Blue sky and sunshine again this morning.
There are literally hundreds of birds flying along the river. Not sure what kind of bird, some are Herons, readily recognisable, but there are also many which look like Gulls or Terns, plus lots which look like Guillemots, but, we are hundreds of miles from the sea, and I thought Guillemots and Terns were sea birds?.
What ever they are, they are having a field day feeding on, what appears to be, a plentiful supply of fish. They are catching so many, they are dropping some of it, as they fly over the bridge crossing the river.
After yesterday's cycling activities, today, is a riding around on the scooter day.
We go to Briare, via the D951, since we cannot cross the river, using the "Pont du Canal", we have to travel on as far as Chatillon-sur-Loire, where there is a bridge with a 2.7metre height limit, fine on the scooter, but, not in the campervan.
We, eventually, find the Lidl in Briare, and clear the shelves (literally) of Kathleen's current favourite, White Zindanfell Rose. I have previously cleared out the underseat storage area and the top box on the scooter, so, we are able to fill up the space with Wine, Gin, oh, and some food.
The rest of the day is spent washing clothes (Kathleen) and lying about in the Sun (both of us).
A little bit of excitement, right at the end of the day, at 10:00 in the evening, in the pitch black, a British Caravan outfit arrives.
We watch as they try to reverse and park in the dark, with little success, and a few near misses with trees and shrubbery!
Eventually, Kathleen goes out and speaks to them to explain, there is a pitch next to us, where they can simply drive in and leave the car hitched up, until they sort things out, tomorrow, in daylight.
They gratefully accept this idea, and are soon parked, rather than disturbing the neighbours.
We assume, they must be novices, or, that some unforeseen circumstance must have caused them to have arrived so late, and in total darkness, but, the next day as Kathleen interrogates (sorry, chats to) them, it appears, no, they are experienced caravanners, and, the late arrival had been "planned". It certainly was not evident last night.
Thursday, 29th September 2016
Another gloriously sunny day, 25C.
The weather forecast says it is going to be a cool 18C tomorrow, and, raining, but, apart from a breeze developing late in the afternoon, there is no sign of a change in the weather today.
The first four miles or so, are easy going, but, at Saint-Gondon, The cycle route leaves the river bank and goes "cross-country", through very pleasant, but, let us say "undulating terrain", or, as Kathleen would say, "oh no, look at that hill".
We pass through Saint-Florent, and on to Lion-en-Sullias.
This is not well received, particularly when the only Bar come breadshop come everything, in Lion-en-Sullias, is closed at 11;45, despite the displayed openning times which clearly state, it should be open.
So, we leave the signposted cycle route and peddle along the quiet D951 to return to Saint-Gondon, where we find a friendly bar where we have beer and "frites". We have a
Fortified, we rejoin the cycle route and return to Gien, to complete just over18 miles.
We chance upon an Aire, in Saint-Gondon, a large level parking area, near the village centre (and bar), N47 41.993 E2 32.613. There is no signs suggesting there is a fee, there appear to be only waste water and toilet disposal facilities, but space for 8-10 vans. There is only one there as we pass.
