The Loire Valley and Saumur

Friday 26^th September

Awoke about eight to the promise of a lovely day. By nine the sun was blazing and the temperature was rising. After showers I made pancakes and coffee, some time later we slowly packed up the van.

We nipped next door to the emptying point on the aire, and then set off for Saumur – the trip should take about three and a half hours. We made a slight detour to find a Super U to buy a few things. Whilst there we have lunch before setting off again.

We arrive at Camping Ile de Offard about five o’clock, and find that it has been considerably ‘spruced up’. A major facelift, with lots of new interesting things to stay in. It’s now part of the ‘Flower Camping’ group. Quite a welcome change. We parked up and sat in the sun for about an hour. After food we sat and listened to an Agatha Christie novel - ‘Nemesis’ whilst I put a goodly part of this log onto the net – with pictures – Ooohh!

Saturday 27^th September

Being so quiet, and dark when all the blinds are up, we didn't surface until half past nine! However, once awake we moved fairly swiftly and showered (amazingly hot showers btw), breakfasted, got the bikes ready and were off down the road to Saumur centre by about ten forty five. It was market day. Lots of traffic. There are cycle lanes – but mostly they are just marked by green chevrons at the edge of the road – and some drivers come rather close – especially when crossing the fairly narrow bridges.

We found the Tourist Information Office (they had moved it from the last time we were here), and gained a map of the ‘Cycle the Loire’ type. K studied it and concluded that we were on the wrong side of the river. We weren't, it’s just that the map gave that impression. I rode back up to the junction to check. We were fine, so we headed off in the direction of Gennes. 

A brief word about electric bikes here. They are great because you know in the back of your mind that if you want to, you can twist the throttle and you will gain that bit of extra assistance with the ‘hard’ bits. Or, if it’s the journey home, and you are tired because you have mostly been pedalling all day, you can open up the throttle and sail home with almost no effort. We do pedal most of the time – but the things mentioned above are very welcome.

We thought we would be following the river. We were for a while – then we turned inland. Up and down we went. After a while we stopped and considered our position. We were way above the river with sixteen kilometres to go to Gennes. We had only come about four – it seemed more. We decided to head back to Saumur – but not following the cycle route. We took a more direct road, and were soon on the road right next to the river where all the ‘Caves’ of the various wine manufacturers were. We found our way to Ackerman’s – one of Ks favourite bubblies – and wandered in. There were lots of wines – but the prices were about the same, or even slightly more than we had seen elsewhere. Besides which – carrying cases of fizzy on a bike is not a good idea. One weird thing – I saw a small lizard scampering across the floor. I took a picture of it trying to hide behind some boxes of wine.

We returned to the bikes and road along the river again, looking for a place to stop for lunch. We found a bench in a nice spot and paused to eat and drink. After a while we rode back to the centre and walked up through the market, which was mainly clothes and shoes, back to the bridge by the tourist office that we had started from. We rode over the bridge and back to camp. It was only about two o’clock, so we changed and headed for the swimming pool. It was very sunny and warm. 

View of Saumur Château from the Swimming Pool Area 

We lay back on the sunbeds and roasted a while, then went into the pool. It was good – and not even particularly cold. We got out for a roast again then, after a while, went back in the pool. Back to the van about five and then sitting outside with a drink. Then showers and food – I cooked pork chops with fried vegetables and broccoli. With a glass or two of wine it went down well. Off to Tours tomorrow.