Our final fancy French dinner. The food was spectacular. And extravagant! Pictured the lotte fume carpaccio. Outstanding.

Poor Katherine struggled riding this morning. She was lagging at the back of the pack, tearful, complaining, blaming the bike. Robin and I were completely unsympathetic. We basically told her to either buck up or she was going to have to take the train. We discouraged all the other parents from paying any attention to her tears and complaints. The words shut up may have been uttered. We rode at least 10 km like this, most of it along a loud, busy highway. On...

Dear French Brent kindly buttered my chain for me. Bike smelled good too. He also adjusted my bike to improve my shifting. Merci! The bikes do not appear to be well maintained. Thank heavens for French Brent.

The ride from Azay-Le-Rideau to Chinon was great (except for Kat's stuck brake.) Nice weather, beautiful routes, easy riding, only a couple if highway stretches. This was our last longer day of cycling -- 25 miles. I hated to see it ending. Already, we are starting to talk about next year.

Pictured are kids playing cards on terrace at our beautiful Hotel de Biencourt. Azay-le-rideau is a gorgeous little town with a lovely chateau. We had another fantastic French dinner. The food is terrific on this trip, a real highlight at the end of the day. We didn't make it to the chateau, but Val and Amy were able to hit the gift shop at least!