The ride today was again along the Loire cycleway and was, for much of the day, on straight and flat levies. We did ride besides the Loire's version of the Three Sisters:
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Lots of nukes along the Loire. These reminded use of the Three Sisters at home.
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There were some nice chateaus along the way, but the ride was again a bit on the repetitive side.
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Nice place but the upkeep would be a killer...
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We stopped for a coffee in a small town called Jargeau. There was a bike shop next to the cafe, so as I do every other week or so, I asked the folks in the shop if they have a pomp a pied (floor pump for a bike) so that I can make sure that my tires have the right pressure. The nice lady ran inside and came out with a pump, and even pumped my tires up for me. She then said "saviez-vous que le siège de Zefal est ici à jargeau?" I said "Non, non, je pensais que c'était en italie." ("Did you know that the Zefal headquarters are here in Jargeau? No, no, I thought that they were in Italy.) OK, only a true bike nerd would care about this, but Zefal makes the best bike pumps and accessories. We stopped by but didn't linger. Just a bike thing.
A few hours down the road we arrived in an area that is jammed packed with canals that run this way and that. The canals are used for both commerce, and these days, for pleasure boats. One of the canals we rode next to actually goes over the Loire river. It is the strangest thing. We are riding on a 4 foot wide dirt path next to a canal, and we are 50 feet over the Loire. Boats go across the canal, over the river, and boats go under the canal, on the river.
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The entry to the Pont Port canal
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It is a long canal, maybe 500 m
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Riding it was a bit dicey (for me at least)
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Over the river
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At the far end of the canal
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The Pont Port canal
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At the far end of the canal we were nearly to our destination so we stopped at a little cafe and had a beer and watched several boats going over the river. Fascinating. This canal was designed and built by Mr. Eiffel, namesake of the famous tower in Paris. We had fun watching kids jumping off the nearby bridges into the canals. The kids had fun showing off.
We had a reservation at a little bed and breakfast type place in Firmin-sur-Loire. It is a pretty little town criss crossed with canals. Our BnB is funky in a charming way and our room has a Marilyn Monroe theme.
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| Each room has a theme; we got Marilyn |
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As soon as we got into our room we received a text from Hau Pheng -- he had just arrived at a campground just down the road. So we hopped on the bike and rode down to meet him. He is just a few days from home in Nantes after a multi-year ride nearly literally around the world. As I mentioned, we met him in Tuktoyuktuk on the shore of the Arctic ocean last summer. He had ridden the Dempster Highway the entire 900 km of dirt road just to see what was at the end of the road.
It was so nice to see him and hear his stories. He is naturally a bit worried about what is next, but he's confident that his future will fall into place. I can imagine that it would be hard to be stopping after so many years of riding, mostly solo, through so many different lands, cultures, and places.
We rode back up to our BnB to have dinner -- the owner is French and her husband is Algerian and they made us a fantastic Algerian dinner. Since Hau Pheng is a native speaker of French, he guided us through the meal. It was awesome and huge and long.
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Hau Pheng
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Our BnB's dining room
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Part of our multi-course dinner. It was delicious!
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More of our dinner.
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We had a Moroccan gray wine (the Algerian version isn't available right now)
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The meal was so very good and the gray wine from Morocco was as unique and different as was everything else that we ate
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Happy customers
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Our host, Marie-Claire, explaining to us about a version of the Algerian flag that she and her husband have grown fond of; the orange figure symbolizes friendship
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We finished with a complimentary shot of a pear digestive that Patrice shared with us. It was a nice way to end a great reunion evening.
Sadly, we said our goodbyes to Hau Pheng. He should be home in Nantes in less than a week. We promised to keep in touch and who knows, our paths may cross again. We have made so many friends over the years on these rides and even though our connections may be brief, we have always seemed to form bonds that are meaningful. There is a connection among touring cyclists that seems to resonate and which makes friendships easy. I truly hope and expect that we will meet again.
Tomorrow we're off to serious wine country, Sancerre, Pouilly Fume. Lorie is excited.
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