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.