Day 8 – Blois to Orleans – 80km

Another day of beautiful trails and the hottest day we’ve had so far at about 26 degrees. Definitely getting some great tan lines

First stop was the largest chateau on the Loire – Château de Chambord. The Chateau took 28 years to build (1519 to 1547) and was originally constructed as a hunting lodge for the King of France, Francis I. It has a very distinctive French Renaissance architecture, which blends traditional French medieval forms with classical Renaissance structures.

We were nearing the 50km mark and we hadn’t seen a boulangerie so hunger and pain au chocolat withdrawal symptoms were kicking in. What we are learning is that the early bird catches the worm with the pain au chocolat so today was a fail. Never fear we did find some equally delicious treats to satisfy ourselves – this is the land of treats after all.

We had an after lunch coffee stop in Beaugency. When we told the waitress that we only wanted coffee and wouldn’t be eating she frowned then looked around the number of empty tables and then said ‘OK, yes this is possible’. We’re still getting our heads around acceptable French food and drink etiquette.

We went past the Saint-Laurent Nuclear Power Station. Interestingly the water in the river got clearer after that or was I just imagining things?

Tonight we are in Orleans – city population 120,000 and wider metropolitan population about 450,000.

The city owes its development from antiquity to the commercial exchanges resulting from the river. An important river trade port, it was the headquarters of the community of merchants frequenting the Loire. It was the capital of the Kingdom of France during the Merovingian period and played an important role in the Hundred Years’ War, particularly known for the role of Joan of Arc during the siege of Orléans.

Joan of Arc (Jeanne d’Arc) was born in 1413. She heard voices from God which led to assist with the reclaiming of France during the 100 year war. In 1430 she was captured by the English and after a trial was burnt at the stake in 1431. Some believed she was a witch because she heard voices.

Joan of Arc was finally canonised in 1920 and proclaimed the second patron Saint of France in 1922 (the Blessed Virgin being the first, and Saint Teresa of the Child of Jesus being a secondary patroness alongside Joan of Arc).

The First World War had reconciled the French of all sides around the figure of Joan of Arc as a symbol of resistance to occupying forces.

After checking into our accommodation we wandered down to the centre of town to see the many tributes to Joan of Arc as well as the Cathedral of Orleans.

It was originally built from 1278 to 1329. It was partially destroyed in 1568 by the Huguenots during the French Wars of Religion, but was rebuilt between 1601 and 1829. The edifice is in the Gothic architectural style.

During the Siege of Orléans, the cathedral was visited frequently by Joan of Arc. The cathedral’s stained glass windows now depict the story of Joan’s actions that contributed to the lifting of the siege.

Day 9 – Orleans to Sully-sur-Loire – 56km

Disclaimer – at the end of the day, we all go through our photos and share the good ones so I cannot take credit for all the photos that I am posting.

We cycled back through the historic centre of Orleans before getting back on the river trail. I cannot rave enough about how good the trails are.

JP stopped a couple of local ladies out for a walk who directed us into the village of Jargeau where we found a thriving village square. There was a constant queue outside the Boulangerie which we took as a good sign.

I got a cappuccino which looked better than it tasted but it was fun sitting there with the locals partaking in their morning routine.

We visited the marine museum in Chateauneuf-sur-Loire which was interesting. The Loire river is the longest river in France at 1,006km’s long. The Loire Valley has been called the “Garden of France” and is studded with over a thousand chateaux which were originally created as feudal strongholds, over centuries past, in the strategic divide between northern and southern France; now many are privately owned.

In 1700 the port of Nantes numbered more inland waterway craft than any other port in France. Navigation on the river was tricky due to the shallow draft and the railways rapidly killed off the traffic from the 1850’s. As of 2017 there are only 4 navigable sections of the river which equates to about 500km or half the length of the river.

We enjoyed a picnic by the river before the final 20km’s to our home for the night – Sully-sur-Loire.

Another day, another chateau. The chateau in Sully-sur-Loire is a chateau-fort, a true castle, built to control one of the few sites where the Loire can be forded. Forded meaning that the river could be crossed, hence the moat around the castle.

We finished off our day with a walk around the town, a home cooked meal by JP and a game of Cabo.

Day 10 – Sully-sur-Loire to Sancerre – 88km

They say time flys when you’re having fun – can’t believe we’re 10 days and over 500kms in on our adventure.

We set off a bit earlier today to get a head start on the heat. This morning’s cycling was heaven on earth – beautiful paths, scenery and conditions.

The second half of the day we did a lot of cycling along the canals which was a nice change. These canals were created to link up the various rivers.

Built in the 16th, 17th and 18th century, the canals represented a time when roads were primitive and a good day’s travel was measured in the tens of miles. These historic waterways were largely abandoned in the late 18th century when railroads became the primary means of transport, and lay almost forgotten until the 1960s when they were “discovered” by young British travel entrepreneurs. Since that time, the concept of barging has changed from carrying freight to welcoming passengers from around the world on modern vessels that could be more appropriately named “canal yachts.”

Although the barges now carry passengers, much has remained the same on these living antique waterways. They are still bisected by locks (which raises or lowers the barges between the different levels of land), and many old locks are still attended by lock keepers; passing through them is part of the experience.

We watched a couple of boats come across the canal bridge at Briare – this bridge of water crosses over the Loire.

Completed in 1624, the Canal de Briare served as the water route transporting wine and other important cargo to Paris. A two-hour drive south from the City of Light, the Canal de Briare is a desirable barging destination, with such close proximity to Paris.

After lunch it got really hot so we stopped to put our feet in the canal which was very refreshing. We timed our stop well as we watched a couple of boats come into the lock.

We then had an uphill climb into the village of Sancerre, home for the night. Well worth the climb. Sancerre is famous for its Sauvignon Blanc. Tomas our guide from Caves Ambacia said it is the best Sauvignon Blanc in the world followed by NZ. Apparently it has won 4 out of the last 5 years at the world wine awards with NZ winning the other year.

We had a great wander around, lots of little wine shops. Our 5th ‘pyscholist’, Andy has joined us tonight for dinner which was delicious

Day 11 – Sancerre to Chateau de Maucouvent, Challuy – 67km

A clear blue sky morning made the 4km descent down from Sancerre this morning just magical – the sun hitting the vines and sunflower fields just perfectly. An image that couldn’t be captured in a photo but captured vividly in our minds.

None of us slept particularly well last night so we were all a bit jaded after our big day yesterday. The scenery wasn’t as special after we left Sancerre as it had been, so it was pedals to the metal. We came across an irrigator that was watering more path than corn field so decided to have a bit of fun with that.

We had a couple of sustenance stops but nothing to write home about. We saw goats, horses, a wild deer and an escargot farm.

It got hotter and hotter as the day went on and we got back onto the canal paths which are so picturesque. We were all hoping for a spot to have a swim and just after our lunch stop we found it.

We all jumped in with our cycling clothes on – heaven. The last 8km to our accommodation in wet clothes kept us cool.

Tonight we are staying in a chateau called Chateau de Maucouvent which is about 5km from Nevers. It was built in 1875 and owned privately by a family for over a century. It was occupied by the Germans in World War II.

Our host, Natalie, said they bought the place in 2011 and did it up over Covid, doing most of the work themselves. It has three rooms so we have the place to ourselves.

We treated ourselves to a three course meal cooked by Natalie’s husband. Absolutely delicious.

Day 12 – Chateau de Maucouvent, Challuy to Bourbon Lancy – 86km

After a beautiful and traditional French breakfast at our chateau we headed back to the trail

We were back along the canals which were quite still, reflecting the trees and buildings beautifully.

We stopped in Decize to check out a bike shop that no longer existed. Instead we found a bar full of mostly French men cheering on the French women’s soccer team who were in a penalty shootout with our neighbour’s, the Matilda’s. It was a tricky decision as to who we should be supporting so we remained neutral. The emotions were running high for the French and it was great to watch. Unfortunately they fell short and the atmosphere in the bar went flat. That was a right time, right place moment.

We had a picnic lunch just before leaving the canals to go inland. The last 40km was on rural roads where we saw a lot of Charolais cattle (we had been served this for dinner at the Chateau).

The Charolais or Charolaise is a French breed of taurine beef cattle. It originates in, and is named for, the Charolais area surrounding Charolles, in the Saône-et-Loire department, in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region of eastern France.

They are raised for meat and are among the heaviest of cattle breeds: bulls weigh from 1000 to 1650 kg (2200 to 3600 lb), and cows from 700 to 1200 kg (1500 to 2600 lb). The coat ranges from white to cream-coloured; the nose is uniformly pink.

Andy took some very up close and personal photos of these animals

JP had the second bike malfunction of the trip with a flat back tyre and a slow leak in the front. This may or may not have happened when her and Graham go up close and personal with the blackberry bushes. There were loads of berries on the side of the roads which are delicious. JP gave us some good advice – never pick below the level of a peeing dog

We are in Bourbon-Lancy tonight which is a rural town on the river Loire with a walled medieval area on the dominant hill. It has an authentic medieval belfry, wooden frame houses and fortifications which date from 1495.

We didn’t find a good swimming spot today so we went to the local pools when we arrived to cool off and do our yoga stretches – we only got a few strange looks from the locals.

Tonight we wandered into the centre of town where we managed to get a table at one of the more popular spots. Again the French delivered

Day 13 – Bourbon-Lancy to Brandon – 92km

After our swim yesterday we were looking at our plans for today, only to discover that the accommodation we had booked was 50km off the Euro Velo 6 route – oops . We can’t quite work out how that happened but decided an adventure on the road less travelled can’t be all bad.

We spent the first 40km on the Euro Velo 6 route which was along the same canal we have been following for the past couple of days – Canal latéral à la Loire which translates to canal parallel to the Loire.

We then had to fire up Google maps to navigate our way to Brandon. It took us on all the D roads which are mainly rural. Graham was in charge of navigation and he did a great job.

We had a picnic lunch stop at Charolles and arrived just as all the locals were coming out of the church dressed in their Sunday best with the bells tolling.

We had a small hiccup at the end when the map took us under the highway through a disused underpass. It did the trick though and got us under the highway.

We were a little concerned that Brandon even existed as we only saw a sign to it about 6km out. By the time we reached Brandon we had all run out of water and were so hot it was a relief to finally be here.

Our accommodation – Bourgeoise @ Brandon, was a welcome sight and the pool an even better one.

Our host, Jonathan, is an absolute delight. He is English but before coming to Brandon 4 years ago, lived in Melbourne for 28 years. The Villa is beautiful and he has done a great job on the renovation.

He only put the pool in this year and we were very thankful. He had a cold beer for each of us – I don’t even drink beer but I made short work of it .

He has a menagerie of animals – 2 Great Danes (Freya and Skyla), 4 goats (Hansel, Gretel, Marie Antoinette and Louis) and 4 chickens (Barbara, Margaret, Mary and Victoria). There were 5 chickens but Elizabeth got eaten by a fox. All the animals are super friendly.

Jonathan booked us a table at the only restaurant in the village – Moulin de Brandon. It is run by a Flemish couple, Sarah and Joeri. They only seat 16 people a night and it is just the two of them. Sarah is front of house and Joeri is the chef. He cooks on a vertical BBQ using vine wood.

Jonathan had mentioned we might get a thunderstorm due to how hot it had been. It was hard to believe but when we walked the kilometre down the road the sky in the distance was getting blacker and blacker and there was rolling thunder.

We got to the restaurant and Sarah and Joeri greeted us and said we could perhaps have a drink outside but should eat inside. We had only taken a sip when the rain came and we rushed inside. What followed was crazy – horizontal rain, huge hail stones that I thought were going to break the windows, lightening and more thunder. It went on for about half an hour and the tables and umbrellas got blown everywhere and were damaged. They said they have never experienced that before. The power then went out but they got it going again.

Meanwhile hail had come down the chimney putting the BBQ out. After the storm passed they proceeded to cook and serve us the most delicious meal in between dealing with a couple more power outages. I had quail to start, pork flambés and nougat Icecream. We loved the personal service and very homely atmosphere. A night we won’t forget in a hurry.

Just goes to show, every cloud has a silver lining (and a few hail stones).

Day 14 – Brandon to Charlon-sur-Saone – 72km

Jonathan provided a delicious and typical French breakfast of baguettes, pastries, cold meats and cheese accompanied by his lively banter and Freya and Skyla mooching about. Another spot that was hard to leave but cycle on we must.

The morning was very foggy and misty and the extent of last nights storm became more and more evident as we cycled on – lots of leaves and trees down.

Andy had our third bike malfunction with a puncture. Our tube supplies were getting low so our focus today was on finding a bike shop to replenish supplies.

I then got a bee sting on my neck which fortunately, after the initial fright and sting didn’t come to much.

Twelve kilometres from Brandon we stopped in Cluny to see the abbey which is a former Benedictine monastery dedicated to St Peter. It was established in 910 and disestablished in 1790.

The town of Cluny was born from the Abbey. In 910, according to the traditions, twelve monks from the Jura mountains settled in a Carolingian villa (rural estate), at the request of William the Pious, Duke of Aquatine. Their observance of the Benedictine rule set an example to be followed from Spain to Poland, from England to Italy and as far as Jerusalem. The number of Cluniac monks at the peak of the order, is estimated at more than 10,000.

Another silver lining today was that there is a rail trail from Cluny to Charlon-sur-Saone called the Voie Verte or the green line. Rail trails are never steep so it was a beautiful flat ride.

We set off from Cluny only to find numerous trees down across the track – some were a little more navigable than others. Twice we had to take our panniers off and form a chain gang to get them across the trees.

We stopped in Saint-Gengoux-le-National for lunch. The sun had broken through and it was pretty hot. Our after lunch treat was a banana split, JP style, a banana stuffed with dark chocolate. A real energy booster.

After lunch we came across a guy playing an electric guitar just off the track next to a corn field. At first we thought the music was coming from this little old lady coming towards us on her bike but when we looked up we saw this guy playing away. JP climbed up the bank to get a closer look, Hilary and I had a little boogie on the track. The sights you see.

We discovered that Charlon-sur-Saone had a Decathlon store (a sports store on steroids) so that was our first port of call to replenish some bike supplies. Luckily we don’t have a lot of space for shopping because it is the sort of shop you can spend hours in and come out with many things you potentially don’t need.

We then headed to our accommodation in the historic centre – a three level apartment. No bike storage unfortunately, but luckily a good amount of storage in the lounge which is on the ground floor. We also got our first glimpse of the Saone river – the second main river on the Euro Velo 6.

After a G & T, we had a little wander round town – the river is definitely its best feature. JP then whipped us up one of her famous salads washed down with a second G & T. We will definitely sleep well tonight, it has been an adventurous and hot couple of days. I am also developing some very interesting tan lines