Orleans to Digeon

We followed the Loire river from Orleans to Digeon valley - very flat and only a slight wind, so we made quick progress (except for the 1 week stop for Adrian, tummy trouble). See previous blog called "the shits".

There are lots of other cycle tourists on route along the Loire, although few with quite as much luggage as we have. The scenery is generally tree-lined river, peppered with small villages and interupted occasionally by a town.

The Loire is the longest river in France and used to be very important for trade, with many sailing boats. It is a strange river because in the summer it seems to be very shallow and patchy, but apparently it floods heavily in winter. This made it very hard to sail on for much of the year so they eventually built a canal in the 1800's that runs parralel to it (our route followed canalside roads for much of the way).

The larger towns always seem to have a bridge over the river and tend to be picturesque, with the usual church, town hall, post office and police station. Most of the river towns also have a stonebuilt quayside, which at first sight seem like they have been built for 20th century tourist to picnic on, but were once crucial to the existence and prosperity of the town.

The towns always have a boulangerie (bakery), charcuterie (butcher/deli) and usually an epicerie (greengrocers) to keep us stocked up with food. We enjoy these little shops, but quite often fall into the old habit of using the out of town supermarkets where the food isn't as good, you don't really get a chance to talk to people, and spend more money because there is too much choice. I am sure the French love of good fresh bread will always keep the boulangeries open, but I wonder how long the other small town shops will survive before they follow in the footsteps of small shops in English towns?

The largest place on route along the Loire was Nevers. We had a rest day here mainly because the temperature during the ride was 40° C, which wrecked us. The ride was much longer than planned because we cycled into, out of, and around the city before we eventually found the campsite, which ended up being right by the river in the city centre (a really nice spot). Problems finding campsites seems to be a common occurance in big towns because our map is a bit too big-scale to show exactly where they are.

We had a nice walk around Nevers, through a park and to the beautiful Cathedral. We also visited a small photo exhibition about... guess what... a french couple who had spent several years cycling around the world!

Our Loire ride ended in the pretty town of Digeon where we spent a rest day on our wedding anniversary. We drank coffee and orangina in a cafe opposite the church and watched a wedding taking place. The wedding party was a strange mixture of men in military uniform, a mother-in-law who was very excited by men with loud motorbikes, and (we think) the remnants of the stag party who arrived halfway through the church service wearing fancy dress cow outfits. It seemed like one of the stag party had broken an ankle (perhaps that is why they were late?).

Whilst in Digeon, we visited the Loire river museum and took photos of the aqueduct (where the canal crosses the river). A lovely day, which ended with a romantic (but cheapskate) meal at the campsite cafe!