World Tour

July 5 - Wednesday We didn't leave the campsite until just before noon which is way later than we had originally planned. From the looks of it, not too many people were going to stick around as there was a larger than usual exodus from the campgrounds this morning. Bikes were knocked over, small branches were in the rode, leaves everywhere. I walked to the market to buy a baguette. I had watched to family across the path from our site eating a baguette and saw just how to eat it. On the way back I saw someone's laundry out on the line - 10 pairs of granny panties strung up in a row. Who brings that much underwear camping? Who wants to see that much underwear hanging from a clothes line when they're walking back to their campsite after buying a baguette from the market?! Campground markets can be really hit or miss. You can get a good deal on some things and can find some "hard to find" items at these itty bitty places. The prices are comparable to a regular market which is nice. Once the tent was dry enough we packed up and moved out. I had my tennis shoes, a sports bra, towel, and a scrubbie for the shower all hanging off my back bags with plans to rotate the laundry out for other damp items during the course of our ride today. It worked. By the time we got to camp everything was dry. We really needed to pump up our tires - bad. We looked for gas stations to see if they had air. The one we went to was missing the valve all together and since it was noon everyone was on their siesta. The supermarche we went to is more like something you'd find back at the states. While I'm very very glad it doesn't close in the afternoon it definitely doesn't have the ambience of a town market which I have really grown to like. We ate lunch in the parking lot. A woman passed us on the way to her car saying, "Bon Appetit!". We decided to pass the Cheverny chateaux and head straight for Chambord. With the relatively flat roads we were making good time. About forty kilometers into our ride we were in a town and got a little turned around. Getting lost is not always a bad thing. Jon spotted a cycle shop and we rode our bikes over the the garage where the owner was working on a motorbike. He spoke a tiny bit of english and was able to understand what we needed. We had purchased a pump from the bicycle guy in Saumur but it couldn't handle the pressure needed for our tires so air kept leaking out of the valve connection with the hose. We bought a new/better pump and the owner pumped up our tires. There was a little poodle that I can only guess guarded the store since it started growling at me when I crossed the street to stand near the store window. It was a pretty tough little thing. Once the tire were pumped we backtracked into town and figured out where we needed to go. One bathroom break and a stop at the boulagerie for a cookie and bread and we were ready to go. We realized that we were pretty much out of water and asked the woman behind the counter at the boulagerie for a some water for our waterbottles which she very kindly did. That by the way was a very french bakery, the bread, the pastries - very french, very beautiful, the mousse cakes, all the pat a choux products and of course the croissants. It was cool. The campsite I found in our french camping guide and the guide I found at the information building was nine km's past Chambord. By this time I was feeling like I was nearly done for the day. It was around five pm. We've stopped in the town of Bisseaux which is actually closer to Chambord than the other. We'll go to Chambord tomorrow morning. Right now I am surrounded by campmates in the TV room watching the World Cup game: France vs Portugal. At one point I turned around and saw people spilling out ont the patio outside the room. It was still hot outside at the beginning of the game and the room was starting to fill with the smell of B.O. Thankfully, things have cooled off. The game is over anyway, France won. I can go to bed now.