Overall, we have had very good weather on this trip. Not too hot, but warm enough to wear shorts and not much rain. But today, it started raining when we left our chambre d’hotel, paused raining briefly while we ate lunch, and then resumed raining until about 3pm. For the most part the rain was not hard, and the ride was lovely following a canal all day, so still a great day.
Of greater concern than the rain was the fact that we failed all day to find an open boulangerie. We found plenty of closed boulangeries, as well as closed fromageries and closed epeceries and closed tabacs. We already knew that many places close early on Sunday and close on Mondays and on holidays, but apparently we need to add Tuesdays to the list of closed days as well. With my pantry running empty, and no open boulangeries to be found, we finally found an open kebab joint and decided it was kebab or nothing. The place sold a large variety of kebab concoctions. They had kebab sandwiches and kebab paninis. They had kebab galettes that looked more like a burrito. They had kebab tacos that looked suspiciously like the kebab galette. And for the purist, you could get a pile of kebab on a plate with fries. I got the kebab panini, and it was very good.
Shortly before we ate, the rain stopped and when we finished it started raining harder than ever. Having successfully waited out the dry weather, we resumed riding in the rain. At 3pm the rain stopped, the sun came out, and it was a beautiful last 10 miles of the day.
Most of the day looked like this. Beautiful canal lined with double rows of old sycamore trees that went on for mile after mile after mile. The bike trail was paved the whole day. Even with the rain and amazing ride.
Emergency wardrobe change due to weather miscalculation. Despite Donna's obsessing about the weather and what to wear, she still must make adjustments.
This could be a nice spot to eat out of the rain. And there was a boulangerie and several other stores in the square, all closed. We rode on to the next town.
