Back to the cooler weather this morning, 10 to 22 deg, which is perfect for riding. Fine and sunny, that’s the main thing. Oh, did I mention that we also had a tailwind all the way?
We must be getting more organised, as we rode away at 0723h this morning. The air was crisp the river was stunning and the path, which was only 50m from the motel door was smooth and easy. Cycle touring doesn’t get much better than this. Pushed along by the tailwind we made excellent time and it wasn’t long before we were looking for our first coffee stop of the day. That was soon located at a lovely little village called Beaulieu-sur-Loire which just happened to be in the shadow of the nearby nuclear power station’s steam vapor. The coffee was great so was the quiche we shouted ourselves. It’s sometimes hard to resist the lovely looking displayed treats.
That done we bolted off again along canal paths and backroads towards our destination. We thought at this rate we’ll end up at Sancerre before the checking in time. So, we decided to take in a couple of villages off the river a bit, Châtillon-sur-Loire didn’t float our boats, but Cosne-sur-Loire was a little gem. And there happened to be a fresh food market going on. But first our second coffee of the day was in order; nothing to eat this time. However, during our wanderings around the markets, we come across a paella maker, and as it was fairly close to lunchtime, we couldn’t walk by without buying a serve each. It was excellent, full of tasty, salty prawns, seafood, and some chicken.
Sancerre is a medieval town built on the top of a dirty great hill, needless to say we had a bit of a climb to finish the ride today. The Brit Hotel Saint Martin is a ripper, although we had to reject the first room offered because the carpet was covered in black dog hair. They were suitably embarrassed and gave us a bigger room, bonus. After settling in and a nice cuppa we went off to give the walking muscles a workout. Although the town is perched on top of the hill that doesn’t preclude it from being hilly up there. But it was worth the effort, and we just about had the place to ourselves.
Poor old Sancerre has had a rough past, between the marauding hordes and the religious wars it’s lucky that there’s anything left standing. Many castles, churches and towers are now just rubble or drawings. A couple of hours into the rather lumpy walk it was time for a rest and another cuppa back in the room.
Dinner was very French at a medieval restaurant up the hill from the motel. This cycling tour is turning into a foodie’s tour, but I’m not complaining.
No comments:
Post a Comment