T4tomo
Legendary Member
Definitely a cycling holiday as opposed to a tour!
Logistics / travel down
Car and Le Shuttle down to A little place called Turquant, on the left / south bank of the Loire between Saumur and Chinon. Accommodation was a self catering apartment / cave in a Hotel that most of the accommodation, including ours backed into old Caves in the Limestone cliffs, with the fronts built out in massive limestone blocks. Super cool in both senses, especially as the mercury touched 37^c one day. Swimming pool also backed into the cave, and they had, what else but a cave, to store the bikes in.
We brought the Gravel bikes and the routes were mainly comprised of the Loire a Velo routes and some quiet roads to link where needed. Most of the Loire a velo is quiet roads and surfaced paths, with the odd bit of hard packed gravel. The sort of terrain you could easily do on a road or touring bike with 28mm tyres in the dry. Before I researched it, I thought it was one path alongside the Loire, but there is a whole network of paths which are well signed. I had routes loaded on the garmin, although I thought I had loaded European OSM maps onto it years ago, I think I only did Mallorca, so I just had the trace to follow with no road network on screen, apart from occasionally a major road or the river would appear on screen, but not in the correct place.
I did occasionally resort to checking cycle.travel app on the phone, but on the whole the combo of the red garmin line and the Loire a Velo signs worked.
The drive down was super straight forward. Le shuttle are getting a bit stricter on arrival times, so we aimed for 1.5 hours ahead of booking, but were ready to leave home 15 mins earlier and the M25 was clear, so actually arrived just under 2 hours ahead, but no waiting involved, given the option (for free) to board the next train (in 20 mins time) so just drove straight onto it and used the on-board loos, rather than stopping in the depart facilities. About 6 hours drive south once on French soil, including a couple of refreshment stops. So much more relaxing driving on the French motorways than dealing with numpties who have no idea of lane discipline in the UK.
https://cycle.travel/map/group/15850
link to routes if anyone is interested / wants to follow / adapt them for own use.
Day 1 Fontevraud L'Abbaye & Chinon (33.5miles - 1200ft)
I think mentioned the limestone ridge behind our accom, so any route heading south away from the Loire involves a cheeky but relatively short climb to start the day. Vineyards (Saumur de Champigny AOC) come right up to the escarpment edge so once up the hill, the reward is cycling through relative flat fields of vines, wheat, maize etc gentle rolling countryside. We were soon rolling up the approach into Fontevraud where it opens out into a lovely village "square" with a fountain thing in the middle, the Abbaye off to one side and small selection of bar/boulangerie/restaurant/hotel. We stopped for coffee even though the miles barely justified it. A couple more minor climbs through rolling countryside up and beyond Couziers, before a super long gentle descent back down to the Vienne river just west of Chinon.
It was approaching lunchtime so we dived off the planned route in Chinon, which could be done on either side of the Loire here, either the official Loire Velo route to the south or a quiet path then road to the north. Chinon has a couple of small squares overlooked by the imposing castle, stacked full of bars and restaurants. the Menu de jour at the one we chose was gazpacho and bavette steak, both excellent. We retraced our route back along the north bank of the Vienne and picked up the LaV for a pan flat afternoon through woods, a couple of pretty village before crossing the Vienne again just before it joins the Loire and stopped for beer and ice cream in Montsoreau, our "other neighbouring village" before returning to the hotel apartment for a dip in the pool.
Day 2 Chinon & Avoine (40m - 900ft)
We started the day essentially re tracing our route of yday pm to Chinon but in reverse. This saved anyone looking behind yesterday
, also we didn't stop for a beer in Montsoreau. In Chinon we parked up for coffee in one of the squares. I got a groan from the girls when I pointed up to the castle and told them we needed to get up the ridge to that level to continue the ride and the cycled off into another square which was essentially a car park. Groans turned to laughs and smiles as they spotted the public panoramic lift in the corner. That whisked us most of the way up to the castle level, so with only a short bit of uppy uppy we were onto separated cycle paths alongside the main road out of Chinon and through a trading estate before rejoining a quiet road once past Super U and then onto surfaced paths downhill thru lovely countryside towards Huismes, before swinging west on the into Avoine village bang on lunchtime where the only bar in the village had outdoor table set up in the shade in front of the church. Menu de jour was charcuterie followed by some white fish, mash and sauce. Beer was necessary for the heat.
After lunch was mercifully flat as the temperature had reached 35^C, and fishy mash is well, fishy mash and not ideal cycling fuel. Paved path started the route out of the village and then quiet roads crossed the Loire on a majestic stone bridge, skirting the Nicholas de Bourgueil wine region and then more shady woodland path along the north bank, before cutting back south into Montsoreau across a distinctly un-majestic Meccano like structure, where beer and ice cream ensued, before rolling back along the wooded riverside path to the sanctuary of the cave and swimming pool.
Rest Day Tours & Chinon
Forecast was for 37^C, so as we'd planned to have a day or non cycling sightseeing, its seemed to be the day. I did a quick 3 mile solo round trip to the boulangerie to get some breakfast provisions, then we drove into Tours. We'd spotted whilst in Chinon the previous day a music festival advertised so headed there late afternoon. We caught the back end of a vintage car and motorbike rally / show, which was a bonus, so after a poke around that a wander around Chinon we had some beers and dinner whilst listening to various bands in the town squares.
Day 4 Saumur & Gennes (35m - 550 ft)
A different tactic to counter the heat today. We headed off early without any breakfast faff, straight up the LdV on the south bank, and then stopped for breakfast in Saumur, at a cracking Boulangerie, recommended to us by the bar owner we'd asked whether he did croissants (he didn't just coffee). Post brekky, we crossed the Loire via 2 bridges and the island in the middle which is part of the town and then headed west along the north bank on the LdV path. This was the only slightly disappointing surface as so far down it became 2 narrow tarmac tractor tracks through the grass, which required fair concentration to keep centred on and a bit further up became quite rough and rutted (this part would be quite tricky in the wet) so whilst cyclable it wasn't great so we bailed out to the parallel about 3/4 of the way up, which was reasonable quiet traffic wise anyway by that point.
We crossed back over the river on another grand bridge at Gennes and called at a bar for an iced coffee. We got chatting to 2 older guys (who didn't look as old as the 80 and 83 yrs they turned out to be) who were out for a 3 weeks or so with very nice Trek Domane Ebikes and a camper van, doing a "tour around and ride around" holiday. Boy they could talk. We mainly gleaned that the younger one (never caught his name) had got Michael (who was Welsh) into cycling and his earlier training consisted of a 26 mile circuit involving 4 pints and a hotpot. They seemed to get lost a lot but enjoyed themselves immensely and certainly enjoyed chatting, we'd have still been there now had we not made a concerted effort to say au revoir.
We cut away from the Loire slightly from Gennes, gaining a small amount of elevation before cutting back down to the river at the outskirts of Saumur, and onto some bike paths keeping us out of the traffic as we rolled back thru the town centre and then retraced our route from the morning back to along the south bank grabbing some fresh bread from another boulangerie and back to the bat cave for lunch.
Day 5 Montreuil Bellay & Saint Cry en Bourg wine tasting (30m - 950 ft)
Another pre breakfast start, as although the heat had abated somewhat, it was still pretty warm. It was up through the vineyards again to start so a short climb and descent. Lots of vine prep going on, both with "thin tractors" about 1/2 normal width so they fit between the vine rows to trim off the early growth and control the weeds etc, and some "by hand" work on the old vines where they were trimming of all but one or two stems of vine, presumably to give a lower yield but highly concentrated fruit for their premium wines. Breakfast was supposed to be a boulangerie in Saint Cry en Bourg, but it was closed (monday) so we pressed on through gently rolling farmland and the odd village (no boulangeries) until we reached the pretty town of Montreuil Bellay via one of the its medieval stone gates and found a boulangerie open, €2.50 for a coffee and croissant / pain choc, and ate them in front of the old chateau.
We exited via another medieval gate and looped back to Saint Cry en Bourg on a different route and called in at Nerleux estate, which had been recommended by the Loire wine shop owner in Turquant, as very good place to try & buy the local pop. So it proved, the reds of Saumur Champigny are pretty much all 100% Cabernet franc, which has a nice earthy under-taste to a light to medium bodied wine. They do make some heavier wines, mainly by longer ageing and old vine grapes. The whites are mainly Chenin Blanc, which whilst very clean and crisp didnt really wow me with any real character (I tried a few over the week). They also produce a lot of Crémant / fizz, the pink made from Cab Franc, sometimes with a pinot noir blend is particularly good with a hint of the earthiness.
A short ride back home and then a shower and change before returning to Fontevraud for a very nice lunch, then a supermarket visit en-route to picking up our wine purchases from earlier in the day.
Day 6 Saumur (17m - 650ft)
Last riding day, so we made it short one. We took the hills route back to Saumur for a change and enter Saumur from the south, with cracking views a we dropped of the ridge and cycled round past the castle before dropping into the town square. We locked the bikes up and had a bit of retail browsing / sightseeing before settling in for lunch at creperie / cider place (beer also served). A gentle roll back down the riverside, interrupted by another drink at nice looking small bar at Souzay was the final cycling action of the hols. We went to the local "gourmand" restaurant for our final dinner out, which was excellent and, as ever in France, cracking value.
All in all an excellent cycling holiday. Definitely more relaxing having a base and cycling from there, than the logistics of an A->B ride. I would definitely recommned the Loire region, its pretty easy cycling but not all pan flat and changeable scenery. Its also the sort of reasonably affluent place that most decent sized villages / small towns have a cafe / bar / restaurant in them, so very little detailed planning is needed. We did a mix of eating in and out of an evening which worked well.
I will upload a few photos...
Logistics / travel down
Car and Le Shuttle down to A little place called Turquant, on the left / south bank of the Loire between Saumur and Chinon. Accommodation was a self catering apartment / cave in a Hotel that most of the accommodation, including ours backed into old Caves in the Limestone cliffs, with the fronts built out in massive limestone blocks. Super cool in both senses, especially as the mercury touched 37^c one day. Swimming pool also backed into the cave, and they had, what else but a cave, to store the bikes in.
We brought the Gravel bikes and the routes were mainly comprised of the Loire a Velo routes and some quiet roads to link where needed. Most of the Loire a velo is quiet roads and surfaced paths, with the odd bit of hard packed gravel. The sort of terrain you could easily do on a road or touring bike with 28mm tyres in the dry. Before I researched it, I thought it was one path alongside the Loire, but there is a whole network of paths which are well signed. I had routes loaded on the garmin, although I thought I had loaded European OSM maps onto it years ago, I think I only did Mallorca, so I just had the trace to follow with no road network on screen, apart from occasionally a major road or the river would appear on screen, but not in the correct place.
I did occasionally resort to checking cycle.travel app on the phone, but on the whole the combo of the red garmin line and the Loire a Velo signs worked.The drive down was super straight forward. Le shuttle are getting a bit stricter on arrival times, so we aimed for 1.5 hours ahead of booking, but were ready to leave home 15 mins earlier and the M25 was clear, so actually arrived just under 2 hours ahead, but no waiting involved, given the option (for free) to board the next train (in 20 mins time) so just drove straight onto it and used the on-board loos, rather than stopping in the depart facilities. About 6 hours drive south once on French soil, including a couple of refreshment stops. So much more relaxing driving on the French motorways than dealing with numpties who have no idea of lane discipline in the UK.
https://cycle.travel/map/group/15850
link to routes if anyone is interested / wants to follow / adapt them for own use.
Day 1 Fontevraud L'Abbaye & Chinon (33.5miles - 1200ft)
I think mentioned the limestone ridge behind our accom, so any route heading south away from the Loire involves a cheeky but relatively short climb to start the day. Vineyards (Saumur de Champigny AOC) come right up to the escarpment edge so once up the hill, the reward is cycling through relative flat fields of vines, wheat, maize etc gentle rolling countryside. We were soon rolling up the approach into Fontevraud where it opens out into a lovely village "square" with a fountain thing in the middle, the Abbaye off to one side and small selection of bar/boulangerie/restaurant/hotel. We stopped for coffee even though the miles barely justified it. A couple more minor climbs through rolling countryside up and beyond Couziers, before a super long gentle descent back down to the Vienne river just west of Chinon.
It was approaching lunchtime so we dived off the planned route in Chinon, which could be done on either side of the Loire here, either the official Loire Velo route to the south or a quiet path then road to the north. Chinon has a couple of small squares overlooked by the imposing castle, stacked full of bars and restaurants. the Menu de jour at the one we chose was gazpacho and bavette steak, both excellent. We retraced our route back along the north bank of the Vienne and picked up the LaV for a pan flat afternoon through woods, a couple of pretty village before crossing the Vienne again just before it joins the Loire and stopped for beer and ice cream in Montsoreau, our "other neighbouring village" before returning to the hotel apartment for a dip in the pool.
Day 2 Chinon & Avoine (40m - 900ft)
We started the day essentially re tracing our route of yday pm to Chinon but in reverse. This saved anyone looking behind yesterday
, also we didn't stop for a beer in Montsoreau. In Chinon we parked up for coffee in one of the squares. I got a groan from the girls when I pointed up to the castle and told them we needed to get up the ridge to that level to continue the ride and the cycled off into another square which was essentially a car park. Groans turned to laughs and smiles as they spotted the public panoramic lift in the corner. That whisked us most of the way up to the castle level, so with only a short bit of uppy uppy we were onto separated cycle paths alongside the main road out of Chinon and through a trading estate before rejoining a quiet road once past Super U and then onto surfaced paths downhill thru lovely countryside towards Huismes, before swinging west on the into Avoine village bang on lunchtime where the only bar in the village had outdoor table set up in the shade in front of the church. Menu de jour was charcuterie followed by some white fish, mash and sauce. Beer was necessary for the heat.After lunch was mercifully flat as the temperature had reached 35^C, and fishy mash is well, fishy mash and not ideal cycling fuel. Paved path started the route out of the village and then quiet roads crossed the Loire on a majestic stone bridge, skirting the Nicholas de Bourgueil wine region and then more shady woodland path along the north bank, before cutting back south into Montsoreau across a distinctly un-majestic Meccano like structure, where beer and ice cream ensued, before rolling back along the wooded riverside path to the sanctuary of the cave and swimming pool.
Rest Day Tours & Chinon
Forecast was for 37^C, so as we'd planned to have a day or non cycling sightseeing, its seemed to be the day. I did a quick 3 mile solo round trip to the boulangerie to get some breakfast provisions, then we drove into Tours. We'd spotted whilst in Chinon the previous day a music festival advertised so headed there late afternoon. We caught the back end of a vintage car and motorbike rally / show, which was a bonus, so after a poke around that a wander around Chinon we had some beers and dinner whilst listening to various bands in the town squares.
Day 4 Saumur & Gennes (35m - 550 ft)
A different tactic to counter the heat today. We headed off early without any breakfast faff, straight up the LdV on the south bank, and then stopped for breakfast in Saumur, at a cracking Boulangerie, recommended to us by the bar owner we'd asked whether he did croissants (he didn't just coffee). Post brekky, we crossed the Loire via 2 bridges and the island in the middle which is part of the town and then headed west along the north bank on the LdV path. This was the only slightly disappointing surface as so far down it became 2 narrow tarmac tractor tracks through the grass, which required fair concentration to keep centred on and a bit further up became quite rough and rutted (this part would be quite tricky in the wet) so whilst cyclable it wasn't great so we bailed out to the parallel about 3/4 of the way up, which was reasonable quiet traffic wise anyway by that point.
We crossed back over the river on another grand bridge at Gennes and called at a bar for an iced coffee. We got chatting to 2 older guys (who didn't look as old as the 80 and 83 yrs they turned out to be) who were out for a 3 weeks or so with very nice Trek Domane Ebikes and a camper van, doing a "tour around and ride around" holiday. Boy they could talk. We mainly gleaned that the younger one (never caught his name) had got Michael (who was Welsh) into cycling and his earlier training consisted of a 26 mile circuit involving 4 pints and a hotpot. They seemed to get lost a lot but enjoyed themselves immensely and certainly enjoyed chatting, we'd have still been there now had we not made a concerted effort to say au revoir.
We cut away from the Loire slightly from Gennes, gaining a small amount of elevation before cutting back down to the river at the outskirts of Saumur, and onto some bike paths keeping us out of the traffic as we rolled back thru the town centre and then retraced our route from the morning back to along the south bank grabbing some fresh bread from another boulangerie and back to the bat cave for lunch.
Day 5 Montreuil Bellay & Saint Cry en Bourg wine tasting (30m - 950 ft)
Another pre breakfast start, as although the heat had abated somewhat, it was still pretty warm. It was up through the vineyards again to start so a short climb and descent. Lots of vine prep going on, both with "thin tractors" about 1/2 normal width so they fit between the vine rows to trim off the early growth and control the weeds etc, and some "by hand" work on the old vines where they were trimming of all but one or two stems of vine, presumably to give a lower yield but highly concentrated fruit for their premium wines. Breakfast was supposed to be a boulangerie in Saint Cry en Bourg, but it was closed (monday) so we pressed on through gently rolling farmland and the odd village (no boulangeries) until we reached the pretty town of Montreuil Bellay via one of the its medieval stone gates and found a boulangerie open, €2.50 for a coffee and croissant / pain choc, and ate them in front of the old chateau.
We exited via another medieval gate and looped back to Saint Cry en Bourg on a different route and called in at Nerleux estate, which had been recommended by the Loire wine shop owner in Turquant, as very good place to try & buy the local pop. So it proved, the reds of Saumur Champigny are pretty much all 100% Cabernet franc, which has a nice earthy under-taste to a light to medium bodied wine. They do make some heavier wines, mainly by longer ageing and old vine grapes. The whites are mainly Chenin Blanc, which whilst very clean and crisp didnt really wow me with any real character (I tried a few over the week). They also produce a lot of Crémant / fizz, the pink made from Cab Franc, sometimes with a pinot noir blend is particularly good with a hint of the earthiness.
A short ride back home and then a shower and change before returning to Fontevraud for a very nice lunch, then a supermarket visit en-route to picking up our wine purchases from earlier in the day.
Day 6 Saumur (17m - 650ft)
Last riding day, so we made it short one. We took the hills route back to Saumur for a change and enter Saumur from the south, with cracking views a we dropped of the ridge and cycled round past the castle before dropping into the town square. We locked the bikes up and had a bit of retail browsing / sightseeing before settling in for lunch at creperie / cider place (beer also served). A gentle roll back down the riverside, interrupted by another drink at nice looking small bar at Souzay was the final cycling action of the hols. We went to the local "gourmand" restaurant for our final dinner out, which was excellent and, as ever in France, cracking value.
All in all an excellent cycling holiday. Definitely more relaxing having a base and cycling from there, than the logistics of an A->B ride. I would definitely recommned the Loire region, its pretty easy cycling but not all pan flat and changeable scenery. Its also the sort of reasonably affluent place that most decent sized villages / small towns have a cafe / bar / restaurant in them, so very little detailed planning is needed. We did a mix of eating in and out of an evening which worked well.
I will upload a few photos...
