A good traveler has no fixed plans and is not intent on arriving.
Thurs 14th July. St Pourçain to Billom: 83km, avg 15.7km/hr, max 43.2km/hr, 5¼hrs riding 7½hrs total
This was the kind of thing that faced me every morning in France. Life is tough: half a baguette, of course but then should it be pain aux amandes, flan, or ...
It was a particularly slow start, took an hour and left at 7.15am. I put everything away in the wrong place and in the wrong order. Nonetheless it was a sunny start, though my tent was soaked with both rain from the previous night and dew, relevant because it adds a few kilos to the weight.
Sun and quiet roads, in other words back to normal. This was a flat long valley which would continue, though getting a little busier, all the way to Vichy. But this first part was very pleasant.