Not a great start to the day. Yesterday we arrived at camp cold and wet and didn’t venture into the town, so we decided to go this morning. It was only 2 kms but it happened to be up a frikking steep hill.

Anyway, the town was quirky and quaint with some neat old chocolate ripple buildings. After snapping a few photos we headed up to the church and I caught my shin on my pedal causing a couple of painful puncture marks.

I’m it gonna lie but it hurt like mother crockery! I swore like mad and stopped while Mike continued on, completely ignoring me.

Anyway it was a good 10 minutes until the pain subsided enough to walk over to a chair so Mike could put a couple of plasters on it. Stupidly we didn’t bring any iodine, so hope it will be ok. It ached like crazy for a couple of hours, then came right. I reckon a big bruise will come from it.

Then we got lost coming out of town, and we have no idea of how. We followed the well marked sign in the direction we were headed, Then somehow we were on a main road. A bit of mucking around with Google, the Garmin, and our paper maps we finally figured it out.

We got back onto the canal paths today but for some reason everything hurt. My bum, knee, neck and now my shin! Apart from my knee We’d been relatively pain free for this trip. I’m blaming the hilly day yesterday.

The highlight of the day was seeing an Otter. Mike spotted him and we stood and watched as he ate weed and swam around, oblivious to his admirers. He looked like a wet puppy dog, oh so cute!

Then he started swimming closer to us when he looked up, saw us watching and ducked under the water, gone. The other highlight was finding and Aldi store near our camping where we could finally stock up on supplies.

The camping is nice. We have a shelter to cook under and also he has set up solar power to charge our phones. Awesome!

Today we hit 1009 kms for the trip so far so we celebrated by having an ice cream.

Last evening was perfect camping right beside the river soaking up the last of the sun before it disappeared in a haze of orange, not to be seen again for a few days.

We crawled into our little tent around 10.30pm and awoke to rain and cold this morning. I rugged up in my full wet weather gear before heading out for the day.

The rain had actually stopped long enough for us to pack up a dry tent and started again as we left camp. Quite considerate of it I thought.

Even though it was a gloomy day, it was still great cycling. We followed a canal for a while then headed inland and cycled through farms and up and down rolling hills.

There was a time we could see the rain coming straight at us, so we cycled like mad to keep ahead of it. It was nice having a tail wind for a change and we put our heads down and went for it, not stopping for a break until we hit the 30 km mark.

We stopped and ate our pain aux raisins (yes I know, I’m giving them up tomorrow) and the frikken rain caught us. The rest of the afternoon we cycled in the wet, but we kept moving so didn’t feel too cold.

Some cows were standing up while it was actually raining so I’ve learned not to trust white cows for my weather forecast.

After 40 kms we missed a turning ( the sign was missing) and ended up pushing our bikes up a long steep hill to a main road with massive trucks on it. We checked our map and had to backtrack to the turning, but at least it was downhill.

We dripped into camp and opted for a mobile home to dry our stuff out. We’re glad we did as it’s been raining all afternoon. The skies are supposed to clear tomorrow.

What a wonderful day it was today.

We woke up in Nevers after a great nights sleep. We’d put our tent tarp over the tent and we’re glad we had as it was covered in dew this morning.

There were two lots of German cyclists near us who are bike packing. That’s where you pack super light and rather than panniers they have their bits strapped onto the frame. Means they are better equipped to go off-road. But still, they had their tent and cooking gear but barely any luggage. I had serious light-packing envy if that’s even a thing.

We were the last to leave camp as per usual but it was only to be a short day so why rush. Camping grounds are becoming less frequent and we had the option on riding 36 kms or 74.

It was amazing cycling alongside the canals all day. We stopped a number of times to watch the canal boats travel through the locks. The lock keeper would run out unlock the lock by winding a thing to equalise the water. Then the suspense of watching a large boat fit through with only mms on each side to spare. I made sure to film it to add to his pressure.

The other funny thing that happened today was watching a swan attack a boat. It had its wings raised in attack mode and was actually attacking a canal boat as it travelled down the canal. I got a video of it so you’ll have to wait for that episode.

We arrived at the first campsite at 2.30pm and it was so beautiful we decided to stop. We are camping right beside the River watching rowers row up and down.

We’ve put a big load of washing on. They have super fancy machines here where you pay with Google pay, and it even adds detergent for you! Only 3.50 for the experience. Most machines cos 4.00

For dinner we had a ready made salad from lidl. Saves on cooking and washing up.

We cycled 56 kms today and hardly noticed it. The weather is sunny and warm again and I’ve been wearing my knee brace which helps a lot.

A quiet day alongside canals and the Loire river. We got a little lost in a town called Marseilles and ended up on a grass track next to the canal. We soon found the right path again though.

We had to detour off the route to go to Decathlon as my front tyre was perishing. Turned out 3 of our tyres had perished and were in a bad way. So now I have two new tyres and Mike has a new front one. I’m feeling better about that as it’s been worrying me for days.

So after our visit to decathlon we navigated to the town of Nevers and we’re currently camping down by the river with a wonderful view of the town.

We did a quick photo snap tour of the town then found a supermarket for supplies. We decided on a ready made salad from the supermarket as it seemed easier and probably healthier than cooking.

Now just watching the sun set.

We woke up this morning nice and cosy is our little chalet. It was cold and pissing down with rain, so we decided to stay another night.

The weather cleared in the afternoon so we got some supplies from the supermarket. It still amazes me how France has not moved forward with their hygiene standards after COVID.

When we first cycle toured around France 10 years ago, I remember cringing at how they handled bread with their hands after touching money. Yet they are still doing exactly that. Even pastries and cakes, they handle your money, then pick them up with their hands whereas in Nz they would at least use tongs.

But, guess we just need to turn a blind eye, or not eat pastries and baguettes.

It was nice to have a quiet day. It’s a scenic little town right in the banks of the Loire, with some little canals and canal boats off to the side.

Our chalet is nice and I’ve managed to get some videos edited. Now just need some wifi to upload them.

Back on the road tomorrow. We need to get to Decathlon as my bike needs a new front tyre as it looks like it’s perishing.

We had a lazy morning at our b&b. Breakfast at 8am, then on the road by about 10am.

It just started to sprinkle with rain as we left, and it was like that on and off for the day.

Again we had nice flat cycle paths which made for easy riding. We followed mainly canals today and on the dykes of the Loire river for a bit.

The highlight of my day was getting up close and personal with the nuclear power station. We were right next to it. I snapped a few photos before noticing the no photography sign. Mysteriously the photos have now disappeared from my phone.

Okay, I just made that last bit up. We also came across a tree which had fallen across the path. We had to take all our panniers off the bikes to lift our bikes over.

We found the campground at about 3pm, just as it started to rain heavily. Thankfully they had a chalet available so we took that. As we cycled into the campground we felt sorry for all the campers in their drenched tents. Yuck. It’s really cold too so we have the heating on in our chalet.

The early stop means I’ve been able to get some videos edited. Just need to get some decent wifi to upload them.

It was a very warm day today, not quite hot. The roads were smooth and mostly easy to follow until we got to the town of Chateauneuf.

Suddenly the route was sending us on a forest trail, muddy in parts and it almost sent us flying a couple of times. It was a mountain bike track, not a path for touring bikes.

We saw another cyclist riding on a foot path which ran adjacent to the muddy track so we followed them and this was much better.

After a while the paths returned to tarmac and it was lovely cycling alongside the river.

We cycled 51 kms today and are staying in a cabin at the campground for two nights.

The next day we had a lazy morning then visited the chateau in town. It was neat wandering around and the place had been dressed like it was in the olden days.

They are setting up in the castle courtyard for a band that is playing there tonight called Cock Robin. Apparently they were big in the 80s in continental Europe. We’d never heard of them, but we would have gone except the concert was sold out. Would have been neat seeing a concert in a chateau.

After the chateau we headed back to camp and almost made it before the torrential downpour. Almost.

We were just glad we had a cabin and weren’t in our little tent.

The temperature has dropped and it’s going to be a high of 18 tomorrow. When we’ve been having weather consistently in the mid to high 30s, this is going to feel cold. Glad I didn’t ditch my layers yet!

The previous evening we went to bed early (9.30pm) and the band playing next to the campground rocked us to sleep. It was like being at a festival and we both slept well. We had our tarp set up over the tent and it kept our tent dry from the rain during the night.

The campground had kids on a school camp but they didn’t make too much noise. It just concerned me a bit when i went to have my shower and one was having a covid test in the shower block. Nobody wears masks here and there seems to be a lot of people with bad coughs (or maybe I’m just noticing it more).

It was a nice day of cycling alongside the Loire river on cycle paths. Easy cycling, but my knee continues to give me grief on hills, especially walking up them. But we soon need to get our kms up if we are to make it back to Cherbourg before our 90 days in the EU are up.

In the afternoon, big black clouds appeared around us and I thought I heard thunder in the distance. Then big splots of rain came at us, so we stopped and waterproofed our bikes and got our rain coats handy. Then the big splots stopped barely before they started and it didn’t actually rain.

We made it to the city of Orleans and we are staying in a hotel so we can explore the town. But as soon as we got to our room, we passed out on the bed, exhausted. Not sure why we’re so tired, but we haven’t had a decent meal for almost a week.

<A little bit of history> Joan of Arc led an army to relieve Orleans from the siege it was under back in the 1400s which made her a heroine. She then continued to lead armies during the 100 year war against the Brits. She was captured by a mercenary and handed over to the English where she was tried for heresy and was burned at the stake. Some time after she was killed, the catholic church held an enquiry and pardoned her. Sorry about the sad story.</end>

At 7.30pm we walked the 15 mins into town for some dinner. We chose chicken, chips and salad and it was a huge plate for only 9 euros, and it was yumy. Just as we were finishing up, the rain finally came and it pelted it down. We had to walk back to our hotel in the torrential downpour and we got soaked. Thankfully we are in a hotel and not camping.

We did 41 kms today.

Just 36 kms again today as there is no other camping for another 43 kms.

We had another torrential downpour last night at 1.30am accompanied by more thunder and lightning directly overhead. We had our tent tarp over our tent and it stayed relatively dry and we managed to pack up a dry tent.

We have now run out of cereal. We had a little bit for breakfast but due to lack of shops we’ve been unable to replace it.

We left camp this morning a little hungry and with very little water. About an hour into our ride we were pleased to find a little patisserie which served coffee. We also ordered pastry each despite my pledge to give them up. Tomorrow.

It was an easy but hard day today. The riding was easy and cool, a light mist surrounded us for most of the day. I just seemed to be lacking energy, probably due to bad diet and lack of sleep.

We found a nice campground beside the river for only 13 euros. It’s the summer solstice here and there’s a good band playing next to the camp.

We found a shop but they had no cereal. So we bought bacon and zucchini and made a pasta. Tomorrow we go to Orleans.