The ride from Creon turned into a very long day covering just over 100 km and included some tough climbs along the route . We had decided to celebrate my birthday ( Bastille Day ) in the pretty town of Barbezieux with a hotel for 2 nights . We had good luck over the final 40 km as the trail eased onto a long section of old rail trail so even climbing was sort of tolerable

We had a very pleasant stay and I enjoyed a very relaxing day on my 70 th birthday and had a special meal at the French restaurant at the hotel .

The day after we again packed early to hit the trail heading north to Tours on the Loire River . This ride will take all of 5 days and was rather challenging due to the testy hills that really make the Surly and Bob go very slow . Barbs can now climb faster than I can which is wonderful for her confidence etc.

Was another testy climbing day that finally ended at the river town of Mansle. Some light rain fell off and on most of the day and we struggled to make good progress . Found a pizza joint and decided to have lunch hoping the rain would ease . Made a little mistake with the order as despite being familiar with the French metric system I failed to comprehend that a 50 cm pizza would be huge .

Left Mansle and started another tough day with a bunch of hard climbs . Finally stopped at a charming campsite near the town of Plueville .

Peter and Michelle gave us a great welcome to their lovely campsite and we enjoyed a social time in the evening chatting and sampling wines . Highly recommend staying here , very special and we were the only ones too .

Day 2 post 70 th was on Chauvigny a very old former medieval city .

Stopped here was a very late breakfast of sweet treats , being Monday many small shops were closed so we needed a supermarket . Had this stunning now disused railway bridge over the river . So much of French cycling routes had their genesis in old railways tracks that were abandoned as vehicles took over the world .

The last part of the days ride was mostly nice and fast as the route is alongside the Vienne river and going downstream .