Today finds me not living up to expectations… certain people I’m bicycling with expect me to pedal more miles than I seem to be capable of at the moment. Yesterday we did 35.5 miles and today it was only 38.5 (I had hoped for 40 as a minimum but came up short on both distance and enthusiasm (physically speaking, that is). Seems like I’m developing a little saddle sore problem… and I’m not happy about it. Valerie on the other hand seems to be suffering no ill effects from cycling and seems to be in great shape and could probably ride circles around me at this point… what a show-off!
France is an interesting, yet frustrating country. I think that I’ve mentioned that damned near everything is closed on Sunday. What I didn’t mention was that most all shops in most of the villages seem to close up between noon and 2:00 PM. It seems that everybody likes have a long lunch… but if you want to do something during your lunch hour… forget it!
Our ride today was in a counter clockwise loop that stopped in Châteubriant about two-thirds of the way to completion We had hoped to find a little bakery or butcher in St. Julien de Vouvantes, but everything was closed up tight so all I got was a photo of their cathedral… nothing to eat.
France is an interesting, yet frustrating country. I think that I’ve mentioned that damned near everything is closed on Sunday. What I didn’t mention was that most all shops in most of the villages seem to close up between noon and 2:00 PM. It seems that everybody likes have a long lunch… but if you want to do something during your lunch hour… forget it!
Our ride today was in a counter clockwise loop that stopped in Châteubriant about two-thirds of the way to completion We had hoped to find a little bakery or butcher in St. Julien de Vouvantes, but everything was closed up tight so all I got was a photo of their cathedral… nothing to eat.
In Chateuâbriant, however, we both made up for lost time by wolfing down several pastries and tarts from a local shop that we had visited a few days earlier. While sitting outside the shop looking down a narrow street in the business district I noticed a sign sticking out from a building with the silhouette of a cat on the top of it (left side of the street in the photo). Of course it wasn’t a silhouette at all; it was a real cat that had jumped down from the roof a few feet above the sign. The cat seemed to enjoy watching all of the people passing by.
Today was sunny and warm, but the breeze was very apparent at times, and riding into it wasn’t the most fun thing to do. But when we turned and rode with it at our backs – life was sweet!
Today was sunny and warm, but the breeze was very apparent at times, and riding into it wasn’t the most fun thing to do. But when we turned and rode with it at our backs – life was sweet!
P.S. -- If you read the post "The Eagle Has Landed" and wondered why it seemed a little out of place, go down two posts and read the newly added introduction to it!
2 comments:
Hey Rich and Val...Thanks again for sharing...seems the life of the French falls into the "Que sera sera" (sp) category. I'll bet a hard charging American could swoop into that town and open up an eatery from 11-3pm and make a killing!
Do you suppose they changed the name of Rouge to Rogue after you left the city limits? Enjoy!
Apparently there are laws that actually require establishments to shut down for a time during lunch unless they have a special dispensation to stay open.
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