September 6, 2024
Day 4 - Montsoreau to Angers
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We breakfasted in the room this morning, continuing our effort to reduce our food consumption (and waistline expansion). Our major topic of conversation was the weather. YR was predicting rain starting at 1100 and ending around 1500. Those are some of our main riding hours, so there was some concern that we were going to get very wet.
But not having a choice makes decision-making easy. We hustled through our morning routine and packing and were rolling by 0945 in a very light rain. Some might call it a “heavy mist”. In fact, some did.
We dropped down to the main road along the Loire and continued our progress westward. The “Loire à Vélo” route kept us entertained, alternating between the road, roadside asphalt bike paths, and river-side gravel bike paths. We hopped back and forth a few times, while admiring the troglodyte houses and nice villages along the route. We finished on a beautiful section of gravel that led us into Saumur.
We passed under the chateau in Saumur, but didn’t feel like climbing up there. Instead, we took a break for coffee (and, um, pastries) and watched the pretty little square coming to life.
The route decided to throw some tight corners and sharp climbs at us as we exited Saumur, but we were soon back down by the river and all was forgiven and forgotten. We climbed again as we approached Gennes, where we tried and failed to find a suitable cafe for lunch.
We rolled a further 4km down the side of the river and happened across a sign proclaiming “Ouvert” next to a large terrace covered with umbrellas. A bunch of cyclists seemed to be there, so we joined in. We had the best meal of the trip so far at “La Route du Sel”. Robin had a beet, goat cheese, and fig plate, while Rich had mussels and frites along with a glass of Saumur white wine. Scrumptious! And we got to meet Humphrey, the cafe mascot, too.
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2 months ago
Fortified, we quickly reached Saint-Remy-la-Varenne, where we sadly bypassed another cute guingette full of cyclists and crossed over the river. We then began a long series of left/right/left/right turns as we approached Angers.
At the end of all the left/right stuff, we arrived at the famous hand-drawn ferry crossing. It wasn’t too busy today, and we made short work of retrieving the boat from the opposite shore, loading up, and bravely sailing across the briny deep. The only casualty was some damp cycling gloves.
After such fun and excitement, the run into Angers was a pretty straightforward affair. The bike path comes into town through a large park created in an old slate quarry. So there were no cars to worry about. Just a few tight gravelly corners and very steep inclines (>10%).
We eventually got dumped out onto city streets, navigated around some road closures due to a football game on tonight, and zipped downtown to find our lovely hotel “Hotel d’Anjou”. Bike parking is 5 euros per night, but it’s in a secure parking garage about 100m from the hotel.
After getting cleaned up, we walked down to the cathedral. Angers is a really nice city! The buildings in the city center are an interesting mix of new, old, and super-old half-timbered buildings. The cathedral exterior is being renovated, but we were able to get inside. It was beautiful!
Dinner was at Le Boudoir, a small wine and tapas place just up the street from our hotel.
We came back to the room, did laundry, and collapsed. We’re taking a rest day tomorrow to play tourist.
Today's ride: 70 km (43 miles)
Total: 260 km (161 miles)
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2 months ago