La Loire
Pumped up with adrenaline while watching Le Tour de France. Seduced by the varied French landscape flown through by the indefatigable cyclists. We decided to embark on a bike project: cycling in La Loire, centre-west of France. The trip ran from 20 to 23 July 2017. We would stay in Tours, the popular basecamp for exploring the region. From Tours, we planned to make two out-and-back day trips along both sides of La Loire. Day 1 would take us along the east side of the river, and Day 2 along the other side.
La Loire is famous for its castles “Châteaux”. Châteaux de la Loire refers to the chain of castles scattered along France’s longest river, La Loire. We chose the region mainly because of its flattish terrain, which suits a newbie like me. I lack uphill strength, and I’m scared of steep descents. In addition, its proximity to Paris – just one hour by TGV – makes it an ideal weekend destination. It would be a prelude to our upcoming big summer vacation in Sebes, Romania.
La Loire à Vélo Cycling Path
Cycling is indeed the best way to explore the La Loire region. La Loire à Vélo, an 800 km cycling path, encourages everyone to take up the sport while exploring the country. The 800 km path is actually the western end of EuroVelo 6, the trans-European bicycle path. This 4,400 km route links the Atlantic Ocean with the Black Sea.
Bike Lugging
We forgot to reserve spaces for our bikes when we booked our train tickets. Hence, we had to transport them as luggage on the train. It was really a “pack up” trip. We had to dismantle our bikes and put them in the bike bags we bought specially for this trip. It wasn’t that fun lugging a 9 kg bulky bag through crowded metro and train stations. At times, we were literally blocking narrow passages. We were extra careful not to make sudden swings with our bags so as not to hit pedestrians.
Day 1
The weather was perfect. Clear, blue sky with occasional strong gusts of wind that made me struggle to keep my bike upright!
We planned to cycle to Château de Chaumont, 50 km from Tours, and back. On the way, we passed by Château d’Amboise, one of the more renowned castles. Leonardo Da Vinci stayed as a guest in this castle. He lived and worked – and later passed away – in a manor house close by. The key objective of our trip was to build our cycling endurance while traversing the region. So we did not spend much time visiting the popular touristic landmarks. However, we did make occasional customary picture stops along the way.
Day 2
The weather was not as welcoming: cloudy sky interspersed with drizzle and occasional moderate rain. We went to Bréhémont (34 km from Tours), stopping for a quick lunch by the river. From there, we continued 10 km south to Château d’Azay-le-Rideau before rounding back to Tours, totalling 76 km. However, when the rain did pause, the colours reflected from the landscape looked more vibrant than ever. (Refer to the Sunflower profile photo, taken in Villandry on the way back from Azay-le-Rideau.)
Well-Kept Little Towns
We cycled up and down the Loire river, passing through numerous small communes. Each one was, in fact, remarkably well-kept. Roads, including side ones, were well-maintained and clean. Trees, shrubs and plants were prettily planted in rows, and individual houses were pleasant looking. It may sound silly, but finding a public toilet in Bréhémont amazed me – and a particularly clean one at that. I did not expect a not-too-touristic village willing to spend resources to upkeep a free public toilet. Not even in Paris do I often find clean, free public toilets. It’s indeed a real joy cycling along the Loire.
Le Vélo Est Un Art de Vivre
Oh, when we were along La Loire at Chaumont, a couple of photographers stopped us to take our photos. They are currently embarking on a project called BPF Projet. It relates to “Le vélo est un art de vivre”, translated as “the bicycle is a way of life”.
