Plus ca change

Somehow it always falls to me to blog on these days....

Second breakfast is rapidly becoming the favorite meal for the kids.  Lyle is a big fan of any of the many varieties of things involving apples -

And Ruby continues to be a big fan of the other fruits in addition -

And, we enjoyed a run through the local Saturday market, which included a cheese man from whom we got the regional specialty (quite good and very new for us). Or it could have been just about anything, considering I was negotiating and attempting some light banter.  We also procured half a rotisserie chicken from the booth and a side of new potatoes that were “basted” with the drippings as the rotisserie went by.  Quite good, no matter how you define it.  Liv then did the fruit and veggie booth and rounded out our lunch/supper/ next first breakfast -

Cherries of several varieties and clusters of cherry tomatoes.  Well fortified, we look like this -

Sadly, today hasn’t turned out quite that way.  We almost beat the rain getting started, but ended up with one wet tent packed away.  Then after a while, the paving of the canal stopped.  Since things were still dry and not muddy, it actually wasn’t too bad because the paving was not actually all that pleasant to ride on over time.  For riders at home, Soap Creek is a notorious road that is lovely for countryside and lack of traffic, but fairly universally loathed for the chip seal that rattles you and your bike for its length.  These paths are similar, in that they have a particularly chunky asphalt which is pretty tough on hands and wrists after a few hours/days.  They also have root heaves and other imperfections which make them slightly less idyllic than our pictures may suggest. The gravel is smoother, but still takes work to keep the bike moving along in.  Regardless, traffic-free and flat bike paths are still better than busy roads that are hilly and smooth.

We had hoped for 33 miles and camping in Rieux, but with the amazing head winds and rain, we thought we might stop short at a campground in Redon, our largest city thus far in France.  Also, since I have not yet found fuel for our stove in France, I thought it would be good to try this ‘big’ city.  White gas in the States is “Coleman Fuel” in GB, and according to a deeply hidden chart on the MSR website, in France it is the “Widely Avallable” product called “Essence C”.  No villager I have spoken with has ever heard of such a thing, much less sold any.  Here in the big dity, the hardware store guy had Essence F, and suggested we try a Target-scaled place just a mile or so away.  Off we went in the rain, with kids suggesting that perhaps we should consider a hotel.  Four large box stores later, and one amazingly helpful guy at a camping store (who had never heard of it either) who made some phone calls on my behalf, I found that the equivalent of the Home Despot actually carried it in their paint section.  Why, I have no idea, but the stuff burns like a charm, and we now have enough fuel to get us into some other country that calls it something else entirely.

We decided that 30 miles would be enough, and went out into the industrial wastelands of town to the county campground, only to find that they were in fact hosting a canoe/kayak tourney this weekend (in the rain) and were closed.  Ruby was quite sure that meant that we could go to a 2-star hotel that she had seen earlier, but I pointed out to her that the last 2-star place we had stayed had at least 2 large cockroaches.  She thought camping would be fine, so we rode another 3 miles through the wind and rain to a completely empty county campground in the tiny village of Rieux.  Wet tents up, bikes propped on scavenged branches, tarp to cover cooking, and away we go.  They have WiFi and the showers seem to run hot.Our battery pack was empty, so we will be charging itovernight stashed in the bathroom.  The kids are warm and fed, Liv is exhausted and maybe asleep, and I am hiding in the office typing away out of the rain.

Tomorrow will get us most of the way to Nantes, we figure, with a hilly and short Monday to what looks like a promising campground near the trolley lines.  Hard to say.

-Dave