To - Sury en Vaux (near Sancerre)
Distance - 116km
Time - 9.5 hours
Total - 671km
Gorgeous sunny day from start to finish. I wanted to get half way towards the town of Nevers and I fancied having a look at Sancerre where they make wonderful white wine. So, I knew it was going to be a long day in the saddle. By the way the times I record are total travelling time and that includes the eating stops so don't think I am cycling for 9 hours solid although today has been a lot of cycling.
I gave the bike a little service and set off. The day started well with wonderful flat cycling next to the Loire with nothing but birdsong in my ears. My first problem of the day was when I stopped at Gien and tried to use my Mastercard that is pre-loaded with Euros. It was rejected telling me to contact my bank. I have other cards so I managed to get money but I will have to sort out the Mastercard when I get some internet access, note to self!
I haven't seen many people cycling the route. I look at occasional cyclists travelling in the opposite direction and apart from the fact there are very few most look like local casual cyclists with no panniers etc. I did see someone today with panniers and a bike trailer and I thought about stopping and engaging him in conversation thinking he could be a kindred spirit but then I saw he was carrying two little dogs in the trailer and I decided that taking your dog for a walk in a bike trailer didn't constitute a kindred spirit. I did bump into a couple of students from Tours University, one was French Canadian and the other was from Catalonia but they were only doing the route from Tours to Nevers.
The Canal de Briare crossed the Loire on a spectacular aquaduct which I cycled across, I have attached a photo. I did intend to have a lunch at a village that was just over halfway but I didn't see any restaurants, luckily I had some bread, cheese and tomato in my bag so I stopped on the route and risked taking my shirt off whilst I relaxed. When I started up I noticed that the screw fastenings on the rack had jumped out without my knowledge or permission! I fastened it back into position with security locks and went in search of a cycle store. I went off piste looking for a place but every French person I asked gave a different direction. After tooing and froing I did find an Intersport Store and they gave me the required screws and I also persuaded them to use their big cycle pump to pump up my tyres. Good job too, they needed it.
I still had plenty of time, so I headed for Sancerre which is further than my booked accommodation but I wanted to see it whilst I had the time. I climbed the considerable hill to the town and managed a beer and an ice cream as a reward. The view was good too. I then set about finding the small village where my chambre d'hote is. It was not so easy, I kept going wrong and wasted much time. I had to retrace my steps several times and by 6pm I got there. It is outside a village called Sury en Vaux and it is best described as rustic. After the long ride there is no way that I was going anywhere tonight so I'm sitting outside in the sun writing the blog and drinking the compulsory glass of wine. Needless to say there is no wi-fi here. I have attached a photo of my accommodation but I must apologise to the eagle eyed readers who can see the socks and pants drying on the gate!! Never mind!
No comments:
Post a Comment