Kez particularly liked the Brúlon site because the shower block had music piped into it via a crackly speaker. She’d had fun singing along with it in the shower the night before. It also had the great advantage of masking any embarassing toilet noises. I particularly disliked the site because of the number of English caravanners. So, although a bit weary, we set off for a short ride to the town of Sablé-sur-Sarthe. Our customary morning off n’push hill woke our calves up and we ate a couple of cheeky cakes at the roadside, having missed breakfast. Bread vans seem to be getting scarce as we continue South.
Stopping for a breather at one point Kez noticed a pair of largish brown striped snakes curled up on the sun splashed verge, possibly adders or vipers? (aren’t they the same thing anyway?) We’ve seen an ‘Attention! Vipres’ sign before. As we watched, one slithered away up the bank with alarming speed. A girl in a small car waved and shouted ‘bon route!’ as we picked the bikes up to move on.
The camp was an excellent one, probably the finest shower block yet. As we set up next to the river I noticed what looked like a large plastic comedy bird on one of the trees on the opposite bank. I squinted at it for a while but couldn’t work out what it was supposed to be. I grabbed the binoculars for a better look. It was a huge heron standing stock still with his neck stretched straight up, presumably trying to look like a tree to passing fish. We watched him for a while until he inelegantly leapt off his branch, which dipped alarmingly towards the water under his weight, and heave himself into the air and down the river to a new perch on a mooring post.
A walk into the town offered impressive views across the water to a huge church and a delightfully cheap and well stocked supermarché, which is as exciting to hungry cycle-tramps as any ornately arched historic spire topped edifice.
For dinner tonight, half price for quick sale boef hachés (beef burgers) in buns with salad and weird processed cheese. Kez wouldn’t let us try the ‘cheval hachés’.