We gladly left Orleans, a far bigger city than we had hoped.  But one benefit of our brief stay was a map of bike trails.  There is a plan in the works for a bike trail from the Atlantic to Budapest!  Only pieces of it are finished and the map we picked up shows only scattered bits, but it was added to our new Michelin maps and we left feeling more confident than ever.

We did indeed find some wonderful lanes and a few “pistes cycleables”, thus avoiding most traffic and enjoying quaint towns, small orchards, and fields of corn and grape vines.  Though we were happy to find some of the bicycle-only paths we don’t recommend relying exclusively on either the maps or the posted signs.  The latter in particular were often confusing and downright wrong.  Our GPS came through with flying colors and has become the final arbiter when faced with conflicting directions.

 

Our second accident of the trip came on a quiet dirt path along the river.  The front tire caught on a ridge of earth in the middle of the path and we both tumbled off.  However, the soft ground and our slow pace at the time meant no damage to us or the bike.

 

We ate well all day (biking is such a good excuse):  patisserie delectables for breakfast, lunch outdoors in the square in Bergeancy, and an elegant dinner with a great wine we had never heard of (the varietal was Platine).