It is a little before nine when we, Daan and I, cycle across the central square in the center of Lormes on our way to Vincelles, the planned destination for today. Richard follows by car. Today we cycle out of the wooded and hilly Morvan to enter the gently rolling lowlands with distant views, just under two hundred kilometers south of Paris. Yes it is going fast with our Tour. It is a lot fresher today than in recent weeks and days. Close to twenty degrees. Everywhere is very quiet. The liveliness of Lormes is in great contrast to the quietness we see today in the small villages we cycle through. What is the reason for that? Vacation time? But that can’t be the only answer, can it? The scenery is beautiful, even with these light clouds. After twenty kilometers, we drink coffee at a hotel-restaurant “Les Deux Ponts” in Pierre-Perthuis that has been run by Dutch people for twenty-seven years. She is pleased with the little trees we give. We see many cows in groups under the solitary trees and groups of trees. Three frolicking deer, and you wouldn’t believe it, one meter in front of the tree bike, a Badger suddenly crosses the road. I have to hit the brakes full on. Never before have I seen a Badger so close. Magnificent. The small scale of the landscape certainly contributes to biodiversity. We also see many birds of prey in this area. Cycling through this beautiful area, I wonder how much biomass a mature tree actually produces per year, or in other words, what is the annual biomass gain per hectare of forest? That must be quite a lot it seems to me. I read numbers of just under four tons per hectare, is that right? I would like to visualize it, how many m3 is that? Let’s find out again. We come across beautiful mansions and castles, beautifully and rustically situated against the slopes. As if it hasn’t been otherwise for hundreds of years. And maybe it has. We follow a small river that meanders through the valley. Very pleasant and genial all around. We give away a few more trees and as we drive along the Marie in Brosses, I ask two men standing by a car if the Marie is open. One of the men turns out to be the mayor, Alain Marc. We give two little trees and leaflets and we take a picture together. They say they will plant the trees in front of the town hall. Nice! In Vincelles we park around two o’clock already, it went fast today, good roads and downhill, the tree bike on the side of the Marie. For the last hour it has rained softly. It did make me cold. Not dressed for it. We drive back to Lormes in an hour where we pack everything today to leave here tomorrow morning for a new location. Much behind the computer still today, we talk to Eric for a while and have dinner in the village at L’ecole Odessa. Delicious and a nice relaxed atmosphere.