We spend the morning taking in some of the town's sights. Angers has a massive and ancient château, and is also known for the impressive twin spires of the twelfth century Cathedral of Saint-Maurice.
Wooden houses of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries
We decide not to leave town along the river but rather follow the bike path which takes you through an inactive slate quarry. I am quite pleased with the gps-track I have prepared which takes us out of Angers without a hitch - until we reach a dead-end in the form of a fence. On my gps map the road continues. Janos scouts around and finds a small footpath to the highway, D117, which we had hoped to avoid. Eventually, we do find some signposts for the quarry path, and it was worth the search. Paved and crushed-slate paths take you through an old slate quarry that has been turned into a park. It is now a nature preserve where young trees and bushes have been planted. Too bad there aren't better directions available on getting you there.
An interesting feature in the park is the chain ferry - bac à chaîne - to cross a small river. The ferry is attached to a chain on either bank of the river and you pull yourself across the river using the chain. If the ferry is on the other side of the river you can likewise pull it across to embarc. The tricky part is to get on and off the ferry with a loaded bike. It can't be tied up, otherwise passengers waiting on the other side couldn't draw the ferry to their side. Not being tied up, the ferry has the tendency to start floating away when you push your bike on or off. Not really a problem if you have someone to hold it while the other gets the bikes on board.
The following stretch along the Loire is one of the prettiest so far with lovely villages in white stone. And for once the wind is in our favor. When we reach Saumur we rely on the gps and instinct to get us through the city and to the campground.
The campground at Saumur is on an island in the river and has special sites just for cyclists. The special feature of the cyclist sites is that you have a little clothes line under a roof. I doubt if the person who designed the sites has ever done any cycle touring. If he had, he might have known that a picnic table would be appreciated more than anything else.
Saumur's campground has special sites for us cyclists. Hurrah, with kegs of wine!
Charmaine RuppoltYes, a picnic table is definitely preferred over a place to hang your laundry. You can always use a clothes line for that. Reply to this comment 2 years ago
