Saturday 1st
I had suggested renting bikes and after takes breath taking the rental car back, rebuilding Wheelfred who had been chilling in the back the whole time, getting chain grease on the front of my grey shorts so they permanently looked like I had splashed them at a urinal AND then remembering I had to return the car full before looking around for a petrol station...we went to the bike shop. Oh no wait, no we didn't because Helen wanted a pepsi max, not just any old drink, diet coke wouldn't do at all. If we had gone to the bike shop first, we would have seen not one but two supermarkets either side of it...but we didn't we went around it. We would have also had bikes saving us the long hot walk to the supermarket down the main street of Tours where the fabled drink was purchased. Then remembering that shops shut in the middle of the day, rushed back with 15 mins to spare in order to rent the bike.
The bikes took us over the Loire on a cycle only bridge and then we pedaled east going down a sliproad onto a cycle friendly lane. It was as sunny as it had ever been and even the dullest landscape features looked invitingly scenic. The already pretty features looked even better, the greenery, the river and the sandbanks that rose and sunk into it. We passed a small fete with not one but two (two!) giraffe bouncy castles and then arrived at the end of the path which was marked by a steep and bumpy uphill section and a large rock. There was only road for a few kilometres after it and then a roundabout which Helen had particular reservations about, so instead of crossing the river and coming back the other side we turned around and retraced out steps. Wheels? wheel marks? Tyre-tracks, we retraced our tyre-tracks.
We went the less paved version of the path that was a lot closer to the river and this began with a section that was basically concrete with rocks embedded in it, not a good start, but before we knew it we were soaring along below the original path we took. The trees hung overhead some with leaves turned brown in the unrelenting sun. After a while through fields and down cobbled ramps we figured we had already passed the bridge but carried on regardless as the cycle path seemed interesting. Near the main bridge, that carried the trams over the river, I stopped to explore a little bit of beach. There was one sunbather nestled to the side and this didn't stop helly wading in the water and terrorizing shoals of little fish. After she was all Godzillared out we carried on to the end of the path heading east stopping under another two huge bridges. I made a gallant effort to cross a smaller stream via the stones sticking out but ended up with wet shoes.
Once more turning around but only back to the tram bridge as we made our way through town once more, and at this point we though we should extend the bike rental until the day Helly leaves as it would get us and luggage into town nicely. Only this time the shop was busy and the more we queued the more Helen fumbled over the phrase 'par le vous Anglais' in her head. As determined as she was when we began to ask the man if he spoke English, right before we were served she meekly ordered me to initiate the situation. After that she was fine speaking just pointing and speaking loudly.
Onward to a couple of parks that I had seen a few days before but I had totally missed the pen of goats and a donkey right in the middle of it. Helen discovered them and we stopped to feed them with anything and everything we could find. Helly had perfected a new technique of jumping and hanging onto a tree fond until it brought down a rain of green. Then we saw a cow! And we fed it too. There was a greedy goat but he was denied leaves for baaad behaviour.
Later it was a case of feeding us and we found a supermarket in the shopping complex over the road from the hotel. The place was called Two Lions but it definitely had three, and one was wearing lipstick and nail polish. These were statues, two golden outside in a glass case, one inside and garish like he had been ousted for being different.
We stocked up on supplies as very little would be open on the Sunday and planned a tofu stirfry for dinner for tomorrow's dinner. That night however we had something that was described as 'Potato Surprise'. The surprise being that lidl's own instant potato mix, when itself mixed with onions, mushrooms, oodles of cheese and a huge amount of ketchup, would form a gluey if not entirely inedible substance. It was filling, I'll give it that.
This was accompanied by 'Sexy Dance 5' on the telly, and we fell asleep with full bellies. The only other thing I remember that night is the TV waking up at 2am on full volume. I only remembered that the next day when I saw it had been hurriedly unplugged.
I had suggested renting bikes and after takes breath taking the rental car back, rebuilding Wheelfred who had been chilling in the back the whole time, getting chain grease on the front of my grey shorts so they permanently looked like I had splashed them at a urinal AND then remembering I had to return the car full before looking around for a petrol station...we went to the bike shop. Oh no wait, no we didn't because Helen wanted a pepsi max, not just any old drink, diet coke wouldn't do at all. If we had gone to the bike shop first, we would have seen not one but two supermarkets either side of it...but we didn't we went around it. We would have also had bikes saving us the long hot walk to the supermarket down the main street of Tours where the fabled drink was purchased. Then remembering that shops shut in the middle of the day, rushed back with 15 mins to spare in order to rent the bike.
The bikes took us over the Loire on a cycle only bridge and then we pedaled east going down a sliproad onto a cycle friendly lane. It was as sunny as it had ever been and even the dullest landscape features looked invitingly scenic. The already pretty features looked even better, the greenery, the river and the sandbanks that rose and sunk into it. We passed a small fete with not one but two (two!) giraffe bouncy castles and then arrived at the end of the path which was marked by a steep and bumpy uphill section and a large rock. There was only road for a few kilometres after it and then a roundabout which Helen had particular reservations about, so instead of crossing the river and coming back the other side we turned around and retraced out steps. Wheels? wheel marks? Tyre-tracks, we retraced our tyre-tracks.
We went the less paved version of the path that was a lot closer to the river and this began with a section that was basically concrete with rocks embedded in it, not a good start, but before we knew it we were soaring along below the original path we took. The trees hung overhead some with leaves turned brown in the unrelenting sun. After a while through fields and down cobbled ramps we figured we had already passed the bridge but carried on regardless as the cycle path seemed interesting. Near the main bridge, that carried the trams over the river, I stopped to explore a little bit of beach. There was one sunbather nestled to the side and this didn't stop helly wading in the water and terrorizing shoals of little fish. After she was all Godzillared out we carried on to the end of the path heading east stopping under another two huge bridges. I made a gallant effort to cross a smaller stream via the stones sticking out but ended up with wet shoes.
Once more turning around but only back to the tram bridge as we made our way through town once more, and at this point we though we should extend the bike rental until the day Helly leaves as it would get us and luggage into town nicely. Only this time the shop was busy and the more we queued the more Helen fumbled over the phrase 'par le vous Anglais' in her head. As determined as she was when we began to ask the man if he spoke English, right before we were served she meekly ordered me to initiate the situation. After that she was fine speaking just pointing and speaking loudly.
Onward to a couple of parks that I had seen a few days before but I had totally missed the pen of goats and a donkey right in the middle of it. Helen discovered them and we stopped to feed them with anything and everything we could find. Helly had perfected a new technique of jumping and hanging onto a tree fond until it brought down a rain of green. Then we saw a cow! And we fed it too. There was a greedy goat but he was denied leaves for baaad behaviour.
Later it was a case of feeding us and we found a supermarket in the shopping complex over the road from the hotel. The place was called Two Lions but it definitely had three, and one was wearing lipstick and nail polish. These were statues, two golden outside in a glass case, one inside and garish like he had been ousted for being different.
We stocked up on supplies as very little would be open on the Sunday and planned a tofu stirfry for dinner for tomorrow's dinner. That night however we had something that was described as 'Potato Surprise'. The surprise being that lidl's own instant potato mix, when itself mixed with onions, mushrooms, oodles of cheese and a huge amount of ketchup, would form a gluey if not entirely inedible substance. It was filling, I'll give it that.
This was accompanied by 'Sexy Dance 5' on the telly, and we fell asleep with full bellies. The only other thing I remember that night is the TV waking up at 2am on full volume. I only remembered that the next day when I saw it had been hurriedly unplugged.
We could do with some unrelenting sun over here at the moment
ReplyDeleteYou're very quick at commenting do you have alerts or something when I post?
DeleteYou're very quick at commenting do you have alerts or something when I post?
DeletePotato surprise ... Sounds just like the fish Helen used to cook when she was about 15 with Smash 😆xx
ReplyDeleteYou're still bitter about the pepsi max hunt aren't you?
ReplyDelete