Veronica 5

La Gatine to Voves
Breakfast was in the conservatory and was good. I especially enjoyed the cream cheese on my bread.  I am eating as much as I can manage at breakfast to power me on my way.   The company was convivial with one French gentleman very keen to use his English which he spoke very well.  As we cycled off he took photos of us, 'French TV 'he joked.
We rode again with some rain and head wind over a plateau of vast fields.  In the distance below we saw the Cathedral of Chartres and remembered our visit there years ago.  There are huge grain silos on the horizon. I think they are cathedrals too when I first spot them as they look tall and elegant from afar.  It didn't rain hard and the sound of it pitter pattering on my cap and the wind whooshing under my hood was pleasant.   I was pleased I had packed  my cap, it keeps the rain out of my eyes.  I bought it a couple of years ago in France when my Coromandel sun hat flopped over my eyes while I was biking causing a safety hazard
Our planned route skirted Maintenon but we deviated and visited.  Willem stayed there last year on his trip, just over the road from the chateau built by Louis XIV for his mistress.  We had coffee in a bar,  cosy out of the rain.  Willem asked about the old lady who was there last year, he remembered her having a very bad cough which he attributed to too many cigarettes.  There are an astounding number of smokers here in France.   The young woman who served us said it was her mother and she was in the kitchen cooking!   The poor woman didn't smoke at all she has very bad asthma.
The bar provided a loo stop as well as coffee. There is a dearth of public toilets here. I have seen only one and then I didn't need it. Men are so lucky much easier for them. Not so for us lady hikers and bikers. Finding a secluded spot free from brambles and stinging nettles is a challenge n'est pas?  One day I even managed to cover the inside of my bike pants with sticky seeds which I then had to pluck out.   However the open air is sometimes preferable as toilets in bars are often shared and a bit unpleasant.
We arrived in Voves still rather damp and pleased to find a cosy hotel with a bar and very nice restaurant where we enjoyed drinks and a meal.

Voves to Beaugency sur Loire
Our clothes had dried overnight but we set out again in the rain.   This time quite heavy but at least less wind and a much more gentle terrain.  ' Rain before 7 clear up by 11' didn't quite work but it was better by midday when we stopped for a bite.  A man came up to us to offer coffee which we declined and showed him our thermos. He then returned with a large red tomato and shallot for us. People are kind. We had several call out ' Bon courage' again as we biked through the rain. They probably meant 'you fools what are you doing?'   When the rain stopped the wind came and so again I hung on gamely to Willem's wheel calling out periodically 'slow down' which he did of course.
Our clothes were almost dry when we arrived at this pretty medieval town in sunshine and I had enjoyed the journey.  I spat at lots of white horses and touched my ankle once Pete S, for your mother,  though I could find no references on google to ankle tapping with white horses but lots to spitting!
Our rest day in Beaugency has been lovely.  Though we did rather grumpily wish for a good flat white.  A sentiment echoed by an Aussie couple who are doing a bike tour of the Loire.
Tourists eh!
The hotel is comfy and central. Once again unlimited free WiFi which is fantastic and puts NZ accommodation to shame.
In the afternoon we walked over the bridge to a nature reserve. We saw two egret and some butterflies and a fox. He was a young sleek thing and streaked over the path in front of us.  The first fox I have seen in years apart from those which regularly visit Angie and Martin's garden in Highgate. This one was much more handsome.   I was interested to reflect that I was enjoying the vegetation but if I had been walking through the same vegetation in NZ I would be cursing the weeds.  'A plant in the wrong place' and all that. 
Later we ate at an Italian restaurant for some more familiar flavours. Speaking to a man as we left he asked if we were from England. When I said New Zealand his eyes glazed over and he said in English 'land of the beautiful ferns, dicksonia.....'
I had a nice surprise this morning.  The lady who owns the hotel gave me a teapot , all wrapped up just as we were leaving!   The little dining room had four teapots on the buffet bar and the first morning I used one for my tea. It was only after I sat down that we noticed teapots on every shelf and surface. Were they just for display we wondered and had I committed a faux pas. In my best French I asked if it was OK.  It was fine and she has no idea how many she has, some are still in boxes.  So I guess she was pleased to give one away to someone who will appreciate it.  It could be useful on this trip if there is not one in the villa Shalini.