Illiers-Combray - Nogent-le-Retrou 59 km

Our detour behind us, we got back to business. Our hotel patron Olivier saw us off. He had renovated his hotel and got some paint from an 88 year old friend who had painted the Eiffel Tower 🗼 (well...not all by himself 🤣). So he still has it - maybe it'll help with the rust!

A beautiful day. Some wind (and yes...coming right toward us) but not bad. Met a Dutch couple cycling the other direction because "we're from Amsterdam and we know the wind comes from the west". Gotta love that local knowledge.

An unseasonably cool 8 degrees to start the morning, but sunny. Rolling countryside. Just enough hill to get the heart rate up but not enough to discourage. Big farms. French Charlais cattle. Expansive countryside views.

Coffee stop at Fraze. Finally seeing other cyclists and flower-filled bicycles marking the Veloscenie. Pain du chocolat et pain du pommes...just reward for a two hour leisurely ride 😋.

Lunch by the abbey at Thiron-Garais. Sausage from an award winning charcuterie, cheese, bread, olives, wine. Haven't tired of this menu yet! Then....il pleut 🌦️. Waited it out, got the rain clothes on, but off they came within a half hour and rode into Nogent-le-Rotrou in the sunshine.

Quite the accommodation tonite. 15th century manor 🏰 ...that's old! Gated courtyard, large common room with a suit-of-armour boot and many other antiques. Our patron is a former antiques dealer and a well-known (in those circles) key expert. Winding stone staircase to our room, wood shuttered windows. Very cool. (But they do have running water 😉).Read more