September 20, 2019
Orleans
It was once again a beautifully clear morning but the forecast was for the winds of the last couple of days to continue. They did but they were not quite as strong and we did have a bit of cover for a lot of the time. We left our beautiful hotel and stopped for a coffee and pastry at a nearby cafe before going. Another ride around to take in the beauty of the little town and we were on the track. We came down the hill to the old stone bridge with the 22 arches but we were not to cross it. Beside the river were two things, the first was a circus complete with a camel and the other a big group of school children having a lot of fun. The boys were just emerging from canoeing on the river, The temperature was around 10degrees so the must be tough and the girls were playing some sort of game with a frisbee which seemed to involve an awful lot of squealing. Fairly soon we arrived at the town of Meung but just looked at it from the track before crossing over to the other side of the river. From there just a little way upstream we could see the remains of the medieval bridge that Joan of Arc seized from the British in 1429. This is really Joan of Arc country and there are reminders of her everywhere. Now we were riding on a stop bank and as well as the usual corn, wheat and sunflowers there were some orchards. At one such orchard there were lots of cars so Ken went to investigate. What it was as something like the ‘pick your own strawberries’ that happens at home. There were people with bags, people with wheelbarrows and people filling up the boots of their cars then going to the packing shed to pay their dues.
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Just before Orleans we came to St Hilaire and in we went. This is just an ordinary pleasant working town, really I suppose an outer suburb of Orleans so naturally we got better valued coffee and the bonus was that we met two very nice Aussies who were just about to finish their cycle tour that they had started by buying second hand bikes in London. Getting into Orleans is a real nightmare every bit of signage disappears. Eventually when we came back to the Loire the bridge we needed to cross was impossible to cycle across so it was a matter of pushing over the narrow pedestrian walkway, then we were on a lovely path beside the river.
There is something big on in Orleans this weekend, a lot of the riverside path was blocked off, there were all sorts of stalls, there were boats on the river and lots of school parties wandering along. Bands are playing. I set google on the hotel but there was no way we could walk it there were just so many people in the streets. We came to Joan of Arc square and sat beneath her statue having a beer. Then on to our hotel The Best Western l’Arc
Well what next? Things are certainly winding down and there is only a short distance to reach Louise near Paris. Our intention was to stay in Orleans for two nights continuing on on Sunday. However the weather forecast says there will be torrential rain on Sunday so I have booked another night
Today's ride: 35 km (22 miles)
Total: 2,474 km (1,536 miles)
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Will you be back and recovered enough to jloin us for Dunedin girl's lunch on the 8th of October?
Really enjoying your trip.
Cheers, Junelle
5 years ago