Day 4 – Saturday 2 August

Saint-Mihiel to Buzancy

Campsite

Camping La Samaritaine (http://www.camping-lasamaritaine.fr/)

Notes

The tent was wet with dew and condensation and there wasn't sufficient sun to dry it, so it had to be packed up wet. I loaded the bicycle and then sat under my tree on the borrowed chair and had bread and cheese for breakfast. There is a Meuse cycle path but it has a gravel surface and I stayed on the road, which was quiet and smooth along the valley. I bought a baguette at a boulangerie at Ancemont and was passing Verdun when the thought struck me that it might be a good place for an early lunch so I turned off my route and into the town. I wish I'd had more time to spend there and go round the Citadelle, which looked fascinating. I found a huge E.Leclerk where I stocked up on rations and had an excellent lunch in their cafeteria.

I carried on up the Meuse until Brieulles where there was a French War Cemetery. I left the valley and puffed up into the hills and by five o'clock had reached Buzancy where the town was closed down for a fète. I wound round various dodgems and merry-go-rounds bumping over cables stretched across the road and ignoring route barrées signs. I followed my satnav and road signs down a narrow track towards the campsite that was very good. All grassy plots were surrounded by little hedges and the whole site was under a canopy of trees. The services were excellent and they had a really good buffet caravan where I had a substantial snack before turning in.