Day 10: the canal to Orlèans




 Starting the day with a strong coffee we joined the canal de Loing with the intention of trying a shortcut. Eurovelo 3 (EV3) goes down the Loing for 79k then a 100 or so along the Loire to Orleans. There is an old canal, suitably named the canal de Orleans which meanders  in a sort of straight line directly to our destination saving about 100k. At the very beginning we were met with an orange mesh fence and a notice to use the other bank. The EU is fixing the bike path as a more logical route. So we hopped around a bit till we got past the workers doing the first 10 Kms of path. After that it was mountain bike territory. Single track about a foot wide, sometimes gravel mostly fine powder but in some places a stupid bastard had driven a tractor down it when wet and it was a washboard surface. Yehudit found it easier than me. The constant shaking made me quite tired. Though it was very pretty and bucolic and we only saw about 6 others trying it all day. At the end we arrived at another excellent and cheap campsite but 3 Kms from the shops so another night of instant rice. It keeps the bills down though. We spent less than 59€ all day! It was 53 hard won kilometers.Pictures will follow when we get a better signal

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