The road(s) not taken

The road to nowhere, on the road again, road scholar, the road goes on forever, (and the party never ends), country roads, another roadside attraction, and all roads lead to.........

We are in a very rural area of France.  On the Loire River and Lateral Canal.  Just across the river from Bourgonne (Burgandy). And as you might guess from my intro,  there are more roads per square mile than varicose veins on a woman with 19 children. But who is counting. These roads sometimes go to villages of 5 homes, that have made it to the map and road signs. We can ride for miles and never see more than 3 or 4 cars.  There are also well marked Velo routes with many people doing multi-day tours.

On our side of the Loire River, it is all farms, very flat, and small villages.  We are much further east than the famous Chateaus, but there are some small, abandoned estates around the area.

Just a small place along the road.

We are also on the canal, which in the old days was used for trade and transportation, with the ingenious design of the locks which allowed for navigation on rivers that had large elevation gains and losses.  There are hundreds of miles of canals and locks throughout Europe, with most of them in France, Holland, Belgium and Germany.  With a few exceptions, these navigable waters are now the playground for older adults who enjoy the quiet life on the water.  Just imagine floating RV's with easy access to good wine, fresh produce and bread, the occasional restaurant and citizens from every country assembling each evening as the sun sets, and you have set the scene for adult camp on the river. You have new best friends every day.

One of the larger boats.

This area of France does have a few larger towns, of about 1,000 inhabitants,but they are all about 20-40 miles apart.  The striking thing I notice as we ride along is the sheer number of homes for sale.  Either in towns or out in the middle of nowhere.  Prices range  from the low 60,000 to who knows where, but for the most part they are on the low end, and  in need of some TLC. The French village life seems to be dying out, with a very difficult sustainable business model.  Unless you inherit the family farm, there is no other work.  And we are in the Hooterville of France, where internet is very slow, if at all, and tourism is about 1-2 hours away. (with the exception of the rivers/canals in the summer)  It is very pretty, the people are friendly, but there isn't much to do other than ride our bikes.  So ride we do!

One of our many roads to nowhere!

I always try to "go native" when I travel; live as the locals do, shop where they do, etc.  We are not out plowing any fields, but we are renting a small house in the country, shopping locally and drinking local wine and beer!