Ceri: To us, this was the Darién gap! There were no trains between Gien and Beaugency so we had to come up with a different plan. Neil would cycle halfway with me then cycle back to collect the camper van, while I would carry on to Beaugency. What could possibly go wrong?
We made an early start due to a large race which had been organised based from the campsite and drove the van to a safe spot to start cycling . Not far along the journey a very kind Frenchman caught us up waving Neil’s phone at us !!! Neil admitted he thought he’d heard something drop but didn’t think much of it. Of all days to lose his phone, we needed our phones to coordinate meeting up later on . Huge thanks to the kind French man.
The day was getting hotter as we cycled along the river as far as St Benoit when Neil turned to cycle back to the campsite to collect the van. For me it was another beautiful ride watching the cormorants and seagulls arguing over the river. The day heated up to over 30° and people were enjoying kayaks an along the river. Orleans wasn’t much fun to cycle through as the sign posts were either missing or were misleading. The roads were often wide and difficult to cycle with very busy traffic. Coming out the other side, the signs resumed and the Loire a Velo continued easily. It was a long day but still enjoyable and we reunited successfully at a beautiful campsite on the river.
Ceri's Blog with Neil 