14 June 2025 (sunny and very hot!) 59km

There was a cafe just at the back of the camp site where last night a trio, fronted by a middle aged French woman, performed to a group of diners. They were pretty polished and played some familiar songs and continued on until midnight. Not that Julia was aware of this as she fell asleep when the French woman was halfway through a Tina Turner song about 10pm.

Close to 2am around the same spot I would judge, there was a guy with his music turned up loud. I presume it was because he wanted us to enjoy his sounds, just like the rest of the village. Again, Julia missed out on this impromptu concert.  Shortly after, another guy, obviously an aspiring singer, decided to sing/shout at the top of his voice, to see if he could impress the judges.  Well sorry mate, but it's a big NO from me. Julia couldn't put a score up as she slept through the entire performance.

A hovering reminder to zip that tent door shut every time!

Woke at 6am, packed and riding the canal to Bourges, 51km away. Nice temperature and quiet path.

The canal itself however, was dirty, disappointing and disgusting. Well, from the point of view from two overheated cyclists when the only thing on their minds was a cooling dip in clean, clear, glacial water.

From a frog's point of view it was probably idyllic. Lots of weed to hide in and murky water so predators couldn't see you. The frogs were certainly very vocal in their happy place as we cycled along. One particular section looked to be full of didymo and we were tempted to take a photo to make our friends in the Philippines jealous, sending us all their photos of clear, blue water, casually swimming every day. But we're not that kind of people.

A little roadblock on the canal path meant we had to lift our bikes one at a time over this fallen tree.

At least we had plenty of shade from some lovely trees. The flowers along the way are beautiful and we had some nice places to stop along the way.  

We picked up breakfast in Vierzon which consisted of yoghurt, prunes, strawberries and banana. We find we have to eat two pottles of yoghurt each for breakfast as they only sell them in four packs and they're not going to keep in this heat. So once we got started again, we felt quite full and knackered.

This avenue of trees smelt heavenly as we cycled through, due to being covered in these flowers (below).

Met a lovely Algerian lady on the path and she stopped us to chat in English. (She'd have been lovelier though if she'd stopped us in the shade!). She's been here since 1983 when she came with her father. She doesn't get the chance to speak English, so was pleased for the practice. We think that was the only reason she stopped us.

Going in and out of the shade now was very noticeable. Hot in the shade, extremely uncomfortable in the sun. Rode into Bourges at 1pm, grateful to be finishing for the day. Makes a difference riding in the morning rather than the heat of the day. 

First impressions were Bourges was the same as any other big town or city. Hustle and bustle and everyone moving far too quick for our liking.  Found a Lidl supermarket and grabbed lunch and ate in a shady spot. The heat is unbearable and you just want to lay down and sleep.  After lunch we checked into the campground which is centrally located, and set up the tent in the shade.

Julia had found a lake to swim in about a twenty minute ride away, all on cycle trail. When we got there, it was virtually all youngsters, music blaring.  Call it age, call it a distrusting nature, but because we carry our money, passports etc with us everywhere, this was a situation where I definitely didn't feel comfortable leaving our bag on a packed beach.  Wandered warily into the water, which was full of a floating weed, keeping my eyes firmly on our stuff and just sat in the water.

We only went to try to suppress this terrible heat, but once you're out of the water, you're sweating again. And on a bike and in a tent, the downside is no air conditioning.  Back at camp where we both had showers, hot only unfortunately, but good to feel clean and get the sweat off momentarily. We both felt exhausted and ready for sleep but it was too hot in the tent, despite it being in the shade. Decided around 6.30pm to ride into town for a look. And worth a look it was. 

Unfortunately by the time we'd walked our bikes round the cathedral, taking in all the meticulous detail of this massive structure, it had closed. Voted in the top ten Gothic style churches, it's been described as a structural masterpiece. It's also on the French part of the Camino. If we didn't have a long day in the saddle tomorrow, we'd wait until 8.30am and go inside for a look.  So we just continued to walk around the town with tempting ancient alleyways around every corner, just waiting to be explored.

We were struggling to find somewhere to eat that provided gluten free for Julia. She had heard that many people can eat the French pastries with no ill effects so tried it, but it gave her stomach pains so back to gluten free now. There must be specialist shops selling it, as supermarkets and small shops in villages certainly don't. But for two cycle tourers passing through, we don't have time to go hunting for it. Anyway, Julia spies a Pokebowl place.

For those who don't know it's a central hub of rice, with a selection of fruits, cooked meat and vegetables cut up on top and around the bowl. Thanks to Aimee and Brody for introducing us to them as they hit all the right notes for us. We sat at an outside table on the cobbles. All very romantic but makes for a very wobbly table. A delicious meal that went down very well and we decided to ride back to camp as rain looked like it was on the way.

Just as we set off we got the first clap of thunder and drops of rain. The thunderstorm tried hard to soak us, but with the aid of Julia's perfect navigational skills, we sped the 2 kms back to camp, grabbed our washing off the hedge and dived into our tent, just as the heavens opened. So, it's goodnight from me and its goodnight from her.