Entering the Burgundy Region

We are now in the Burgundy region of France camping in the town of Paray le Monial. Dictated by the availability of campgrounds, today was short ride of 20 miles and tomorrow is expected to be one of our longer days at 60 miles. We made the best of our short day by exploring the town which is known as a religious destination.

Two Weeks and Going Well

My chocolate eclair from a local Boulangerie in Diou, and Shirl and Veronica studying the map of France in our camp to see how far we have gone. Another week and we expect to be in Switzerland followed by Germany a day later. Our route only goes through Switzerland for a day. The eclair was yummy.

Lunch Today

This is my lunch today, the meal of the day, at a family run restaurant in a small village, St. Parize Le Chatel, that receives few tourist. Main course is pork chop with a mustard sauce. The creme brûlée is the best I've eaten ever. After that, we had a short period of rain as we rode to our camp in Decize.

Charite Sur Loire

Sunday is street market day along the narrow cobble stone streets.

Charite Sur Loire

We are camping near the city of Charite Sur Loire. Can it get any better than this?

Our Tour in France continued

It's just after 7am and I'm sitting in my tent waiting for the thunder and lightening and rain to pass. As beautiful as it is to ride in France, so far the weather has been hot and humid, or thundershowers. It's best to do most of our ride before 11am to avoid the afternoon heat. Everyone is getting along well and we are getting into the groove of touring and camping. Most of the time, we look for a bakery in the morning and and an afternoon meal at a local eatery between noon and 2pm. The plate of the day, offered by numerous eateries, is the best value and is whatever the chef decides to make. It's usually a 2 or 3 course meal. For me and most of the others, dinner is usually a simple meal in camp purchased from the local market. Some times I just have fruit and bread and cheese. The is not an overly difficult ride but I am tired by days end and sleep well enough by my standards. Needless to say but the countrysides along the Loire River are beautiful, the cities, town and villages are charming, and the chateaus and cathedrals are stunning. We have ridden about 450 miles over 10 days and have about 900 miles to Passau, Germany, our ending point. Although there are no major mountains along our route to this point, the riding can best be  described as rolling. Pictured below is the Sully Sur Loire Chateau near where we camped close to the city of Sully.

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Visiting the Chambord Chateau

During our rest day in La Chausse, we decide to visit the Chateau Chambord, a popular destination for the tourist.

Some Picture from France

Update from France

I'm in La Chausse near Blois staying at the home of a friend of Shirl's, Christiane, where we'll take our first rest day after 7 nights of camping. The tour, as you might have guess for me, has been wonderful and beyond anything I might have imagined. After disembarking the overnight ferry, which had all the amenities and accommodations we needed and more, we rode south for 3 days over rolling terrain through farmland, open countryside, historic cities and small villages to reach the Eurovelo 6 bike path along the Loire River. It took 5 days to reach Blois riding in and out along the Loire River visiting the cities like Angers and Tours as well as numerous other smaller cities and villages. Often we would try to stop for a midday 'meal of the day' since dinner was more of a guess as to whether we'll find any services near our camp. The language has been difficult for me but I'm attempting to learn some French so I can manage a little on my own which is a necessity. Otherwise, all is well regardless of the record heat and humidity the past 3 to 4 days. Cooler today thank goodness! I have not been able to get any data service locally so future updates will be dependent upon wifi which is also difficult to find. Wish us luck since the pre-planned portion of our tour has concluded. The balance of the tour will be decide on the road. Au Revoir. Herb

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Portsmouth

Today, our group from Market Harborough rendezvoused with the group from Leighton Buzzard growing seven and shuttled to Portsmouth to catch the overnight to St. Mall. We arrived early enough to take a quick bicycle of the historic dockyards of Portsmouth, also of the Royal Navy.

Exploring On My Own

I decide to do a solo ride south of Market Harborough to see if I could manage to stay on the correct side of the road, the left, while on my own. These pictures are a testament to my success.

Day Ride around Market Harborough

Day riding in the countryside around Market Harborough on a rather warm humid day. Shirl and I visited the Foxton Lockes which uses 13 Lockes to move the long boats between the upper and lower canals and had our afternoon tea in Hallaton before completing our 25 mile loop. It was lovely to be riding in the English countryside. Cheers.

Market Harborough, UK

Downtown in Market Harborough. Last picture is Shirl's street. First place on the right is Shirl's duplex. Staying there until Monday when we'll take a private shuttle to Portsmouth.