Morning breakfast was a quick cup of juice and toast. Thank you Valerie, off I go for another day of cycling in the middle of this beautiful country. Quick check on the tyre pressures with my finger and thumb. All good !
Ducal Palace of Nevers...
For more info on Saint Bernadette go here...
http://www.sainte-bernadette-soubirous-nevers.com/en/
Never did a town look so nice early in the morning... (see what I did there)
Beautiful morning....
Inspired by my off road capabilities I ventured off the D roads again onto lesser known ones..
Stopped at a lovely little village called Dornes where I found another branch of one of my favourite shops.. it is called Patisserie. They must be a really successful chain store as they are everywhere in France. Bought some apple tarts and fresh croissants and quiche. Nom nom nom . very tasty !! There was a market in town that day selling all sorts of fresh food and produce. It must have been local farmers as the stalls were full of fresh vegetables/fruit and even live chickens/geese and pigs. You could come along and choose the animal and buy it and take it away with you. Fantastic. I was tempted but I made do with the cakes. I sat in the local bar where I ordered my usual morning brew. 2 cups of coffee please !!! The waitress looked at me with a strange look as they usually did to see where my co-cyclist was hiding. Yes, they are both for me. My first caffeine hits of the day.
Today I got to the infamous point where your mind either says "give up and get home" or "you can do this, carry on"...... HALF WAY !!!
Moulins.. really really nice place !! Coco Chanel apparently grew up here and used to sing in a bar before she learned how to make clothes !!
Crossed the Allier river to catch the fast train of the D2009 south for 20 miles on fast flat undulating roads. Loved this bit of France, nice little tailwind too.
Beautiful countryside.
I took this picture of this house as behind me is the stunning view above overlooking the Auvergne and River Allier. Just in case I came into some money....
Came into a lovely town called Saint-Pourçain-sur-Sioule.
Went to have a look for the source of some music playing and found a courtyard with some young people just sat with a ghetto blaster (showing my age there) enjoying the midday sun.
A guy walked over to me, who was obviously a keen cyclist as when he got near he did not look at me but was down on his hands and knees looking hard at my bike and inspecting the set up. It's like when you meet a hairdresser and they look at your hair or a car salesman will always look at your car before you. hehe
Luckily he spoke perfect English and we chatted for a while. He told me the area was very big on cycling and yes he was a very keen cyclist too. He insisted I have some food and drink with him but I was pretty sure I would never have got to tonight's destination if I took up this offer. Great guy, allo and au revoir. Shame we don't have more time..
Biozat.
Now the day started to become hillier and hillier, say hello to the Massif Central. It will become the most beautiful but painful companion for the next 3 days and would remain in my memory for years to come.
More info here.... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Massif_Central
OK, I have to confess that I fell for the spell of the big golden arches, but it was for 5 very good reasons at that point....
- I was really really hungry.
- I needed free wi-fi to let Debby know I was OK.
- I needed free water top ups.
- I needed the toilet and a cafe that allowed bikes inside.
- I was really really hungry !!!
All that hard work on my fitness was gone, back to the diet and keep fit regime tomorrow I promise.
This bike is so photogenic !! Poser!!
Wished I had packed the picnic basket....
Gorgeous part of France, I was so in awe of this area, the pictures really don't do it justice. Not a car in sight for miles and miles too.
This was the last picture of the day at the top of a massive climb up into the village of Vic-le-Comte not far from my next airbnb in the town of Parent. I was feeling totally knackered by the end of this day and later found the stats to show why, although only 112 miles ridden, 6000 feet of climbing and that last mile and a half up to Vic-le-Comte village was an average of 6% which was a killer at times getting to nearer 12%. The next 3 days made today seem tame in comparison but I didn't know this at the time... !!!!
The town and the whole area near Parent was starting to feel different, more like a low Alpine town with mountains surrounding with a few log cabins and more of a rural feel. It is a lovely area of France. There were alot of big mountains in the distance south of where I was which made me feel excited and nervous at the same time. There weren't going to be many flat bits for the next couple of days so I had to get an early night, fed and sort myself out as the time was getting quite late.
I stopped to have one last check of my map to make sure I was going to the right address in Parent and the weight of the bike, my effort up the hill and as I was not on level ground made me topple over and I fell hard on the road. Why is it that you never do this when nobody is around. A group of people who heard and witnessed my embarrassment ran over to help me. What an idiot I felt. They were lovely and obviously thought I had keeled over from the sight of me !! haha. Pardon, excuse et moi, I am English. No problem I am OK but maybe need a bandage for my embarrassment or a plaster for my awkwardness. I was fine except for some bruises and gashes. My main concern was the bike which was A1 . Result !!
I eventually got to Parent and the home of Francine at around 8:30 PM !!!
The sun was just setting on the horizon. My host spoke a little bit of English and we managed to sort out the clothes wash (Thank you so much Francine) and she offered me some food as well, I insisted I pay her though which she refused. She brought out an entire french loaf, some parma ham, and a bowl of grapes/apples and a whole roll of camembert cheese. I ate the lot. My room was in the downstairs bedroom. The house was an upside down arrangement with the living space upstairs as they were so high up and had stunning views across the mountains. They could sit upstairs looking at the view. I had access to the garden from my room so sat watching the sun go down whilst shovelling camembert, ham and bread into my mouth.
I think the second I had eaten, washed, checked the bike, rang home and drank a litre of water I crashed out for the night and slept like a le log !!! ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ
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