When I awoke around 7am and trudged across the site for the toilet I noted the lady from New Zealand had already packed up and gone. Good on ya I muttered, repeating a phrase she’d used a couple of times last night. We wouldn’t be gone for at least another three hours.
When we did leave after a leisurely breakfast we only got ten feet from the site entrance before Kez noticed that I’d put her panniers on the wrong way round, meaning her heels were clipping the bags on every turn of the pedal. It’s the second time I’ve done this and it’s incredibly annoying to get all packed up and set off only to have to stop straight away and start messing about with panniers again. Especially when you’re still in plain view of the groundsman who has just wished you ‘bon route’.
The cycling today was fantastic, we found ourelves following signs for a cycle route called ‘la vienne á vélo’ which kept us near the river and took us through the prettiest bits without having to worry about our route. We lunched on a lovely picnic, or ‘pique nique’ spot by the river, with all the luxuries like a table, litter bin, and public WC but without any annoyances like other people or traffic. Only one car passed by all the time we sat there and he was only rolling along slowly as his dog excercised by running in front. That’s the way to do it.
When we came across a nice looking camp site in a small town called Bonnes just North of Chauvigny we decided to stop and get some washing done and dried in the afternoon sun, and to get some more riverside sitting and wine sipping quality time in. The town was served by a very small supermarché in which we bought a couple of pork chops which Kez flavoured with a little chili and we ate with an onion and tomato salad dressed with a promotional sachet of nice olive oil that we had found to our delight in the tomatoes.