| Wednesay, June 19, 2013 -- Orléans, France -- Biking Day 1 |

We arrived in Orléans at 12:30 PM and had lunch at a Chinese restaurant (kids choice) since the bike shop was closed from noon to 2 PM. We then caught a street car from Orleans to the bike shop in Saint Jean de Braye, a few kilometers east. We spent at least 90 minutes adjusting and adapting the bikes, including the luggage trailer for Robin's bike, favorite seat exchanges for Amy, Eric, and me, removal of pedals and attachment of the foot platform on the stoker (loafer) seat on the tandem bike for Val, getting the panniers to fit on the racks, and various handle bar and seat adjustments for the kids.

Of course, it started to rain while we were outside the shop working on the bikes, but had stopped at 4 pm just as we were ready to saddle up and push off. Loaded up, we left St. Jean de Braye and headed west along the north bank of the Loire river toward the town of Beaugency, some 32 km away, and our first night's stop for our "La Loire à Velo".