Notre Tour de France #29 (S: 64 mi / J: ? mi)

Sleep didn't come easy last night. A blanket of cloud had manifested itself in what has been a crystal clear sky for the past few nights, and as a consequence the temperature didnt drop off as it has been doing. After a restless night of tossing and turning in the uncomfortably stuffy tent, I awoke at 05:00 and that was that. There was not a chance of going back to sleep; my body (or my mind) wouldn't allow it. I'm now on to reading Christine by Stephen King, and I read this by the light of my phone's display until it was a reasonable time to eat breakfast. Following this at around 07:00, it appeared I had no problems going back to sleep.

The day started (again) at 09:00. This is our last full day before we'll be getting picked up tomorrow evening. To save ourselves from packing up and relocating to somewhere closer to Saintes, we're just going to stay here for another night. It's only about 15 miles to our final destination anyway.

As our last full day in France and with one more place I wanted to see, I made my way west to Rochefort to see the transborder bridge. I was about halfway there, 15 miles in, when my legs told me to just collapse into the rut at the side of the road and let them recuperate. Perhaps it wasn't such a good idea to cycle another fairly long distance so soon, but I wanted to see the bridge.

The journey both there and back was pretty in eventful, though the bridge itself was something different to marvel at. It is still functioning as a tourist attraction, with a suspended platform moving between both sides of the river, but of course it's not free so I simply cycled along the vehicular bridge just a few hundred metres along the river.

Back at the campsite my stomach was insisting it would digest itself if I didn't give it some food pronto. I already know this but haven't quite learnt the lesson - don't go shopping on an empty stomach. I won't divulge what I bought, but I'm fairly confident in saying today's ride won't have covered the mountain of food I ate for dinner. I'm such a glutton when I want to be…

The evening - our last evening before we embark on the laborious journey home, was spent in town at a bar named Pink Hell, offering free Wifi and good music. That's good enough for us.