France 2

We left St Omer en Chaussee after our enjoyable rest day and continue, as do the rolling hills and the unsettled weather. We have "managed" to avoid most of the rain, but not the wind. I am use to having Veronica "sitting on my back wheel"so to speak, most of the time, except when climbing. So far we have biked in our rain jackets every day as the temperatures barely rise above comfort level. Mind you Veronica manages to sweat or glow as ladies do, after some of the climbs which reminds me, to not under estimate the effort required.
The GPS taking us the shortest route and avoiding major highways, tends to cut corners and takes us through the most unusual places, through farmyards and fields, approaching our destination from unexpected directions.
The ride into Seraincourt was one of those, telling me we were approaching our destination on the left, coming down a farm track, then loosing the plot and showing it to be behind us, when in fact it was 100 m ahead of us.
The hotel was all shut up and if I had been on my own, I would not have waited around. But it all turned out ok and we met some lovely people in the process. After the bar opened and we enjoyed a beer ( yes Veronica too ! ) a large dutchman arrived who is biking from Holland the pilgrim route to Santiago de Compostela in Spain. He carries a lot of gear and had already broken 2 spokes. He would have to stay till Monday to get it fixed in the nearest town and send half his gear home, including his camping gear.
We left this morning in beautiful sunshine and we rode for the first time without our jackets on. Plenty of climbing early on and it was a puzzle to get through the city of Mantes Jolly. The GPS maps are out of date and did not know about the large shopping malls that had been built. First it sent us into a building site, followed by several rounds of a large carpark.
We managed to find our way to the river Seine and the bridge to cross it. The view of the cathedral is spectacular from the bridge as you can see. The confusion did not end there as it twice tried to drive us into a building telling us there was a road there. However we came out of the other end ok and arrived at our first B&B mid afternoon. It is in a large thatched house with 6 or 8 rooms and beautifully maintained. Unfortunately there is no restaurant nearby so we have to eat our emergency rations tonight, and no alcohol ! Our ride tomorrow will takes us on a route between Chartres and Orleans to a small town called Voves.

Mantes Jolly Cathedral

La Gatine B&B at La Boissiere Ecole

Lunch at Bazainville