Hm, I have definitely created a page for this day before and somehow lost it. Grrr. Fortunately it was a short day.
The header image was looking out of my window just after seven o'clock. That's rather chopped the full glory of the sign.
I wonder what the history behind those iconic French "TABAC" signs was. Hm, apparently that shape goes back to 1906 when it was made obligatory for all tobacconists to display one. Some information suggest that the specific shape and lettering dates from the 1940s but it seems to be agreed that the French name for the sign: "carotte rouge", red carrot goes back to how tobacco was sold in a tight roll with a cloth cover that looked like a carrot. (Information courtesy of https://www.myfrenchlife.org/p/le-tabac-a-french-national-treasure, https://daysontheclaise.blogspot.com/2025/07/the-origin-of-la-carotte-de-tabac.html and, in French https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carotte_des_d%C3%A9bits_de_tabac). Ah well, I didn't drill into all that last time I created a page for this day. I am not sure that my loss is your gain ... if you see what I mean!
Looking straight out the Loire was calm and beautiful
After a shower it had brightened to this.
And then I grabbed a very welcome breakfast ...
That Lichtenstein chap really did make pop art ubiquitous didn't he? Hm, talking of icons and ubiquity, those key fobs were pretty ubiquitous back then, I wonder if they have largely been replaced with programmed plastic cards now.
Anyway, I found proto-Toto waiting patiently outside and I got on and belted off as fast as I could as I didn't want J to be waiting long for me to arrive at the B&B she had booked for us at Chouzé. See here for a plot of mean speeds per day and you can see that I did hit my best mean speed of any day as I followed, and crossed, the Loire heading to Chouzé. (You should be able to hover over any of the points on that plot to see the exact speeds and other information about each day.)
Recreated, grrr, 12.ix.26.