We are now 160 miles into our 3000 mile expedition.
We have been travelling now for two weeks and are over half way along our longest section of upstream paddling.
We are a lot browner, slightly better French speakers, a little stronger and far wiser.
The highlight of the past week was watching the culmination of stage 12 of the Tour de France.
Having walked a couple of miles from our moorings, we fought our way to a prime position 50m from the finish line.
While it was the following day that the city came alive to celebrate a stage start, it was the drama of a stage finish that excited us.
As we stood in the crowd holding our paddles, Marcel Kittell pipped Mark Cavendish in a photo finish.
Although little could be confirmed from our fleeting glimpse of the flying cyclists, the buzzing crowd and the mood of awe meant that this famous race lived up to expectations.
However, while the tour made for a fun afternoon, it was a hard week of canoeing ups and downs. We began the week with our longest day so far.
The following day we again exceeded our own expectations by going past our target destination.
On the third day we worked our way under, through and around 6 major bridges as we entered the city of Tours.
But it was at this point that the week took a turn for the worse.
Having watched the Tour, on returning to the canoe we found our kit bags broken open and some essential camping gear stolen.
As a result the next day required journeying back through Tours and a tiring search to buy new kit and report the theft.
This episode cost us in time, money and patience.
After a cathartic fifth day in which we put serious miles between ourselves and the city of Tours, the final two days of the last week have been relatively short as we split the distance to our current rest day in Blois.
So what have we learnt from our second week on the Loire?
First, as the blisters mount, the feeling that these long miles of the Loire may be the hardest of all is growing.
Second we are now more precautious: as far as possible, taking the canoe and all the kit everywhere we go.
Since yesterday, this caution now also extends to the route that we take.
While paddling through slower waters, we managed to capsize the canoe on a tree fallen into the river.
While the sum of our losses was only a spare t-shirt and a hat, the mental half hour swimming to save our escaping kit means that fewer risks will definitely be taken in the future!
Finally, as travellers we have again seen that the Loire is a spectacular place to canoe and now know that there are few better places to be than central France on Bastille day.
TIBS News will have our latest in another exclusive weekly report, while more regular updates are available @CanoeingEurope on Twitter and at www.canoeingthecontinent.com.
