Day 11 - Saint Aventine to Nouâtre

Another gorgeous morning found us with huge smiles on our faces as we cycled from Saint-Avertin, a little suburb of Tours. 

We've left the vineyards behind, at least for the moment, and they've been replaced with other agrarian uses. We are still seeing plenty of fields planted with pretty golden rape seed, but lots of greenery too. 

It was a very dewy morning so we'd packed up the tents dripping wet. We stopped in Sainte Catherine de Fierbois, by the church you see here, to dry tents, tent flies, and ground cloths. 

Place Jeanne d'Arc featured a lovely statue of Joan of Arc, although the intense mid-day sun made photography difficult. We also came upon a lovely, old water pump. 

We found shade under this hand-hewn patio. 

In the afternoon, there were lots of climbs and descents, though shade was sparse. I found the shade from this water tower quite welcome. 

The original plan was to stay at Camping la Croix de la Motte, in Marcilly-sur-Vienne.

But, despite claiming to open on April 1st, c'était fermé (it was closed!). However, Kate-the-Miracle-Worker found us a B&B in Nouâtre, just across the Vienne river from Marcilly-sur-Vienne.  We are sipping cool beverages en plein air at this idyllic locale. 

Tomorrow we'll ride along the Vienne River. All is perfect.