Pedalling for a Purpose

Another great breakfast at the hotel this morning and then a short ride of a few 100 metres back onto the Eurovelo 6 route. It's an easy ride out of the city in the crisp morning air. It's our first ride with Stewart and we take turns riding beside him to get to know our new friend better ... and how far we can push with our Australian humour. Our route is a mixture of nice bitumen cycle paths and some dirt country lanes - all of which add to the experience. We do travel a couple of secondary roads where the traffic was a bit busy this morning, however, drivers are generally very courteous to cyclists. As I came around one bend in the trail, I saw a guy smashing a large pole into the branches of a tree. I assumed it was one of those nouveau or niche anger release sessions that are all the rage. I stopped to observe, and found myself invited to eat walnuts! This local monsieur was in fact knocking walnuts out of the tree! After a brief lesson in French on walnut hunting, none of...

We have struck it lucky in Orleans. Our arrival coincides with the Festival of the Loire, an annual event in its 11th year. When we saw thousands of people on the river's foreshores when we rode in, we thought it may have been a welcome party ... After checking into the Hotel Marguerite, we meet up with our newest rider, Stewart. David and Stewart have been friends for over 35 years, and now he's our new mate! We bonded over a few beers and dinner and convinced him of all the initiation and rights of 'cycling' passage rituals e.g. buying the beers, etc. Stewart saw right through our scheme. He's a smart one. At 10.00pm we could hear fireworks going off down near the river which went for around 20 minutes. It was massive ... the River Fire (a Brisbane tradition) of Orleans ... without the military flypast! Tonight Orleans was definitely a party town ... and every reveller passed our hotel room on their way home in the early hours of the morning. Delightful! On our da...