Tasting a cool refreshing Anjou wine on a hot summer day - it doesn't get much better!
(After many bloody scrapes on low French beams, I've learned to keep my helmet on!)
Tasting a cool refreshing Anjou wine on a hot summer day - it doesn't get much better!
(After many bloody scrapes on low French beams, I've learned to keep my helmet on!)
(A continuation of Part 1: Toulouse to the Rendezvous)
(Click on the thumbnail photos to see the full size photos.)
Day
12 (67 km): We had breakfast at the hotel which we rarely do because
they're so overpriced (just like in North
America!) It was SUNNY! There were two stiff climbs on the
day's route and they were both in the first 5 km. After their first
two days in the wind and rain and with this beginning, our 4
companions must have been wondering (after all our
crowing about the wonders of cycling in France) what they had
committed themselves to. I wasn't sure yet of what their capabilities
were but Chris had ridden with them for a couple of days and he
suggested we leave the more direct route (with its
"plus" of gentler climbs and descents and its "minus" of more
traffic) and travel the smaller secondary roads
(with their "plus" of less traffic and more
interesting riding and scenery and their "minus" of shorter steeper
climbs and descents). Since that's always our preference we
were happy to agree. He led us on a great ride down small country
lanes. We stopped for lunch in Faye-l'Abbesse and bought sandwiches
and drinks in a bar. It was windy in the last 25 km but nothing on
the scale of the previous 2 days. We sped through grain fields to St.
Jean-de-Thouars and our hotel. Today's distance may have been a
little much for our new team mates this early in the trip. We'll whip
them into shape at this pace! Patty had a puncture in her brand new
tire on her brand new bike just as we arrived at the hotel. Nice
hotel - Hostellerie St. Jean. (We'd been there
before.) We had a great meal in the dining room - excellent
food, beautiful presentation. It's still too cool to eat outside on
the terrace. After dinner Patty, Sue F. and I changed and went down
to the garage to replace and repair Patty's
tube and to try to make an adjustment on Sue's brakes. A fun
first day together. (today's
route)
Carol's always trying to get the "perfect" sunflower photo. This may be my favorite!
Day
13 (59 km): We went up the hill from the hotel into the town of
Thouars. The weekly market was on which
filled the large square in front of the covered market building. We
found a bike shop right on the square and Sue dropped her bike off to
get the brakes adjusted. We had breakfast in a busy café and
then set out to tour the market. (Sue McD. saw a
woman buying a creamy yellow cheese at a fromagerie and
decided to buy some of the same for their lunch. The man
asked:"Salé ou non-salé, madame?" ("Salted or
unsalted?") Puzzled, she said "Non-salé, merci
monsieur." 
When
we stopped for lunch she discovered that her creamy yellow "cheese"
was butter!) Sue's bike was fixed in the expected 5 minutes
once the mechanic got to it and we were off, at first through grain
fields but then past more and more vineyards as we rode into the
Anjou wine region south of Angers (pronounced "on
jay", but the "n" is nasal and the "j" is soft - like "zhay").
We stopped for a pause café in Le Puy-Notre-Dame - nice
big church there. We had our lunch in a small park in St.
Georges-sur-Layon. There was a group of girl
guides from Paris at the other picnic table near us. They were
part of a group of 40 camping nearby and were out on a hike. We
chatted with them for a bit; they stood and sang "Auld Lang Syne" as
we cycled away. Cute kids! We had a couple of long climbs after
lunch. Luckily there was a cave et dégustation (wine
tasting opportunity) at the top of a hill so we decided we should
take a break to taste some of the local wine. 
We
tried a white and a rosé - both with the characteristic
"off-dry" sweetness of Anjou wines - perfect summer sippers. We
bought some of both. As we neared Brissac (our destination) I raced
ahead so that by the time the rest of the group rolled into town I
was sitting in front of a bar with une
pression in my hand as though I'd been there for an hour. Our
hotel (Le Castel) was very nice - beautiful rooms. There's a
grand castle and grounds just across the road but by the time we had
done our laundry and showered and changed we were too late for the
tour and it wouldn't open until 10:00 the next morning. Darn! I hate
missing tours of castles! We had a rare (for France) mediocre meal
that evening in a nearby restaurant. (today's
route)
Day
14 (80 km): We had a nice descent out of town as we headed north past
vineyards and through forest until we reached the Loire where we
turned east to follow the river. We stopped for our pause
café at le Thoureil with great view of the wide shallow
river under bright sunny skies. The ride along the river was very
pretty. At Chênehutte Carol and I left the others who continued
along the river to Saumur while we climbed steeply to the south and
followed small country lanes through grain fields and vineyards to Le
Coudray-Macouard, a nice little village where we stopped at a pretty
café. We bought a drink and had our lunch. Down the hill to
our B&B on the Thouet river where we dropped off our panniers
(and put the bottle of sauvignon blanc we had bought the day
before in the refrigerator) and then headed south through a cool
forest, the Bois de Brézé, and then west over rolling
hills through fields of grain to Montreuil-Bellay. There's a
beautiful castle there where a wedding
was taking place. We watched the guests arrive, all dressed so
elegantly. They certainly weren't buying their clothes at the weekly
markets such as the one we had seen at Thouars! We returned by the
same route to our chambre d'hôte, Les Gastines, where the others were already settled in around the
pool. It was still pretty cool so only a couple of them braved a lap
or two in the cold water. We opened the sauvignon blanc and
some bubbly Saumur that they had bought during their tour of the
caves near Saumur that afternoon. 
We
had a fun meal that evening beside the
pool - it was finally warm enough to dine outside. The other
guests at the B&B were a middle aged woman and her elderly
mother, neither of whom spoke English. I sat by them to try to
include them a little more in the group but I found, as always, that
it's a struggle for me to carry on a conversation in French. We
managed well enough, I guess. The old woman seemed to be really
enjoying herself. (She did introduce me to a French
expression I hadn't heard. We were talking about the rain on Bastille
day and she said "Il tombe des cordes !" - literally "It's
falling in strings !", an expression equivalent to the English
expression "It's raining cats and dogs.") Our hostess, an
attractive young Swiss (or German?) woman, managed to produce and
serve a nice meal despite being on her own in the kitchen. Another
fun day! We're starting to forget the rain! (today's
route)
Day
15 (54 km): After a nice breakfast we headed east under bright sunny
skies, climbing through a forest that was part of a military base and
then descending to Fontevraud-l'Abbé
where we had our pause café. The massive abbey is the
final resting place of Henry II of England, his storied queen,
Eleanor of Aquitaine, their son Richard the Lion-hearted and their
daughter-in-law, Isabel of Angoulème, wife of King John,
Richard's brother. Even though it was Sunday morning there were
already many tourists there to see the abbey. We crossed the Vienne
river where it empties into the Loire. At Chinon, Carol, Patty, Sue
McD. and Chris climbed the 105 steps to the chateau which is mostly
in ruins although there were some people in period costume
demonstrating activities from the middle ages. On the road again we
cycled through vineyards and grain fields along the north shore of
the Vienne to L'Île-Bouchard. We stopped at a bar for a cool
drink and watched Lance Armstrong win his second consecutive stage of
the Tour de France in the Alps. Although there were many days
remaining in the Tour and Armstrong was now only in 3rd place, I
asked the bartender "Is it finished?" (meaning "Will he now
certainly win the Tour again?") and he shrugged his shoulders
and nodded yes. He was right, as it turned out. We cycled to the
outskirts of the town to the Moulin
de Saussaye, a ferme auberge (a working
farm but also an inn) which was our accommodation for the
night. Nice, plain meal of duck and roasted vegetables that evening.
(France is not all haute
cuisine.) (today's
route)
Day
16 (75 km): We started off on a busy road with lots of trucks and
rolling hills - all a bit disconcerting. We stopped for our coffee in
Ste. Maure-de-Touraine. As we got ready to leave, Sue McD. noticed
that her tire was flat. We replaced the tube and headed out to pick
up lunch groceries and to continue our ride, not noticing that I had
left my brand new glasses on the table at the café.
(I didn't notice that they were missing until the end
of the day, 65 km away. I had assumed that they were in my handlebar
bag. We had no idea what the name of the café was. Oh well,
I'd already had the use of them for a month and they only cost $300,
so .....AAAAARGH!!!!!!) We left the busy road and took a less
travelled route ("less travelled" = more
hilly), stopping at La Chapelle-Blanche for our picnic lunch.
As we rode through Mouzay a tractor drove though the village, going
our way. Carol, Chris and I sprinted after it. We were able to draft
him for 4 km before he lost us on a hill. Our champion climber,
Carol, was able to catch up with him again and trailed him for 3 more
km. We descended into the medieval town of
Loches where we stopped for a cool drink - it was 32°C
(90°F). As usual, I stayed with the bikes while the others went
off to see the magnificent old buildings (royal residence, dungeon,
church, etc.) Sadly, they fell victim to the lure of open shops and
it was more than an hour and a half before I saw any of them again.
Carol should have known better! We again took back roads including
some serious climbs and descents to our chambre d'hôte
at La Gironnerie near the village of Loche-sur-Indrois. Our host
and hostess, Méziane and Françoise Sejdal, were genial,
lively and fun. We had a great meal there, accompanied by lots of
very good local (Touraine) wine, lasting late into the evening - a
fine finale to a long , hot, busy day. (today's
route)
The spectacular Chateau Chambord (Loir-et-Cher)
Day
17 (77 km): Blue skies and sunny - this is southern France in the
summertime! We had a lovely ride through grain fields and then a cool
shaded forest before climbing into St. Aignan where we picked up
lunch stuff, got separated briefly but then reassembled for our
pause café. I bought a pair of reading glasses at a
pharmacy so that I could read the maps (now that I no
longer had glasses). As we mounted up and began to ride away,
Sue McD. suddenly fell - HARD!! She lay there for a
minute and then Chris tried to help her up. She was in serious pain
and we worried about a broken hip or pelvis. A woman had witnessed
the accident and she stood by, watching. When Sue was upright and
attempting, with Chris supporting her, a tentative step or two, the
woman stepped forward, identified herself as a nurse, told us the
hospital was just a couple of blocks away and offered to drive Sue to
the hospital. We all followed with the bikes and by the time we got
there Sue was already in the emergency room being examined.
Meanwhile, Patty had gone with the woman (Brigitte
Guerche) to learn where she lived (close to the hospital) because
she had offered, if Sue's injury was serious enough to end her trip,
to drive her to the train station at Blois so she could get to Paris
or, if Sue could continue, she would drive her to today's
destination: Chambord, nearly 50 km away. X-rays indicated no break,
but a contusion (whatever that is). She could
cycle no more today but could continue the trip the following day.
Relieved, we had our lunch in the garden outside the hospital.
Brigitte returned to find out the results of the examination. We put
Sue's bike in her Renault Twingo (a sort of "micro-van") along with
all our panniers and she and Sue took off for Chambord while we
headed out again with unloaded bikes. The ride was easy - not many
hills, but it was hot again. As we neared the beautiful small Chateau
Cheverny, Brigitte stopped on her way back to St. Aignan. She had
deposited Sue at our hotel with instructions to get rested. Sue had
told her that Patty might be a little weary so she asked Patty if
she'd like a drive for the remaining 20 km to Chambord. Patty
accepted after a little coaxing. The rest of us continued through the
forest towards Chambord. As we got close, I said to Chris "You're not
going to believe this!" The chateau is right there when one
emerges from the forest. It is the grandest of the chateaux of the
Loire valley and is startling the first time you see it. Brigitte was
still there with Patty when we arrived so we had an opportunity to
chat a little with her. She was on the first day of her vacation. How
lucky for Sue that Brigitte was there when she fell. After dinner
that evening we waited for the son et lumière (the
"sound and light" show) but we learned (too late) that it had been
replaced by a torch light tour of the interior of the chateau. An
eventful day! (today's
route)
Day
18 (61 km): Sue was feeling better this morning. She and the others
were staying to tour the chateau when it opened. Since we had done
that before, Carol and I set out on our own. We stopped in La
Ferté-St. Cyr for breakfast. The young man delivering the beer
to the bar stopped to chat with us when he saw the Canadian flag tags
on our panniers. He was from Quebec but had settled here in France
about 15 years ago. Our ride was mostly flat and woodsy but it was
very warm - into the mid-thirties! We got to Lamotte-Beuvron after 61
km and checked into our hotel - the Hotel Tatin - where the famous
Tarte Tatin was first created about 100 years
ago. The others arrived about a half hour after we did. We had a very
good meal on the terrasse of the hotel restaurant. (today's
route)