The highlight of our Summer 2020 was the three-week bicycle tour from Nevers to Nantes on the bicycle route 'La Loire à Velo'. Our true destination was Saint-Brevin-les-Pins by the Atlantic Ocean, which we reached after 16 days of riding (having taken one day off in Orleans and Angers). In those three weeks we rode 800.8 kilometers in 70 hours and 36 minutes, with the ascent of 4758 meters (note that we rode to downstream of Loire).
The route followed dedicated bike paths along the river or canals parallel to it, and quiet country roads --- no busy roads in this tour.
The ride started following a canal in the shade --- there were no clouds and we expected it to be a hot day, a very hot day. Actually someone told us that it was going to be hot, since there was no shade between Nevers and Sancerre. Later in the ride that was true.
If you wonder why there's so little water in Loire, it is because it is the last wild river in France, i.e., it's output is not controlled. Anyway, it is also the longest river in France with its 1006 kilometers, starting in Ardeche on Central Massif, first flowing North and then West, finally emptying into the Atlantic Ocean.
The town is located on a big hill, and we made the mistake of following Google Maps instructions that took us to small and bumpy dirt paths. We ended up pushing our bikes up the hill for the final kilometers.
We stopped at Café des Arts for a couple of local beers, which were really good. They didn't sell us another round so we headed out to find a dinner place.
We visited a couple of restaurants but they said they were fully booked (although empty at the moment). We hurried back to our hotel and we were immediately directed to the table. Not too much later they too were turning customers away.
Next morning started with fixing a flat in Tomi's rear wheel. However, we never found a hole. A helpful fellow bicyclist lent us his big pump so we could fill the tire fast, but perhaps too much, since after a couple of kilometers of riding two holes appeared in the outer tire.
In this section we saw someone's bicycle with luggage on the bank of the canal, and a couple of hundred meters later an ambulance and police officers ... and a body bag.
The day's ride was frequently interrupted by re-filling Tomi's fast emptying rear tire, and eventually about 10 kilometers before the day's destination Gien we fixed it and exchanged the front and back tires.
Their restaurant was not open, so we dined at the nearby Buffalo Grill: caramelized BBQ ribs for Tomi and entrecôte for Tei, both served with a baked potato.
Today we rode 69.3K in 5h 07mins.
It was an early afternoon on Sunday, and we had to find a place to go grocery shopping. The nearby Casino Shop was not open (despite Google telling us so).
The next closest option was Carrefour City two kilometers away, but all their fridges were out of order, so we did not get many breakfast items. We just bought orange juice and eggs, and frozen paella for dinner.
This is Cathédrale Sainte-Croix.
We also visited the Jardin des Plantes (Botanical Garden), which looked quite miserable, dry and brown, as the city had prohibited the use of water for irrigation.
Lunch at Restaurant Angkor: two set menus with chicken salad and pork nems as starters, and beef with onions and chicken with black mushrooms as mains, downed with Angkor beers.
Sables d'Or de l'Étang des Fontanils.
This was a site of natural wonder: "boiling water" surging through quicksand. We have not managed to find an English explanation for this phenomenon, and the French sites do not really make much sense.
As we approached the day's destination in Maslives, it started raining quite heavily. We reached the hotel (L'oree de Chambord) at 3pm. but the reception promised to open only at 5pm. We made a phone call but we were told that there wouldn't be anyone before that. Soon someone called back saying that there will be someone to let us in our room in ten minutes. And that actually happened!
When the reception opened, we confirmed our reservation and inquired about the dinner options: there should be some places in Chambord, three kilometers away.
We walked there, but did not find food, since all the places were closing at the same time as the castle, and the hotel restaurant there did not serve but their overnight guests. We bought some chips, and bread with a couple of pâtés at the souvenir shop.
Before continuing our tour, we visited the grounds of Chambord castle. It was relatively early in the morning (in French standards), but there were a lot of tourist already lining up for a visit.
We had decided to do a bicycle tour in the woods around the castle but were chased out by angry horseflies. There was no question of stopping for photography; the bloodthirsty beasts could keep up with us regardless how fast we were pedaling.
It was only 1pm. when we arrived in Blois, but we couldn't check in at the hotel before 4pm., so we tried to find a bike shop to buy a new inner tire. We tried to consult the tourist office, but it was closed. Then Google directed us to a bike shop that was closed as well. The next Google recommendation was not a bike shop but a bike park. We had a couple of beers while waiting for the bike shop to open.
We rode a while in a little drizzle and saw upcoming bicyclists in proper rain gear from head to toes, so we expected to receive heavier rain sooner or later.
Amboise is full of tourists when we arrive.
We had booked a room above the pizzeria Via Roma at the crowded tourist hot spot of the town. We were asked to arrive between 12 and 1pm., and we were there at 12:30pm, which was the busiest lunch time at the pizzeria. A server told us that there was nobody to help with the check-in, and asked us to wait outside in the rain for 10 minutes.
Some 20 minutes later the same server came to tell us that we were not allowed park our bikes outside their patio, or they had to fines us! We tried to explain her again that we were still waiting for the check-in.
She went back in and called someone, and then things started to happen fast! She became very helpful and friendly, and hauled our heavy bike panniers to our second floor room through a very narrow staircase.
The room was very nice and spacious with the view seen in the picture on the left.
Nice idea from the bookstore: they have attached a short summary of the books in their window display. I picked up at least three books I wanted to read.
SNCF station in Tours. We just rode through Tours --- we had a hotel room booked at Kyriad in Joué-lès-Tours, and by the time we reached there the rain and clouds were gone and the afternoon turned sunny and quite hot.
The next day was relatively easy riding day even with numerous hills. It was still cool in the morning but it started to be muggy and hot in the afternoon despite the increasing cloudiness.
After showering we strolled a bit in the town, but did not find any place potentially open for dinner --- actually even the supermarket, bakery, and butcher were closed which made us wonder since it was Saturday. Only later we realized it was a public holiday.
At the hotel we found out that they did not serve dinner that evening either. They recommended their another place some 15 kilometers away, and "by the way, there is a pizzeria within one kilometer." There!
They did not hand out menus, but made us read it on the boards posted in several places in the restaurant --- the staff actually directed different customers to different boards. Then we ordered at the table.
The next day was a long and interesting ride.
Before reaching Saumur we stopped to take photos of the houses built in cliffs ("habitat troglodytique", literally meaning underground living), very common in this area --- we saw that a lot along Loire.
The pizza was nothing special, but the local craft beers we had with it were excellent.
The service in this place was impeccable. Even if it was way over their lunch hours, they accommodated us, and even served a second round of beers after we had finished eating.
There are no more pictures of the rest of the day. We had slight difficulties navigating to our Airbnb apartment in downtown Angers with the help of Google maps. Our hostess offered us a safe place to store our bicycles for the next day that we were going to spend in Angers.
Today we rode 85.3K in about 6 hours.
Another remarkable building is this Art Deco building 'La Maison Bleue' with its magnificent blue mosaic decoration designed by Isidore Odorico in the early 20th century.
The next morning we were up early, ready to continue our bicycle tour. We started by following the river Maine to Bouchemaine where it joined the river Loire.
At some point there was quite a heavy downpour as we stopped to eat our lunch sandwiches at a rest stop in La Possonniere. We were not the only bicyclists under that shelter.
In Champtoceaux we stayed at a chambre d'hôtes (B&B) Lucriolla, run by a young woman, Lucie. She had completely renovated her old house in Scandinavian style. It was delightfully light and stylish.
The restaurant next to the B&B was closed that night because of some problems in the kitchen, but to our surprise the restaurant La Citadelle in the town (on the hill we tried to avoid earlier) took our table reservation.
The restaurant was not full (distancing was respected), but there was only one server taking care of all the customers. Some clients left because they were not attended soon enough.
After passing Nantes (our final destination before driving home) on the South side of the river, we stopped at Trentemoult for lunch at 'Poussin Rouge.'
Tei started with Italian ham salad,
Eventually we got to St.Jean de Boiseau quite easily, but finding our accommodation Château du Pé was more tricky. The road signs were confusing, and Google maps insisted we had to ride through a farm that was next to the castle, but people there told us to turn back.
Our dinner options were once again quite limited. There was a restaurant three kilometers away. An alternative was to buy canned food at the castle and microwave it. We chose the latter option.
Before the dinner we made a short promenade in the castle gardens.
The name of this art installation is "Did I miss something?" by Danish artist Jeppe Hein. One can control the flow of the water in the fountain by sitting on the bench next to it.
We had 'Filet de Poulet Fermier à l'Indienne' and '... l'Oriental' for mains. We had a nice and quiet dinner, as if we owned the whole castle.
Today we rode 77.9K in 5h 30mins. We had just two more days of riding to do: one to the Atlantic Ocean and back to St.Jean de Boiseau, and another to Nantes.
All these creatures were created by metal artist/recycler ("métalo-déchéticien") Christian Champin from Paimboeuf. We saw his sculptures in several places in the area.
Le pont de Saint-Nazaire was not recommended for bicyclists because of joints in the pavement, steep slopes, and strong winds. Therefore there was a free shuttle bus service for those bike tourers who wanted ride all the way to the end of the route of 'La-Loire à Velo' in La-Baule-Escoublac.
Tonight's dinner consisted of microwave meals we bought at Carrefour Express: 'Porc au caramel' and 'Petites gambas.' We enjoyed our dinner in the saloon of the castle. Again it was just us.
Today we rode 84.2K in 5h 22 mins.
Once in Nantes we found our accommodation quite easily but could not contact the host. While waiting for the response we had lunch at the nearby Indian restaurant, but still did not hear from the host.
It turned out the number we had did not work, but we found another one that did, and finally we received the instructions to enter the apartment, a small studio in a tricky location below the street level.
We did not walk much longer until we found Le Rabelais - Bar à Bières. We had Omnipollo's Hokus Pokus APA (5.5%), and Cloudwater NEIPA (6%).
We didn't know that New England IPA is a thing. But it certainly is at least in this part of France, and a very good thing.
Eventually we managed to order from the Vietnamese restaurant Pho Kim 13: Boeuf au citronelle, poulet au gingembre, and porc au caramel. It was all ok, not phenomenal.
Once in Vichy, we made a short walking tour in the town, which was not crowded at all. Given that, it was surprising that we had a hard time finding a place to eat. All restaurants claimed they were fully booked.
Tomi had chicken filet with corn.
We have eaten at Buffalo Grill several times, and especially here in Grenoble it has been quite good.
But this ... this was the most pathetic experience, especially Tomi's chicken.
