Day 8 -Chauvigny – Néré – A very long day

Day 8 – Sunday 7th September

Kms cycled today: 130
Kms left: 660

We set off in the dark but thankfully the nearby boulangerie has just opened and Danny is very happy.

The sun is rising creating our long shadows over muddy fields but the sun is short lived and the clouds are dense. A smattering of rain but we enjoy a cycle sheilded from the soaring heat

Arrive at Pottiers for breakfast having done 30km leaving 90 to go…a good day…so far!

We find ourselves for a while on the “Via Turonensis” or Voie de Tours camino route. A massive 1,033 kilometers from the Paris to the Porte Saint-Jacques. We pass a few pilgrims with their crosses attached to their backpacks. We are happy to be wizzing past.

We cycle another 40km and find a church with a picnic bench (we are spoilt) Dez does a few bike repairs then we ask a man who is BBQing in front of his house, if he can fill our water bottles and thank god he did!!

We cycled another 40k, without much of a break, it was getting hotter and our water was running low. We rested beneath an incline, Danny pulled out some nectarines (heaven) we felt refreshed and headed up the hill.

We had 15k left. But somehow we lost our way a bit through a forest and we also lost connection to the map….a bit of a low point and all of us parched but eventually we found our way to the digs.

And we drink and drink and drink. The owner is a retired police officer who owns a massive property, where he fosters children. As we approach, there are happy kids jumping in a pool.Luckily he took pity on 3 hungry travellers having no food and it was Sunday, so he drove Danny to a nearby pizza vending machine (crazy) then gave us 3 beers and a bottle of coke…a simply amazing end to an exhausting day