Day 42: Beaugency to Jargeau, France: Frequent Cyclists

June 30, 2012

The Camping at Beaugency was so comfortable that we hung around (too) long talking to people. We even hung around looking over the bikes. Yeow! Brake pads awfully thin!

Brake pads looking thin after just 1500 km

I replaced Dodie's front pads, promising the others that their day would come. While mucking about the front of Dodie's bike, I noticed play in her front wheel. Oh, oh, I thought, worn or maladjusted bearing - and I had not brought one wrenches. Fortunately, it just turned out that her wheel was about to fall off due to loose nuts at the fork. Lots of things (mostly rack bolts) have loosened on this trip. Maybe it's the proportion of gravel tracks or cobbled roads.

The ride into Orleans was more of the lovely scenery and good paths that we have come to love here.

and apparently frequent cyclists like ourselves are something special :)

Apparently only frequent cyclists are permitted!

So special, that outside Mareau aux Pres they seemed to have a brass band laid on for us!

A brass band greeted "us" at the Fete du Velo at Mareau aux Pres

Actually it was a Fete du Velo celebration, a continuation of events that we ran in to last week. They did this last year too, but this year everyone is proud that the whole 800 km of the route has been declared completed. (We are glad too, but we were soon to find out that at Orleans, anyway, they may be celebrating too soon.)

Anyway, the event was touching in its modesty. There were a few drinks, the kids band, and one local farm stand. We stood with the people, enjoying the music, and felt quite part of it.

It was a modest but hearfelt celebration

However we felt a lot more part of it when we were greeted by a man we took to be a fete organiser. Soon we were introduced to and welcomed by the mayor, and a number of the townspeople. We were given two gifts (each): A glass of local juice in an official regional logo glass, and a neat snap around your wrist yellow reflector, also with the region's logo.

We were greeted by the mayor and a man we took to be a fete organiser

Photo op with the mayor and the fete banner

We got our pictures taken for the town's website. Right now you can see them here , at the end of the slide show of the fete, on the main page.

We were also invited to a BBQ, but we knew we had places to go before we could sleep! The first place was Orleans. Here, right off the bat, the Loire a Velo signage collapsed. We ended up crossing the "wrong" one of the five bridges on the Loire at Orleans. Once on the other side we cruised up and down looking for the darn route. We did find it, and stored that knowledge for when we would try to leave town. Then we headed downtown to see what Orleans is like.

We sailed up and down this avenue in Orleans looking for Loire a Velo

Orleans faces the river, with five bridges

We found a place with many open squares, filled with cafes, and also narrow streets, filled with shops.

This crosshatch style seemed quite common in Orleans

We were also a bit surprised by a couple of USA references. The well known cultural dominance of the US is actually not much felt here, the local culture and pride being so intense.

Of course there was a cathedral, and this statue for Arthur:

Of course, there is a stupendous cathedral

A wedding at the cathedral. Not sure what the priest's problem is!

On a building beside the cathedral, prime billing for Loire a Velo

Also key to Orleans is Joan of Arc pride and kitsch. Joan helped to lift the seige of Orleans in 1429, part of the 100 Years Anglo/French war. Later, she was captured and tried for heresy by an Anglo sympathetic bishop. She was then famously burned at the stake, only to be exonerated and beatified later. (Not that that was much help to her, of course).

Joan of Arc is big in Orleans. Here is her patisserie!

She looks different in different representations

When the time came to leave Orleans, we smugly headed to the bridge that we had already determined was the one used by Loire a Velo. First off, he signs we needed for guidance on how to get up on the darn bridge were missing. Once over the bridge, one sign lead us down into a puzzle of forked roads, and then all signage disappeared. So we wandered around the town of St Jean le Blanc (I think) for a goodly time, before getting back on track. After that it was smooth cruising beside the river, until fetching up at the Camping in Jargeau. At 13 Euros it is a bit costly, but there is free wifi and I am happily typing this with the netbook plugged in, in the dish washing room. If only I had a chair and the netbook were not lodged in a sink, this would be heaven!

Today's ride: 59 km (37 miles)
Total: 1,472 km (914 miles)

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