Day 100
Cent!
We left Didier, Isabella and Luca at 8am as they all had an early start. They were all bubbling with excitement still, only two more sleeps then the UK, and Genesis in concert at Newcastle!
There is no boulangerie in Moutiers-sur-le-Lay, so we sped along a rather busy road to Lucon to get our daily fix of pain aux raisin etc. From here we re-joined the Vendée Vélo, riding by the Lucon canal. We had mile after mile of flat traffic free trails, Komoot took us on the occasional short cut on a road, but basically we barely left the canal system, as it took us right into La Rochelle. The canal as it approaches La Rochelle was constructed on the orders of Napoleon I. The objective was to join Niort with La Rochelle. Work started in 1806, using forced labour by prisoners. It took until 1875 to complete and by then the advent of the railway had made it almost obsolete. It is amazing to see, we rode along high above it, the railway line visible on the opposite bank. Those prisoners clearly worked so hard to create this by hand.
As we rode along the canal, two touring cyclists approached from the opposite direction. They were battling a fierce headwind whilst Tom and I cruised along. We had suffered earlier from a strong side wind and rain so we felt no guilt at our good fortune. The couple pulled up for a chat. Franck and Fabienne are riding 2,000km through France. Tom felt a special affinity as they have the same panniers. We spent some time chatting, I have got quite good at recognising the odd word and grasping the gist of the question, so with their grasp of English we were soon having a friendly discussion and exchange of routes etc. We wish them a great trip!
Tonight we are with another wonderful family who have welcomed us into their home. Tomorrow we will celebrate our 100 days on the road with them. We look forward to raising a glass of champagne with them to commemorate our achievement!
