Rambouillet – Chartres 33 miles plus 5

We start with a walk down the cobbled high street of Rambouillet to the supermarket and visit a cafe for breakfast. Garmin is refusing to calculate the route this morning so he is switched off as the signage appears to be quite good and takes us through the grounds of the Chateaux.

After we move to a new location Garmin decides to cooperate. Unfortunately my compatriot does not and tries to run into the back of me several times forgetting she has brakes. I cycle well in front in the interests of both our safety. The weather is sunny and the route is undulating on quiet roads and through interesting villages. We stop in a cafe for coffee in one town and later at another for a cold drink. I am spoiling the compatriot today.

It was all going so well. We arrived at a corner where a cycling French couple were looking carefully at a map. The cycle way signs were covered over with duct tape and the small road was blocked from wall to wall with piles of sand and construction vehicles. We are thwarted by French highway services who have closed the Velo Scenic until further notice. I could see on Garmin that there was an alternative route and, in my broken French, I shared this information with the exhasperated French couple. We all set off. After a few miles we could see Chartes cathedral in the distance and believed all would be well.

The French couple spotted a cycle way sign that would take them back towards the original cycle way. I hope you are following this? Not understanding the sign I carried on to join the cycle way in Chartres. When we got into the city our route was still blocked and it seemed new services were being laid for miles. After winding our way through the diversions and up one way streets we suddenly bump into our new cycling friends. We exchange waves of greeting bravely trying to communicate that we knew exactly where we were going, before going our separate ways.

I had booked the equivalent of an air b&b on the cycle way for our stay in Chartres. Subsequently I had received a message that I needed to pick the keys up from a hotel opposite the station. On collecting the keys we made our way to the apartment and let ourselves in. To our dismay it had not been cleaned so I rang the hotel. They were very apologetic and said they would come straight over with the key to another apartment, which they did. Although this was clean, the advantage of being on the cycle route was outweighed by having to return the key back to the hotel, which is on the other side of town. I therefore asked if there was a room in the hotel as my Compatriot had been so distressed to find her accomodation looking like an abandonned hippie squat. The agent understood how upsetting the episode had been and I negotiated to pay the difference for a room in the hotel. After giving our panniers to our rescuer we cycled back to the hotel. After all this stress and extra mileage we have a quick shower and deviate to the bar next door to take stock

It turns out that Chartres has En Lumieres. It was a struggle to stay awake until 10 pm but it was spectacular

Tomorrows weather is not looking good so a slow start planned with only around 20 miles we hope to dodge the worst.