Loire Valley
Bike/Barge Trip
May, 2010
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Thursday, May 20 - The Journey Begins
Ooh la la . . . we’re off on another bike/barge trip, this time to the Loire River Valley booked with HAT Tours of the Netherlands. We found out about this trip through our favorite bike tour company, Van Gogh Tours. It's a 7 day bike trip and we've booked some time in Paris at the Hotel Brescia on the Right Bank in the 8th Arrondisement at the beginning and end of the trip.
We have much to celebrate this trip -- our 25th wedding anniversary and Bill’s 55th birthday.
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Friday, May 21 - Day 1, Paris
)
The flight was uneventful. We arrived at Charles de Gaulle at about 7:45 and cleared
customs promptly. Our bags came off the belt quickly)
, and we found our way to the Roissybus to take us
to central Paris, not far from our hotel. We caught a taxi to our
hotel and were happy to hear that we could check in right away.
After
a brief rest, we headed
out to explore the area. We went in search of a café for
lunch and found Rimal,
a friendly Lebanese )
outdoor café
on Boulevard Malesherbes where we stopped in for grilled sandwiches
and salad.
Afterwards we strolled through the Parc de
Monceau and enjoyed a leisurely walk and people watching session.
It was a perfect spring afternoon – 70’s and sunny.)
We then sauntered off to the Arc de Triomphe and walked up the 284 steps to the spectacular view of Paris and the 12 roads that fan out like spokes on a wheel away from the Arc.
We
strolled a few blocks of the Champs Elysees; then started to hike
back towards the hotel. By now it was after 7:30 p.m., so
we )
ventured
into the Café Restaurant
LeCarre on Place Saint-Augustin. There
was a good crowd there, but we managed to find a nice table inside.
We shared the cheese platter, olive tapenade and an assortment
of fresh bread, a glass of wine
for Diane and an Affligem Belgian ale for Bill.
We returned to the hotel by 10:00 and split a ½ bottle of wine on our little terrace before retiring at 10:30. Looking forward to a good night's sleep so we'll wake up tomorrow with our internal clocks adjusted to the local time zone!
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Saturday, May 22
Transfer from
Paris to Cour-les-Barres
)
We slept well,
had breakfast and headed to the Musee Jaquemart Andre – an elegant)
mansion once owned by an art-collecting couple. It was a lovely
take-in with an English audio-guide.
We had to check out of
the hotel by by noon so headed back to the hotel. After
paying up, we stowed our bags in the lobby and headed to a nearby
café to lunch (croque monsieur for Bill and salad chevre chaud for
Diane). Bill tried the Grimbergen Belgian Ale and )
was not disappointed! After lunch we strolled
around the neighborhood and browsed through an open-air market.
By 2:00 we headed back to the hotel to grab bags and head
to Gare du Nord to)
meet our cycling party for the bus transfer to
Loire. After a short wait, we found the bus across the street
and met 9 of our cycle mates: Steve & Sue, Linda &
Al, Lyn & Graham, and Keith & Sheelagh (all old high school
chums from England) plus Petra, a German school teacher traveling
solo. We were missing one other couple, Mike and Eva, and
waited about 45 minutes for them until getting the word from the
tour company to go on without them.
)
Our drive to Cours-les-Barres
was three hours, about twice as long as we expected, but we eventually
arrived around 7:00 p.m. and found the Anna Maria IV waiting
for us with our captain Martijn, his lovely wife, Marjorie, their
dog Poekie and our guide Jan Willem welcoming us
with glasses of
sparkling rose wine.
We were shown to our cabin, a compact
and efficient compartment with a twin upper and double lower berth,
sink, under-berth bins for clothing storage and a separate closet
with shower and toilet. Our cabin had a nice, wide window
that opened to a canal view. )
We were called to dinner straight away and enjoyed a dinner of vegetable consommé, spaghetti Bolognese, and yoghurt with strawberries. After dinner we had a few laughs and a nightcap on deck. Our missing tour mates finally showed up by cab around 9:00. Mike and Eva from England (she’s originally from Germany) had been delayed on their train from England due to vandalism on the train line, and they missed our tour bus by mere minutes so had to catch a train and then a cab to get to us.
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Sunday, May 23 - 50 km
Cour-les-Barres
Loop
)
We awoke to another hot, sunny
day for cycling. Breakfast was at 8:00, and we were off by
9:00 on a)
big loop that would eventually bring us back to Cours-les-Barres.
Our cycling took us along farm roads through fields of buttercups
dotted with cows and sheep. As we cycled
along, we came upon a nice scenic vista, Le Bec-d'Allier that
overlooked the confluence of the Rivers Loire and Allier. We cycled
along through some lovely small
villages and then )
continued
our journey on a bike path next to the canal.
Our first stop of the day was an)
open-air
market where we bought a mini quiche and a spinach & goat
cheese tart for lunch. Next stop
was Nevers on the River Loire. We took a little break from the cycling
and walked around the town to do a bit of sightseeing.
We saw the impressive Duke's Palace and the Cathedral as we meandered
)
through the narrow, quiet streets lined with medieval houses from
the 15th and 16th centuries. Part of the Duke's Palace now houses
a pottery museum. )
We got back on the bikes and cycled a bit further along the bike path where we stopped for a picnic.
Next stop was the historic Parc Floral d’Apremont.
The stately grounds included a towering 12th century )
castle
with 5 of its original 12 towers still standing and impressive gardens
with peaceful ponds and all sorts of flowering trees. The castle,
high on the hill, was a fortress in the Middle Ages to defend
its strategic position on)
the River Allier as well as to collect
fares from travellers crossing the river. We had a quick beer in the Parc’s
beer garden before cycling the last 15K back to the barge to change
for dinner. Dinner on board
tonight was salad with foie gras, honey glazed pork cutlets with
pomme fritte and broad beans w/ bacon, with yoghurt and sliced fruit
for dessert.
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Monday, May 24 (55K)
Beffres
to Ménétreol
)
We slept well and awoke to another gorgeous, hot sunny day. We
cruised aboard the barge for two hours to our starting off point
at the lock in Beffres. The locks along the canal are just
wide enough to accommodate the Anna Maria IV. As we)
prepared for the day's ride, we were asked by Capt. Martijn to manually
open the lock to allow the barge to exit the lock at the lower water
height. So we managed to crank open the lock gate
by hand to allow the barge to pass through! As we admired
the vessel sailing off to this evening's destination, Bill realized
that he left his )
Camelback
(water bottle backpack) on board. He hurriedly jogged down the canal
path to get Captain Martijn's attention as the barge was pulling
away. Marjorie found the backpack and tossed it over to Bill (who
was now quite relieved!) OK, we've had enough excitement for the
day)
and we hadn't even begun cycling yet!
As we began our ride, we cycled along through wheat fields, and after
a while we saw the small town of La Charité sur Loire in the distance with
its majestic Notre Dame Church spire pointing up to the heavens. We
cycled across a beautiful )
16th
century stone bridge and entered the town. We stopped here for a
walking tour and a short visit to a local café for refreshments.
The church is on the UNESCO World Heritage list. In the Middle
Ages it was a stopping point on the pilgrammage to
Santiago de)
Compostella in
Spain.
Even though our legs were a bit tired from the cycling, at the urgency of our guide, Jan Willem, we hiked up to the topmost point in the town for a commanding view of the village below and the mighty Loire River. While enjoying a rest in the café, we walked across the way to a local pâtisserie and bought some pastries to supplement our packed lunch.
)
After
enjoying the charm and beauty of La Charité, we cycled on for about another hour or
so along a wooded path that took us past local farms, vineyards
and the village of Pouilly sur Loire. We had a nice view of the
village from the river. Eventually, we arrived at our picnic lunch
stop, a pretty campground/park area near the river. After lunch,
Diane and several others took a dip in the Loire to cool off from
the heat of the day!
)
Back
on the bikes, we continued
another 15K along the path and then down a dirt trail that led to
to a goat cheese
farm (unfortunately it was closed for some sort of national holiday). With
our expectations dashed, we climbed back on our trusty metal steeds
and headed towards the town of Thauvenay
for a much anticipated wine tasting at the Eric Louis winery (www.sancerre-ericlouis.com), which is located )
right outside of
Sancerre. It has been another hot day, and we felt a little
overcooked, so the winery was a lovely, cool respite. We sampled
a number of tasty wines, bought a few and then rode the last quick
2K to the barge, arriving around 5:30.
)
We enjoyed a round
of cocktails on the deck, and a few of the guys took turns on the
kayak with Poekie the dog riding along (she’s a very cute mix of
Corgie and Samoyed, as best we can tell.) For dinner, Marjorie
and Martijn served cream of mushroom soup, minced pork and beef
rolls wrapped in bacon, boiled potatoes, red cabbage, and apple
sauce, followed by ice cream profiteroles with apricot peach sauce.
After dinner, some of us hiked up through the town and over the aqueduct
for a birds-eye view. (see photos below)
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)
)
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Tuesday, May 25 (50K)
Ménétreol to Beaulieu)
Our
25th anniversary! The day started out sunny and warm, like
it has)
been
for the last few days. Keith was the designated "sweeper"
today. He modified his bike
to give himself an added incentive. It's a full bottle of beer,
dangling from a pole affixed to the front of his bike just out
of arms reach! We'll see
how long that lasts!
We started the day by cycling )
up a 2-3K
gently graded climb up to the historic wine village of Sancerre, where we toured
the Maison
des Sancerre, a nice little wine museum that had a great audio
visual presentation of wine production of the area. At the conlusion
of the tour, we got to taste some wine again!
After the museum
visit, we picked up some Crottins
de Chavognol, the Grand Cru of goat )
cheese famous in this region
along with some bread,
quiche and chocolatetartlets for our picnic lunch.
After
a coffee break at a local café, we rode back down the hill; then back along paths
through the fields and along a canal to our lunch stop at a park
along the river. Our sunny weather had turned cloudy and was
threatening rain, but after two days roasting in )
the sun, we were
ready for a break, as all of us were a bit pink despite using sun
block.
After lunch, we headed back out on a small farm road
through fields of wheat (where are all the vineyards?). We
had a brief downpour – we had no sooner stopped to put on rain jackets;
)
then needed to stop again to take them off because we got too hot.
We had a lovely, gentle up and down ride, ending up in Beaulieu
for a quick 15-minute coffee break aboard the barge (served Dutch
style, with cookies, of course).
We then headed out for a
kayaking adventure on the Loire. Despite our dissimilar paddling techniques
and Bill’s aching back, we still had a lovely downstream ride, pulled
along by )
the swift current, stopping for a swim midstream along
a sandbar. Near the end of our route, the river branched around
a tiny island, and we had a choice to go through rapids on one side
or go around the calmer side (we chose the latter). As we
pulled up to our disembarkation point, poor Bill lost his balance
getting out of the kayak and fell in! )
All the fun on our kayaking adventure caused us to arrive back to the barge a bit later than expected. We quickly showered and headed straight to dinner. Tonight’s menu was schnitzel, seasoned fried potatoes and spinach. It had started to pour during dinner, so Poekie snuck into the dining room (normally not allowed during meals), and Martijn let her stay – top step only! After dinner It had stopped raining enough to sit outside under the umbrellas on deck, having after-dinner coffees, drinks and singing songs (at least the parts where we could remember the words).
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Wednesday, May 26 (40K)
Beaulieu
to Briare
)
Today started off cool and overcast, and we cycled along at a
leisurely pace alongside the canal then along the Loire itself (along the same route where
we had kayaked the previous afternoon), passing lovely homes facing
the canal. )
As we were cycling along the canal, Jan
Willem stopped briefly to chat with a gentleman who was standing
at the top of the embankment. Turns out he was a shepherd attending
to his impressive
flock of sheep that grazed over many acres in the area. )
He had
them under
his watchful gaze along with the assistance of two alert and friendly
border collies.
We stopped briefly at the historic lock
near
Châtillon-sur-Loire then entered the town at 11:00
a.m. and stopped
for a short walk and a coffee. The name of the)
village originates
in the Castillo, a small fortress which was built
in the 10th century on the hill where the church now stands. On our walk we
saw several interesting medieval era buildings.
We’ve made a daily habit of
stopping at a boulangerie to supplement our lunch. Today we bought
a yummy chevre pizza and also chocolate éclairs. (The éclairs
never made it to lunch -- we enjoyed
them with )
our coffee, yum!) Our route to lunch was over coarse-chipping roads
gently rising over long grades and down again.
By lunch stop
outside a small village of Bannay, it was raining hard, so we pulled into
a park in the center of the village and sought refuge under the canopy of some big trees
and decided this was a great spot to have our picnic. Graham
and Steve had provisioned earlier on and filled glasses )
of red so
we could take the chill off! The rain
serendipitously stopped as we finished our picnic.
After lunch, we cycled off to the nearby Chateau
St. Brisson sur Loire
in
Brisson for a short tour where we learned of)
the history of the
castle. When the tour concluded we came
back out to a thunderstorm. We waited 15 minutes under a tent
set up outside the chateau; then sprinted the final 6K to the barge.
We all got back safe and sound amid the claps of thunder overhead!
)
We stayed on deck to watch as
Martijn expertly navigated the barge over the
Loire River via the aqueduct at Briare, a narrow squeeze with only inches to spare on
either side. Thankfully the barge is fitted with bow thrusters that
allow Martijn to navigate in some of
Frances's narrowest canals. The Briare aqueduct was built)
between 1890 and 1896 and was designed by Gustav Eiffel.
It is lined on either side with elegant lamposts, and each end is marked by two ornamental columns similar
to the Pont Alexandre III in Paris. For many years
it was considered the longest steel constructed aqueduct in the
world )
at
662 meters, and it is a registered historic monument. Imagine being on a boat suspended hundreds of
feet off the ground by an aqueduct filled with enough water to handle
boat traffic!
After crossing over the Loire, we gently glided into our overnight stop in the village of Briare. We relaxed on deck before dinner (onion soup; chicken curry; and crème caramel). After dinner we walked through town and along the Loire to view the aqueduct from underneath – an amazing architectural feat!
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Thursday, May 27 (45K)
Briare
to Rogny-Les-Sept-Ecluses
Happy Birthday Bill! We awoke to gray skies – iffy weather.
We headed out along a wooded path and stopped by a spot in
the woods where all the damaged tiles from the Briare tileworks
are )
discarded. It was rather odd to walk through the woods
and come to a clearing covered in an acre of broken tiles, many
feet){kind=icon}
deep. The sound of the tiles crunched underfoot.
We re-mounted our bikes and had a long stretch along a rough wooded single-track, more suited to mountain bikers then we casual cyclists. The narrow, one tire width wide trail was booby trapped with ruts, roots and rocks. We managed to traverse this section with no major mishaps, and eventually we arrived in the town of Gien for a rest and lunch.
We visted the International Musum of Hunting and Falconry that
inhabits a grand old castle high on the hill overlooking the town
and the Loire River. There were some interesting exhibits related to
hunting through the centuries ){kind=icon}
including weapons
of many types and an impressive collection of several hundred hunting
trophies of stuffed game that adorned walls in several rooms. It
was moderately interesting in a macarbe sort of way since neither
of us have an appreciation for hunting. The architecture of the castle itself
was
interesting with its slate roof, many chimneys, towers and large
windows.){kind=icon}
After the museum tour, we strolled along the Rue Gambetta, a pedestrian walkway and enjoyed some people watching as we window shopping past interesting French shops, cafés and retail establishments. To complete the scene, there was a loud, noisy band of public service workers marching in protest for a wage increase in typical French fashion!
While we were at the museum, Jan Willem did some advance reconnaissance
and was able to make reservations at the Narval Café across from the
Loire River )
where
we had a “real
French lunch.” We heartily devoured plats de jour of
steak with fritte and stuffed tomatoes and eggplant, accompanied
by carafes of wine and some fine Belgian ale while being
entertained by the portly, jovial owner and the friendly waitstaff.
)
After lunch, we stopped at a little shop that sold faience style pottery and tableware, of which Gien is well known. While there we played a trick on Jan Willem and hid behind the building. When he figured out what we had done, he took it in stride and laughed along with us.
)
We cycled out of town after a leisurely
lunch and had some long up and down grades on rough roads again.
Bill’s chain came off en route while switching into 3rd gear, and
it got badly wrapped around his pedal, requiring him to remove the
wheel. Fortunately our trusty “sweeper” was not far behind
with the tool kit.
We caught up with the others a short distance
away at (not surprisingly) a nice roadside café where the beer bottles
were)
already crowding the small tables. The proprietor was
having a merry time entertaining us with his pantomimes, donning
a Napoleon chapeau crookedly on his head and staggering about
like
a drunk. Thankfully we only had a short ride back to the barge
where we had
a nice leisurely coffee upon our return. For dinner Marjorie
made us a nice pasta salad with a pinch of curry added to the vinaigrette
and tossed with green beans, tomatoes, cucumber and corn. The
main entrée was haddock in dill sauce, steamed potatoes and haricot
vert, followed by ice cream cake. After dinner )
we took a walk up
to the antique locks. While there, we gathered around a coin
operated audio guide to get a brief history of the locks but as
the darn thing kept malfuntioning, reducing us
all to fits of laughter. I think Jan Williem was having the most
fun of all of us! After this little adventure, we returned to the
barge and had coffees and liquors back on
deck.
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Friday, May 28 (50K)
Rogny-Les-Sept-Ecluses
Loop
)
We had high hopes for a sunny day but awoke to chilly, foggy
weather. Jan Willem rallied the group and gave us some last minute
information about the day's ride before we headed out. Jan Willem
was amazing, a happy-go-lucky )
Dutchman
who was close to 70 years old and fit-as-a-fiddle. It had been a
pleasure to have him as our tour guide for the week. We've been
on many guided bike tours over the years and he is right up there
with the best!
We had an hour’s ride to the market town in Châtillon-Coligny.
Along the way, we stopped briefly at a memorial to the town's fallen
war heroes. The bronze sculpture)
representing all soldiers was poignent and brought home to us the
price of freedom and that major world wars were fought on the very
same ground we were riding our bikes.
When we arrived in Châtillon-Coligny, it was chilly and misting
heavily.
It was a pretty little village so typical of rural France. We took
refuge under the canopy of a local café, then decided to explore.
We )
bought croque chevre and brownies for lunch and walked
around the farmer’s market, eventually returning to the café for coffee to
warm us up.
The mist began to let up as we headed out along the canal to)
our next stop, a
small church adjacent to the canal. Jan Willem retrieved the large metal
key to the church that was kept at the nearby bakery so we could have a
look inside. The church was usually kept locked during the week. As
the weathered doors slowly creaked open, it was peaceful and
quiet inside. While walking around, Mike surprised us when he sat
down at the small church organ and began to play...beautifully!
The sweet sounds of the organ resonated within the church space. This was
a lovely, serendipitous experience!
)
We cycled another half hour or
so and stopped at a small picnic area for lunch. After lunch we had
only 10K to our next stop, the Chateau de La Bussiere
and the beautiful gardens. The chateau houses an interesting collection
of
works of art on freshwater fishing
and is situated on a six acre pond.
We toured the inside of the chateau, then enjoyed a walk in
the large gardens that included an extensive collection of vegetables,
herbs, fruits and flowers.
Afterwards it was a short 4K back to Adon to the same Belgian beer café with the goofy proprietor. Diane tried a Abbaye des Rocs (9% alcohol!), and Bill had the Gauloise Ambre.
)
We had a very leisurely ride for our final 6K back to the
barge. For our final dinner aboard, Marjorie
prepared a lovely dinner of tomato soup, Greek salad, mashed potatoes,
cauliflower and chicken cordon bleu. After dinner, we all
returned on deck. It was clear but pretty chilly – you could see your
breath – but we all piled on sweaters and jackets and huddled down
for a final round or two of drinks and singing.
Saturday, May 29
Rogny-Les-Sept-Ecluses
-End of Tour
It was a cool, clear morning, and we had our last breakfast before the bus’s scheduled arrival at 10:30. Poor Poekie looked depressed as the luggage appeared on deck. We tried to cheer her up by pointing out another dog on a passing barge to bark at and telling her what a wonderful dog she was! We took a last quick walk around the little town (to find pastries to snack on for the bus ride); then piled onto the bus at 10:30 and said our sad goodbyes to Martijn, Marjorie, Jan Willem and Poekie. We arrived back at Gare du Nord by 12:30, made our farewells to our new-found friends and then all headed our separate ways.
We spent a lovely relaxed evening in Paris having dinner with with Bill's cousin's family, David & Laurence Lopes and their three lovely children, Charles-Albert, Jeanne-Louise and Simon-Pierre. They have a lovely apartment near the Arc de Triomphe. It was nice to catch up and share some fun family memories with them!
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| Group photo aboard the Anna Maria IV! |
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Having celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary and Bill's 55th birthday with such a fun-loving group of fellow international travellers made this vacation very special and memorable. Many thanks to our tourmates; Petra, Alan and Linda, Sheelagh and Keith, Steve and Sue, Lyn and Graham, Mike and Eva and our great hosts, Captain Martijn, his wife Marjorie and our great tour guide, Jan-Willem. We shared many good times this week and we hope to meet up with you all again, perhaps on another bike & barge trip?
For now, it’s au revoir to France, until our next bike journey beckons . . .
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