Geo: 47.2463, 1.98841Here's something that the other blogs and forums may not tell you: Sleeping on the side of the road – particularly when the road isn't yet closed, and there are cars, vans and trucks going by -- isn't the best night's sleep you'll ever get. The bigger the vehicle – and the faster their speed – the more air they push. The more air they push, the less sleep you get. If you get the feeling that this wasn't our most restful night's sleep, you're correct.So, up and at 'em. A little breakfast in the van, then we rode our bikes into Durtal to look around a bit. A quick café gave us a little extra energy. As we came into the center of town, the traffic was stopped a bit for some utilities ... read more

Geo: 48.636, -1.51208After mulling it over during breakfast, we decided that – as much as we really wanted to explore the area – or maybe catch some of the stage going up to Saint Malo – we probably needed to get the water tank sorted out before we headed up into the Alps, where the toilet in our van might be our only option. So, we headed back down to Nantes, to another McRent affiliate, to seek their help. This is about a 2-hour drive each way, so it wasn't a short trip. Though we had the street address, we still had some challenges in finding the place. 316 Rue de Nantes. Oh, there's 315, we should be right across the street.Well, if we were in North America, perhaps.In France, the numbers on one side of ... read more

Geo: 44.0466, -0.651112We got a relatively early start, as we were trying to get into the feed zone of the next stage before the roads were closed. It turned out that we were more worried than we needed to be (which may have given us a false sense of security/ease that might not serve us well in later stages). Perhaps there just aren't as many people in this part of the country? Or everyone who was going to watch the stage was doing so from higher up on the mountains of this climb?Regardless….we found a spot right in the middle of the feed zone activity, and pulled over next to some other cars/camping cars, and settled in. We did a little recon by foot, walking into the nearby village, while both enjoying the amazing scenery, and ... read more

Geo: 42.8104, 2.50425We walked all the way over to the food truck for a fresh baguette for breakfast, which we gobbled down with some beurre and lovely berry medley store-brand jam that we bought thefirst day in the van. Then we had to say "Au revoir" to our lovely beachside aire (though we didn't get a chance to walk along the beach), and headed out to Montpellier. We'd decided to park at the shopping center where we caught the tram yesterday. After all, we knew where it was, we knew we could park there, and there was plenty of space.There is plenty of space, though some of it isn't accessible to you if you're 2.5 meters tall (as a vehicle, that is). Which we are. Still, we found a shaded spot, and made our way to ... read more

Geo: 43.4854, 6.21784Wednesday, July 3, 2013Fair warning: This entry is a particularly lengthy one. Pam + coffee + 2 hours on the highway with a charged-up laptop = the following….Having slept as well as one can, on a mattress made for napping instead of a full night's sleep, we downed some breakfast and headed off to try to get to the feed zone. For you cycling newbies (or never-evers, don't-wannas), here's what a feed zone is, and why it might be of interest to people like us: If you're a cyclist, and you're riding 100+ miles, you're going to get hungry. And since you're wearing that tight spandex jersey and shorts (partly because it's got the sponsor's logos on it, partly because it fits closely and has the least chance of chafing and getting caught in ... read more