As clouds moved in from the West, we started searching for a hotel.  The nearest on the GPS was 10 km, but again asking help from a local, we were sent off to a chambres d’hote 10 minutes away which was not known to the GPS.  The picture is the view from our bedroom window (if you stand on a chair!).

Notes on the GPS

Probably the most useful tool we have brought with us is our GPS.  Each evening we choose our route on the computer for the next day and then load the route information into the handheld unit we have mounted on MC’s handlebars.  As we come to turns along the way, MC watches the map while Jon navigates the corner or circle.  It’s great to have 2 pairs of eyes on the same bicycle!  We’ve also found that the GPS is ideal for a starting point to finding hotels each evening, and sometimes restaurants throughout the day.  The European GPS maps are not as complete in this area as around major cities, but it has still been extremely useful.

Because of the GPS, we feel secure starting down even the smallest roads, knowing that they do lead in the direction we want to go.  We also are able to determine fairly quickly when we’ve strayed from our route.  About the only thing missing, are the bicycle paths which do not follow along roads.  Hopefully future GPS maps will include these. 

We also love the reactions from the locals.  “You have a GPS on that bike?”  Or the man who asked if we needed help today as we were consulting the GPS.  He wanted to know if we were going to Pont De Marco, and we could not get him to understand that we really didn’t know what town we were heading for – all we had to do was follow the line on the map! J

Bird du Jour

We did not get a picture of this one, but it looked and flew identically to our Northern Harrier.  So, this must have been a European variety.