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France - Day 4 : Nice and hot

The sun was out in the morning, but it was still cold and windy. The first kilometers were all downhill. After 20 km over a large road, we already arrived where we would have to be to stay on schedule. We left the large road behind so we didn't have to cycle through Dijon. The small villages we passed all didn't have stores. We had filled all our water bottles in the morning, but they didn't last long in the heat. Around noon, we sat down in the shade to have our 1st lunch. It was at least 35 degrees. We applied an as thick as possible layer of sunscreen.

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This photo nicely shows how blue the sky was, we hadn't lost our charms yet.
 

A while later, we became very thirsty. Bram started pumping water from a ditch, but I didn't think it looked clean. There were many brambles along the road, which I ate while Bram was busy. The ditch was much lower than the road, so he needed to climb and nearly fell. The water tasted 'odd', I think that was because of the cow farm 100 meters away..

 

A lot further, we found a soda machine. That felt really good after cycling 60 km with barely enough water. In the next town, the stores were finally open. In France, most stores are closed between noon and 2 o'clock. We bought a few baguettes, an enormous amount of water, and a bottle of Oasis lemonade. Underneath a tree in the park, we ate everything and rested a bit.

We had cycled all the way around Dijon. From then on, our route would mostly run over large roads. There would be campsites after 20 and 40 km. We decided to aim for the last one, but not before buying some ice creams. Bram put one in his water bottle. I don't think that tasted good. 

Cycling went fast because we didn't have to look at the map anymore. The only problem was that Louhans, where the campsite would be, continuously seemed a bit further away than the signs indicated. We didn't arrive until it was getting dark.

Rue de Bram

Last year in Baden-Baden, we found the Brahmsstrasse. Here in Louhans they had the Rue de Bram.

 

In Louhans we crossed a river to reach the campsite. The front desk was already closed, but a French guy who was having dinner apparently owned the place and showed us a spot. We took a shower and washed about 2 kg of salt off ourselves. It was very windy and rainy that night, but most of our gear stayed dry.

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The first part around Dijon was very hot, but afterward, it got better.

Cycling today was relatively challenging, having cycled 160 km daily for three days.
 

Daily distance 163.8 km
Average speed 19.8 km/h

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