I arrived in Orleans this afternoon, after a smooth 75 mile ride from Senonches via Chartres, so today is all about cathedrals, those of Chartres and Orleans being particularly fine. I will say a quick thanks to the lord for flatter terrain and good weather today as well.
No thanks to the lord for French road signage though. I have realised that after probably a full year spent in France during my life, I still have no idea what those diamond yellow signs mean. Any ideas, let me know! That is not really a bother though: what is tougher is in-town navigation. You feel like you are playing chess with the planners who designed the system: you know that once you get four or five miles out of town, they start putting the road numbers and destinations on the smaller roads (A or B equivalents to those in England). But up until then, there are numerous one-way streets, signs saying Toutes Directions or Autres Directions (never quite figured out the point of those either), or signs for the next tiny neighbourhood, not marked on any meaningful map. However there are always plentiful signs to the big autoroutes etc, so if you fancy cycling down the autoroute, you can find that no problem. My theory is this strategy is to get non-locals out of town fast, and keep the excellent back roads for themselves; and determined cyclists.
OK I nust dash now, I still have 20 miles to do today, and leaving Orleans could take a while!
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