Bike Trip Loire - The Second Day - May 13

Some of us were definitely feeling the effects of the previous night – Gerard went back to beer and Tom swore off wine the entire day, and drank lots of water.  I did not eat much for breakfast.  Only Roger seemed mostly unaffected. 

We decided to walk around the town of Sancerre a bit before starting off.  The view from the town was spectacular, out over the Loire valley.  At about 10:30 we headed out, or in this case, down.  Much faster over the distance than the night before.

Another View from Sancerre

Quite the scenic day along the river and canal, stopping for lunch in Belleville-sur-Loire.  I had steak frites, a particular weakness of mine.  Continuing along the river and canal, mostly on top of the levee or on old canal barge tow-paths.  Head winds were a problem a times.

I considered that I was in the best physical condition that I had been in for several years.  We had just bought a house in early December, and I had been spending weeks cutting and removing brush and building terraces with 57- pound concrete blocks.  I then backfilled the terraces with soil I had delivered.  I moved 10 tons of blocks and 22 tons of dirt, besides digging the wall foundations.  I had not done any biking for months, and found that while aerobically I was in good shape, my backside, even with padded bike shorts, was not used to a bike seat.  Will not make that mistake again.

The weather seemed to be improving as predicted, with only a few sprinkles.  We stopped in Chatillon-sur-Loire for a beer.

That evening, we stopped in the town of Briare, an old industrial town famous for its ‘Pont canal’, or bridge carrying a canal across the canal we had been following. 

Briare Pont Canal Entrance

A word about canals and the Loire – the river has been an avenue of commerce for centuries.  Before the canals, flat bottom boats were built to carry materials down the river, and then the boats were broken up and sold for fire wood.  Over time an elaborate system of canals, locks, and tow-paths was built, culminating in the 19^th century such that the Loire was linked to the Seine and it became possible to boat goods up and down the Loire and to boat them to the lucrative Parisian market.  Briare has an elaborately decorated bridge carrying a canal across the Loire canal, which was built in the 1890s, after railroads had taken much of the traffic away from the canal barges.

Lock Gate on the Canal

Our hotel was adjacent to the canal after it exited the bridge – very picturesque.  I took a walk into town before dinner, but did not stay long as it looked like rain.

Barge headed for the Pont Canal, Hotel on left

We had dinner in the hotel dining room – very good, with a pichet of Loire white wine.  I had fish with Champagne sauce and white asparagus, ratatouille, and rice.  Gerard had duck, Roger had trout, and Tom had feuilletée asperges – white asparagus and puff pastry.  We had covered about 54km for the day.

Sunset over Briare from our dinner table, through the window