Troyes (not the one from Greek mythology)

God, I slept like a log last night. Although there was "someone" snoring on the campsite.... 

Nothing is open in France on Sundays, apart from cafés.  Supermarkets are open until 12. So today we cycled into Troyes (pronounced Troy), along a lovely canal path.  For 17 miles. And did it all again to come back. 

The canal all the way into Troyes 

Mr. Swan trying to impress Mrs. Swan

It's actually a lovely looking city, with a nice main shopping area and loads of cafés and restaurants. And the usual Gothic cathedrals and mediaeval houses. 

One Gothic cathedral

The narrow streets of Troyes

We stopped at a nice café and Lee went in to see what coffees they had on offer. He came back and said "I panicked when the guy started speaking French, so we've got two coffees coming, but I don't know what they are!". If you don't specify what you want in France, you usually get black coffee. And that's exactly what we got! It was ok, though - not as bad as I thought it would be, especially with some sugar. 

They also served pizzas, so we had one to keep us going on the ride home. The looong ride home. There were a couple of mini Pinney paddies on the way back, mostly me moaning about my sore bum, and how hot it was. I was so glad to get back. We both collapsed into our camping chairs with a well deserved beer. 

We also popped up to the campsite bar for a beer, and no sooner had we sat down when we heard the first rumbles of thunder. There were storms forecast, but we thought we'd missed them. We headed back to the van as the rain started and it hammered down for a good hour, with the loudest thunder I've heard in a long time. You could feel the van shaking. It's still raining, on and off. 
The approaching storm

We're leaving the site tomorrow and heading for Tours. Normally we book our next site before we leave, but the booking process was so bl**dy complicated that we didn't bother and we're just going to wing it. I don't wing anything, so this is new territory for me. 

I'm also a bit nervous about most pitches over here being grass, after last year's debacle at Chartres. I really cannot deal with getting stuck again, if it keeps raining 🙈 

Find out tomorrow where we end up...

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