10th September (sunny and hot) 45 km

Isn’t it funny how thoughts suddenly appear. I have random thoughts throughout the day, but last night I started thinking about my mum. How she would be so proud of my Dad for doing this trip with us. I always had a fantastic relationship with mum. She was always there with that smile, a funny comment and always the biggest hug. The saddest part about losing her was not being able to walk into their house and see that face. Do I think that we’ll see each other when my time’s up?....it would be nice to think so, but I feel it’s not the case. As a lot of you know, religion has never played a part in my life, but love from my family and friends has been the most important thing. So, to the people I love and care about, you may not be told every day, or some at all…but you are a vital part of who I am and I thank you for the time you are able to give me.

It was 7.15am when we woke, but the sun hadn’t risen above the trees yet, to rid our tents of moisture. The supermarkets didn’t open until 8.30am, so everyone pottered around doing their own jobs and I had a short spell on the blog. Julia whipped off down the road to get some supplies to go with the baguette and chocolat aux pain I’d ordered the day before. Once back, we tucked into a lovely breakfast and the sun had finally made an appearance, letting us know that it would be out in force today.

Packed up the gear, but some of it we left for as long as we could for maximum drying time. Said a quick goodbye to Kathy and Michael, the couple from Essex who we’d met the day before and pedalled off to find a Decathlon store. These are big sport and outdoor stores in France and we were hoping we could get our camping gas there. France however is big on Camping Gas, the make, which your little stove punctures to release the gas. Our stove however, is the screw-in type and we have had many different names over the years. Found Decathlon easily, that’s a good start and asked a young guy for what we needed. He shook his head and I could picture all the blue canisters lined up, not worthy of our stove. He did though wander down with me and there on the shelf was a screw-in Primus Gas. He didn’t even realise that they stocked it. Actually ended up buying two to keep us going and at a good price.

Out of there we now had the problem of getting Dad around two major roundabouts on very busy main roads to get to the cycle track. I was very anxious because I know it freaks him out. But today, he took it all in his stride and did a fine job to get us back where we needed to be – on the Loire-a-Velo.

Julia here: Beautifully surfaced, flat riding was the order of the morning – everything well sign-posted so there was no need to stop and check directions.  There was also plenty of shade to protect us against the heating sun.  Had a brief stop in Tours old town and left Jimmy to have a rest in the shade while Pete and I went to have a look at the cathedral.  The detail in these buildings are amazing and we were interested to see they have a light show at this cathedral on Friday and Saturday nights.  We noticed that the Loire-A-Velo was directed up the rather busy road past the cathedral and assumed this was so cyclists could have a look at it as they cycled past.  We knew Jimmy wasn’t that interested so elected to stay on the cycle path alongside the Loire, figuring we’d pick up the official track when it came back to the riverside.  What we failed to notice however, is that the official track ran alongside the Cher River so we had to find our own way along the Loire.  We managed pretty well, finding a fairly isolated road with a good surface that ran along the top of a dyke.  The only bad thing about this was it meant there was no shade and the phrase “Only mad dogs and Englishmen come out in the midday sun” ran through my head…..and not for the first time.  We were all very glad we’d lathered up with Factor 50, put it that way.  Also glad we were on bikes and not walking because as soon as you stopped cycling, the heat descended on you like a thick blanket.  Once we started pedalling, we had the benefit of a self-generated breeze.

Tours cathedral

The bustling old town of Tours

We stopped in the shade and ate a peach each before meeting up with the Loire-a-Velo again at Villandry – famous for it’s big chateau and fantastic gardens.  However, the gardens probably look best from a hot air balloon as they are all laid out in geometric shapes, and it was too hot to be walking about anyway.  So we searched for a gap in the heavy surrounding foliage and got a glimpse of the chateau and got a photo, then cycled through town and grabbed an ice-cream for each of us before returning to Jimmy, who we had left resting in the shade.

Villandry Chateau from the cheap seats

Old church in Villandry village

Then it was back into the heat for the final 10km.  The heat seems to intensify as the afternoon wears on and when we finally reached our chosen campground at Langeais at 4.30pm, we were all ready to stop.  Especially because the last 2 kms had been on a busy road and that is particularly hard on Jimmy coming at the end of a 45 km day in this heat.

Crossing the bridge into Langeais

I was thrilled to find the campground was next door to a lake and a swimming pool – devastated to find the pool was closed for the season (are they freaking nuts??), and the lake too dirty to swim in.

Had to be satisfied with a cold shower so once we’d all got the tents up and showered, Pete and I cycled to the supermarket to get some supplies.  The supermarket actually had cold beer and cold milk – both rarities over here so we celebrated by getting both, as well as a can of Sprite so Jimmy and I could have a shandy.  We also picked up all the ingredients for a fresh salad seeing as we don’t often get a camp right by a supermarket and can’t carry lots of ingredients for fancy meals.

Looking towards the sunset was golden - away from it, was pink

The bridge we cycled across earlier that afternoon

Langeais Chateau - right in the middle of town

After a delicious fresh dinner, Pete and Jimmy walked into the township of Langeais and I rode to the bridge to get a photo of the sunset.  We all rendezvoused at the Chateau and then returned to camp for tea and cake before bed to celebrate the end of Jimmy’s first week.