One can only cycle so many hours in a day. Searching for accommodation and food can take up a couple of hours. Planning the next day's route can soak up some time. One can't afford to read after dark -- battery power is too precious. But there's still down time, particularly in early summer when it is light enough to read until well after 90% of the day is complete (21:36).
I had impulsively purchased a book at the San Francisco International Airport (Gwynne, Samuel. Empire of the Summer Moon. New York: Simon, 2011). I soaked up as much as I could on the flight but did not finish it. Despite its 400g and 700ml, I decided to take it with me. I quickly finished a first read, then soaked it up again. It had a relevance to our travels -- an important sub-story in the book is the tension between cultural understanding and survival (the decimation of Comanche life ways v. the brutality of the Comanche life ways). This was something not remotely so stark in our travels in France, but we were faced with a version of it every time I opened my mouth.
Given my focus on saving weight, I have trouble explaining why I carried it around so long. I even lugged it up the cols in the Alps. It got wet more than once, making it even heavier and more voluminous. It occupied my mind and made me think, I guess, but 400g is no small price to pay for such luxuries. I eventually left it at the hostel in Le Puy en Velay.
By Capbreton 20 days later, I decided life on the road sans a book was more than I could handle. I knew the weight penalty, though, so I looked for something light and compact. I also looked for something in French. I figured my need for entertainment would overcome any aversion to challenging myself. I found a series of books called "Les Essentiels Milan." These are slim, high-interest, low reading-level soft cover mini-books. Perfect for me. Rather than choose weighty issues like L'Afghanistan, Otage de l'Histoire or L'Anarchie, Une Histoire de Revoltes, I chose lighter fare (Ferre, Jean Luc. Le Tour de France: Un Siecle de Legendes. Liguage, France: Aubin, 2003). Mine weighed 79g and took up only 100ml. I struggled my way through once, then a 2nd time with dictionary in hand so I could actually understand what I was reading. It might have been more appropriate to have this book while we were watching the Tour, but it was still entertaining to read about the Tour's history.
In future, I will not have to worry about taking a book. I will have a wi-fi enabled electronic device with a camera, mapping and dictionary software and pre-loaded e-books.
