We woke up to a view of ominous looking storm clouds and lightning off in the distance. We set off later than normal, began cycling in dry conditions, but this quickly turned into an all out torrential downpour with thunder and lightning. Sewer drains overflowed and we were absolutely drenched.
Around 25km we arrived in a rather working class feeling town of Morenx, where we had a nice extended pastry and coffee break. Viki was quite tired, so while we sat on the pavement a kindly elderly man chatted to us for a bit and ould see how tired viki was. He left and came back with some kinder chocolates for us. We were still there 5 minutes later when he passed again, so he said to wait a minute and then came back with some pain au chocolates for us! (They’re actually called chocolatines in this part of France, but it’s the same as a pain au chocolat).
We decided we needed to leave before being given any more food, so with the rain stopped and sun out, we set off. Today’s route brought us through many kiwi fields. Viki tested a few, but they were rock hard. At one point I biked over a bump in the road and a jar of pasta sauce fell of my bike. Amazingly, it hit the concrete and didn’t break. The car behind me slowed, then drove over it. The jar smashed and the air was filled with the scent of pasta Primavera. I was saddened.
Most of the day continued dry and overcast, with storm clouds frequently behind us and beside us. Towards the end of the day we were brought back into the storm and again, the heavens unleashed. We arrived at our destination, some lake in the middle of nowhere, waited for the rain to subside, and set up camp. Special mention from Viki that we got to see an owl today.
