Beaugency to Gien

Big day today. I'm a cyclist now so I'm supposed to say it was a big day in the saddle. It was a big day treading the peddles. I made that one up but I think it's pretty good too.

If I drove a car down the main roads I would have went 80km. I reckon I went well over 100. I'm trying to download the La Loire app so I can figure out how far I really went but the internet is being sketchy. It was hot today too. I just looked at a thermometer and at 7pm it was 34 in the shade. Lucky for me I was riding in the sun.

Last night I went over to Beaugency in an attempt to catch the supermarket before it shut, but I missed it. But I saw that the dodgy shop at the camp ground was serving food so I went there and was surprised to have one of the best steaks I've had. I noticed most of the other people were locals so I think I might have stumbled upon a hidden gem (for more local knowledge like this go to localoids.com - just wait for the traffic spike Prash. Mum and Aunty Julie, all over it).

There was a band on the opposite bank of the river and I was tempted to go over and listen to them butcher the doors, led zeppelin and the rolling stones. But ended up just listening from my side of the river. They were exceptionally good except for the pronunciation of the lyrics. The guitarist nailed the guitar solos though.

I left today at 10am. Pretty early for me. I intended on going to Orleans and maybe camping at the next town past. I rode for a while along mostly gravel roads then crossed the bridge and found myself in a Gypsy encampment. I'm not sure if I'm allowed to say Gypsy so I'll just plead Australian. I thought it was just some people parking up their caravans like you sometimes see. Which I suppose it was. Here's what made me think it might not be what it seemed:
- the damp mattresses hung over the fence.
- the chicken coop filled with geese.
- the pot bellied pig snuggled up under a caravan with a dog.
- the rubbish scattered everywhere like an ultra camp chaos.
- the hair.

I wanted to take photos, especially of the geese pen and the little pig (it looked more like a little boar) but didn't want to stop.

After that I had the urge for a toilet. I kept following the path but 9km from Orleans the urge became... Urgent. So I left the track and looked for a toilet. I must have rode around for an hour, guided completely by where I though a toilet would be. And, if I'm honest, where some isolated bushes might be. I found a toilet at a bus station but it was locked, I found some bushes next to an orchard but there was a man working nearby. It was a real ordeal. I eventually stumbled upon a supermarket and went to the toilet there. It was like I was reborn. I consider myself to have two lives, BP and AP. I went from turmoil and misery to happiness and contentment in 3/5ths of a second. Amen.

This blog is slowly getting less suitable for the children at school so please adults could you censor it for them?

My first few moments AP were spent figuring out where I was. Turns out I'd zigged and zagged my way 9km to Orleans.

I rode through the town. There is an impressive cathedral there. I didn't take a photo because it was too hard to get a decent shot, but I imagine God would be suitably impressed.

I lost the Paris Hilton route after that and ended up following a canal. The path was shoddy. Sometimes gravel, sometimes worn grass. I hit a tree root at speed and the jolt sheered my front basket from the bit that attaches it to my bike. I fixed it with an ocky strap and now that front basket has better suspension then any of my cars have had.

The only other thing of note was this village I stumbled upon called Combleux. It was at a spot where the canal forks off in a few directions and it didn't seem to have any roads. There were lots of bridges with flowers decorating them, and gravel paths, but the roads were missing. There were some cars parked at houses but it was such a peaceful place without cars zooming around. It's what I noticed about Venice as well.

After a while I realised that a canal generally doesn't follow a river as that would render the canal redundant, so I hit a main road back to the river and found the Paris Hilton route again.

The next place of note was Sully. It has a little castle with a moat. I stopped and had a quick look. It wasn't packed with tourists and it was a good looking castle, but I didn't go in.

From there I kept riding and at some point ran out of water. It wasn't as bad as my earlier predicament because the worst case scenario was only death rather than embarrassment. So I rode 15km feeling pretty thirsty but found a tap. Carried on until Gien, which has another castle and a pretty nice camp site.

I don't know what to do tomorrow. I might get a train from here towards Switzerland and pick up the Eurovelo 6. I've set reminders for 4 different TV on the Radio gigs. I want to go to one. The Krakow one is tonight. The Luxembourg one is in 5 days and the Swiss one is in 6. I can't remember where the 4th one is but it seems unachievable. So I'm aiming for the Swiss one. Secretly I think they'll appreciate the effort and invite me on tour with them.

Photos are:
2 of the little village with no roads.
3 of Sully castle.
View of Gien from the camp-site where I am now.