Into northern france....

I'm losing count of how many days I've been pedalling now, they seem to be merging together a bit, as do the countless regions and departments. I may only be travelling at about 8mph but it's surprising how the miles add up. That's about the speed of a small yacht actually, and they'll sail around the world at that speed, so it's all just relative I suppose ? I'm perpetually tired now and aching. If somebody had invited me to do a 50 mile bike ride for charity before this hair brain idea I'd have wondered if I could do it. But to do one every day for a few weeks is a whole different beast altogether. The first 5 miles are the hardest, then I seem to free up a little, but the first 30 take the longest mentally. Mile 26 of 50 is where I start to smile a bit and relax a little, that's maybe why the sun is usually in the west for most of my photographs, it's the afternoon and I'm relaxing, looking around and looking forward to arriving somewhere new for a beer and bath !

I've cycled through the Languedon Roussillon, west to the Pyrenees, north through the Aquitaine, up through the Poitou Charente, touched on the Limousin and now futher north into the Pays du Loir, which is exciting because in my dog eared, spiral bound map book of France I can see Brittany on the same page ! Mind you I think it's a bit like driving to Cornwall and crossing the Tamar thinking you're home when you've still got miles and miles of windy roads ahead of you ! It's an adventure for sure. And the last 24 hours have really been testimony to that... But I wont go there right now...

France looks pretty similar so far, just slight changes in architecture, live stock and landscape. Sometimes mile after mile of vines and sometimes, like this area, far more hedges and small fields with cows and sheep and streams and mills. I prefer these bits. Having said that I did actually see some more vin yards yesterday as I got into the Maine et Loire region, and some beautiful towns too. I was really surprised to see how quickly in the last ten miles or so, the roofs changed from the typical red clay Roman tiles to dark thin slates held on with shiny steel hooks (or crochets). These transitions are amazing, number plates too, the last two numbers of the car plates change with each new department. I've been through so many now and noticed that the number changes so quickly that I dont even need to see the welcome sign by the road to know I have left, for example the Girande and entered the Dordogne. In this case it would be number 32 changing to 24. You only see both numbers for a few short miles either side of any given border. Does that say something about French or modern life in general or nothing at all, you decide, but I find it happens strangely quickly !

I saw McDonalds packaging over 2o miles from a McDonalds yesterday too, which has blown my 15 mile rule out the window and I got a tiny splash from a lizard that was blindly whizzing across a road towards me as I sat on a pavement eating my sandwich. He was coming straight at me as fast as his little legs would carry him when Monsieur Blanc van man came charging past and splatted him mid stride ! He popped and with it a bit of him hit my top lip ! As if I'd not been through enough, I couldn't take much more of this, I'd already been sick into a hedge that morning ! I was now struggling to enjoy the sandwich and focus my mind on all things good and wholesome when all of a sudden I've got a drop of lizard gut on my lip and twitching tail on the road just a few feet from me. Whilst wondering whether or not to finish him off, I decided it must just be nerves, being as his head was now no thicker than a Rizla ! I had to leave my sandwich.

I'm in 49 now and tomorrow could be in 44, the Loire Atlantic ... I enjoy number plate spotting but I understand Sarkozy, in his wisdom is getting rid of them, replacing them with a more uniform number, one which gives no clue as to which department the vehicle hails from ? This of course is so a car can be bought and sold between departments and maintain the same plates... Naturally this goes against the grain of all things french, the home of over complicated paper pushing and bureaucracy, so the more cynical out there would suggest it's sole purpose is to prevent Parisians, who would seem to be universally hated across the country, from being abused whilst out of town ! So the days of hurling rotten fruit and veg, gobbing or worse on a 75 or even a 93 plated car could be numbered ! I've even heard many French people say they'd rather have English neighbours than Parisians !?

Time to pack up, saddle up and head further north ... The usual routine of downing a couple of pain killers and soaking my knee (now swollen like a tennis ball!) in Arnica before I head off...

Thank you for reading ... There's so much more to write ... Things I dare not even think about just yet ... Without feeling a bit queazy !

Bye for now, Jus.