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All posts for the month August, 2018

Day 4. Angers to Saumur

Posted by Tim on August 12, 2018
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Beautiful morning but no cold cuts at the breakfast buffet.  We are usually able to make ourselves cold cut sandwiches for lunch at the breakfast buffets, except today.  The French know how to bake rolls.

This was where we took a short break. We only stopped twice on today;s ride.

We stopped to read this rode sign. As best we could tell, this was the home of some French royalty, up until the French Revolution. Laura, were we close?

Another lunch photo.

Crossing the Loire into Saumur.

A pretty easy day which we needed after yesterday,  54 K, 3 1/2 hours.   A lot of macadam today.  What a difference it makes riding on smooth macadam vs. gravel.   Tomorrow we intend to tour our first chateau on our way to Tours, our next destination.  Showers are in the forecast.  We’ll see,

Day 3. Nantes to Angers

Posted by Tim on August 12, 2018
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This was planned as our longest  day.  It turned out to be for a different reason.  We got away about 8:15.  Within 5 minutes, I took a a nasty spill.  I couldn’t tell you how much time we lost.  I think I was dazed by the fall.  I hit a curb trying to get on the bike path that was a little elevated from the pedestrian walkway.  I remember seeing that I was going to hit this curbing and then the rest was a blur.  Washed it as best I could and I soldiered on or, as Marcia sometimes says: ‘I offered it up’.

That was my knee a few hours after my fall. Other scrapes to my hand.

A nice picnic bench for one of our many stops today.

I agree Mark. This day is getting long.

I partially cut off their heads at this stop. O well, we are in France. Pardon, sil vows plait.

One of the many views of the river today.

A gravel road/path. We were on gravel about 50% of today. It’s taking its toll on our arms. We are not used to wide grip handlebars.

Finally, arriving in Angers. 7 hours, 108 k ride today.

Another view from the bridge into Angers.

A view from my hotel window of the hotel parking lot/courtyard.

Brian and I tried to go to mass tonight (to pray for Mark and Beth’s souls) but couldn’t find the church.  Added another 5,000 steps to today’s total.  No good deed goes unpunished.  I got a huge blister.  Hopefully I will be able to wear my dock sides home.  I have had to wear my bike shoes everywhere since.  Does it sound like I am whining too much?  Pardon, sil vous plait.

Tour of the Loire River Valley: Nantes to Saumur

Posted by Brian on August 12, 2018
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On day 1 we went from Nantes to Pellerin and back, for a total of 58 kilometers.  We’re using rented bikes this time, and except for hard seats, the bikes are perfect! In the evening we went out to dinner, which was excellent!

Our hotel might be older than the U.S., but the rooms were nice and the breakfast was great!

On our second day of riding, we went to Angers, which turned out to be 110 km when Google maps said it would only be 95 km. So it took us more than 7 hours to get there and we arrived around 3:30 p.m. Here are some photos from our second day of riding.

Tim taking a picture of his scraped knee.

We had falls at the beginning and at the end of our ride, by Tim and me, respectively. But we’re ok.

Mark by the road on the way to Angers.

Sunflowers growing in a field on the way from Nantes to Angers.

Another picture on the way to Angers.

After the 110 kilometers ride, today was a relatively easier ride of only 52 kilometers from Angers to Saumur.  Some of the roads were pretty rough, made of stones and/or gravel. But overall it was a good ride. We left our Angers hotel at 9:30 a.m. and made it to Saumur by shortly after 1 p.m.  Here are some photos of today’s ride.

An old chateau on the way to Saumur.

Tim standing in a field with rolled up hay bales.

Another haystack with Tim and Mark in the far background.

After an excellent lunch at the cafe in our hotel, followed by a nice hot shower, Beth, Mark and I went for a walk. We visited the Catholic church in Centre Ville Saumur and then walked up to the Chateau de Saumur, which is being renovated. After getting another 4,000 steps (still not enough to catch Tim 🙁 ), we had beers in an outdoor courtyard cafe in Saumur, and then went back to the hotel for a nice nap. Dinner wasn’t great but afterwards we went back to our hotel for coffee and blogging.

Tomorrow we head to Tours with a stop at Villany, which looks really cool. We’re planning on meeting up with Beth there around noon.

Day 2. Nantes out and back ride.

Posted by Tim on August 12, 2018
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We were supposed to start this trip in Cholet but since we rented our bikes and there is no pick up in Cholet, we adapted and started in Nantes.  We decided to do an out and back ride to familiarize ourselves with the bikes and the road signage.  Picked up the bikes and off we went.

Brian and Mark having lunch along the Loire at the turn around

We were trying to use maps written in French.  That didn’t go too well.  Our route that Beth was plotting looked like a lot of points on a star.  But we figured out the bike route signage which was a collective effort.  They tried their best to put the bike route signs in the most inconspicuous places.  Sometimes all three of us had a hard time seeing the next sign to turn.  Mostly macadam but sometimes gravel paths.

We rode 58 K today.  We all felt pretty good and liked our bikes.

The view of our street outside the hotel.

The opposite view.

Our restaurant of choice that night. Half of our foursome.  The cute ones.

The other duo on this trip. Who is the younger brother? I need more sleep.

We found him!!!

We saw a lot of fields of sunflowers like this one.

Loire Valley. First 24 Hours

Posted by Tim on August 12, 2018
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Flight was a typical Europe red eye. Paris airport (CDG) is huge. It seems you can’t walk from one terminal to another. Beth rented a car in Terminal 1 but we arrived in Terminal 2. It took about an hour to make that connection. We always seem to struggle with the rendezvous.

The whole drive was rainy. Thank goodness we weren’t riding.

Mark and I were sleeping most of the ride to Nantes (pronounced Nohnts – sort of).  I know I butcher most of my French pronunciations – big surprise.

Hard time finding the hotel.  Not as bad as Luxembourg City.  Beautiful hotel- friendly barmaid.  Don’t worry Mar.  Bed was rock hard and we all had a wonderful sleep.