Oh, blue skies are here again! Finally our summer holiday feels like it's taking place in summer!! A little nippy under the cover of the trees on another voie verte, but as we love ourselves a good voie verte, we happily donned our arm warmers and set off at the usual time. The Jaegermeister in the hip flask also helped.
This was meant to be another 50 something mile day, but in her enduring quest to avoid as many effing French mountains as possible, Sukhi cajoled us into adding another 15+ miles to skirt around them. Shiambi readily agreed with her calf now becoming a real problem. A brisk pace on the flats was a challenge for the leg today and Shiambi is suffering big time. We kept being passed by a trio of octogenarians who brought to mind the old tortoise and hare adage!
Thankfully mostly flat and 'gently' undulating terrain today. We were passed by a retired couple also on their way to Angers whilst we negotiated medical terminology with a pharmacist and stopped to admire a field of sunflowers.
Again looking for coffee we settled for a posh pizzeria that we couldn't wait to get out of - who puts raw egg on a mushroom pizza! Finally outta there, we were accosted by a grisly old fellow, wider than he was tall, who brought to mind the sailors in Moby Dick. He declared himself 'no problem' before lifting up Shiambi's top! He'd caught sight of her tattoo somehow and wanted a closer look! He made up for it by asking if Jassar and Taitoko were her mum and dad - cheeky sod! Shiambi and Taitoko think they could learn French with their students so they can communicate with the lovely and crazy French we meet on these trips. Not sure the lessons would cover how to tell strangers not to try and undress them...Or maybe they would. We live in crazy times.
After another fit of giggles we got underway only to come across the cafe we had been looking for. Here we came upon the same path we had dropped a few miles back but it quickly turned into a mountain bikers paradise. This had us baring our arses once again and slapping on more chamois cream! Conscious of the chafing situation even Taitoko stopped reminiscing over her tramping and building igloos on glaciers days and we got off the path as soon as possible making our way through apple orchards instead.
We were off and on the trail all afternoon as it tended to turn rocky or want to take us through campsites and pastures complete with roaming cows - no thanks! We picked it up for the last 5 miles where it finally suited road bikes.
Angers is the biggest town we've come to so far and the Garmin was determined to show us as much as possible by directing us up cobblestone paths that people were struggling to walk up! We did come across the Cathedral which saved us a hike back up later. And our hotel was perfectly situated opposite the Chateau.
Unfortunately, it looks like Shiambi's leg is going to need a break from cycling tomorrow. Maybe another bottle of red wine will help make it better?
