Saumur to Chinon: a good start

October 18, 2009

Weather: cool, foggy to start, then sunny

We slept until 8:00 and went downstairs to the breakfast buffet in the hotel. It was quite good with baguettes, croissants, sweet and salted butter, a bit of cheese, oj, jams, cereal, coffee. It took us longer to get organized than we expected, especially when we noticed a screw was missing from Eva's rack. In the hotel garage we found a substitute that will work for a while.

Ready to leave Saumur for our first full day of riding in France.

We took off on our bikes just after 11:00, uphill past the chateau and out of Saumur on beautiful quiet roads through the vineyards. The temperature was quite cool—it had frosted overnight—with some fog, but the sun also peeked through. We stopped quite often to take photos, and Al's route finding worked really well. We were hardly ever in traffic, there were very few hills, and we passed through some picturesque villages including busy Montsoreau, where we checked out the market and stopped for a galette lunch at a little cafe that completely filled up while we were there. We each had a glass of the local wine, which was very good and inexpensive. We cycled through Candes-Saint-Martin, one of Frances “most beautiful villages” completely deserted on this Sunday afternoon.

Looking back through the fog past the chateau to the bridge over the Loire that we crossed the day before.

Quiet roads through the vineyards on a bench south of the Loire.

The quiet, scenic village of Candes-Saint-Martin, near where we stopped for lunch.

On a bridge across the river Indre, we met a couple on a recumbent Bike Friday tandem (they don't make them any more). We stopped to chat a bit. They've had the bike for 7 years, travelled all over Europe on it, and had started this trip at the headwaters of the Loire in the Massif Central. After the bridge we continued on lovely quiet roads through gently rolling terrain all the way to a final steep downhill into Chinon, on the most picturesque road in town that led right to our B&B—Logis Saint Mexme. Our host put our bikes away in a locked garage and took us through a nice little walled garden to a tower staircase leading to a lovely large room with a very colourful bathroom.

The staircase in the tower leading up to our room.

For dinner we were fortunate to find Le Rabelais, a small restaurant featuring organic and/or local food. The chef explained where each ingredient had come from, including figs from his own garden. Three courses for 18.70 euros--carrot and ginger salad with very fresh goat cheese for Eva, broccoli and mushroom quiche with salad for Al. We both had guinea fowl (pintade) with delicious celery root and carrots, then Al had tarte au pommes and Eva had a wonderful chocolate cake. We enjoyed a glass each of the very local chinon rouge and coffee. It was a delicious dinner in a charming setting. Pleasantly replete, we walked back to our room through the softly lit streets along cobbled pavements lined with old stone buildings, very pleased with our first day on the road.

Today's ride: 34 km (21 miles)
Total: 49 km (30 miles)

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