Born free…as free as the wind blows

Days 22 to 29: Orléans to Chalon-sur-Saône (454km – total distance 1,290km)
We end week 4 on the banks of the Saône after following the Loire (and connected canals) since Nantes.

Our last blog saw us in Orléans and we left on Day 22 following the Loire against some really strong headwinds that made the distance covered feel twice as long. We could see that rain was forecast later in the day so we had pre-booked another stilted cabin at a campsite in the town of Sully-sur-Loire with the aim of protecting us from the elements.

We managed to avoid the heavy rain before reaching the campsite and usefully the campsite provided some basic but welcome dinner which we ate under shelter whilst watching the rain and congratulating ourselves on avoiding a night in the tent.

The next morning after a cup of tea and some breakfast Richard was carrying just one bag down the cabin steps to pack the bikes when the combined weight managed to take out three of the cabin steps!

We spent part of the morning of Day 23 exploring the wonderful Château de Sully. Just as we arrived we noticed a couple of other cycling tourists departing in yellow cycling tops (more of which later).

We left Sully aiming for the town of Briare. En-route the aforementioned cyclists pedalled past – “Do you speak English?” “We are English” said Janine. “Ah good. It is my mother tongue” was the response with an American accent (instantly reminding Richard of the outtakes from a Peter Kay – Carshare sketch).

The American cycling duo were Paul and Michelle from California and also heading for Budapest (but with a tighter timeline and covering longer daily distances than us). We chatted for a while on the road and then parted company only to meet again at our destination for the day – Briare. We stopped for some coffee and cake, chatted for a while and exchanged contact details before our new American friends departed for quite a long ride to their hotel whilst we took a quick trip to our local campsite.

As we completed pitching our tent we received a message from Paul and Michelle telling us that they had been informed that their intended hotel for the night was overbooked and they were returning to Briare. So we agreed to meet for dinner and had a lovely evening in good company over a bottle of vin rouge.

We were looking forward to our destination of Day 24 as it is the home of a favourite wine – Sancerre. However the morning started wet with quite some rain so we made use of the excellent cyclists area at the campsite to enjoy breakfast in the dry in a dedicated caravan. As we prepared to eventually leave the campsite we bumped into fellow Brit, Sarah, also travelling in the same direction so we cycled together for most of the day until we closed in on Sancerre. Sarah had sensibly opted to camp nearby whereas we had the bright idea of staying in Sancerre itself not really realising that it is located on a hill and the end of our day involved a hot and exhausting ascent to our pre-booked hotel which felt like it was the highest hotel in Sancerre!

We had a very enjoyable evening meal in Sancerre all washed down (of course) with some of the local produce which was excellent.

We started Day 25 benefitting from a great downhill ride back to the Eurovelo 6 route where we also enjoyed great views.

During the day we also witnessed some boats going through one of the hundreds of the locks that populate the canals along the route which gave Richard the opportunity to practice some time-lapse video.

Day 25 was also a landmark day in that we reached the 1000km mark of our tour and we decided to mark the occasion with a stay in the wonderful Château du Marais where we were hosted by Bernadette who also served a wonderful breakfast the next morning. Our château bedroom was quite a contrast to some of our nights under canvas!

Day 26 was a shorter day in the saddle to a campsite in the town of Decize to allow for some laundry. As we arrived at the campsite we had to navigate scores of lorries that we learnt were packing up from one of the biggest fairs in Europe and we were thankful to avoid, what we imagined must have been, some very noisy nights over previous days. As we left the laundry room we also bumped into Luke who we had previously met on Day 17 and was now a few days into his solo cycle tour having left his Dad. So we had dinner together in our bungalow tent and discussed the route ahead which we think he will cover at a greater pace than us (at age 22 with half the luggage!).

Day 27 was the longest distance we had travelled so far on the tour covering 81km to a campsite on the banks of the Loire in Digoin. The first 50km was through some challenging rolling hills but thankfully the landscape flattened out for the final 30km – although Janine became alarmed when she saw an incorrect distance marker which overstated the distance by 10km! It took all Richard’s powers of persuasion to convince Janine to continue as some passing German cycling tourists witnessed (but we’ll never see them again – would we?).

We pitched up at our pleasant and comfortable campsite and too tired from a long day in the saddle we decided not to change from our cycling clothes but to cycle into town to find a quick bite to eat. Unfortunately the only place we could find to eat was probably the poshest hotel in town. Janine was unsure we were dressed appropriately but Richard convinced her by saying “No one in here will know us or see us again”. So we sat at our table, ordered our meal only for our German cycling friends from earlier to be seated next to us – but suitably washed and dressed for dinner as they happened to be hotel residents. We had a nice chat to them as we left (despite feeling underdressed and probably a little pungent) but as we left Richard reassured Janine – “Don’t worry we’ll never see them again.”

That night, unfortunately, Janine’s air bed deflated with a mysterious puncture! Richard valiantly gave up his bed but called on his years of experience of being able to sleep anywhere to still manage to get a decent night’s sleep despite the colder hard ground.

As you will see from Our Route, we parted company with the Loire on Day 28 and headed (via some canal routes) to the River Saône. With thanks to a tip from our American friends we took a route that kept us closer to the flatter canal paths (as opposed to the hillier official route) to make it to the town of Montchanin where Richard was proud to have found a budget B&B hotel at a very reasonable ‘all-in’ rate of €45. The only downside was the communal (but hi-tech) toilet and shower cubicles which would have been perfect unless one of your travelling party is slightly (i.e. massively) claustrophobic and struggles to lock bathroom doors.

Unfortunately we discovered that locking the toilet door was a necessary part of the hi-tech lighting (and self-cleaning) function of the cubicle toilets. Janine learnt to her cost that despite someone (Richard) guarding the door, failing to activate the cubicle door lock caused the lighting to prematurely go off causing some panic (and screaming) and then automatically activate the self-cleaning water spurts and blow dry mode causing more screams and panic – and some hilarity afterwards (eventually)!

Day 29 brings us up-to-date when we travel to the town of Chalon-sur-Saône with Basel and Switzerland within our sights. After days of gradual climbs it was a welcome relief to actually follow a path that was mostly downhill all day. We found a convienient place to eat our lunch of Croque Monsieur and Fromage Omlette in an pretty obscure town but guess who happened to cycle past and and stop off for a coffee – yes – it was our German friends again! Will we see them again – stay tuned for the next blog to find out!

So that’s the end of Week 4 with France nearly cracked. For anyone interested in how we manage to navigate from town to town, we’ve posted a new video in Our Equipment. Thanks for the continued comments – we read them all. Song of the week is a timeless classic…