Day 63: Marzy (near Nevers) to La Charite-sur-Loire. 66km, 3h45.
We met up with a French couple from Somme in Normandy who were leaving to cycle the Velo 6 in the opposite direction to us. They are planning to get to Basel in 6 days, that's serious cycling. After giving them some tips on where to stay and changes to the route we set off along the beautiful gentle Loire.
We decided to veer off the route to see the Floral Parc at Appremont-sur-Allier.This meant a 11 km detour to Cuffy-sur-Loire and then another 7 km to the garden. It was an undemanding cycle along a small road to Cuffy-sur-Loire; the Allier river joins the Loire here. This where the EuroVelo 6 along the Loire starts at 0 km. There are 800 km of cycle paths along the Loire and we will be cycling along these in a westerly direction for the next 3 weeks. The Canal Lateral al la Loire crosses the confluence here. There are 3 locks going up in stages to join the Loire; they must be at least 5 meters high.
Renovations of the picturesque medieval village of Apremont-sur-Loire started in the 1930's when Eugene Schneider bought the castle and village from his mother-in-law, sisters and brothers-in-law. The houses that were restored in the Berry's typical medieval style can still be admired today. The gardens along the Allier river are beautiful with immaculately clipped hedges and climbing roses that scramble up the walls casually.
The garden is an English style garden set within the grounds of a beautiful old homestead and is the product of many years of hard work and planning by Gilles de Bressac. They literally tumble down the gently slopes in bands of different colours carefully grouped together. The rare collection of trees are the backbone of the garden with many different varieties giving gravitas to the overall plan.
There are three follies strategically placed in the garden designed by the Russian architect and painter Alexander Serebriakoff and his sister who lived in France. The Russian inspired Belvedere is set on the highest point of the garden with a beautiful view across the village to the river. On the inside there are 8 pottery murals which are copies of the famous paintings by Alexander Serebriakoff depicting the imaginary journey of the Puchinelli Puppets (comedy Italienne of Venice) to various countries and their experience there. They were made by a pottery works in Nevers.
The bridge built over the lake is styled like a Chinese Pagoda. The lake is the end of the cascading water feature that took 3 tons of stone to build. There is a beautiful specimen of a water cypress, some interesting conifers and roses in this area.
The Turkish pavilion is set in one of the ponds. It has 6 paintings depicting the splendor of the Ottoman Empire inside. As this is closed the paintings can be viewed with the help of 4 mirrors that have been strategically placed and angled.
We so enjoyed seeing this garden - a worthwhile 35 km detour! On the way back to Cuffy-sur-Loire we decided to stop at Grenouille for a Plat de Jour at Les Grenouille, an excellent idea.
We had to double back to Cuffy-sur-Loire as there was no bridge to cross the river. We linked up with the Euro Velo 6 here to Sancerre. This stretch took us on a berme, through the flood plains of the Loire. It was hot with no shade, but flat easy cycling all the way to Le Charite-sur-Loire where we found a charming little hotel, Hotel Mille et une Feuilles, just out of the centre of town. We had a delicious picnic supper on the banks of the Loire in bright sunshine at 20:30 while we watched a gypsy and her horse relaxing where they had set up camp for the evening.
Our bikes joined an identical sibling for the night - the first Dawes bike we have seen in more than 2 months.
Isn't Apremont beautiful? You guys have the right idea - detour for interesting places, stop for a bit of wine tasting. It's the beauty of of travelling light in all senses!
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