Did you miss us? As I mentioned, we had no internet or cell yesterday so no blog post. I'm certain that you had plenty to do in our absence!
Yesterday was our first day of riding the Loire Velo, which is a bike path that extends the complete length of the Loire river from its mouth to near its headwaters a long way east of here. We left Nantes kind of early since it was a beautiful morning and we had plenty of coffee early this morning. It was super easy navigating out of Nantes, as the path along the river was dedicated and couldn’t be missed. Traffic was busy as folks headed to work but it didn’t bother us since we were on our own road.
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| Heading our of Nantes |
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| Just a few km away from downtown Nantes. Not sure what it is. |
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| Agriculture all along the river |
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| We're not sure what crop was growing here but it was irrigated (first we've seen in Europe) and they'd obviously spent a lot on capital equipment for the crop |
We were originally on the north side of the river. There are actually dedicated paths on both the north and the south sides, so you can kind of pick and choose. There are many, many bridges over the river and you can jog left, jog right, at will.
Most of the path is paved. Some parts are dirt, but not rough. A few parts are dirt and kind of soft, especially adjacent the farmer’s fields, but none of them cause any problems. We rode through miles of agricultural fields that line the riverside. Corn, onions, shallots, carrots, barley, wheat, grass hay, herbs of various descriptions and some crops we couldn’t figure out. We saw just one vineyard, but we aren’t in the wine country just yet.
In a few places we also saw lots of bikes and groups who were apparently on group rides. Maybe something akin to Backroads tours in the US. Each rider has a bike fitted with a tablet computer on the bars. The tablet must have good directions and maps, and there is a sag wagon nearby to help folks who need it, and make lunch when folks are hungry. We thought about it, but figured that if we bellied up to the lunch bar of a guided bike ride somebody might figure out that we were not with their bunch.
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| We saw lots of bike groups today; most seemed to be organized group rides |
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| Old buildings. |
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| Heading over another bridge to the other side |
So we stopped for coffee, late, around 1100 and had a nice tradition with poulet, tomate, ouef, and cheese (a “tradition” is a baguette-shaped loaf that by law can have only flour, water, salt and yeast. On the other hand, a “baguette” can have additional ingredients. Most bakers’ baguettes are also traditions, but some bakers add other stuff and still call them baguettes, but clearly explain what else is in them).
I don’t think that we got lost a single time today. Weird. The path is super easy to follow. So we just rode in perfect weather on perfect paths and enjoyed the scenery. There was one minor exception where the gravel path disappeared. We diverted, but it is worth mentioning that it took us up a 950 m grade that had, you guessed it, 18%. I think we've hit our Waterloo with 18% grades; we had to walk. With all the weight we're carrying we just can't turn the pedals over. Last year in Nova Scotia we rode some 21% roads and did OK. But this year we have the tent and sleeping bags and a lot of additional stuff. Or, if you're a pragmatist, we're a year older.
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| A chateau overlooking the Loire |
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| With roses and trimmed, controlled bushes |
We were supposed to be camping tonight but Lorie found an AirBnB place in Chalonnes-sur-Loire that was only a few euro more than the local campground. We arrived and got tucked in by late afternoon. My first job was to give the bike a good wash, and that was really needed. It was super dirty after all those miles on dry dirt roads. Chalonnes-sur-Loire is a tiny village so we will probably grab some bread and cheese and make dinner “at home” tonight, sitting out front, which is literally on the banks of the Loire.
Around Chalonne-sur-Loire, a very pretty village
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| That's right in front of our little "apartment" |
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