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!
No comments:
Post a Comment