Day 65 - St Pere to Sully-sur-Loire.

Day 65: St Pere to Bonnee near Sully-sur-Loire. 90 km, 5:04

The rain started at about 06:00 and continued for most of the day. We left St Pere kitted out in all our rain gear, a good chance to test our gear in wet weather!

We made our way back to Cosne-Cours-sur-Loire where we crossed the Loire and picked up the Euro 6 on the other side. After 20 km we met up with a small group from the Euro Velo Tour. They were drenched as well and taking a breather with a hot cuppa coffee. They had spent the night on the river at St Satur near Sancerre and were making there way to Briane 20 km away. We cycled with them to Briane where we stopped for some coffee and a bite to eat. We still had about 50 km to go, not a good thought in the pouring rain.

The track took us through forests and farmlands and hugged the Loire in places. It is easy to see why the Loire Valley is referred to as the bread basket of France. There are wheat and maize fields as far as the eye can see. The villages we passed through were quaint and picturesque and in better shape than some of the ones we passed through earlier this week. We thought that Giene and St Gondon were especially interesting and worth an overnight stop if we happen to pass through this part of France again.

The rain stayed with us for 55km today, it eventually let up at about 14:00, there was a bit of a breeze which meant that we dried out quite quickly. Our rain jackets were quite damp and not completely waterproof, but with our extra sleeves and cut off jackets underneath them, they did the trick. 

We passed through Sully-sur-Loire which is a gorgeous town. The impressive Sully Chateaux with its ancient pepper pot towers, rises up out of a wide moat filled with water at the entrance to the town. It was built in the 14 C to guard the Loire at one of the only places were it can be easily forded. Ian's back tyre was worn through, so we stopped at a bike shop to get a new one; they only had 35mm rather than 32mm, but this is probably a better size for touring anyway.

We picked up a self catering supper at the local Charcuterie and made our way to the Chambres de Hote L'Eglantier on a farm near the village of Bonne. The cottage was very comfortable with a lovely view over the maize fields; Bertrand and Christiane were very welcoming. We had our supper El Fresco while the chickens pecked avidly in the lawn trying to get some tasty morsels before the sun went down.

A wet day in the middle of summer.

The rain didn't stop for 55 km.

Finding shelter with the Kiwis.

The town of Gien across the river.

The chateau at Sully-sur-Loire.

Farm cottage near Bonnee.

Drying out in the shed.

French farmyard where we stayed.

Day 64 - La Charite-sur-Loire to St-Pere.

Day 64. La Charite-sur-Loire to St-Pere (near Cosne-Cours-sur-Loire). 42km, 2h40.

We had a later start as we planned a shorter ride to Poully-sur-Loire for our first encounter with Sauvignon Blanc on this journey. We self-catered for breakfast again - sweet-melon, croissants and baguettes with (perhaps) duck pâté and a generous lathering of duck fat. The Velo-fellows, the group of Eurovelo 6 cyclists were in La Charite as we came down the hill, so we stopped to chat to the Kiwis, Lisa and Ralph, as we hadn't seen them for a few days.

La Charite is a charming old medieval town overlooking the Loire. It developed on an old pilgrim route and the remains of the 11th century Order of Cluny monastery still dominate the entrance. At the time the Priory Church of Notre-Dame was the second largest Christian church. The stone bridge across the Loire was built in 1520 and is still in use. The name La Charite supposedly came from the generosity of the priests to the pilgrims on the Way to Vezelay. Today La Charite is known as "the town of words", as they host an annual literary festival, and there are numerous antique bookshops and book restoration specialists.

We had an easy cycle to Poully-sur-Loire where we planned our attack on the wineries over a cup of coffee. Our first stop was Domaine Bardin where we were given a cool reception by a snooty woman, who poured us a sip of their Poully-sur-Loire wine, probably chasselas - rubbish (WWS 4). "Have a nice day, Madame!". We rapidly moved on to Domaine de Bel Air down the road, where the young daughter showed us their 4 wines, a young Chasselas and 3 Sauvignon Blancs. All still needed some time to reach their potential, but we liked the small winery.

Following this we popped into Bruno Blondelet. Here we had to pay for the tasting, but the winemaker's wife who runs the marketing, gave us a good overview of the various terriors of the region. There are essentially 3 very different soil types here: limestone, flint or silex, and caltrate with a high concentration of fossils. The fossils on display both here and at Domaine Michel Redde were amazing. At Blondelet they use mechanical harvesting, as they found labour to be unreliable.

After a plat de jour across the road at Chez Memez, we cycled off to Domaine Michel Redde et Fils. Here we were given an excellent tasting by France. The difference between the three Sauvignon Blancs from the three types of soil was very interesting. Redde is the third largest producer in the region; they have gone back to using manual labour again for the picking of their grapes. The Reddes have been making wine here since 1630! We finished with the 2011 Marjorum, an excellent Sauvignon Blanc from 40-year-old vineyards of Albians Flints and Kimmeridgian marls with small oyster fossils. The wine was left on the lees for 10 - 12 months.

We then had a cycle in the afternoon heat to St Pere, a few kilometers from Cosne-Cours-sur-Loire). One of the absurdities of France is that you can't book into overnight  accommodation before 5pm. After cycling for most of the day, it would be really nice to have a shower and get the washing done, so one can enjoy the evening. So while we were waiting for our Chambre d'Hote to open, we popped into the winery next door (Domaine Couet) to taste their SB and Pinot Noir. The Pinot was surprisingly good and very reasonable - so guess what we had with our picnic tuna salad on the lawn.

The entrance to the old monastery in La Charite.

1560 stone bridge to La Charite crossing La Loire.

Tasting at Bruno Blondelet.

Mechanical vineyard management at Poully-sur-Loire.

A fossil found in the vineyards of Domaine Michel Redde.

Tasting at Michel Redde.

Vines like it tough.

Cycling survival in France.

Day 63 - Marzy (near Nevers) to La Charite-sur-Loire.

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. 

The village of Apremont-sur-Allier.

The homestead in the Floral Parc.

The White garden, inspired by Sissinghurst.

The 2nd folly, the Chinese bridge.

Mixed borders and clipped hornbeam hedges.

The view from the Bellevue folly.

The river-front.

Markers in the cycle path from Cuffy along the Velo a la Loire. 

La Charite-sur-Loire.

Our bikes joined an identical sibling for the night - the first Dawes bike we have seen in more than 2 months.

Day 62 - Pierrefitte-sur-Loire to Marzy (near Nevers)

Day 62. Pierrefitte-sur-Loire to Marzy (near Nevers). 110 km, 6h00.

Ham and eggs, and homemade cassis jam from Benoit, and we were off again down the canal bank to Diou. Our bikes felt good after a bit of a cleanup yesterday afternoon.

At Bourbon-Lancy we turned off into undulating hills with fields of Charolais cattle - an enjoyable route. Good coffee in Cronat and then out onto the Loire plains. This is a dramatic change from hilly to flat. We needed to cover some distance so hopped onto the D116, a long and straight but fortunately quiet road past fields of maize to Decize. With a gentle sun and a gentle breeze on our backs we hummed along.

We both fell asleep on the banks of the Canal Lateral a la Loire after our baguette, tomato and Camembert picnic. We followed the canal, mostly on loose gravel on a cycle path under construction, and supposedly closed, to eventually cross the Loire immediately south of Nevers. Then followed the Loire a short way to our overnight stop, the Les Indris Chambre d'Hote, a huge old farmhouse, in need of attention, but relaxed and homely nonetheless.

We managed to find a supermarket selling lasagne, so this we enjoyed overlooking the Loire Valley while watching the antics of the resident dog and donkey. 

I thought that I would have ample time to read and relax on this journey. I haven't opened my book in 3 weeks, let alone read a chapter - and I normally get through a book every 2 weeks at home. Planning, washing, writing, looking for accommodation and meals, tending to the bikes, and before you can say "Domaine de la Romanée-Conti" it's 10 o'clock at night. Riding the bikes is the easy part!

Early morning on the Loire.

The hills above Bourbon-Lancy.

Looking towards Vitry-sur-Loire.

We passed this old fellow on a steep hill.

Rear or medium rare? How do you like your steak?

There's lots of space here!

These Citroens are beauty's. Deux chevaux.

Les Indris, our farm-style overnight stop.

Al fresco supper overlooking the Loire Valley.

Le chien et l'âne.

Day 61 Ciry-le-Noble to Pierrefitte-sur-Loire

Day 61 Perrier, near Ciry-le-Noble to Pierrefitte-sur-Loire. 71km, 3:15.

We met a young German couple at breakfast who are also cycling along the Loire Velo 6 towards Nantes. They cycled until about 8:30 at night and clock over 100km a day. Their trip started from Stuttgardt to Mulhouse where they joined the Velo 6. They don't book accommodation, they only start looking at about 6:30, so they have stayed in interesting places. Fortunately we have more time!

There was a choice as we set out today: to cycle a more hilly route through the farmlands or the straight route along the Canal du Centre. We decided to do the more hilly route. It was a great choice as we cycled through beautiful fields with magnificent Charolais cattle grazing along the way. Southern Burgundy is Charolais country, there are open fields as far as the eye can see with indigenous forests creeping into the fields in pockets.

We passed through the village of  Paray-le-Monial where we stopped for lunch. The beautiful Sacred Heart Basilica is right next to the TI. It was built in the 12 C. The North entrance is the most ornate of the three entrances, it is beautifully sculptured with a rosette frieze ( helixes and four-leafed clover ). The two towers in the front of the church are from different periods. The one on the right remained from the previous church and is from the 11C and the one on the left was built in the 12C. The simple lines of this Church were particularly striking. 

We met up with the Euro Velo tourgroup just before Paray-le-Monial again. They are doing a shorter distance today than we have planned so will probably only see them again in 3 days time.

We caught sight of the Loire in Digoin where the Canal Lateral du Loire crossed over it. For the rest of the day we cycled along the canal, with a few glimpses of the Loire. We arrived at our accommodation quite early. Benoir and Adeline, our host and hostess were not quite ready for us at Le Chambres de Hote in Les Graves. It is rustic accomodation and full of character. Benoir and Adeline were very welcoming and asked us to have dinner with them at an extra cost of 12 Euros each. We were delighted and accepted immediately as there were no open restaurants. Adeline is Finnish and spoke good English, this helped as she translated for Benoir and us, it worked very well to have a resident translator.

Adeline promised that Benoir was an accomplished cook. Indeed he is, we had the most delicious meal of melon and Parma ham, roast chicken with black girrelle mushrooms, collected and dried by Benoir, and pomme frites, caramel glacé and butter biscuits, cheese from the mountains nearby and coffee.

We are just love staying at Chambres de Hote and Gites, as one gets to chat to the locals, sample their delicious food and discover the amazing hospitality of the French. Viva la France!

Charolais country.

Digoin Chateau.

The Sacred Heart Basilica at Paray-le-Monial.

And the inside. Simple lines and lovely light.

The canal crosses the Loire River.

We stayed with the canal.

Day 60 - Puligny-Montrachet to Ciry le Noble.

Day 60. Puligny-Montrachet to Ciry le Noble. 66km, 4h05.

Our charming hostess, Maria Adao, chatting continuously, happily and rapidly in French, produced a magnificent spread of eggs and bacon, cakes, breads, meats, cheeses and preserves for breakfast. We were rather hesitant as we walked in as we thought that we had misunderstood the quotation in French and that the price was per person and not per room. It was too late to worry further so we tucked in royally, only to find out when we left that we had not made a mistake, and we very fortunate to have found such a fantastic place to stay.

We had breakfast with a Dutch and 2 Belgian couples who were stocking up on Burgundy wine. There was much discussion about the devastation caused by the vicious hailstorm of the previous afternoon. Jenny is sporting a number of golf ball size bruises on her legs from the hail!

We continued past the enclosed Grand Cru vineyards to Chassagne-Montrachet and then on to Santenay, where we left the vineyards behind. We had had a fascinating time in the winelands, and we felt that the substantial dent in our budget was worthwhile.

We looked for the Canal du Dheune which was supposed to run below Santenay. After a while we found it higher up on the hillside, when we saw a barge above us. We cycled alongside the canal as it climbed a ladder of deep locks to Ecuisses, where it becomes the Canal du Central. This canal links the Saone and Loire rivers. The hills rise up sharply from the Dheune river on either side with interesting views of the mixed farming activities.

As it was Sunday and we were unsure of shop opening times, which seem to be very unpredictable, we stopped at the only open restaurant in Blanzy for lunch. The decor was bright lime green, turquoise and purple, and they offered only a set menu without stating what was on it. The restaurant was filled with a crowd of local folk who looked like they were sorely in need of the influence of new genetic material. So we were really unsure what we were in for. All the dishes coming out of the kitchen were different - steak, chicken, small fried sardines - so we were at the chef's mercy. We were given an unlabeled bottle of rose, a big basket of bread, a ham and cheese salad, followed by a huge bowl of steamed mussels (both delicious), followed by a creamy soft white cheese, then homemade nougat ice-cream and coffee - all for 12 Euros each. Our second lucky strike for the day.

An easy afternoon cycle alongside the canal, with the locks going down, led us to Ciry le Noble. Here we turned off for a few kilometers to our farm accommodation (Chambres d'Hote Perrier)  Again it looked pretty ramshackle on the outside, but our room was well appointed and spotless. The second time in a day that judging books by the cover came to mind.

Breakfast view - a great way to start the day.

The chevalier of Montrachet. 

Still a bit wet as we headed for Chassagne-Montrachet. 

There are perhaps a few worse places to live.

Back on the canal and Eurovelo 6. 

Happy beef.

Gentle hills along the Canal du Central..

Hail damage.