Woke up early this morning and finally got hold of Dad on his echo show. He was looking well.

We left camp at 9am and started the day riding alongside the river. We saw a lady walking her dog while riding her bike. His lead was strapped onto the bike and he obediently ran alongside. Then she stopped by the river, unleashed the dog, he swam 2 laps of the river width, then back on the bike. Very well behaved doggie.

I’ve been 2 days now without eating a pastry. I’m trying to eat healthier so at the supermarket I bought a chicken wrap for a snack, much to mike’s disgust. And a baguette and tin of tuna for lunch.

We reached the town of Dole and were going to go to Decathlon to get some camping gas, but it was up a hill and we decided not to. We stopped and double checked which way to go when a cyclist whizzed by us towards the campground. I suggested we stop for the day as well and visit the town, but Mike wanted to keep moving.

We found the cycle path again and we’re cruising along when we saw a cycle tourer trying to get his bike down some very steep steps. It was the same guy who went whizzing past us obviously gone the wrong way. I felt a bit guilty as we may have been blocking the sign.

We found an amazing spot for lunch overlooking the river, and made our tuna baguette. After lunch we went to continue our ride along the river but there was a route barred sign in 700 metres and a diversion was sending us inland on roads.

Mike went to check it out but there was nothing barring the route at that distance so we decided to continue alongside the river. It was so beautiful, and I congratulated Mike on being daring and taking this route. After 2km we saw another route barred sign and this was in 5000 metres.

Mike then decided we would backtrack, not wanting to ride 5kms and find we get stuck. As we turned back, whizzy cyclist came along. Remember him, missing signs and carrying his bike down steps? Well he went whizzing down the route barred way, and we just tutted to ourselves. We figure he’s not having a good day.

When we got back to the route barred sign it said 7000 metres not 700!

It was quite a big diversion and when we got to the other end of it, there was no way through so I feel sorry for whizzy guy. He’s staying at the same camp as us so maybe I’ll ask him about his day.

After that we got back onto the nice river paths. And then, blocking our way, was a big scary snake. It had sprawled itself across the path showing no signs of moving. Mike made a move to try and cycle past it and I had to stop him. As you’ll see in a future video, Mike has no snake sense.

I said we should just stay put and hope he moves. Maybe we could throw something at it to prompt it. After a few minutes it made its move and slithered back into the bushes. I got a video of it but you’ll have to wait until it’s out on YouTube.

We are now in a campsite with a river beach. There are loads of day people here and quite a few campers too. I also think I’m being bitten. It’s not the nicest place we’ve camped but it will do.

Despite the torrential downpour the previous evening we managed to pack up a dry tent and were away before ten.

Not such a nice day today. It rained on and off and the roads weren’t as nice as canal paths. It fined up in the afternoon and we followed the Soane river for a while.

We didn’t see any shops but we managed to get a baguette and some quiches. We had some butter left over which had melted and solidified again so we had bread and butter for lunch. We also saw another otter.

After the town of Suerre we lost all signs to the route. One minute they were guiding us nicely, the next they’d left us to fend for ourselves.

We were relying on our map and the route headed inland, so we followed it along crappy gravel roads. Then a nice path next to the river appeared. Google told me the path would take us to the next town so we followed it. Still no route signs and our map didn’t mention this path, but it was lovely and we followed it most of the way to the town, cutting 5 kms off our trip.

In the town we finally found a supermarket, so we grabbed a couple of salads for dinner and headed for our camp.

It’s a popular stop for cycle tourists as the camp is full of them. We ate our salads at 6pm but were still hungry, so went to the camp bar for some fries, beer, and a magnum. It’s a nice spot overlooking the river.

We had a nice relaxing start to the day in our hotel room. We had the hotel breakfast but kinda wished we hadn’t. All the people touching all the food made me cringe. Mike went straight for the bacon and eggs and instantly regretted it, while an American guy was getting upset there was no cheese.

I managed to sneak a whole baguette for me and Mike that hopefully the dirty people hadn’t touched.

It was an amazing day today, following the nice flat canal paths. We got to the town we’d planned to camp at after 45 kms but we were loving the day so much, we continued on. We ended up doing 70 kms today and feel pretty good for it.

We’re at a camping ground in the middle of nowhere, only two other campers here. There are a load of old men getting plastered at the campground bar.

We had macaroni cheese for dinner. We boiled some pasta and dumped a half eaten Camembert into it and stirred it around. It was actually ok for an emergency meal.

It absolutely chucked it down with rain last night and terrifying thunder cracked around while lightning flashed our tent. This went on ALL night. We’ll it started at 11am and didn’t finish until 3.30am so not much sleep. It’s stopped this morning though I’m still in my tent at 7.40am.

Our tent this morning was saturated and it wasn’t from the rain. It was from condensation which had formed on the inside. Although the weather had dropped from 27 degrees to 9 overnight. it took us a while to pack up and dry the tent out and we were away just after 10am.

We stopped and had a quick look around the basilica in town then carried on along cycle paths.

It was a nice day of canal riding and not much happened. We decided to ride on the road that followed the canal rather than the route which went up and down hills through farm land.

There was no camping in the next town so we stayed at a hotel and this gave me a chance to get more videos uploaded and scheduled.

It was nice to relax in air conditioning for the afternoon, clean sheets on the bed. There was an Aldi right next door, so we bought some ready made salads for dinner, and some chocolate.

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.