Day 3 : Gien to Châteauneuf-sur-Loire

July 16, 2021

Heart

Comment

Ok, before we talk about today’s ride, we need some help with a mystery crop. Like many (some?) cyclists, we play the « what’s that crop? » game while riding. This one has us stumped.

They let the crop stand and dry in the fields - all the fields are brown at the moment. And there’s a slight odor to the crop. Here’s what the seed pods look like:

OK, back to business. After another quiet night amongst the artwork in the B&B « Les Dameraudes », we enjoyed a very traditional French breakfast. That is to say, bread and coffee. (Robin says that I should be fair and add that there was yogurt and fruit)

We got on the road about 10am, in the rain. As we descended through Gien and prepared to time trial across the single-lane bridge, a lady called out « Voila les courageux! ». Maybe we have a new name: Les Courageux. Sounds good but for two people who are definitely not courageous it might be a bit of a stretch.

Once across the Loire, we headed northwest for Saint-Gondon. Another saint I’ve never heard of. Our goal was a menhir. (See my previous journal for info on my minor fixation with Neolithic relics). A bit of poking around in the middle of a 1990s housing development, and there it was.

Our hosts last night counseled us to avoid the « unnecessary » out-and-back to Saint-Florent, so we stayed on the road to Lion-en-Sullias.

It turns out there were some other Neolithic relics along the road. « Le Crapaud » (the toad), a fallen-down burial chamber, and « Le Butte des Druides », a hilltop burial chamber. I’ll spare you a picture of the first, and the second we didn’t explore due to time constraints and barbed wire fences.

Rolling into Lion-en-Sullias, we checked out the sweet little church with what looked like a very old and unusual « front porch ».

According to the signs, a place for the village to gather and communicate.

Then back up onto the levees that try to hold in the Loire. The riding was smooth, with less of a headwind than yesterday. A bit colder, though.

Still life with hay bales and flowers. From the levee.

We also really enjoyed looking out over the fields of sunflowers. If only we had had some real sun, it would have been perfect.

Sunflowers. Like they show for the Tour de France.

Very quickly, we found ourselves in Sully, home to the chateau of the same name. A very castle-like chateau, complete with multiple moats and round towers. Sleeping Beauty material.

The tour photographer went a little nuts here. It’s a good thing digital pictures are free! But she got a glamor shot from the front of the castle that I just have to include.

Timing-wise, it was time for lunch. You have to hit the noon-to-2 window in most of France if you want to eat lunch. Neither of us were hungry, but we found a pub with street seating and ordered a croque-monsieur (grilled ham and cheese sandwich) to share. It was unexpectedly good and came with a small salad and frites, which made more than enough of a meal for us.

Suitably restored, we set off from Sully across a beautiful old railroad bridge that’s been converted for the use of walkers and cyclists.

Again, we rode past fields of sunflowers. Such beautiful plants - at this stage of growth you can’t help but smile when you see them.

Our next destination was the Abbey de Fleury in Saint-Benoit-sur-Loire. (Are you seeing a pattern to the town names?). Long ago, there was a powerful and rich abbey here along with a church that held relics of good old Saint Benedict (St Benoit in French). The relics and the church are still there, but the abbey was destroyed long ago.

The church, however, is pretty spectacular.

Not being experts, it’s hard for us to know how much restoration has been done here. But the church looked to us like a very good representation of Gothic architecture. Beautiful vaults and a calm, peaceful space.

Best of all was the North Portal. One of the best-preserved tympanums I’ve ever seen. Some damage courtesy of the Heugenots and the French Revolution, but in general, it was in amazing shape.

Tympanum over the North Portal, church at Abbey de Fleury

Back on the road, we marveled over the wildflowers. The profusion of colors and blooms was really striking. We came across a bunch of these purple flowers that we don’t know the names of.

We then made our way to Germigny-des-Près for our last stop of the day. The village church has the distinction of being the oldest church in France.

I don’t know how you establish a claim like that, but the church was pretty cool. It’s been heavily restored, but the original romanesque core of the church was plain to see. Allegedly built by an advisor to Charlemagne in the 9th century.

Inside, there was an amazing old mosaic. Evidently it was plastered over some time in the past 1200 years and was only rediscovered recently. Recently being within the last couple hundred years. Incredible to find something like this in France. All thanks to a layer of plaster.

While we gawked and talked, the bike waited patiently, leaning up against the wall of the ancient building. A 1200-year-old bike support.

We were closing in on Châteauneuf-sur-Loire, but I can’t not mention the beautiful houses and gardens we’ve been passing on this trip. Worth a couple of pictures.

Virginia Creeper (Vigne Vierge) on an old house

Finally, our destination popped into view. We made our way into town, but our hotel didn’t open until 5:30pm, so we killed time in a cafe and prowling around what used to be the Chateau in Châteauneuf-sur-Loire.

After cleaning up, we had a great meal at the Brasserie de L’Europe. Another great day completed.

Today's ride: 50 km (31 miles)
Total: 213 km (132 miles)

Rate this entry's writing	Heart	9
Comment on this entry	Comment	0