Charolais and Canals and Au Revoir to the Loire

Leaving the town of Decide in the rain

The rain was lashing down when we set off from Decize yesterday morning. Thank goodness we have good rain gear. EV6 took us on a ziggy-zaggy route through farmland on quiet rural roads. It kind of reminded me of of Ireland at times. We saw loads of good looking Charolais cattle, a few sheep, fields of peas (or some kind of legumes) and wheat, with some good ol' farm smells and pleasant gently rolling hills. Nothing too, too challenging for the bikes. The terrain was like that all the way to the town of Bourbon-Lancy. The rain stopped and things brightened up mid-morning making for perfect riding conditions.  We found a supermarche in BL and had a fine picnic in the pretty park there, watching the Saturday joggers and families enjoying the sunshine.

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Not the best shot, but a fine herd of Charolais cattle


Our after-lunch ride took us back to the Canal Lateral and easy cycling into the town of Digoin, with its canal pont over the Loire. It was on that section that we saw our second big green snake! 84 pleasurable kms done today.


I think it's called a whip snake, but not 100% sure

Typical cottage along the canals
Today we expect to hit our 1000km mark, and still enjoying the ride! Sadly we leave the Loire this morning - it heads south now and we head east. It's been our companion for three weeks, so we're going to miss it!

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