Not wild, but scenic

After a particularly grueling day yesterday, which ended up in a simple and serviceable campground, we set out without too much glide in our stride. As we tootled along, waiting for the right village for second breakfast, Liv mentioned the lack of wild and scenic rivers in Europe.  While the rivers may not be undammed, I had to say that this one is particularly scenic. 

Again,  if we weren't traveling this slowly, on this particular means of transportation, we would miss all the things that take place over the side of the bridges.

It's not all downhill with tailwind, occasional climbs with overshifting issues crop up to keep us on our toes too.

Which always makes for a more meaningful second breakfast. 

Nothing like some baguette sandwiches (chicken today with a light horseradish mayo and crudites) followed by a chocolate eclair (chocolate mousse filling we were pleased to find), raspberry torte,  and huge brownie. Eaten under a stone bridge from 1883 along the river. That's a challenging way to tackle the final 20 miles, I assure you. 

After another bike swap so the kids could ride together, we pulled into Vendome and a fine campground located very close to the center of town. The kids are thrilled to have some wifi again and we enjoyed a fun Turkish meal as a change of pace from our camp food. 

In an attempt to quell the possibility of an exhaustion rebellion, we will have a short day tomorrow and see what we can do to find a campground worth a layover day soon.  Back to back to back starts to add up after a while, so we will keep trying to make it fun. Both kids are holding up well and continue to be great travel companions. My French continues to apparently be serviceable, with fewer conversations starting with a carefully formed question that is responded to without any  compression on my part. We aren't discussing philosophy, but we are getting what we need. I  was mystified this afternoon when I offered (in French) a French velo tourist couple the use of our phone charging block and adapter. She simply responded (in French) "great, thanks. " I  couldn't believe I had gotten the concept across taking only one swing at it, with minimal hand gestures. Progress! 

Thanks, Dave