and there's a swimming pool. I got my money's worth and swam 100 lengths (2000m).

We've managed to get a few chores done, including doing our laundry. As it's both hot and windy here, we've made a make-shift washing line using bungee cords. One can never have enough bungee cords!

On the evening we had a nosey at karaoke night. This is something I'd never ever think of doing... I have a terrible singing voice and I'm well aware of it. We watched some of the other site residents have a go, though. Some were good and some bad, but we both now have a French song called "Je suis malade" stuck in our heads.

Today I had a bit of an incident with my bike. First of all my chain decided to wrap around itself, bending my front derailleur out of shape and also distorting my rear derailleur! When we arrived at the campsite I pretty much got these problems fixed, but then a new one decided to surface. My gear shifter started making horrible snapping noises when trying to shift to an easier gear. The problem became clear when the gear shifter itself fell off. Yes, you read that right - my gear shifter fell off! Not good, especially as I know a set of shifters costs in excess of £200. As tomorrow is a rest day, we can try look for somewhere in Cholet to get a replacement, though Mondays are also a strange day when many shops just don't open at all. It might be that I have to cycle to our next destination, La Roche sur Yon, using just two gears by shifting between my smaller and larger chain rings. I am not a happy bunny.

Notre Tour de France #8 (S:41 mi / J:19 mi)

So Jwan and I had a little talk last night about what we each want out of this trip. Where I enjoy covering large distances on the bike and admiring the country as it goes whizzing by, Jwan would rather absorb the French culture on a more relaxed level. It's a difficult situation in that Jwan wouldn't be comfortable continuing the trip as it had been going, and I wouldn't want to change the trip from the cycling expedition it was originally intended to be.

But fear not! We have proposed a possible solution which we will try out over the next few days. Rather than moving to a new campsite each day, we can try staying at each for a couple of nights. This will allow me to explore a larger surrounding area on bike, where Jwan can investigate the local vicinity in more detail and on foot. At the end of the day we can move on a little further together, and repeat.

We endured another thunderstorm last night. The ferocity of them is more than a little unnerving when you're living in a tent. The flickers of lightening were that frequent, it was just like a flourescent tube in your kitchen that needs replacing. You're also lured into a false sense of security. Just as the rain starts to ease off and the delay between the lightening and thunder increases (5 seconds to a mile, if I remember correctly), KABLAM! There is a huge flash lighting the tent up like daylight, accompanied with an immediate, ear-splitting bang. Thankfully there are no more storms forecast for the next few days.

Today we had another leisurely start, not getting up until 08:00 when the rain finally stopped. After a few chores we ventured back in to Saumur, leaving the tent pitched and the trailer behind. We enjoyed our morning coffee at a café in the centre-ville (with Wifi of course). From here we had a nosey at the market and, well, just pottered around for most of the day. All in all it's been very enjoyable. We returned from Saumur and sat down outside our tent to cook some grub for dinner. Following this, I thought I'd unwind by... Going for a bike ride! So I went out for an hour while Jwan caught a shower and spent some intimate time with the Wifi ;-)

Tomorrow will be an early start again and we'll move over towards Cholet, unless we conjure up some different plans tomorrow morning.

Salut!

Notre Tour de France #7 (67 mi)

Flash! Crash! The storm began at 03:00 and seemed loud enough to make my teeth chatter. It went on for a good portion of the early morning with a flash of lightening every 5 seconds or so. As of 07:00 (the alarm was set wrong; we should have been up at 06:00) the rain is still coming down. Call us wimps, but we're going to hang tight and see if it eases off in the next couple of hours. We see no point in making the day miserable if we can help it. So for now I'm going back to sleep!

That's better. We awoke at 08:00 just as the rain ceased to fall. Have I ranted about French coffee yet? My grandad mentioned that they don't really have an equivalent to our Americano. However, I did see a "grande café" on the menu and thought this would be exactly what I was looking for. I'm not sure if my understanding of the word "grand" is off, but it seems to mean bloody small (see the picture below)!

We also seem to be eating through the cash we brought out with us and so we've set ourselves a daily budget of around €25. This is the first day aiming for this amount and we've already exceeded it. Camping so far has cost around €8 - €14 per night. Once meals have been added to this and a few cold drinks along the way we're already over budget. A bit of a rethink is required methinks.

Places that we visited today that are worthy of note are Montsoreau and Saumur, though we didn't see too much of the latter as we passed straight through. I think it's about time to say how much of a trooper Jwan has been so far on this trip. I've been doing nothing but cycle since I bought my bike last year, and particular in the last few months since the end of the academic year I have been sleeping, eating and cycling. As a result I'd say I've acclimatised well to this trip and the distances we're covering. For Jwan this trip, I'd say, is like jumping in at the deep end. It'd be unfair to expect from Jwan what I expect of myself. At the end of the day it is a holiday for us both to enjoy, and to do this we need to strike a good balance between cycling and sight-seeing / time off the bikes.

Anyway, this evening we've pitched on a campsite just a few miles outside of Saumur, and we did so in record time. As I sit here at a table outside, the Loire next to the campsite and the sun slowly dissolving away, Jwan is sitting beside me putting together an itinerary for tomorrow. That's it for today :-) Over and out.

Notre Tour de France #6 (60 mi)

We learnt at the restaurant yesterday (through leaflets, not conversation!) of a château in Chambord that was meant to be worth a visit, so this morning we set off in that direction as it was only 10 kilometers away. Worth a visit it was, though we didnt pay to look around the inside. The outside of the castle and its grounds were spectacular enough.

From here we dropped down to the next village and grabbed breakfast from the Boulangerie. I can confirm without hesitation that the stereotype of the French and their bagguetes is completely true. As we sat outside eating our criossants, a steady stream of locals went into the shop and each came out a minute later with a baguette in one hand. It is a life that I have to say looks pretty appealing. Perhaps i should start looking for software houses in France so I can move over here when I finish at university. And cyclists seems to be pretty well catered for in terms of facilities such as dedicated cycle paths.

On one such path we had a memorable moment that put a big grin on my face which stayed there for a long time after. As we were cycling along the Loire, a group of school children were cycling in the opposite direction. As we passed, almost each and every child gave us a big wave and said "Bonjour, bonjour"! Very cute :)

As we approached 40 miles today we said we'd pull to the side to have a rest. As luck would have it, this just happened to be where a roadside café was situated. It wasn't so lucky when we ordered two glasses of coke, though. It was poured from a standard two litre bottle and we were charged €4.80! Scandalous. From now on we shall be asking the price before ordering.

The cycling has been a little monotonous today, though because it has been flat we have made good time and arrived at our campsite earlier than usual. There is a swimming pool around the corner and we thought we'd give it a go before it closed. Imagine our disappointment when we were told we were not allowed to wear swimming trunks, and that budgie smugglers were mandatory! I was very tempted indeed to go fetch my flourescent green mankini (and I do have it with me!), but I think there's a time and a place for that beast.

An earlier visit to Lidl means we have some provisions for dinner tonight, so we'll be cooking food on the stove for a change. Tomorrow we'll be making our way towards Samur. This is where my grandad cycled when he came to France in the 90's on tour for a week and he portrayed it as being very beautiful indeed. Okay, essay written. Time to go relax for a bit. À bientôt

Notre Tour de France #5 (58 mi)

Put simply, we have too much stuff. Consequently we've sorted through our belongings and put aside everything we can do without. On our way in to Orléans we stopped at la Poste and shipped 5kg of rubbish back home and things fit in the trailer and panniers a lot better.

Progress has been slow as we struggled to pick up the cycle path along the Loire from the site we stayed at last night. We also need to ensure we arrive at the next one today with enough time to do some washing... Things are getting a bit desperate!

Orléans is another beautiful place and we have some cracking photos, especially of the cathedral, though it's eerily quiet - almost like a ghost town.

We set our sights on a campsite around 40 miles away and aimed to get there in good time to get some washing done. It turns out that was a little over ambitious and we ended up staying closer to a village called Mer. It is quiet here, cheap and in a nice location next to the river.

We cycled 5km or so from here to the next town to find some food. Our experience at the restaurant was rather interesting to say the least. None of the staff could speak English and as I've said before, our French isn't anything to write home about. With the internet as my witness, I aim to speak French fluently before I die!

Before the sun set I set about maintaining the bikes ready for some more miles tomorrow. As sod's law goes, I managed to snap a bolt on a part used to hitch the trailer to the bike, thus rendering it useless. Not only this, but the part jammed in place and I didn't have the necessary tools to free it up.

Cue the Dutch man who saunters over from the neighbouring pitch to ask if we need a hand. Turns out he used to be a serious cyclist who used to compete against big names such as Mark Cavendish. Interesting guy, and even better he had a bag of tools containing what we needed to fix the bike.

For now, it's getting late and I've rambled on far too much. Until tomorrow!

:-)

Notre Tour de France #4 (75 mi)

During the night at around 02:30, there was an almighty bang that had us both bolt wide awake. My immediate thought was that one of the bike's inner tubes had exploded, where Jwan speculated it might be a tent pole that had snapped. Jwan was right; we now have two broken tent poles.

We awoke earlier this morning at around 07:00 and had things rolling pretty swiftly. Our pitch on the campsite was swarming with mosquitoes. I've lost count of the number of bites I've suffered.

A short cycle to a neighbouring village, Aubigny-sur-Nère, proved to be a good choice. We had a delicious breakfast from the local boulangerie and coffee from a café, where we found out that take-out coffee is a foreign concept to the French. The village / town itself is beautiful. It's so clean and tidy and the buildings look amazing. My grandparents gave me a map which they themselves have used to travel France. This place has been circled on the map and I can see why. I think we should decide our future destinations by looking for other circled locations. :-)

After yet more cycling we arrived at Briare and found the elusive aquaduct - "Pont du canal", where we took a fair few photos. After a few minutes the wind started stirring and a few grumbles of thunder could be heard in the distance. By the time we left, the storm was overhead, though the rain only lasted a few minutes before easing off to leave a pleasant afternoon.

Most of the cycling has been along the river Loire, and since passing through Briare we are now following it back out towards the coast. Jwan is just in Super U buying some provisions for dîner tonight and we should be staying in a campsite in a place called Sandillon, just outside of Orleans. Tomorrow we go to... je ne sais pas... We'll look at the map tonight and make a decision on where exactly to go. Im also hoping in future blog posts to include more pictures! A thousand words and all of that.

For now, a bientôt!

Notre Tour de France #3 (67 mi)

After a much needed night's sleep, I awoke to find myself inside an oven. It was about 08:00 and the sun had just begun to tickle the tent. We shall learn from this mistake by pitching in the shade and by setting the alarm for well before this time in future.

Breakfast consisted of a quick croissant from the local boulangerie on the way out Montrichard. We may have had a close call on the way to Contres. As we approached a T junction, Jwan took a left turn but temporarily forgot to stay on the right hand side of the road and consequently headed straight towards an oncoming car. After a brief squeal of tyres, and a close collision between the car and the one behind it, we continued unscathed. Oops.

The weather is ridiculous. I can see one cloud on the distant horizon and the temperature is in the mid 40s according to one of those signs outside a pharmacy. A few locals have speculated of heavy rain towards the end of this week but I'm not holding my breath... I'm already close to passing out!

Today we haven't seen a great deal. We set off late (around 11:00) and have been cycling for most of the day. We've just arrived at a municipal campsite where it has cost us €5.94 pour une nuit. Can't complain at that! Tomorrow we should come across the place Briare, where the world's longest aqueduct once lived, if my memory serves me correctly.

A demain!

Notre Tour de France #2 (47 mi)

We didn't plan our first day very well; the coach arrived at our drop off point, Tours, at just past two in the morning. We made no prior arrangements for accommodation, so it was always going to be interesting.

The GPS showed a municipal campsite around 3 miles away and we thought this would be our best bet. Wrong. After battling to this village in the early hours and in the dark, we find a sign at the location saying "Campsite ferme". As a last resort we found a remote spot in the village of La Membrolle-sur-Choisille between the church and a memorial. We threw down a tarp and slept out (or at least as close to sleeping as possible) in the open in the sleeping bags. At this exact moment there is a mosquito hovering above my face and a grasshopper about 2 inches away from my nose. All part of the fun.

Speaking of lack of planning, we've still to decide in which direction to head from Tours. Go inland and perhaps towards Paris, where we have a friend we'd like to see and who is willing to accommodate us in his back garden, or do we head out towards the coast along the Loire?

In the end we opted to head inland, aiming for what was once the longest aqueduct in the world (unless I've got my facts wrong). But today we didn't make the 80 miles we would have hoped to have done. We visited Amboise, a town that sits on an island in the middle of the river Loire. Here we tucked in to moules-frites which went down a treat.

We then sauntered to Montrichard in the searing heat. There's a little 'beach' on the bank of the river and we just had to put our trunks on and go for a swim. Unfortunately the bikes didn't appreciate the heat too much, and one of the inner tubes split at a seam and deflated. We have all the tools with us would need in such a situation, so we were back up and running in no time.

Now we're sat in a quiet campsite, in the "WiFi salon" getting our internet fix. Tomorrow we hope to make greater progress and of course see some beautiful places along the way. Over and out.

Notre Tour de France #1 (15 mi)

It's approximately 05:19 in the morning of our departure and I think I'm a little too tired to be excited. I'm in that phase where, having just woken up, things are a little out of focus and I can't think straight. I'm pretty sure Dire Straits is playing in the background and that WE LEAVE FOR FRANCE TODAY! I'm awake enough to know I'm excited. Now, where's the coffee?

As we departed the house and made our journey over to Wakefield to catch the coach, I wanted to say something profound to mark the beginning of our trip. As it turns out, I couldn't think of anything more than "have you remembered your phone?". Words of wisdom right there...

The coach journey itself was as nondescript as you might expect. Oceans of monotony outside, and plagues of severe bum ache inside. As for the ferry, the only excitement presented itself in the form of a lost debit card.  After purchasing and eating a meal on board (daylight robbery as I'm sure you already know), the trays were cleared away by a member of staff. Ten minutes later I realised my debit card was still sat on the tray, though just as I was preparing to ring the bank, the card was found after what I'm sure was a fair amount of ransacking of the bins.