| Day 1 - Basel -> Vichy | Day 2 - Vichy | Day 3 - Thiézac | Day 4 - Sarlat-la-Canéda | Day 5 - La Grande Côte (Coast) |
| Day 6 - Rigny-Ussé | Day 7 - Cosne-Cours-s/Loire | Day 8 - Cosne-Cours-s/Loire | Day 9 - Riel-les-Eaux | Day 10 - Montbéliard |
Sunday
Cosne-Cours-sur-Loire -> Riel-les-Eaux
Map Link
When we left Cosne-Cours-sur-Loire that morning it was under grey skies. And not just grey, but “wet and grey”. At least wet enough that we pulled over so that I could put my rain shell on (good call, by the way!). While it was never a heavy rain, it would have made for some wet clothes.
All packed up and thinking about leaving
Tonight’s goal was another campground. It was getting to that tricky part of the trip: calculate the number kilometers to home, the number of days, and just how much riding we wanted to do each day. We were getting close to home, but we couldn’t arrive early, as our cat sitters were still there. We had poked around on GoogleMaps and found this campground with amazing reviews. It wasn’t near “anything”, so it would be one of those “park the bikes and be done for the day” kinds of days.
One of our breaks was off the main road in this quiet little orchard
Passing through some farm tracks to get back to main road
The riding was good, rambling through rolling farmland and steadily bluer skies, but there wasn’t anything remarkable along the way. Still, it was a good day.
Passing Guédelon, a place we visited years ago and is amazing!
Back to wide-open countryside
There was something big going on here – there were a LOT of cars were parked along the road
Another protest sign
We arrived at Campground Marias in the early afternoon. It was a tiny, well-maintained place, with only 17 camping (tent or caravan) spots, trimmed hedges offering some privacy, and a well-stocked lake.
Once we had set up our tent and stored our gear we were left with not much to do. We really were in the middle of nowhere. I saw in the distance the village of Riel-les-Eaux and suggested that we walk there. So many times I’ve rolled through these tiny, sparsely populated hamlets but rarely have I stopped. This was the perfect opportunity – and a good use of our time.
Campground office
Riel-les-Eaux in the distance
The walk wasn’t terribly interesting: we followed the road there, all 2 kilometers of it. The village itself was nice, but there wasn’t much to see. There was an old-fashioned lavoir, and of course a church. But I didn’t see any actual shops or places of business. I did enjoy seeing the various states of the buildings: some looked recently renovated and others looked ready to fall down with the next strong wind. There were just a couple of people in sight, but to be fair: this was mid-afternoon on a Sunday.
The Lavoir
With not much to see, we returned, taking a farmer’s track through the fields and along the hillside. It was a much nicer route.
Ladybug and sunflowers
Spider and her babies
When we got back to the campground we had a bite to eat (leftovers from yesterday’s dinner sandwiches), but it was still early. Afterwards, we took a long walk around the lake and listened to the frogs and the birds. I was especially taken with the Bluethroat – it has an amazing song!
That night was quiet – once our RV neighbors stopped watching the television inside their camper. A light rain fell overnight, and I had a good night’s sleep. Camping had gotten so much better for me since that first night on the coast.
A light rain at sunset
Post-rain sunset
View of a cricket from inside the tent
View of a spider from inside the tent
