Ride Day 21: To Orleans (the old one, not the new one)

 Blois just kept getting better and better the longer we stayed. We wandered aimlessly and whiled away our day off, enjoying every minute. 

Blois rose gardens

Looking down toward the Loire

Jean of Arc

Jean of Arc is a big thing here (and don't ask me how we came up with "Joan" of Arc). She hailed from the Loire valley, probably from near Orleans. As a 17 year old kid, she had a vision that the French had put up with too much bullshit from the occupying Saxons (Brits) and decided to vanquish them from France. She must have been an amazing young woman because she convinced the French powers that she could do it. And they put their faith in her. In 2 years she solidified the support of those who mattered, the French country folk and they did major and lasting damage to the Saxon occupation. She was burned at the stake for her efforts (twice, actually, once to kill her and the second time to reduce her to rubble, but that's academic). But the French were unified and ultimately succeeded.

Jean became France's patron saint and every little village along the Loire in this stretch wants a piece of her -- she rode through this village; she slept here; her horse pooped on this trail. You get my point and it makes for great marketing. But she truly must have been amazing.

Last night we had a wonderful glass of Cheverony wine and a chart board (i.e., charcuterie). We have yet to have a wine from the Loire that was not amazing. And very inexpensive.

Dinner for us

Lots of thunderstorms last night, and rain, but by morning the skies had cleared and it was drying out quickly.

We rode to Orleans. Not New Orleans, but (vieux) Orleans. The ride was nice and cool in the morning but the heat rose quickly. 

 

Along the Loire in the early morning.

But frankly, the ride was a bit boring in places. At one time we rode in the shadow of a nuke plant.

(Not surprisingly, most folks think that I'm Swiss when I wear this jersey. Who wouldn't. But I explain the discrepancy and that it is a nice gift from Lorie Loire and they soon understand nothing of what I have said.)

After a while we hit a stretch of wonderful cycle path that was arrow straight for 25 km, flat as a pancake, and straight into a soul-sucking headwind. Not much fun.

It feels a bit privileged to call this boring, but it was...

So we took a few diversions. First to visit Beaugency. An old village with some cool buildings and a lot of history (of course).

We had stopped for coffee and a VW "California" van stopped to chat. It was a German guy who wanted to know what we were doing. He was doing a once-every-five-year ride with 6 of his buddies, and today was his van driving day. We talked for a long time and he bid us well, and we bid him the same. What a fun way for a bunch of cycling buddies to ride around!

This is actually a dungeon originally built by the Romans, then put to good use when the Christian's took over

A Cbateaux

Then, across the river again to Meung sur Loire.

We cross the Loire several times every day

Then, once more across the river to the south side to visit Clery St. Andre and its famous but rarely visited church.

King Louis XI was buried in this church, and his son's heart (but not the rest of him; don't ask why as I have no idea) was buried next to him.

King Louis XI's tomb

At this point, both Lorie and I are kind of burned out on visiting churches. Once you've five or six hundred of them, they all start to look the same.

So off we went to Orleans. It was a windy and hot slog, but we made it just fine to the "youth" hostel that we're staying in tonight (and it seems like everyone her is as old as us). We got showered and walked through Orleans. At first the city looked a bit new and sterile, but finally we found the old section and the beautiful city revealed itself. We bought an ice cream, since it was super hot, and strolled around.

Across the river, one last time (today), into Orleans

Orleans, Rue de la Republique

 

We even deigned to visit the beautiful gothic cathedral. Yeah, another, church, but it was unplanned and it is beautiful, even if a bit schizophrenic.

In Orleans, we are at the northernmost point of the Loire river. Tomorrow we take a decidedly southeasterly turn and ride to Bliare. There, we are meeting up with our friend Hau Pheng, who we met last summer in Tuktoyaktuk on the Arctic Ocean. He stopped by our place in Camp Sherman on his trek south and has now surpassed over 65,000 km of cycling. He is oh-so-close to his home and family in Nantes. We are really looking forward to seeing him and hearing his stories.

Dormez bien, chers amis, et nous nous connecterons demain.