Bike: Orleans to Baulne, 52 miles, 1100 feet of climb
Accommodation: Maisonnette a la campagne (Airbnb); host Elodie. Studio condo with terrace, wifi, washer, quiet area. Nice older one-bedroom apartment at back of host's house with private entrance from garden patio. Large, comfortable, furnishings a bit dated but with thoughtful touches like throws on the couch.
We planned to get started a little early because we had a longish way to go and were not sure what the route would be like. While I cleaned up the apartment, Ken went down to the courtyard to oil our chains and pump up the tires. Before long, he was back with my front tire, asking for a little help. He blew the seal and needed help pumping to get it reseated. We worked on it for a while with no success, and finally gave up. Our options were to take the tire to a nearby bike shop and get it resealed, or put in an inner tube. Ken opted for the inner tube, and we finished up our chores and got on our way only about a half hour later than planned.
We cut through part of Orleans to get to the cycle route, and then wound through neighborhoods and suburbs for several miles.
We had left the Loire a Velo and were venturing north toward Paris on designated cycle routes along D roads, which vary from narrow country lanes with almost no traffic, to two-lane highways with aggressive trucks and speeding cars. We had some of both.
Just outside Orleans, we were supposed to follow a gravel cycle path through a forest or park for several miles. We turned off the busy highway at the designated point, and found ourselves at what appeared to be a medical facility with sprawling grounds and a security gate. The gate opened, and we went on through, but then we heard someone yelling "Arret!" behind us, so we stopped and went back and were told we had to go around. We ended up going around the entire gravel-path area, about five miles along the side of the highway in a designated bike lane. After another five or so miles on a slightly smaller highway without a bike lane, we finally turned onto a country road with little traffic.
All day, we watched rain clouds gathering and passing around us, but we managed to avoid getting more than a few sprinkles on us. At a couple of points, the road was wet and full of puddles for miles. If Ken hadn't blown my tire in the morning, we would have gotten caught in some downpours. You just never know what kind of luck is going to come your way!
We arrived in Baulne during rush hour and had to go through a lot of traffic congestion owing to road construction. We found a Morrocan restaurant not too far from the apartment and thought about walking or biking back to it, but the rain was supposed to continue throughout the evening and we decided not to push our luck. About a mile before our apartment, we stopped at an Aldi and got supplies for dinner.
It was just starting to rain when we pushed through the garden gate and checked in to our apartment. Only one more day, and we will be back in Paris.
