Epic European Cycle : 2015-05-10 : La Véloscénie to Illiers-Combray

Activity
Type Name Description Service Provider Cost Kms To Date Total Notes Actions
Cycle La Véloscénie Chartres / Illiers-Combray $0.00 34.00 34.00 Day 2: 34km: Total 85km
Accommodation
Type Name Service Provider Confirmation Location Cost Notes Actions
Camp Le Bois Fleuri Random walk-in Illiers-Combray $24.00


Trip Log

Notes Actions
Yesterday we bought a book describing a route called La Véloscénie. We had seen that book in la Maison de Velo near the train station in Chartres but they only had one copy - not for sale. How disappointing. So, we went walkabout in Chartres and stopped in at a book store and they had one copy of the same book. Yay! I'm so glad we got the book. La Véloscénie is a very well-marked cycle route and the chosen route is awesome. Today we rode about 35km to get to Illiers-Combray and it was beautiful, scenic, and used a great selection of cycle paths and small side roads.
Illiers-Combray is a very small town and not much is open on Sundays. We found the hotel locked/closed, but the info office was open and the lady directed us to the camp ground (which was also in our book) and advised that she thought it would be open. It is, and it has wifi... thus today's DAM Details update.
The camp ground Le Bois Fleuri is really nice. It's small and there are no picnic tables or fire pits at the sites, but it's well-maintained and decent privacy for a small public campground. I'm especially impressed with the wash building, which has:
- Men's and ladies toilet stalls
- One central TP dispensary (sonofagun)
- Showers
- Men's and ladies sponge bath rooms
- Small tubs for... uh... washing your kids and/or dogs?
- Washers and dryers
- Regular and over-sized sinks
Gear changes for today:
- Left behind the duct tape. I'd brought it along for bike box repair enroute, but the boxes didn't need repair and it's no longer necessary to haul the tape.
- The no-rinse body wash and shampoo have got to go. I forgot I had them when I bought the large bottle of camp suds.
- We picked up a couple of small, folding disposable spoons when we had yogurt in Iceland. We kept them and have been using them almost daily. Good addition!
-I brought some old yoga pants which were supposed to be my "throw away after Iceland" pants, but I've hung onto them and I'm glad I did. I've been wearing them almost every day! Once things warm up I'll probably get rid of them, but for now, they're essential gear.
From Brent: Sometimes the French are almost too helpful. Paris is a rat's maze of streets. Even with a map it is easy to get lost. The easiest way to get around is the Metro (subway) but you don't see anything that way. Walking is better and there is something new to see every block or two; which is about how often we had to check our map to make sure we kept going where we intended. And just about every time we pulled out a map someone would come over and offer help. A couple of times we gathered a small crowd, each person offering their own opinion. In Paris, most people offered help in English (I guess we look like tourists), once out of town French becomes the rule.


Photos