Last night I was looking forward to today. Was a chance to get ahead and break what would have been a nightmare tomorrow in two.

It turned out like that, but not without being the toughest day by far so far.
Partially due to the weather, it had tipped it down all night and although the tent was solid, I hadn’t slept brilliantly. Mainly fear of the frogs and of TZ drowning, he was chained to a tree about 2 foot from the bank of the Loiret ( a small tributary where the campsite was). But also down to the wind – it was raining on and off all day, first time since the trip began, but the wind was in my face all day.

We made very heaven weather of it, barely getting over 10mph. And what I thought would be an easy 35 was turning into a nightmarish 55, mainly down to the mental EV6 which literally goes all over the shot, great if you’re feeling leisurely, but not in these conditions. Sully sur Loire chateau was a highlight in an otherwise miserable day.

My legs weren’t great either, probably as a result of yesterday. And to too it all off we had our first mechanical – chain off whilst changing down in the front…managed to un-clip in time but was a bit raging.

I chose Briare as our destination today as it has a famous canal bridge over the Loire. Designed by Effiel it really opened up parts of Central France and is still considered an engineering marvel.

Briare Pont Canal

Not much else to say on Briare, it could be lovely, and maybe the weather ruined it, but I found it a bit banjo playing compared to the other places I’ve seen so far. Sancerre tomorrow, so having an uber early one so I’m refreshed and ready for some nice wine on my penultimate day.

Oh. We saw a llama.

Cheers