Week 3 - Cycling from Sully-Sur-Loire towards Lyon (579.96km)

Day 15 - Sully-Sur-Loire to Arquian (76.1km)

Lou woke up unusually frustrated and sad - we were experiencing so many fantastic stories, but were prioritizing putting in as many miles as we could. It's hard to find a balance, and perfectionism keeps niggling in my mind!

Within the first 2km, Lou fell off her bike while trying to film at the same time as cycling - a skill that I'm glad to announce that I've learnt to master since writing this. We had a great discussion about my inner conflicts, and Joel helped to find a practical solution. Reassuring me it was ok to ask to stop to take shots and that I only needed to communicate this desire in an efficient way. We decided to shout 'PHOTO' anytime we saw something worth capturing, which has worked fabulously so far.

We stopped for lunch at a park beneath the Chateau at Saint-Brisson-sur-Loire. After cruising down a very nice hill to reach this spot, we were distraught to discover we had actually gone the wrong way and would need to climb back up the hill to return to the route. Often the EuroVelo (EV) 6 disappears altogether, but when the EV does have signs, they look very similar to other bike routes around the place and this isn't the first time we have been easily confused.

It was very hot, so at midday we found shelter under a willow tree for another giant baguette sandwich lunch and Louisa had a (fabulous) 3 hour nap while Joel relaxed and planned the next segment of the route. At 4:30 the day had cooled down enough to justify cycling again without getting heatstroke, and we set off again. It was so nice to cycle out of the heat, and we agreed it was worth it to make more of an effort to cycle hard in the morning and evening, rather than slowly through the heat of the day. We drank a lot water today, stopping at 3 cemeteries along the way, where we also put our heads under the taps and soaked our hats before heading off. We were proud to have drunk 6L each today. We've added electrolytes and cordial syrup to our water to keep it interesting, it tastes so much nicer than just warm water and we feel better replacing what we sweat out.

Day 16 - Arquian to Guedelon Castle to Cosne-Cours-Sur-Loire (54.81km)

Waking up to the prospect of another day of putting our sore bottoms on hard saddles made it hard to climb out of our sweaty sleeping bags. Bananas, pain-au-chocolat and 3-day-old greek yogurt that had been further fermenting in a warm pannier gave us 10/10 fuel for the morning.

After thanking our lucky stars that Joel didn't get bitten by a bat last night, we set off for Guedelon castle with great excitement. We had recently watched a really good doco-series on the project (it's available free on youtube if anyones interested), and we were so stoked to learn it wasn't much of a detour off our route to visit it! 30 mins and 8km into our jouryney, Joel realised he had left his hat and sunglasses at our campsite - gutted! Joel was frustrated, but decided it was worth going back to get his things. We quickly found the closest public WC and Joel left his bags with me to travel as fast as he could back to the campsite - it would be an hour round trip for him to get his things and return, but perfect time for me to update the blog :)

Joel saw a route on the map that would take some time off our route by taking side-roads and avoiding the highway. The map did not detail that the side road would turn into a 4WD track that hadn't been travelled on in years. As the track progressively deteriorated, after much indecision if we had made a huge mistake, we comitted to the decision that it was worth pushing on rather than returning to the highway. Some parts of the track were very rough and we had to get off our bikes and push past fallen logs, deep holes, small ponds and brambles. At certain points, Joel felt very grumpy having to go mountain biking with a heavily loaded touring bike. It was still so much better than riding on the highway, and nice to experience a more wild track.

We arrived at Guedelon, sweaty and relieved. Stunned by the beauty and craftmanship, and enjoyed a good 5 hours walking around watching the craftsman work and appreciating the amount of time and skill that had gone into the castle!

Guedelon castle is an archaeological experiment. Using original plans of castle that ended up not being built on the site, an Entrepreneur raised money from the Government to build the castle using only mideival technologies and processes. The result is a small castle being built, surrounded by a camp of workmen who are crafting everything traditionally and on site - quarrying the stone, crafting the nails, harvesting the wood; there's horses with carts made on site, artists creating paint and dye from ochre, a mill to grind flour for the castle bread, a baker in the castle working the oven. It was delightful!

The only downside for us is that everyone there was French - the visitors, and the workers, and they didn't speak any English. We tried our best to muddle through their explanaitions, but we felt isolated with our very limited French so mostly enjoyed just watching the workers. There were also a lot of children, which:

In Lou's words: ''Made the experience rather noisy at times''

Joel: ''The screaming and anarchy of kids somewhat stained the atmosphere''

Despite this, we'd highly recommend a visit if anyone is considering it! Go in the morning, on a weekday.

After wandering around for awhile, we made our way to a stone carving lesson. At the entry to the hut 30 people gathered, mostly children. We were ushered in and given a limestone brick each, a hammer and two chisels - a pointy one, and a flat-head. We were given a group instruction in French on how to carve stone (we were so lost) and after the teacher made the rounds to everyone for further guidance. When he got to us and realised neither spoke each others language, he gave us a few charade motions to correct our apparently dire technique. We were promptly abandoned for the rest of the lesson, which we didn't mind but we think lead to rather unusual results.

Lou quickly jumped in the deep end, creating an extravagantly detailed rooster. Joel went for a classic icon of NZ pride; kiwi. He tried to carve the lazer kiwi, but the lazer crumbled under our amateur chipping so he reverted to just the bird. It was so much fun to do something creative as we don't have a lot of time for art on this trip, so we had a great laugh for the hour.

The castle itself is stunning. A true work of art that is so beautiful, skillfully created with a lot of dedication and knowledge from so many individuals who are masters of their craft. To see how much skill, effort and resources it took to create this little castle, gave us a new appreciation for the greater castles we visit on our trip. It was common for workers to not live longer than the buildings they worked on, and we learnt that many stonemasons and blacksmiths traveled a lot in the past, going from site to site and for many it was an exciting career.

After seeing everything, we left the castle and snacked on some crisps in the car park and made a speedy exit as we wanted to make it to the supermarket before it closed. We were both apprehensive to leave as on the way into Guedelon as we remembered there is a huge hill. Despite it being huge, we were stoked to have made quick work of it and were soon descending for 10's of km at very high speeds, we were so thrilled that the climb was worth it and wearing huge smiles that our legs could rest as we sped along. Weeee!

We are not sure of our top speed, strava isn't very accurate with speed so we're not sure what to say! However, it felt very, very fast.

The descents were quick, exhilarating, slip streaming madness. The uphills between were mad terrible and rather scary. We had drivers over taking us and other vehicles on blind corners, passing cars coming the other way. Someone even overtook us while a car was coming the other way, it was VERY close and Lou screamed in fright. We both thought he was about to hit us, and it was the first time we have someone honk at another driver. We were a bit shaken and really hustled to get back to the safety of the bike lane.

30km of terrifying highway later, we hit the turn off to quieter roads and bike lane. We were running out of time, so Lou stopped at a cemetery to fill on water while Joel raced to beat the clock and purchase dinner before the supermarket closed.

Sore legs after a long day was not the best way to start a sprint to the shops, but luckily enough was in the tank! Rolling in with a 10 to spare till closing, Joel bought the classic pasta with pesto, and 12 budget escargo. The snails were a god send, we were so excited for a French buttery garlic treat!

Just as Joel walked out and the doors were rolled shut, Lou rolled in. We hugged, so relieved and grateful that we had dinner, water and that we were alive and unscathed. We found a huge park alongside the river 3.5km away and close to the EV, and it looked promising for a campsite.

Rolling along under the trees we were both still a bit stunned by the close calls with cars along the highway, passing a wee bar setup in the local park.

Lou shouted something that sounded like 'do you feeling like risking your life?', to which Joel, rather shocked replied 'what?' We quickly discovered that what Lou had initially asked is 'do you want to celebrate living?' to which Joel empathically said yes!

We pulled into the little buvette (tiny bar) and ordered two pints and some goat cheese (localled known as 'chevre crottins' or 'goat droppings') from the very friendly and relaxed bartenders. Sitting down with a cold drink (such a luxury) and small snack, we felt much better about the state of our lives after having a chat and debrief about the whole thing. As the sun set, we pootled onwards deeper into the park to setup camp and cook dinner for the night. We also found a small path leading down to the river so we had a quick wash of our dusty bodies which was a blessing, quickly falling asleep with relief.

Day 17 - Cosne-Cours-Sur-Loire to Garchizy (town north of Nevers) (61.2km)

Woke up and cycled for a couple of hours before picking up lunch and breakfast supplies at a little supermarket. After struggling to find some plain yogurt we settled for a 1kg tub of something that looked similar: 'Blanc Fromage' which translates to 'white cheese' in English. I was quite nervous, since we had no internet connection in the supermarket so couldn't double check if this was yogurt before committing 1.80 euros of our precious life savings. After much deliberation we decided to take the risk.

We continued cruising along the Eurovelo 6, the path mostly smooth and flat alongside canals and under trees. The heat of the day steadily building, we were rather chuffed with ourselves when we overtook a family on eBikes. At 10:30 after much searching for a breakfast spot and not quite finding anything we were satisfied with, we stumbled across an amazingly clear and bubbly creek, down a bank just off the path. Accidental finds like this are a treasure and we felt so accomplished and joyful at getting to sit and watch the dragonflies and damselflies darting over the water. If we had not dared to keep going we never would have found this spot; just the dose of nature that we needed. Nothing on the maps, no signs or directions, just human intuition and bit of good luck!

We devoured our highly nutritious breakfast: croissants filled with leftover nutella, coffee, banana and fromage blanc. What started with unsure curiosity quickly turned to delight - fromage blanc, while technically a cheese, tastes almost identical to Greek yogurt - it's slightly less sweet and much thicker, and some French people apparently spread it on their bread. We have been so impressed with fromage blanc I reckon we'll have this for many brekkies to come! As a big foodie, I'm delighted to find something I haven't had before, and to like it more than something I eat almost everyday! C'est bon!

Climbing up from our spot, we were saddened by a couple who had driven along the path and parked their oversized car off to the side. We saw them come and go in the time we had packed up and put on sun-cream, a 10 minute affair. On these paths this is technically illegal, as well as being frustrating for all users of the path other than them.

After some good rants about what makes us wish we had the power to change more about the way things are done, we arrived in the next bigger town along the route, La Charite Sur-Loire. Just before the bridge into the town, we were scouting for cafes and toilets as usual and over the next 2 hours heard and saw 3 teenagers on two-stroke dirt bikes revving and riding laps around the town. Again, annoyingly, this is a fairly common sight in French cities we've visited so far - we believe it must be a 'cool' thing to do, but its so loud when they pass that you have to stop talking since its too noisy until they pass. Only the 'tabac' (coffee and cigarette) cafe was open nearby, so we decided to stop on the church steps underneath an archway for some lunch.

Cutting our bread, and layering our sandwiches is a lovely ritual and we enjoyed people laughing and smiling at us, saying bon-apetit. It's unclear if they're laughing because they think we were cheap or that they think its a great idea to make a sandwich rather than buy one! It was a great place to sit and watch people, dogs would come by and say hello, travelers would say bonjour.

We were saddened again when we continued to watch the little, small lane lined with beautiful stores quickly transform from a place full of conversations and people relaxing with drinks and meals, to being a noisy and stressful street with cars regularly coming through. We questioned why this one road hadn't been pedestrianised - it was lined with businesses and people trying to enjoy themselves on the slim pavement, there was a great road around the side of the little town, no parking was available in the middle, and it ruined the atmosphere and enjoyment of the people who were there.

Each car sucked life from this wee street, and people were pushed from sitting outside to inside, and would walk quickly along the road to get away from the cars, and wince when the motorbikes would rev on another round of the town.

We are both huge advocates for increasing areas that are safe, attractive and interesting for pedestrians and cyclists, combined with good urban planning and design - it's such a nicer experience for all people; drivers, pedestrians, cyclists, the environment and for businesses - from cities, towns and villages, we have seen evidence of people who are far more inclined to spend more money and time in places that don't have lots of noisy and dangerous vehicles flying past them regularly.

We cycled onwards to our final wild-camping spot, a sweet place by the river. It was tricky to get too, following the heavily trodden footprints of past people but the thick sand was hard pushing with the bikes. We ended up in the most private spot we've had so far, 3m from the river. It was blissful to relax and camp without worrying about chaining the bikes up and shifting our valuables into the tent as religiously, and we enjoyed a swim in the river and cooked up another dinner of pasta

After dusk Lou decided to have a quick stretch, which I haven't done in a while. I stupidly went too fast into a side twist, and felt one of my muscles connecting the top of my hip to my lower back give out. I quickly lay flat on my back squinting in pain, breathing rapidly and my ears ringing loudly. Cursing myself for my stupidity, I continued to slowly stretch on my back very gently, hoping to prevent it seizing up although it was still very painful. When I felt good enough, I limped back to the tent and Joel kindly helped setup my roll mat. I couldn't twist, sit up or move from squat to standing without pain, and I felt so frustrated and embarrassed that I had injured myself.

Day 18 - Garchizy to Nevers to Fleury-Sur-Loire (65.1km)

Woke up after having a rough sleep, waking each time my body ached to turn. My hip was very sore, and I was worried I wouldn't be able to cycle the next day. I tentatively got up the next day, slowly easing my body around each movement of rolling up my sleeping mat and bag. I was definitely better, probably about 70% ok - I was relieved, it must have been a twinge rather than pulled it. We slowly got up and wheeled our bikes back across the sand, and set up for the day. We noticed a small pond full of life, where there were many tiny splashes in the water each time we passed - frogs! This small, 3m squared pond we guessed house about 50 frogs. We both sat down, stayed quiet and still and watched carefully for them to reemerge. With each minute, another frog would pop its head up from the under the thick cover of algae - we found it adorable and so exciting to spot them. One of them made a small 'beep' noise as it appeared, the cutest thing ever!

We continued towards Nevers, crossing a 150m long canal bridge that had only enough room for one person comfortably, two people if you squeezed past. It was a long journey across, squeezing past over people, carefully maneuvering our bikes to the side with our huge panniers taking up an embarrassing amount of space. I was wincing with each jarring stop-start movement. My damaged hip and back hurt so much each time I lifted my leg over my bike, or twisted to let people pass. I was feeling very down-trodden by then end, and after a break with a stretch to try and relieve the pain I had a small cry. Joel was so kind and supportive, helping me to feel better and we discussed how we could make it easier for me to ask for things (like regular stretching so I don't damage myself as easily again) - something I struggle with, since I don't like to appear needy, bossy or selfish. He reassured me of ways I could ask for things I need in a healthy way, and I came away feeling much physically and emotionally better.

Cycling into Nevers across another bridge, we noticed that it was surprisingly dead - we had forgotten that it was a Sunday, and it seemed that everyone was out cycling and of course, pretty much every business was shut. Even in this large city of 34,000 people, the big supermarkets are closed by 1pm, and aside from the language barrier, this is probably the biggest culture shock that we've had so far. We keep forgetting what day it is and then finding ourselves with no food and having to survive on whatever random food is lying around at the bottom of our bags until the next day! Last Sunday we were lucky to find a pile of potatos by the side of the road - this time, we were lucky enough to find a supermarket run by a Turkish family to gather a few supplies from - it was a bulk store, and we were grateful that we had organised an 'emergency meal' - Uncle Bens rice and lentils.

We still were able to visit something that we were most curious to see, and the reason we had come into Nevers at all - the 'immaculate' Saint Bernadette - a preserved catholic saint from the 1800's who's body can be seen in . The story goes that she grew up in a poor family, and was sick with cholera as a child and had poor health as a result. While out with some friends she had a vision and saw 'a lady in white' who spoke to her about praying, penance, and to come back every day for the next fortnight. She had more visions each of these days, and after one, the nearby creek turning from muddy to clear. She became a nun and died aged 35 from poor health, and she was mummified and declared a saint by the catholic church, and placed in a crystal case where millions of people visit her each year. We sat in the chapel pews with other pilgrims who had come to see her, and it was a quiet and bizarre feeling to be seeing this perfectly preserved nun, lying down like sleeping beauty. Some children appeared and started screaming so we made a quick exit, and made and ate (yet more) sandwiches in the courtyard before heading to the only bakery cafe in town that was open to charge our electronics and keep our social media up to date.

Cycled along the canal for another couple of hours - we were surprised at how emotionally deflating it was, as both the canal and scenery are very constant so it becomes visually rather repetitive, and makes it hard to judge how long or far you've been cycling for. It was really tough looking for a campsite too, there was such a long stretch of nothing except canal and thick woodlands full of brambles. Luckily our spirits were lifted by spotting the odd wildlife - a swan, lots of napping ducks, and something that we thought were beavers but are actually a type of introduced semi-aquatic rodent called a 'Coypu/Ragoudon', used for fur in the 19th century and then escaped/released. After forgetting their real name after 5 minutes, we nicknamed them croutons.

We were just about to resign ourselves to camping on the side of the bike path when our last village we were going to consider camping at not only had a lovely little patch for camping in, but also a little restaurant open! We were overjoyed, having spent about 20 minutes discussing how much we would love nothing more than a cold beer and how hard it is to find anywhere willing to be open on a Sunday - let alone in the middle of nowhere!

Day 19 - Fleury-Sur-Loire to Decize to Nature Reserve (Loire Bourguignonne)(33.65km)

Woke up late - it was so hot, usually we camp in the shade but being in the sun it was quickly very hot and all our stuff was very damp from the condensation of sleeping next to the canal.

Cycled to Decize and quickly left again after picking up supplies from the supermarket - there wasn't a lot to see, and the main street was full of cars. Lou tried to get some cream for her rash but after standing in a line that wasn't moving at the pharmacy for 10 minutes, gave up. For anyone who is squeamish about bodily functions, I apologise, but will explain anyway; when Lou is sweaty for a long time without a shower, she gets a red rash on her belly from a fungus that normally lives on our skin as part of our microbiome. We wash roughly every 3 days, so I wasn't surprised they had turned up again. However we find it hilarious, since in French the word for 'fungus' is the same as the word for 'mushrooms' (champignons). The cream I ended up getting is 'for the treatment of little mushrooms' which we find equally hilarious and adorable. I'm glad to say its working and my little mushrooms are slowly retreating.

Cycled to the Natural de la loire bourguigenonne, which had the river running alongside its banks just before the town of Charrin. Arriving at 1pm, the hottest part of the day, we loved swimming in the refreshingly cool river and swimming up and down the banks watching magnificent damselflies flitting around, making soft flapping noises, dragonflies being tested in their mating ritual of hanging on for dear life. We saw two lizards, and two frogs - one of which Joel didn't see until he had thrown his towel to the bank and it hopped away, aghast. We gave our clothes a thorough rinse which helped them immensely, and ate more sandwiches. It was so nice we decided to stay and setup camp, relaxing for the afternoon rather than risk the more industrial looking wildcamping spot that we could reach with another 2 hours cycling.

We enjoyed a second swim at sunset together, and it was so blissful. The river is slow but surprisingly strong, so it was quite nice to go upstream and float down, sections of swimming against the river and using different muscles. Little did we know that this would be our last river swim for foreseeable future.

All our tech was running out of battery, and we had been feeling frustrated that we were constantly looking for cafes to keep our things charged up. We decided to buy a solar charger to pickup in 2 days when we reached Lyon, and we're both so looking forward to being able to be even more self-sufficient, saving time for cycling and capturing footage!

Shortly after setting up our tent, a group of about 12 middle aged party goers turned up, bringing their 5 dogs between them who roamed the area freely. They were friendly towards us but kept to themselves, and after hearing them sing happy birthday we guessed there was a celebration and didn't want to disturb. The party continued until 11pm, it was a bit annoying but also not that bad and we felt rude to ask them to be quiet. There wasn't any music just lots of chatter and laughter, and we had to keep an eye on the dogs as they were running around and toileting close to us, and we didn't want to wake up and step in anything. Gratefully we fell asleep after they left, and we fell asleep the peaceful sounds of owls and crickets.

Day 20 - Nature Reserve (Loire Bourguignonne) to Bourbon-Lacey to Paray-Le-Monial (73.72km)

Cycled through the rain to Bourbon-Lacy - a couple of times we passed by the wrong turnoff, and luckily Joels phone had enough charge for us to navigate through. One of the most hilarious ones was the sign was there, but a huge truck had parked in front of it so we couldn't see it. Classic.

We cycled past 6 other bike packers which was lovely, all smiled and said bonjour. One was particularly jolly, towing a trailer, fully dressed in yellow and sporting two safety flags. The road was rather undulating, lots of small ups and downs, and at one of the end of the ups a man on a bicycle carrying a huge basket full of blackberries (mures) cheered us on which was so endearing, gave us such a smile for the rest of the ride! I'm also a huge fan of blackberries, and I was so happy to see someone who is as enthusiastic about blackberries as I am!

Stopping in a creative-cafe, half craft-store with some tables tucked to the side, and we shared a couple of coffees and a sugar crepe to justify us, yet again, plugging in and sitting there for 4 hours charging and using the wifi to backup all our photos. We have become a bit exasperated with having this a regular requirement, and we swear that the mains power in France is weaker than back home, since it takes almost twice as long for our things to charge and couldn't wait for our solar panel.

Cycling onwards it began to drizzle as we carried along the canals. Along the way we noticed an increasing number of slugs; hundreds of them, drawn out by the rain, had decided it was time to cross the path to the other side. We began weaving and dodging as best as we could, but a few fatalities unfortunately occurred. Other animals along the path we saw was a criminally spiky caterpillar, and a crayfish. Lou screamed (again) seeing the crayfish and thinking it was a huge spider and slammed on the brakes. The cray raised its pincers in fright before falling on its back, its little legs kicking in the air. We turned around to get a better look at the culprit and were amazed to see this animal, on a bike path in the middle of France. Google told us that it's an introduced Louisiana freshwater crayfish, first in Spain by farmers hoping to increase their financial situation and they slowly spread through Europe. This crayfish now exists on every continent except Antartica and Australia. Unsure of the quality of the canal water we decided not to add the little dude to our menu, and continued on.

We stopped to camp in a discreet corner of a rather gloomy park in an industrial town. It was still raining and drizzly, and we were both feeling rather sad and homesick.

I'm sorry grandma, but there's something I have to talk about, and that is the disgusting lack of toilets in France. As a woman, this is particularly concerning as it was more of a challenge for us to go to the bathroom, and far more dangerous - it is very 'obvious' when we are going to the bathroom, and it feels rather vulnerable and embarrassing.

In urban areas, parks, and popular spots to camp in, it is common to see human waste, toilet paper, rubbish and cigarette butts. The few French people that we have asked about it have just smiled and say it's fine, just take toilet paper (and hand sanitizer, and soap - even if you find a public loo, it usually isn't equipped with anything other than a sink and toilet) with you wherever you go and find a nice bush. People don't take their toilet paper home with them either, and you always know to be cautious whenever you see some TP around. Sometimes it's blown in the wind, so the bush it's on might actually be 2m away from the dropzone.

Day 21 - Paray-le-Monial to Culles-les-Roches (85.4km)

We joke a lot about the fine line that exists between looking adventurous and looking homeless. And we are definitely starting to look, and smell, homeless. We can tell by the expressions the locals give us when we walk into a bakery or a supermarket. A smile, but also slightly raised eyebrows.

We consistently see other bike tourers on the road, most heading in the opposite direction to us. Most have nice shiny, clean panniers, freshly washed hair and clothes. They look like they've showered in the last 3 days. We do not. We are covered in sweat, dust and the grease from the bikes, Louisa's legs especially since her gear sets don't have a cover on them. Sometimes we're jealous of eBikes and how fast and easily they move, but we're proud of how we're making our way on this journey entirely self-powered.

Hitting the bike lane again after spending 40km without one, feels so amazing. As soon as we arrive, there was a perfect park to - it's blissful to camp somewhere without noise pollution, the risk of seeing random people or traffic passing by!

I questioned my love for Joel on the hill climbs - he kept promising me that there were 'not too many more'. And yet, there seemed to be an infinite number of short, steep hills. Fun to go up and down but, and we both became very sweaty and out of breath pushing our bikes on their lowest gears. It was so novel and exciting to experience something other than flat, and canals. To have views and swooping declines was the best.

First efficient day! We were packed up and cycling by 7:50am, and both super stoked that we feel we're getting into the hang of this. Stopped at a cemetery and had more nutella croissants, banana and coffee. Even though the food and architecture here is amazing, we're starting to feel rather tired and looking forwards to being in the next country due to:

- The vast quantity of poo in public (dog and human)

- We miss having conversations in English, it feels rather isolating not being able to have good conversations

- Some drivers are crazy and we fear for our lives. They drive on the bike lanes :( even when there's a no driving sign.

At 10:30pm Joel heard yelling coming from outside the tent - Louisa snoozed on, blissfully oblivious. Joel guessed it sounded like a man calling his dog. The next day a man, with a voice similar to last nights yells, appeared asking if we had seen a white dog. We said we had sadly not. He left with a look of despair and disappointment, and continued to walk slowly, calling his dog.

We had an efficient trip to E.Leclerc; we make a plan before we go in now and only buy things we need otherwise it can take an hour to get through the place. The cycle was half and half bike lanes and on little country lanes, short and steep climbs and descents meandering through countryside and little villages.

We cycle for another 30 mins to the start of the next bike lane at the edge of another picturesque town on the edge of the hill, and camped in a really nice, very quiet little nature area with picnic benches that marked the start of a 'fossil walk'. We demolished a goat cheese and spinach lasagna, and Joel was sad when he burnt his hand on the teabag while making tea.d. The combination caused the chain to jam in the gear sets, and we were covered in grease by the time we'd fixed it.

We cycle for another 30 mins to the start of the next bike lane at the edge of another picturesque town on the edge of the hill, and camped in a really nice, very quiet little nature area with picnic benches that marked the start of a 'fossil walk'. We demolished a goat cheese and spinach lasagne, and Joel was sad when he burnt his hand on the teabag while making tea.

Day 22 (78.5km)

During the night Lou's inflatable mattress deflated. She inflated it once more, and it deflated again with 10 minutes. Unsure what was wrong, I accepted my fate and slept on a flat mattress. We both had a pretty good sleep, and I actually quite like sleeping on the ground, and only woke up a couple of times in the night more from weird dreams. I blame all the delicious cheese we've been eating lately. My sciatica (a hip nerve that runs down your leg) usually becomes inflamed and aches for the next day after I do this, so I limped a bit the next day.

Upon packing up the tent, we realised it had been set on top of a tiny hawthorn sapling. These little bushes have spikes on them when young and are very tough, so we quickly found that it had put a neat little hole in the tent floor and Lou's mattress. It certainly wasn't the end of the world, and we could easily fix it with patches that we have on hand which was comforting.

The cycle today was mostly really nice bikelanes along treelined, flat paths that replaced what used to be a rail line through this region. It was a lot of fun riding over one very tall and old train bridge, all to ourselves! We also got to ride through a 1.3km tunnel that had been converted from trains to bikes, it was an old stone one with water dripping down the sides, and very cool.

We stopped in Macon to charge up our devices in a very relaxed and modern cafe which was so nice, and enjoyed an iced coffee - it's surprisingly hard to find these in France so we were very grateful they served them! A busy town, we grabbed some food from the Lidl supermarket, and Lou pulled a muscle in her back trying to shift her bike into a better balanced position. I cursed myself for moving too fast, for feeling in a rush constantly, and for injuring myself as a result. I struggled feeling pretty bummed out for an hour or so for the next cycle stretch while I wrestled with my inner critic, feeling very sore and useless since my body hurt so much, I couldn't move my bike without Joel helping me. Really felt my reflection of not rushing as much to prevent damage to my body being drilled in a bit further. We were also sad since we realised we had left the city without visiting the 'Foundling Wheel' like we had planned to with all the distractions. The wheel is actually a barrel outside the old hospital, where in the middle ages, parents would anonymously put their child in the barrel as a way of orphaning them, to be taken care of by the hospital or local church.

The cycle out of Macon was very frightening, an incredibly busy 3km stretch of highway with cars going very fast and not seeming to be bothered about moving over to give us a bit of room until we moved onto a side road. We vowed to avoid highways at all costs, even if it means cycling much bigger distances. Without protection from a bike lane, they feel so dangerous and we both hate putting our lives in the hands of strangers who could easily make a mistake. We put our faith in Mapy.cz, our favourite navigation app, and followed it down a very rocky side road that followed the Saone river all the way down to Lyon. At least it was flat and quiet, and we only saw 2 cars the entire time.

Cycling for 3 hours, we finally found a small campsite by the river shaded by trees. A small feral cat stalked our site for the evening, but didn't bother us so we didn't feel too bothered by him either. We were delighted to swim in the Saone, cooling off and washing our bodies and clothes is such a luxury. A barge carrying sand went past, and Lou became so distracted that she tossed her clothes to the bank and didn't realise her tshirt had slipped from the side and sunk. We searched in the shallows for an hour for it but couldn't find it. Sad but also quietly accepting that it was gone, Lou reflected on being more careful in future with her belongings. We patched up Lou's mattress and enjoyed an early night, dearly looking forward to arriving in Lyon tomorrow for a shower and bed.

FYI! We'll be putting more energy into capturing and editing footage, as we are very keen to create a video(s) of our trip. As we only have so many hours in a day, there will be slightly less info in future our blog posts while we're on the road, but we will still keep it updated and regular! :) Thanks for reading and big hugs, Lou & Joel