Enough of churches and godly things and time to move on and head for Orleans via a supermarket to supplement our supplies. The Orleans traffic and navigation lived up to my expectations. It was horrid. We eventually found somewhere to do our shopping and then headed for the campsite at Olivet, a suburb south of Orleans.
Agggh!, the campsite is full, but it’s a really nice quiet place so we go in anyway and speak to the receptionist about booking in for the following night, Sunday. As Fiona spoke to him in French rather than English, he rejigged his booking list and found us a pitch! Well Done, Fiona. Camping Olivet is a really nice little site, very clean, very quiet and with easy access to cycleways and to the tramway into the centre of Orleans.
On the Sunday we took the tram into the centre for a good look around, visiting the cathedral and old town and we found a good small place to have lunch. Orleans is a very modern city with a few old bits. Typically French in that there are no high-rise buildings and the city has been built on a grid system giving wide thoroughfares and plenty of places to eat and drink, and watch the world go by.
The following day we cycled into the city for a further look around and then took a bike trip up the Loire for a few miles, along the canal towpath- Loire a velo again. It was absolutely scorching. By the time we got back to the ‘van we were both sunburnt, despite the SF50 protection.
All in all, Orleans is a great place to visit and Camping Olivet is a superb site at which to stay. In fact, we’re booked in again for next weekend (17 to 19 June)