August 18, 2012
A hotter day!
We left early, no coffee or breakfast. We wanted to get away from our buggy site and get on the trail before the heat took away our energy. The path is excellent and free of traffic.
We always see a difference on the w/e with more recreational cyclists on the trail. We are so impressed by the friendly civility of the French as they always say bonjour as they pass.
Riding through cities is always time consuming and can be challenging. As we approached Tours, we were grateful for the cycle friendly approach they have taken. However, construction messed things up and we got lost. Unfortunately we spent more time there than we wanted and got stuck in the heat of the day trying to find our way back to the trail. To escape the heat we visited the Saint-Gatien Cathedral - a cool respite and a beautiful building reflecting 300 years of Gothic architecture from the 13th to the 16th century.
Barry had his first French hot dog at a local patisserie - a baguette with two sausages, 3 kinds of cheese, bechamel sauce, mustard and ketchup. A satisfying lunch for him in a neighbourhood park.
We intended to go farther, but this has been our hottest day so far. In desperation, we jumped in the Loire - fully dressed in our cycling clothes - and cooled down. We stopped for the day at Montlouis-sur-Loire at Camping des Peupliers, grateful to stop and severely overheated.
We have watched other cyclists arrive, looking as overheated and desperate as we were feeling when we arrived.
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Today's ride: 40 km (25 miles)
Total: 1,264 km (785 miles)
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