September 2, 2016
Chateauneuf-sur-Loire: We are reaching the Chateaus
We had a very straightforward route today largely on Levees beside the Loire, you would have thought it would be impossible to get off course but we managed it. On the route a dolman was marked. Now Ken and I have a very bad record with Dolmans, we have travelled miles following signs that are said to lead to them but it is always in vain. Today was no different we didn't even see a sign pointing to where it was meant to be and we were both on a mission to find it. never mind there is more in life than Dolmans.
It was certainly a wonderful sight to arrive in Sully-sur-Loire and see the fairy tail sight of the Chateau and the superb park that surrounds it. Our eyes drank in the sight but we didn't visit it as we enjoy looking at such places from the outside. Sully-sur-Loire was almost in grid lock but we battled our way up the Main Street and found a bar to get our coffee fix. Then taking our lives in our hands we set off across the bridge to the otherside. It was then we somehow got off track, we thought we were following the signs but something must have gone wrong. We were bumping along a rough track in the undergrowth beside the river. The worst thing however there were patches of deep soft sand and when you hit one your back wheel shot out from under you. After some time I gave up and walked - Ken tried to persuade me to ride, he says I am stubborn. All the way we could hear cars on the road not far away but with a thicket as impenetrable as that around Sleeping Beauties Castle there was no way of reaching it. After more than 4km (that doesn't sound long but it took ages) we came to a sandy bank and scrambled up to the road and were in business again.
We arrived in Chateauneuf-sur-Loire a coupe of hours before our check in time. It has a small mostly ruined Chateau set in lovely formal gardens. There is a Museum of Mariners of the Loire and we found this really fascinating. Until 1843 when the first train went from Paris to Orleans this was how all goods travelled. The railways of course were the death nell of this means of transport and by the end of the century it had all disappeared. It is a tribute that this museum has kept this part of history so a well documented. Our hotel when we got in is charming.
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Today's ride: 53 km (33 miles)
Total: 1,456 km (904 miles)
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