The day started with a covered sky with a light tail wind, perfect conditions for cycling. I wasn’t sorry to leave the Loire behind, instead loosely following the Thouet, a river I had never heard of. My legs seemed to be stronger, helped by the fact that I had jettisoned most of the contents of my rucksack into Ros’s care. Thankfully I had gained some clean underwear and the unsuspecting French public would no longer be subjected to the sight of my handlebars being draped with Y fronts in an attempt to dry them after washing.
The route snaked its way through countless quaint villages until I arrived at Thoars which boasts a viaduct designed by Mr Eiffel.
I met Ros for lunch in Thouars before continuing to our intended destination, Airvault. Almost immediately I missed a turning and found myself on the wrong side of the river. I navigated a way back via a pretty village where I saw a house with a good sized garden was on the market for 22,000 euros!
Ros had located the B&B and decided to set off on her bike to meet me and ride the last 5 miles with me. Suddenly the heavens opened and we took refuge in a bus shelter.
There was no sign of the rain stopping so we made a dash for it, arriving at the Hotel Voltaire soaked through but in good spirits..over 50 miles covered. Voltaire’s creation, Dr Pangloss, would definitely have said that “all is for the best in the best of all possible worlds”.
Jon on a bike...La Vélo Francette 
Well done for not giving up après la pluie, I’m not sure I could have persevered through that!
You need to turn this into a book….
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What’s all this!? Ros carrying your gear, desiring flat roads, stopping for picnics! You’ll be getting Res to do the ride by proxy for you next! I know too many exclamation marks. Sorry, onwards and upwards.
Atb, Alan.
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