13 May, 2015

Today is turning out to be the low point of the tour so far.  The weather once again is very grey and cold, although that in itself is not enough to spoil the day.  The terrain, as we already suspected, is tedious.  Again, not enough in itself to make a bad day.  There really is no life in the populated areas we pass through which are few and far between, it is a bit depressing overall.  We haven’t been able to find a single shop to stock up on supplies and tomorrow is a holiday when none of the shops will be open, so we have to find something soon.  This is reminiscent of our 2011 tour when we travelled this way in April.  We had expected that being later in the year this time, places would be open but it looks like we were mistaken.

The next disappointment is that during the last couple of days I had thought that my saddle was beginning to, very slightly, wear in.  Instead of being painful right at the start of each day it had been reasonable up until lunchtime and it was only in the afternoon that it became unpleasant.  However, today, right from the outset I have been suffering.  I have to resort to putting a towel on top of the saddle to ease the pressure.

The final disappointment is having to do two circuits of Soulac sur Mer, along with at least three other cycle tourists, to find the campsite.  Whilst Ken set up the tent I whizzed off into the centre of town to find a supermarket.  When I found it on the far side of town, it had just closed.  All in all not the best of days.