September 30, 2015
Day 71: Decize to La Charite sur Loire
The wolfhounds, Guimauve and Fantasia entertained us as we prepared the bikes to leave the B and B this morning. They still did not know us so well, but they maintained a lively interest in our bikes, which they already knew to contain food.
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The season took one more step toward winter today, with the temperature dipping dangerously near freezing overnight. As we set out, we could see our breath, and there was a thick mist on the Loire.
We had to wait a few minutes for the Intermarche to open, but we knew we needed some supplies before setting out. Dodie was a little shocked that we spent 26 euros inside, but we did come out with a lot of good stuff. We continue to be pleased and surprised by the quality of food in European supermarkets. We got cheese balls with fig filling, great puddings, and even the baguette was good.
Also at Intermarche I had a look at the local paper. The headline news concerned Bernadette. Bernadette is the catholic mystic from Lourdes from the late 1800's that saw visions of Mary. The apparition is known as Our Lady of Lourdes. But Bernadette died in Nevers. A catholic website says:
"About the Saint Gildard Convent in Nevers:People who visit Lourdes are sometimes surprised (and disappointed) to learn that here in Nevers, and not in Lourdes, that you will find the incorrupt body of Saint Bernadette. St. Bernadette spent the last 9 years of her life in Saint Gilard's convent here in Nevers.
Her body was found incorrupt when exhumed thirty years after her death, and again when exhumed a second time ten years later. The peace of Bernadette and her love of God is felt in this holy place. To see where she lived out the final days of her life here on earth and then view her incorrupt body is a special feeling that cannot be adequately described."
(A Canadian note: "Song of Bernadette" is a composition by Leonard Cohen, covered in 1987 by Jennifer Warnes.)
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A trailside map showed our way to Nevers and beyond, but except to indicate that the way was generally by the Canal Laterale a la Loire, and by the Loire itself, it was a gross oversimplification. Even my map, La Burgogne a Velo, did not accurately portray the way we needed to go. Still, we had other maps and also the GPS, and things went along rather well.
At Chevenon we just nipped off the trail for a look around. There were some nice looking farm buildings and an old church, but nothing more to the place that we could detect. So it was back on the canal for us. This might be deemed a bit boring, but not everyone found it so. For example, we noted a gaggle of lady Charolais (i.e. cows) who had gathered for a chat with a rather handsome bull in the next field:
Things did fall apart just when we passed over the pont canal (where the canal crosses over the Allier River). This is quite a festive place, with a few people around and a little tour boat that takes people on the canal. We said a nice hello to a couple that were there with a Hase Pino tandem, and everything was fine until we confronted the combination of misleading signs and missing signs on the other side. A first we sent to the left of the canal, but turned back when it was clear the path was curling around to the south. Then onto the right of the canal, where the path petered out after 1/4 km. we decided we would have to take the big road and headed that way. But at the last minute the GPS gave us a clue and we dove down an unmarked side road. In no time, bingo bango, we were at Cuffy.
Cuffy is the totally nondescript place that for some inexplicable reason is Km Zero of La Loire a Velo, the 500+ km beauty that is what we came to this region to cycle. At Cuffy (not Cuffy town centre, if there is one, but out in the middle of nothing) there is a brass disc in the concrete showing KM Zero, plus two sort of deck chairs, which practically and symbolically one can collapse on.
Four years ago, when we came this way heading east, we commented first on the brass discs, which apparently are in the pathway one km apart from 100 down to zero. Our comment was that Loire a Velo signage was non existent, except for these discs. Anyway, I collapsed in the deck chair then, and tried it again this time:
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From Cuffy it was very plain cycling, along the top of a Loire dike. The only excitement was a point where the path was apparently barricaded. As usual, we do not respect this kind of thing until it is proven, so we skirted around the barricade. Nothing happened for about 4 km and we began to suspect that road work (or path work) had been ongoing in some historical year, but not this one. But sure enough, we did come to the reason for all the barricades. It was just some excavators that were working, but beside and not on the path. Had we respected the barricades we would have wandered in the literal wilderness indefinitely, and ended with no where to sleep. It's a trivial risk, because we are not that dumb, but we can not feel so charitable toward whoever put this barricade up on one of the major cycleways of Europe.
The next thing that happened was that signs put us on D45, a fairly busy road. The GPS told us that there was another way, but that way soon devolved to a grass track. So we turned around and accepted to be on D45. This only lasted a short time, because then we did find the safe way. It was a 15 km stretch, again back on a dike. On both sides were really large fields of corn, as yet unharvested. It's amazing just how vast the expanses of corn can be. People, in the end, a made much more from corn than from anything else.
Dodie has continued to battle that cold, and I felt bad for dragging her on a long day, particularly when a headwind joined us on the dike top. In the early part of the day, Dodie had been reviewing all the attractions of Nevers. But I was unmoved, because Nevers was just too short a day, said I.
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Finally, La Charite came into view. It is a spectacular sight, with a large church and unique gaggle of rooftops. We crossed bridges on the Loire and entered the town. Like Decize, the streets are so narrow that they can barely fit one car and a pedestrian on a very narrow sidewalk. Certainly you could not also have a bicycle on the road. Of course, there was not a huge amount of traffic, but there was always at least one car trundling along, making cycling impossible.
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So we pushed the bikes up through the town, following the GPS to our hotel, the Mille et Une Feuilles. This means the Thousand and One Sheets (of paper), and it sets the literary theme of the hotel. Each of the rooms is named for a famous literary figure. In the rooms is information about the figure, and some of their books. This seems to be a spin off from an initiative in the town, starting in 2000, that created a Bookshop district. There are now 15 booksellers in the old town.
The town is best known for its Notre Dame church, which was set up in the 11th century by the Abbey of Cluny. By the 12th century it had 400 outbuildings and 200 monks. Even today, it is a major stopping point on the Compostella pilgrimage. It is said that name La Charite derives from the charity of the monks towards the pilgrims.
Our room in the hotel has a more modern origin. It is named for George Sand, 1804-1876. George Sand is a nom de plume for Amantine Dupin, a rather flamboyant lady, said among many other things to have been a lover of Chopin. She seems to have written about 100 books, none of which, or course, we have ever heard of.
Rather than cook noodles in our room, we decided to descend to the traditional restaurant in the hotel. We went for the cheapest option, which was two courses for 18 euros. We have noticed that French meals have very small portion sizes, but because of the flavouring and quality, one does not seem to miss the bulk. That was how it was with our plates. After an appetizer of cucumber puree, we both had a concoction of peppers on a baked Parmesan base. Then Dodie's main dish was salmon - sort of stew- with broad black noodles. Mine was chicken brochet with very flavourful mashed potatoes and red cabbage. Once again - very small portions - but strangely satisfying.
At Loire a Velo ground zero, they seemed to claim just 488 kms to Nantes. We will stretch that, by detouring to at least on chateau further down the Loire. We need to find some kms, because this thing could be ending too soon. Maybe we will also find a way to make a shorter day tomorrow, giving Dodie a better chance to combat her cold. Certainly we need to also have a look at this interesting town...
Today's ride: 79 km (49 miles)
Total: 3,417 km (2,122 miles)
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