The weather clears, though it's still cold, and yes we are getting tired of writing that. We head away from the Seine and it's constant flow of towns to point SW. We decide, if a little randomly, to go to Orléans and the Brenne National Park (known for a lot of birds). We do a big day which involves gently undulating through farmland until late evening when we reach a huge forest to the NE of Orléans. Seronaded by bird song we hide away in the trees undisturbed with the sun having finally made a sustained appearance allowing us to take off our gloves.

The next day we have a leisurely morning that started off with more bird song, a bumble up the forest track to an observation tower where we met a French couple who were very interested in our trip for which Heather did her best to describe it to them in French. The forest stretches for miles and is quite a site from the tower. Finally reaching Orléans in the late afternoon with little food left we decided to treat ourselves to dinner. The sun was really out now and riding in to Orléans was pure joy with the river glistening and passing others out enjoying the warmth. Of course we didn't time it right as a lot of places had closed for lunch on a Sunday (Editors note: most places in France seem to only be open for early lunch and dinner, no in between - WHY?! Barney needs his food!!), but we did eventually find a good deal which included one of the best baked camembert we've ever had and we even splashed out on some wine too! After restocking on food it was time to wander out of Orléans, but not before Heather managed to find a fancy waffle place. We spent the night in a small wooded area off the main road, again accompanied by a lot of bird song.

The next day we aimed to add on some miles to really try and get a move on. An error on our part in trusting Google over Garmin temporarily, with an accompanying song which ended up having to be amended after Google's failure, still got us to 68 miles for the day which we were happy with. But this time as the light faded it was another small copse of trees - this time near an active farm so not quite as peaceful. Though there were several patches of tiny orchids to admire.

Finally! We reach La Brenne National Park with its rolling countryside and woods full of birds. We've forgot to mention that on our way here there has been more birds of prey than either of us has ever seen. We also discovered this afternoon that the further south you go the more campsites are open so treated ourselves to our first of this trip. Spending a couple of hours exploring a couple of the lakes and bird hides we headed to a municipal campsite by a small lake, with clean warm showers and picnic benches - all for under 10 euros! It was pure luxury to be pitching on grass in the open, by a lake with an amazing sunset, wine and dinner and a hot shower. Honestly it's the small things!

It was raining by the time we got up in the morning and we had a slow one with breakfast and showers and charging our devices in the toilet block. So 34 miles towards our next goal - Thiézac in the Central Massif area. Heather loves climbing hills and so off we went to where we could find some! Riding felt slow today, Barney pointed us towards a medieval village which was hilariously disappointingly rubbish - off season is not kind to these places (Editors note: Nor on season by the looks of it- their tourism photographer deserves a BIG raise). The day was saved however after 10 miles on an unpleasant main road that just undulated (fast but dull riding) we found ourselves at a fishing lake with an open restaurant. They let us camp for the night by the lake so we went in for a beer and of course under Barney's influence (though Heather didn't take much persuading) we had dinner too. Barney even had a burger that replaced the bun with hash browns - when in France I suppose! This place also had about 50 Belgian beers to try and as Belgium is where Heather first got to like beer, a couple of beers were a must! Another peaceful night by a lake, though Barney's second beer at 11.9% probably helped that!

The next day it was another of Barney's picks - this one turned out to be far more entertaining. The cycle there was increasingly hilly through farmland and forests with an awesome decent - shame Heather dropped the GoPro but it survived! Another lesson was learnt - Don't follow Garmin down a path that you hope will get better but actually in hindsight it never looked like it would - the last 2 minute decent turned into a 20 minute bike carrying/rolling exercise down an extremely rough forest track that appears to have not been finished yet. The reward was ice creams and a giant maze where Heather managed to lose the GoPro (found luckily) - it clearly didn't want to be with us that day. After spending a couple of hours in the sunshine we cycled on out of town to another municipal campsite but it turned out that it was closed to tents... We tried ringing to no avail and decided that no one would care if we pitched up anyway! The only problem was water as all the taps on the campsite had been turned off over winter, but that was for future Heather and Barney to be concerned with as we were ready for bed!

Another big day with plenty of hills through beautiful forest in the Limousin area. The sun was out all day and our wheels just kept spinning. Barney is having a little trouble with his knee but in his usual style is complaining little... We bought some local cheese and spoke to a fellow cycle tourist currently living in a village. Zooming downhill we came across a platform overlooking Lac de Vassiviére. We were completely alone for three hours as we swam and had lunch - glorious! But soon we had to keep going or we'd never get to Thiézac. We continued on through the forest, gaining height until we got a tremendous downhill pretty much all the way to Egléton. Again we hadn't quite got our food right as originally we had planned on getting here by five or six. It was now 2030 and we were very tired. No supermarket was open but there was a pizza stall! Saved. The desire to find somewhere to camp was low so Heather had the idea of camping on the side of the supermarket car park... Close to everything we need in the morning right? Sadly a near fatal disaster for one of Heather's bags meant a five minute roadside fix - luckily no cars around. We forgot though that although the supermarket was closed deliveries continue till about two in the morning making a lot of noise! Safe to say all but one of the campervans in the car park moved on around midnight.

Fully stocked we left the next morning stupidly aiming to do a very hilly 75 miles. We realised it wasn't going to happen (especially after the supermarket didn't open till 0830) when after climbing out of the Dordogne gorge we were sat in a shaded pavillion knowing that was only a quarter of our height gain to do. Getting down in to the Dordogne gorge was incredible fun, a long windy stretch through luminous green trees and the river running below us, the sun on our backs. The climb out - steep, but encouraged by motorists zooming to the top with the horns and thumbs up we kept pedalling slowly on to the top. The next part through gently rising open farmland was picturesque but slow, both of us seeming to have lost a bit of momentum! After having lunch in a park in Mauriac, where we met a lovely French guy who was very enthusiastic to talk and it took all of Heather's energy to reply. We then found ice creams in the supermarket... Yeah 75 miles wasn't going to happen today but maybe a nice campsite in Salers at the half way point would suffice. It more than did! Grass pitch, warm shower, reading our books in the sun - good way to recover!

The next morning, after a big breakfast, we headed in to Salers as apparently it is a very jolly medieval town. We could already tell the evening before that it looked nicer than Barney's first medieval village! Full of artisanal shops selling cheese, chocolate, blown glass, knives, cold clay flowers we wondered the cobbled streets. But... The big day ahead! Barney's first day climbing what can be described as a mountain pass even if they aren't anywhere near as tall as in the Alps that are to come. The weather has really been on our side the past few days with sunshine though we do still seem to get headwinds even when a NE is forecast! (Editors note: Barney is convinced Heather can fix the weather but refuses to as she's 'off work'). The first part of the day was a huge downhill in to the valley before we steadily climbed up to Col de Legal at 1226m, with gradients between 4-8% (I think) it was a good steady climb with increasingly impressive views. The next step after lunch... Another huge downhill of course. Winding our way towards steeper sided peaks, this area is full of extinct volcanoes. The next climb started off waaaayyyyy steeper. Double digits on the gradient with hair pin bends. A few stops to catch our breath and check our legs weren't going to fall off we made it through the steepest section - each meter pedalled, no pushing for us. The gradient began to ease off slightly and eventually we got to Col de Perthus at 1309m where we enjoyed the view and a lot of water. Can you guess what came next? Yep ... Another huge downhill under the shadow of Puy Griou (extinct cone volcano of phonolite), all the way down to Thiézac. We've made it! We pitched up by the river, time to relax for a day! Also time to plan where we go next as we aren't entirely sure...