Loire Eurocycle Route Sept 2013

 

This year, we decided to explore the Eurovelo Route (Route 6) in France.

 

A brief summary of waat we found most surprising:

• Everyone we dealt with in France, without fail, was a) very friendly and b) spoke excellent English
• The food nothing to write home about (and that is putting it mildly)
• The coffee was awful (way too bitter)
• The trains run on time
• Things are not very flexible - you better book your accommodation and dinner in advance, if you want something decent and affordable - not ideal for a cycling trip. Even some camp sites close at 9pm and you need a code to get in through the electric gate

But let's start at the start.

A big hooray to Easyjet for being helpful with regards to transporting a tandem - after a few phone calls all was sorted and we started our trip by flying from Basel to Nantes.

 

So the usual "pack up the bike for the flight" routine was in order... this time, we tried a new trick, cling film - which worked a treat:

Ready !

Arrival in Nantes. All good, the bike is in one piece, only one little problem which had already started back home now needed attention - I was sent to find an empty drinks can, which was not an easy task, but eventually I found one, and Andy got to work.

An old can, a tried and tested bike-repair trick, and all is good

First we travelled West, to get to the sea

When we stopped to admire the evening, some friendly tourists offered to take our photo - why not...

Onwards the next day, and getting closer to the sea... 

Friendly creatures by the sea



After hours of pedalling in relentless heat, eventually, we got to see THE BRIDGE (Saint Nazaire)

... found a bed for the night...

A beach...

 

 

 

food & drink... (& a very friendly waiter, who spoke fluent English and turned out to have lived in England for a few years)

and a nice sunset !

Soon, however, it was time to leave the sea and head east...

 

Not without saying goodbye to the seamonster !

And off we were, into the land of canals....



 

And castles...

Saumur

When we visited Villandry last time, it was too hot to enjoy the gardens, plus we were in motorbike leathers, so we went back this time round, in the hope that cycling shorts would leave us less overheated... same experience, though... beautiful but too hot !!! We need to try another time of year if we want to do anything other than melt in the heat

Shade, shade, glorious shade...

 Still, it IS brilliant !

 

 

And one of the yummiest meals of the trip... we know where to go in Villandry !



 Someone got a sun tan too:

Another day, another castle...  Chenonceau - and brilliant it is !

... and another one... Chaumont-sur-Loire, including its "international garden festival" (which was too arty and not really about plants, as far as we were concerned)



It's the end of the world as we know it...

A nice café - and to make it even better, for once, the coffee was not too bitter for us :-)

This path has seen better days

...aaand relax !

 

It was pouring with rain, and we decided to treat ourselves to a hotel for a night... the only decent place in town was this :

 

So we accidentally ended up eating in a *** Michelin Restaurant.  I am sure we were the only guests ever to arrive and ask "Is there a restaurant in the hotel?"  Sadly, the food did not agree with Andy, but still, it was a "once in a lifetime" experience.



Saumur by night

A beautiful little place to stop for the night (with a wonderful B&B but only a reather mediocre restaurant open the night we stayed...)  Bourbon Lancy !

Oreleans was surprisingly pleasant (when spending your days on the bike in the country, big cities seem mostly loud, dirty and horrible), and I did like the green tram tracks outside the funky train station:

Finally, we visited Besancon - and the famous citadelle...



 

...with its famous - uhm- wallabies !