Bike: 25 miles, 870 feet of climb
Accommodation: La Bonne Note (Booking.com). Triple room in attic, wifi, no a/c, outdoor pool. Extra services include woodfire pizza, beverages, and desserts in pizzeria on the property for about 10E each; breakfast for additional 10E per person
A big breakfast on the terrace at our guest house got us off to a good start. It was another hot day. About 15 miles into the ride, we biked up the impressive approach to the Sleeping Beauty Chateau in Usse. We thought about touring the chateau, but settled for taking some photos; cold drinks and lunch were more appealing at that point.
Konur was looking forward to our first night with a pool. When we got to Chinon, we found our room in a large walled stone complex outside of town. Our host let us in through the front gate, helped us store our bikes in a garage, and showed us to our attic room and the pool.
Konur collapsed on the bed in tears. He has been treating plantar warts for months. They are almost gone, but in all this time, he has not been able to go swimming because of them. After waiting for almost two weeks to get to a pool in France, he suddenly remembered his warts.
We reassured him that we could put duct tape and socks on his feet and he could go in the pool, but he was sure he should not. I suggested that he text his mom and see what she had to say. He did, she said to put on his sandals and go swimming, he did. Moms always know best.
We all went swimming. It felt soooo good.
I struggled with the wifi for about an hour. Ken and I needed to renew our phone cards, but the wifi in our room kept dropping out. Konur wanted to stay in the room and read. Ken and I went down to the courtyard looking for a better wifi signal. Our host opened the pizzeria for us and suggested we move in there and use its network.
Pizzeria?! There’s a woodfire pizza restaurant on the premises. We bought cold drinks, Ken went and got Konur, we ordered pizza and dessert, and I was finally able to get our phone cards recharged.
A good ending to a good day.
 |
| About lunchtime, we were hot and hungry, and we biked right through a market in a small town. As soon as we smelled fresh roasting chicken, we just had to stop, buy half of one, and eat it. Mmmm. |
 |
| The best part of the day was jumping in the pool. |
 |
| After our swim, we hand washed our bike clothes and hung them on the railing outside our little attic room. |
