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Sorbais

The woods are lovely, dark and deep,   
But I have promises to keep,   
And miles to go before I sleep,   
And miles to go before I sleep. Robert Frost.

These lines from Frost's poem "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening" felt appropriate as looking at the itinerary there are two more long days ahead before my arrival in Charleville-Meziere where there is opportunity to rest.

After a late and relaxed breakfast I do a bit of chain maintenance comprising a simple wipe clean, lubricate and wipe down as there was a little bit of chain noise yesterday I don't plan on taking any lubricant home. After a brisk start I take the first opportunity to stop, take off a layer and settle in to a relaxed day on the bike; I am enjoying the pedalling and the rolling scenery of villages, lanes and canal towpaths. 
I had forgotten I'd be following the EuroVelo 3 and it's not long before I start to see the pilgrim cyclists heading south. This is also a reminder that I've ridden into Le Départment De L'Aisne which I hadn't heard of before; you might know the historic region of Picardy which includes Oise, Somme and L'Aisne.
The other cycle tourers are mostly sporting the standard badge of the clan which comprises a full set of four Ortlieb panniers and maybe a handlebar bag as well. The alternative brand is Vaude for those that want to show their individuality. 

This morning's language lesson related to boiled eggs. Oeuf dur is hard-boiled and Oeuf á la coque is soft-boiled though I didn't know this and when presented with a choice it was fortunate that I didn't give voice to my thought process which started to go down the road of "well maybe ERRF COCK is from a cockerell....". Anyway I chose á la coque and in 10 minutes found myself enjoying a perfect soft-boiled egg from a hen.

I am following a river while cycling on a disued railway embankment; the warming sun, cool breeze, rolling countryside, meadows ablaze with buttercups and woods carpeted with white wild garlic. Among all this spender I see that Robert Louis Stevenson fell out of his canoe here. Yes, just here.

Though best known for Treasure Island Stevenson was a travel writer and in addition to canoeing the rivers in northern France and Belgium he also walked, with a donkey, and wrote Travels with a Donkey in the Cévennes (1879). He has a walking trail named after him in France somewhere near Puy-en-Velay. Cycling along this long stretch of railway embankment I am reminded that France has converted alot of its railway network to a cycle network and all of that helped by Robert Stephenson who was a pioneer in locomotive development including the innovative Rocket.

The woods are still lovely, dark and deep, and reluctantly I progress to my journeys end for today.
It was a good but routine morning along the canal and a stunning afternoon on the railway embankment with glorious weather. It is close to the end of the day now and having eaten all the supermarket food bought today - including tomorrow's breakfast - I will set off hungry in the morning and now need to locate a likely breakfast stop.

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