Day Trip to Solutré-Pouilly

One of the side trips we like to take from Lyon is to Solutré-Pouilly.  (Those of you who have been reading our blog for a while may remember this.)  This picturesque village is nestled in amongst vineyards in Bourgogne and has the Roche de Solutré, a spectacular limestone escarpment, looming in the background.  Quite the setting!  (More on the Roche later.) 


Anna at the gate of one of the local wineries.  That's the Roche de Solutré in the background


Surprisingly, in the midst of this small, country village is an amazing restaurant and auberge (Michelin rated).  Anna claims to have eaten her best meal ever at this restaurant (seven-hour lamb on a bed of julienned vegetables, and the sauce – oh the sauce!).  Anyway, David decided to make reservations although we never have before.  Brilliant move!  They were turning away customers because a tour group had booked the side dining room, and we were so glad we had reservations.  We started with glasses of Cremant (sparkling, refreshing wine) and corgette (zucchini) gazpacho topped with whipped crème fraîche and then moved on to a bottle of Moulin à Vent and another amazing meal.  (See pictures below.)

David's lunch: Beef slices with potatoes,bone marrow, and sauce Bernaise

Anna's lunch:  Also beef with slices of red onion and shitaki mushrooms on a bed of potatoes with an oriental-type sauce

After lunch we went across the street to a shop selling local wine and other goodies.  There we bumped into a group of folks from Sammamish and Issaquah, Washington.  Small world! Then we walked through the vineyards to the base of the Roche de Solutré and began our climb.  The top of the rock is not terribly high (493 m/1617 ft) and there is a well-defined trail.  We had lots of company – including our new friends from Sammamish and Issaquah.  The view from the top is spectacular!

View of the village of Solutré-Pouilly and surrounding vineyards from the Roche de Solutré

The Roche de Solutré is noteworthy because they have found evidence that humans hung out there at least 55,000 years ago.  (For those of you anthropologists and archeologists, this is where Solutrean Paleolithic culture gets its name.) They (cro-magnons, among others) came to this spot to hunt reindeer, bison, and horses back when horses were just little bitty dudes.   There is an excellent museum at the base of the rock along with an archaeological-botanical garden.  The French really do a good job with their National Historic Sites.  There is also a small café with a terrace and picnic tables.  This place is well worth the trip if you are in the area! 

Time on these day trips seems to zip by at warp-speed so it was soon time to get back on the A6 and head for home.  We will definitely return to Solutré-Pouilly on a future visit to Lyon, and we will be sure to make reservations at that wonderful restaurant, La Courtille de Solutré.    

Viténature

When we first came here in July 2010, we were pleased to see that there was a boulangerie/ eatery named Viténature across the street from our apartment.  How convenient!  Through the years we have gotten familiar with other local residents during our breakfast and lunch stops.  Some we just nod and say Bonjour to on the street; others, notably Bernadette and her daughter, Delphine, we have gotten to know better.  But, most important of all we have gotten to know Philippe and Angeline, the owners and folks who put in looong hours to make Viténature go.  In fact we have become good enough friends with Philippe and Angeline to exchange jokes, discuss news and politics, chat about our families, help each other with language, and even exchange small gifts.  We have taken Estelle, our French daughter, and all our American guests over to enjoy delicious pastry and, of course, repartee.   In fact when Leahanna and Gillian were here, Gillian took pictures of our pastries and later pronounced the Pain au Chocolat even better than pastry in Italy.

Viténature had become so much a part of our life in France that we have even written an earlier blog posting about it.   So, you will understand why we have mixed emotions when we tell you Philippe and Angeline have sold Viténature.  The long hours (with two little boys) and heavy workload of owning and running the place has taken its toll.  We are very sorry to see them go, but also very excited about what the future will bring for them.  The very good news is that they will be embarking on new adventures soon (after August, of course).  Right now Philippe is looking into florist shops and Angeline thinks she will likely work in a pharmacy.   Whatever they decide on will have much more normal, family-friendly hours!  They are even considering moving out of the city.

Philippe and Angeline invited Bernadette, Delphine and us to a small party last Friday to celebrate the end of Viténature and the beginning of their new adventures.  Naturally, the bubbly flowed and there was an abundance of finger food along with the recounting of fun and funny stories.  We gave them a few gifts:  a bottle of Veuve Clicquot for later and, since its summer and they now have time on their hands, a frisbee, two jars of bubble stuff, and two squirt guns.  (Philippe tried his squirt gun out on Angelline to make sure it worked…it did.)

L-R:  Angeline, Bernadette, Delphine, Anna, David, Philippe

We can hardly wait to find out what these two very capable, hard-working people decide to do.  Estelle, Leahanna, Gillian, David, Bob, and Kerry we’ll keep you posted.

Biking Down the Loire Valley - The Seventh Day

The next morning, we biked over to the German U-boat pens on the waterfront, a short distance away.  They were the main reason this part of St Nazaire was heavily bombed during the war.  Didn’t much hurt the enormously thick concrete roof and walls of the pens, but the near-misses destroyed most of the area around them.  The pens now are used for a museum and for various exhibitions and performances.  The two photos below are from Trip Advisor.

The following description from Wikipedia gives an idea of the massiveness of the installaion:

The base is 300 metres long, 130 metres wide and 18 metres high, amounting to a 39,000 m² surface on the ground, and a volume of concrete of 480,000 m³. The roof is 8 metres deep, featuring four layers: the first one is a 3.5 metre sheet of reinforced concrete; the second is a 35 cm granite and concrete layers; the third is a 1.7 metre layer of reinforced concrete, and the fourth, is a "Fangrost" layer of steel beams, 1.40 metres deep.

Interior of U-Boat Pen

Exterior of U-Boat Pens

We then rode over to the train station, where we were pleased to see that the train had a car dedicated to bikes used on the Loire path, including a staff of two on the car to manage the bikes and hand out claim checks.

Train Car for Bikes - Photo From Web

Although not the TGV, the local trains are very fast and efficient.  We covered 314km in about 2-3/4 hours.  Upon arrival in Blois, we said good-by to Tom, who would return to Britain where he is living, via Paris.  The rest of us rode to where we had left the car, put the bikes on the racks, and set off on the 4-1/2 hour drive to Lyon, arriving about 6PM.

Could not resist one more picture, taken by Roger as we arrived, I believe, in the town of Monlouis-sur-Loire.  It's a great example of how the French just kind of scatter art about, to be viewed in the most unexpected places, in the case, along a minor highway along the Loire.

 

Roadside Art

6km for the day, 422km for the trip!

Biking Down the Loire Valley - The Sixth Day

Left early – 7:30 – it was supposed to be at 7, but I overslept!  Did not attempt breakfast that morning, but went to a lovely patisserie in a river-side village down the road a ways and had coffee and pastry.  Pain au chocolat for me.

Taking a Break

The terrain was mostly flat, along the river or canal, with the weather getting a bit cooler as we got closer to the Atlantic.  Lots of back roads and trails, and villages, with a good deal of head wind as we approached the sea.

At the end we were faced with a spectacular narrow bridge over the mouth of the Loire to get to St Nazaire.  We investigated a bit and one could hire people with a trailer to take us and our bikes over the bridge, or find a bus stop and wait for a bus with a bike rack.  In the end we decided to go for it. 



THE BRIDGE!

Tom and David  After The Bridge

 

Roger and Tom After The Bridge

It was a pretty scary ride – VERY narrow bike lane, side winds, and lots of traffic for 2+ miles.  I allowed myself to follow too close to Tom and had to stop.  There was not much room to get back on, so I walked up about a quarter mile until I was near the top and could see a break in the traffic.  At this point I quickly remounted and managed to get to the other side.  We then headed for the SNCF station in the center of town to get our train tickets for Blois for the next day. 

We headed off to find our hotel and wound up getting a bit lost, but managed to see a bit of St Nazaire that way.  We checked into our hotel, put our bikes in the garage, and headed off for a celebratory drink in an outdoor mall a few blocks away.  While at the brasserie I scouted out restaurants in the vicinity.  We then headed back to the hotel to get cleaned up, change clothes, and went out to eat. 

To our surprise, when we came out of the hotel on our way to dinner, the clouds and fog had rolled in off the ocean and the temperature had dropped about 10 degrees F.  We had dinner at the Rialto, an Italian restaurant with a covered outdoor eating area.  I had what amounted to a steak with shallot sauce and a shared bottle of local sparkling wine.  Very good.  Profiteroles for dessert.

Le Rialto - Where We had our Celebratory Dinner Friday

We did 81 km Friday

Biking Down the Loire Valley - The Fifth Day

Very good light breakfast at the convent and then off again through agricultural area – vineyards, grain, corn, etc.  It began to get warm as we road on mostly paved roads and paths.  We stopped for sandwiches and ate them in a park in Ancenis. 

Lunch in the Park at Ancenis

After lunch we came across a lone rider in farm country with a low bike tire on his bike.  He was towing a small trailer, and had camping gear as he had been biking all over Europe.  Unfortunately, his pump did not fit the valve on his back tire!  We provided him with the adapter, which he used to pump up his tire.  We came upon him about a mile down the road – the leak was too rapid to do anything with and he was engaged in changing tubes.  We waited to ensure he would get everything fixed, and then everyone took off again.

Scenery Along the Loire

We had a bottle of very nice Muscadet – Ch. Du Cléray 2013 – Sèvre et Maine, on arrival at our hotel in Thouaré-sur-Loire.  Modern hotel with a courtyard in the middle where we had our wine.

Hotel Courtyard, Thouaré-sur-Loire

The hotel had a good restaurant across the road where we had excellent dinners – I had steak cut on the bias with potatoes and cêpe sauce [fabulous] with a half-bottle of 2012 Chinon red, Tom had excellent scallops on a skewer.  Did not note what the others had, but everyone seemed happy.

Did 62km for the day.

Biking Down the Loire - The Fourth Day

Another great breakfast at the hotel, and we were off again.  Fairly easy riding most of the time.

A large part of the attraction in the Loire valley is the plethora of Chateaus.  During much of French history, the French government was based in the Loire valley, so many of the aristocracy spent a lot of money building appropriate residences.  Here are a couple of additional ones:

Chenonceau

Chaumont-sur-Loire

Stopped for a beer at about 11:15 and noticed that lunch could be had for 12 euros, including 25cl of wine.  Great value – big buffet with various salads including meat and pasta, followed by a turkey dish with what was described as turkey with ‘Mexican’ sauce.  Not sure about that, but it was tasty, and included house-made frites.  Wound up spending 3 hours at the restaurant!

Back on the road, we faced some headwinds into our stop for the night, at a former 15^th century convent of the Cordeliers on top of a hill outside of Montjean-sur-Loire.  Panoramic view of the Loire. Our hostess – another charming French woman, who when she was taking me to see my room announced to the others that she ‘might not come back’!  [Think I might have to visit that place again – not sure Anna would approve!] 

Convent des Cordeliers

No restaurant on site, so we walked to a very nice crêperie, Chez les Filles, about a half-mile away.  Had a bottle of Cremant de Loire, from Domaine Du Tertre, a local sparkling wine, with our meal.  It was excellent - Tom and I carried the bottle back to the convent!

David with the Cremant Bottle Overlooking the Loire

Did 74km for the day.

Biking Down the Loire Valley - The Third Day

Breakfast the next morning was amazing – the table was loaded with breads, rolls, pastries, jams, juices, yogurts, etc.  Then, after we had started eating, our hostess brought us each two freshly-made crêpes!   Great with strawberry jam!

The Wonderful Breakfast at the Fleur-De Lys.

After finishing breakfast we were off.  Great riding – did at least 32km in the first two hours over mostly paved roads and paths.  The weather was very sunny as we wound through vineyards, along the river, and through woods.

Riding Through Vineyards

For some reason, David did not sleep well the previous night which made riding tougher than it should have been.  We had an uninspired lunch at a brasserie in Candes-St Martin.  There is a very old church in town and two fellow bikers wearing ‘CAL’ bike jerseys were just getting on their bikes – fellow grads!  Ran into them again at a bike shop in Gennes where we stopped for the night.

Typical Old Loire River Boat

Near Saumur, we passed through the troglodytic village of Souzay-Champigny, where there are still homes and businesses in caves cut in the soft rock.  There are villages like this in a number of areas in France, where the stone is soft enough to excavate yet sturdy enough to provide a secure area to live and work.

Troglodyte Village of Souzay-Champigny

Taking a Break - Gerard, David, Roger, Tom

We stayed at La Longue Vue, with a pool which Roger took advantage of, and a beautiful outside terrace looking out over the Loire Valley.  [Gerard really did an amazing job of finding great places to stay.]  Unfortunately, the view meant we had to bike up a bit of a hill to get there, but we all survived.  The hotel also had a good restaurant with seating on the aforementioned terrace.  Very nice bottle of local rosé.  David had salmon with oseille sauce and paprika – excellent.  One server handled all tasks for 10 tables!

Hotel Terrace with View

After dinner we sat around and had a philisophical discussion about various subjects - sort of like being in college again.

74km for the day