September 7, 2021
Lussac - Confolens
Ann's sister, Kerry leads a successful on-line exercise group every morning. We have been avid participants for over a year. Although we often miss the official workout here in France, we remembered that Tuesday is "Legs' Day" and with 610 m of climbing, today we certainly worked the legs.
Luggage adventure for the day: At the end of a steep downhill we turned off onto a small trail and on the first bump, Ann's sandal fell out of pouch on the side of her pannier which Steve carries. As we stopped to pick it up she noticed that the other one was already gone! Ann immediately had visions of shopping for fancy heeled sandals but Steve realized we had missed a turn and that we had to go back a 100 meters up the hill. Back we went and there was the first sandal in the middle of the road, zut, no new fancy French shoes for Ann!
Today's ride was strikingly beautiful, along the River Vienne, with quaint villages and quiet roads that had us riding mostly under a cool canopy of trees on yet another HOT day. Along the banks people were fishing, resting, and enjoying the fine weather. Talking later we both remarked about being drawn in to the scene of an elderly lady and a younger woman, maybe her daughter, picnicking in the most divine spot just in the shade of a tree, and only a few feet from the river. We wondered if this was their family's private land and a place they often came to, or were they just travelling by and found this enchanting spot to stop. We both wished that we had stopped to talk to them. We agreed that next time we would, when we come across a compelling scene, especially here in France where we speak the language.
We chatted with a group of cyclists from Royan on swish road bikes with a luggage van and it made us feel young when two of them specifically said how they had toured fully loaded in their youth. We also saw several other cycle tourists as this seems to be an area that is well-known for biking. Cycling the hills here is challenging though, as Ann's new injury will attest: a sore thumb from the constant shifting for the ups and downs!
Confolens is a beautiful and touristy town and we noticed a few foreign license plates. This was our best campground so far as we had a terrific site right by the river, looking out at the water falling over a dam with a very old mill building on the opposite bank.
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Today's ride: 55 km (34 miles)
Total: 364 km (226 miles)
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