.... France is different

I am behind a day in posting. I missed yesterday; Wednesday. So tonight I will post for 2 days which is appropriate since they are the yin and yang of France. Today is the yang. it started out great, but it ended on a downer due to my not understanding that France was different than Spain in many ways. Not better or worse ...... Just different and I was slow to react and change my style.  

I left the campground early and had a great coffee in town and began with some great scenery.

The French churches are of a different style, much grander than the more humble Spanish.

The riding was rural with nice gentle hills. None of the big climbs in Spain.

And the little towns and willages were old, often with large very old, huge wooden structures that looked centuries old and covered the road and the entire town's central square.

France was very nice for cycling, but for good reason my tradition of swimming in a river or lake every day has been abandoned and for good reason!! Check out a typical river.

Brown and looking very dirty! None of the local kids were jumping in like in Spain.

The day ended with some rolling thunder a brief, light shower and a nice rainbow.

Then my trouble with understanding France began. The trouble was on my part and not France's. I had assumed that like Spain I could let the end of the day come to me. All I had to do was just show up in a town and, being on el Camino with an albergue ready to take the piligramos in, or with Hannah who was fluent, or not in a busy tourist area; I could easily find a nice inexpensive place to stay. Tonight I found that in France this was not the case. 

I peddled into a medium sized town and ....... nothing, nada, nein. A nice lady at a local bar where I went for advice called around for me and found a room but I had to ride another 15 miles to get the last decent rom around. I arrived tired but grateful for a shower and a place to stay and a little discouraged.

End of day 15 in Gimont. But tomorrow the yin where I figure out the style of France. As I said not better or worse. Just different ....... And maybe a little bit better.