Riding the roads in central France

Our trip to Chablis and Avallon took us through the Cher Valley, the southern end of the Sologne, and the northern part of the old Berry province before we crossed the Loire River and entered the region called La Bourgogne.

Open roads through the vineyards of Sancerre and Pouilly

As we approached the wine-and-cheese town of Sancerre (don't French towns sound like so many fancy parties?) we made the decision to bypass the town to the south and head directly into the neighboring wine town of Pouilly-sur-Loire on the back roads.

Tree-lined highways through the Berry countryside

There is a bridge across the Loire River at Pouilly, and we had a restaurant in mind for our lunch there.

At Pouilly, a narrow bridge across the wide Loire River

As you can see, there wasn't an awful lot of traffic (read: "almost none") on the roads of the region, despite the fact that this is a major school vacation period in France. It's the Toussaint, or All Saints' Day, which includes the Hallowe'en holiday.

Villages that look deserted, especially at lunchtime

Maybe the lack of traffic had to do with the showery, windy weather. People just stayed home.

You see more farm equipment than passenger cars on the roads.

Walt was driving and I was navigating, so I had time to snap pictures of the roads and roadsides as we drove along.

Choose your direction and destination...

As usual, you can click or tap on the images to see them at full size.