Paris only 100Km away

Well last you heard from us we had spent a cold and wet day of ridding to the town of Nevers. While Bobby updated our web site I was at the Lavare aka laudromat drying our wet clothes. Of course I should probably point out for you some important information, just in case you plan on traveling to France. When you are walking you should take care to watch where you are putting your feet! Otherwise you may find that you have stepped in a big pile of dog POOP while you were looking at you map and trying to find the Lavarè!

But dog poop aside, Nevers was a great town and we enjoyed a wonderful Chinese Dinner!!! We also met a lovely couple from holand who were also traveling via their cycles. They gave us some great information about cycle touring in Europe which will come in handy when we come back. Which we are sure will be very soon.

So lets see where have we been and where are we now. We left Nevers on Monday morning under cloudy skies. It had rained really really really hard throughout the night so we were very pleased to have only cloudy skies. As the day progressed the skies cleared and we enjoyed a beautiful day of ridding through rural France. I know we keep saying how beautiful it is to ride in France but we have to say it again. It is so very beautiful here!!! Most of the cycling today we were on small country roads with little to no car traffic. The road followed along a canal which made for long stretches of smooth flat roads with just enough small rolling hills thrown in to keep our legs working. The wild flowers seem to be in full bloom so even the fields that are not planted with corn, wheat or sunflowers are beautiful. It seems as though someone flew in a plance over this area sprinkling wild flower seeds! We rode 61 miles to the town of Briare. Very cool town. The last 5 kilometers we were on a trail next to the canal.

Briare is one of the neatest towns we have been through which is saying a lot since we have been in some pretty amazing places. But Briare is truly a place everyone should visit. Several of the canal systems that run through France convergein Briare! Boats are everywhere! They even have a bridge that boats float across! We stayed in a lovely campground for only 8euro! This area is known for their white wines so we felt obligated to try a bottle! It was very tasty!!!!! We slept like babies and were ready to ride this morning!

Tonight we are in the town of Souppes su Loing. Another cute French town which also sits along a canal. We rode on more spectacularly beautiful roads under warm SUNNY skies. Much of the ridding was on a canal trail which was a mix of pavement, dirt, and at times just a grass path but it was so beautiful that we did not mind the terrain. We were so taken in by our surroundings that nothing could have ruined this day.

Tomorrow we have heard that the weather is also going to be warm and sunny. We are going to stay on the canal trail for as long as it is rideable! We keep getting conflicting information regarding the canal trail. By looking at the maps it appears that we should be able to ride it all the way to the Seine River and then follow the Seine right into Paris. But some people say "Yes, it is possible" and other say "No, it is not possible" I guess that is why it is called adventure cycling! We will just have to find out as we go!

Sorry no pictures yet. These computers are so SLOW and it takes too long to download and it just turns into a frustrating time! But we promise to post them just as soon as we can.

We are having an absolutely fabulous time and can't believe it is almost over but we are also looking forward to seeing everyone and sleeping in a nice soft bed!

Bob & Sherry