Day 78: Blois to Orleans

April 24, 2024

Heart

Comment

In Nantes we took the opportunity of getting all new brake pads installed. We were intrigued when Josephine told us that these grey ones would be squeak free. In brake pads for rim brakes there are all sorts of colours floating about - black, red, grey, green, two-tone, and others. Some are advertised as being for ebikes, some for rain, some for racing, some for anodised rims, some for soft aluminum rims, etc. But anyway, all new pads.

After a time though , we became more aware of scraping sounds coming from the brakes, the front especially. It became annoying and worrisome enough that last night I pulled the front pads. They seemed to have metal flakes in them, and in the case of one, what looked like a metal shard! I popped in some black ones and wrote to the shop in Nantes - maybe we had the pads for harder rims than we have, and they are eating our wheels? The answer came back - they should be fine - but we are sticking with the black until further notice.

Thinking of eating, the hotel advertised the pleasure of breakfast in their 19th century dining room. It certainly was nice, with large paintings and an elaborate ceiling. The actual breakfast was in that class of "pretty good for France". I am not sure what the "jammer" rating for that is - there are croissants, baguette, sliced cheese one type, sliced ham, brie - one type, fresh fruit salad, fresh fruits, some viennoiserie. Mainly, it was more than enough to send us out into the cold with a chance of survival!

Our hotel - was very French traditional.

By the way, did anyone notice something a bit off in the paintings?

Blois, more than some other cities along the Loire, has a real medieval flavour - with jumbled, dull coloured buildings on narrow streets, plus hills.

We went back to the river, to begin again our odyssey. Just by the bridge we could look at quite a few birds, like those we have been calling Black Headed Gulls (labelled Laughing Gulls in one trail side panel), cormorants. swans, and others. And here, below, was a White Wagtail.

This time by the bridge we found the panel that gives its name and a bit of its history. It's the Pont Jacques-Gabriel. As we read, I am too late to photograph the medieval bridge, because that collapsed in 1716. However what we have here is from 1724 - old enough for me!

Once again, lots of gulls to be found on the sand bars.

Our path was generally by the river, and it made for pleasant cycling. Very safe for kids too, we note.

Off in a field, Dodie (of course) spotted not one but three pheasants. The males really are colourful. The female in the picture confirms that we were right in identifying that female in the tree some days ago.

The "Loire a Velo" must be France's premier cycle way, and as such it has great signage, and also a good selection of picnic sites and benches. Near Menars we came to the shelter shown below - the kind of shelter we had been hoping for that time on the Atlantic coast. Adjacent there was also a "lavoir", for washing clothes in the old days, now also a good rest stop.

Shelter along the bike path, near Menars.

After cycling past the Menars chateau, we found we were following a tall stone wall on our left, with the river on our right. At first we assumed this wall was part of the chateau, but it seemed to go on for kms. This independently had us both thinking - no wonder they had a revolution, sequestering this much land so emphatically is not right.

Eventually we came to the conclusion that the wall could not possibly be just for the chateau, and this was supported when we came to a break in it, featuring a church, and some other stately house. So the wall was a town wall? That seems a bit unfriendly too, don't you think? - unless there were pirates and stuff coming along the river.

The church, also at a break in the wall.

On the river front (at Cour sur Loire) , by the church, a panel explained about the Spring of Saint Radegonde. The story given is that in 550, Radegonde was forced to marry Clotaire I, King of Soissons. She was only 12 at the time. Twenty of so years later, she ran away, and came down the Loire. Feeling thirsty, she came ashore here and moved a rock, resulting in a spring coming forth. This was considered a miracle, and the spring became a pilgrimage site. Since then, a pilgrimage occurs and has a procession from the church to the spring, on the Sunday following the 15th of August each year. There is also a Radegonde church (Monastery of St Croix) in Poitiers and she founded an order of nuns as well - the first nunnery on Europe. (Not all this was on the panel, but our research department has been on it. There are also inconsistencies as to when she married Clotaire I. Also Radegonde was one of six Clotaire concubines. They had no children. Clotaire was 20 years older than Radegonde,and had killed her father in battle. Radegonde was also a vegan, eating only vegetables).

The sign says the spring has curative powers, but we didn't test it.

After Cours sur Loire, the darn wall continues!

Since the forecast was for rain, we were watching the dark clouds anxiously. In the end, no rain came, but Dodie was still very chilled all day.

Aside from dark clouds, we watched the approach of this nuclear plant. (In fact, we did the approaching, the plant was reassuringly motionless.) 62% of electrical generation in France is nuclear. Hydro is 11% while wind and solar are 12%.

The river continued to have lots of birds, like this gaggle of Cormorants.

7 km before Beaugeancy there was another super shelter site. It even had a slide, for those so inclined.

We have been keeping an eye open for place where one could stay, with kids, at doable distances from the last place. So at Tavers, we rolled up to a Logis hotel and had a look at their price schedule. This would be a good halfway stop between Orleans and Blois.

There are trails around Tavers that could be fun.

Somewhere before Beagency I started to chirp about how some caloric sweet would be good for fending off the cold. So we turned (up) into the town, toward where the GPS said my heart's desire would be found.

But oh oh, no way through here. Some authority thinks that wall is going to fall on us. Could be right!

We found another way around. Ended with chausson abricot - my favourite!

The Beaugency bridge has been here since the 12th century, though it must have had some renovations. We noticed that the arches are of different forms, but do not know why.

A long arch, round arch and pointed arch.

We also stopped by this hotel, in a former abbey. Too costly, it seems.

Started 11th century, rebuilt 17th century.

We expect to see more of this lady in Orleans! She was born 1412, so had her 600th birthday in 2012.

See, the lords of trailside panels call these Laughing Gulls, but if you scan that QR (which you can, from this photo) it talks about Black Headed Gulls. Same thing?

These rude swans show what they think pf my photography efforts!

As usual, we try hard to form an impression of a place as we roll in. This photo shows a pretty ordinary place. But the presence of the "little train" shows we are at least somewhere near interesting stuff.

We have a day tomorrow to explore Orleans, and the chance to reverse any first impressions we have made of it being unexciting. Meanwhile, we somehow booked the "superior" room at the Hotel Marguerite. I am therefore typing this at a usable desk, with a Nespresso machine at my side. I did have to Google the machine, because it ate my coffee pod and would not reveal where it hid it. But still!

Today's ride: 67 km (42 miles)
Total: 3,832 km (2,380 miles)

Rate this entry's writing	Heart	7
Comment on this entry	Comment	0