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| Chambray-les-Tours |
Start Sunday 18th August 2019
Ehlange-Tours (Loire)+/- 630 kilometers 6 and 1/2 hours drive ;check in
Hotel le Garden Chambray-les-Tours. Tours
Monday 19th. August
7h, early breakfast, take all the things that we don't want to take along
into the car. Leave around 9h ,the first day always hard to get organized
(charging the bikes with all the little luggage etc). Arrival at the Ibis
Budget hotel in Châtellerault after a ride of 83 km against some hard winds. But
lovely landscape with pretty sunflowers…
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| Sainte Catherine de Fierbois |
Thursday 20th August
Get up at leisurely eight o'clock + breakfast. Since the region is very
uninhabited, we adapt to the conditions and choose small, respectively, big day
trips in order to find a place to spend the night.....66km, nice ride through
the country side. Just before Lussac we find a castle ruin of which the ascent
is very steep. We have to push the bikes up the cobblestoned road to get to the
medieval city. After a little stroll through the small streets we ride on to
Lussac-les-châteaux. Hotel Montespan, a quiet little hotel, luckily off the
busy main road. Dinner at the hôtel.
7:15h breakfast, we get an early start, since we don't know how the day
is going to develop. We have reserved a "gîte" close to Roumazières
in the middle of nowhere, so we want to make sure we have time on our side. The
ride turns into a hard one: "rollercoaster" style down and steep
ascents all the time, a killer. The weather isn't as warm as announced, lucky
us. The wind is on our side, endless up and down; a beer in Roumazières, a long
talk to a crazy Brit and a long search for the "gîte le relais d'âge"
run by some English people. The whole place looks like a "Mas de
Provence", with several buildings attached to it. The friendly landlady
will prepare some dinner for us since there is no restaurant nearby. They even
provide some tools for Gaston who needs to fix something on his handlebar.
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| La Rochefoucauld |
Thursday 22th August
It is very chilly in the morning. We wear some more clothes but right
after the first ascent we need to take off a lot of them or get too sweaty. We ride
trough La Rochefoucauld. All, the Convent + the castle very very nice, a real
nice little French town. Soon after La Rochefoucauld we find a “voie verte”
(old railway track) nice and easy to cycle. Go for Angoulême, where we find a
film festival going on and the town is very vivid with it. Cycle out of
Angoulême along the Charente to the Campanile
Hotel where we stay for dinner. 80 km
Friday 23th August.
Angoulême-Château Neuf sur
Charente-Barbezieux St.Hilaire-Montlieu la Garde
Leave Campanile , it is rather chilly again. Again the countryside is
very pleasant to ride through. Soon we get to a little dirt track along the
river Charente that we enjoy quite a bit.
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| Saint Simeux (Charente) |
After that we continue on another voie verte
for a while. Leaving it we ride towards Montlieu la Garde. After a nasty and
steep ascent we come to our hotel, it is a very modest place, mainly for lorry
drivers. The room is rather primitive and simple, but we are glad to find at
least a place to sleep in this “in-the-middle-of-nowhere”- area!! The landlord
is worried that we might not be happy in his place (we are certainly not like
his usual costumers), but the buffet “des routiers” is largely sufficient for
our purpose and we are satisfied. Tomorrow we shall treat ourselves to a more
luxurious place….
Saturday 24th of
August
After our “les routiers” experience the way leads up and down again, but
it is less cold than the previous days. We have a drink in a little town, Libourne,
fill up on water and continue to famous St Emilion. We walk around there,
feeling a bit out of place in the posh town, certainly with a very chic wedding
going on right in the centre.
We cycle out of town to the vineyards, it is beautiful around this area, rich “châteaux”, picturesque “domaines” , you name it. We try to get (after some serious searching) to our gîte, Gîte de Cabadentra. Roland, our landlord, is very talkative, shows us gardens, vineyards and gets us a tasting of different grapes and wines. We get some nice dinner there, plenty of chatting and finally we sleep like a log after a hard and long day. 72 km
We cycle out of town to the vineyards, it is beautiful around this area, rich “châteaux”, picturesque “domaines” , you name it. We try to get (after some serious searching) to our gîte, Gîte de Cabadentra. Roland, our landlord, is very talkative, shows us gardens, vineyards and gets us a tasting of different grapes and wines. We get some nice dinner there, plenty of chatting and finally we sleep like a log after a hard and long day. 72 km
Sunday 25th of August
Surprise in the morning: covered, greyish sky, it looks like rain. We
check the weather forecast, it announces a warm day. We leave the gîte and
cycle fast and effectively to escape the worst of the heat. We find a voie
verte, leading to Bordeaux
Ending up inBordeaux
and we reserve a gîte in Margaux.
After 87 km we get to the Villa Bord’o and the friendly landlady indicates us a “snack” resto-rapide , the only place to get some dinner (mind you, this IS Margaux after all..) But all is closed, cycling inFrance France
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| Bordeaux |
Ending up in
and we reserve a gîte in Margaux.
After 87 km we get to the Villa Bord’o and the friendly landlady indicates us a “snack” resto-rapide , the only place to get some dinner (mind you, this IS Margaux after all..) But all is closed, cycling in
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| Rives de Gironde |
Monday 26th of August
Leaving Villabord’o very relaxed, stocking up on water on the road etc
until Gaston realises quite panicky that we have to hurry up to catch the ferry
to Blaye. Riding at hell’s speed we arrive just in time before the ferry
leaves. Our legs are stiff from the “quickstart”, we rest on the ferry and pick
up the cycling path to Royan when we are ashore…After a while we realise that
we have to face a much longer and harder trip than originally planned. We try
to find shortcuts whenever it is possible, but the ride is tough and hot and we
arrive at 20:00 to Royan, merciless 112 km in our legs. Snacking more than
eating a proper dinner, we stay in a B + B hotel. The cycling along the coast "rives de Gironde" has been really
beautiful, with the typical fishing nets, les “carrelets” offering lovely opportunities
for pictures. We sort our things out and have our well deserved rest.
Tuesday 27th of August
We leave Royan without a final destination of the day. Around late
morning we decide to make it to La
Rochelle
Along the coast we are hit by a very strong wind. We take 2 small
ferries, spontaneously and with no queuing up or waiting time. We pass Marennes
that has a beautiful church spire.
While we are using the small ferry, a very special kind of bridge comes into sight: a "pont-transbordeur". This transporter bridge is an engineering structure that connects the two banks of the Charente between Rochefort and Échillais without interfering with shipping to the Naval Arsenal and the port of Rochefort. It is the last of its kind in France. We end up in the centre ofLa Rochelle
While we are using the small ferry, a very special kind of bridge comes into sight: a "pont-transbordeur". This transporter bridge is an engineering structure that connects the two banks of the Charente between Rochefort and Échillais without interfering with shipping to the Naval Arsenal and the port of Rochefort. It is the last of its kind in France. We end up in the centre of
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| La Rochelle |
Wednesday 28th of August
Getting out of La Rochelle
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| Poitevin |
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| Niort |
“Le canal de Marons, au Coeur du Marais baigné par la Sèvre. Une étappe à fleur
d’eau a épousé les méandres de la Sèvre Niortoise, alternant chemins de hallage et petites routes » that’s what you read in tourist leaflets. Indeed, the area is gorgeous ! Beautiful little bridges, serpentine routes, getting through little French villages, along the ponds and lakes and the river….all too pleasant. Le Marais=”poitevin”
Famous animal of the region=le ragondin, le nutria (family of beavers
and rats)
95 km to Niort
Nice Pizzeria, get a date with Martina and Howard for the other day.
Thursday 29th of August
From Niort
Friday 30th of August
Spend the day leisurely at the Mill and get our first “resting day” ever
on a cycling trip!!!! And the best company I can wish for, total bliss! Thanks
Martina and Howard!
Saturday 31st of August
Good bye Mill and Martina and Howard with warm thanks!
We pick up cycling again, hilly, up and down, some “faux plats”, but all
very nice.
Château Lamaité, very green around, a little snack at the baker’s and going on. Unfortunately a rather strong wind rises and turns pedalling into a hard job… Through Parthenay and on to Thouars, we find an hotel outside of town, the Brithotel. Cycle back to town for dinner….85 km
Château Lamaité, very green around, a little snack at the baker’s and going on. Unfortunately a rather strong wind rises and turns pedalling into a hard job… Through Parthenay and on to Thouars, we find an hotel outside of town, the Brithotel. Cycle back to town for dinner….85 km
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| Saint-Loup-sur-Thouet |
Sunday 1st of September
Get up with some difficulties, the fatigue is having its call…There has
been some rain during the night and the summerish temperatures drop
drastically. Packing the rain gear to the top of the bags we start riding the
bikes. We decide to stop at castles, rivers, old ruins, bridges and take many
photos, cycling leisurely at a slow pace. The wind is terrible again, so our
decision to make it to Saumur is a good one. 50 km, a mini "étape" indeed.
On our way a beautiful castle: Montreuil-Bellay, worth the break. In Saumur we stay at Ibis style Hotel, find a pizzeria and stroll through the town after the meal.
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| Montreuil-Bellay |
Monday 2nd of September
Early breakfast and start. It is chilly and cool. We follow the river
for a while and then climb a hill towards the “rocks”, XI century dwellings
built into the vaults of the rocks. We are stunned!
We continue to Chinon, a fortress, take a lift uptown to the medieval
city and cycle on to Azay le Rideau. Here our hardship begins: there are no
proper cycling tracks, so it turns into a mountain bike trip. Forest ,
gravel, sandy track, we cycle and struggle with the uncomfortable tracks, on
top of that against a hard wind. At Azay le Rideau bikes should be left behind
and we dislike the idea of leaving all our stuff unguarded on a parking lot. We
have a short break at the baker’s and cycle on to Tours
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| Chinon |
Tuesday 3rd of September
We plan to cycle in a sort of triangle today, squeezing as many things
worth to visit as we can into the trip. We are heading away from Tours
From Chenonceaux toAmboise Amboise
we decide to search for a board we had altered years ago with our friends (“(G)Loire à vélo 1000 km”), we cycle back and forth on the
cycling path, on both sides of the river, but no sign of the board. We give up
on the idea and head towards Tours Tours Hotel Garden Luxembourg
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| Chenonceaux |
From Chenonceaux to
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| Amboise |