Final day, and also Julie’s birthday. All going pretty much to plan. Six hours on the boat. Five and a half hour drive home.

Nothing much more to report, but when you’re travelling “uneventful” is good.

Now for our first good cup of tea in two weeks.

A day of train journeys and a couple of shortish bike rides, returning to the ferry port for tomorrow’s return sailing to the UK.

The commute across Nantes in the rush hour was surprisingly fun, with our route taking us through the quiet backstreets of the suburb of San Sebastián and then along the bike lanes of the city centre.

There were plenty of other cyclists on the road which helped considerably with navigating the more complex junctions – just drop in behind a local and follow their line. It worked like a treat and the 3 mile ride took little more than a quarter of an hour.

Once again, Komoot did the planning and directions faultlessly.

We’d booked the train journey to Caen a couple of days in advance. On paper it looked complicated, with changes at Sablé-sur-Sarthe and Le Mans, especially as the first change only allowed 5 minutes to swap trains.

However, the Le Mans train was waiting for us on the very next platform as we pulled into Sablé bang on time, so we swapped trains in seconds.

On most of the trains we’ve used this holiday there has been a dedicated space for our bikes. A couple have seen bikes stacked in the isle, but no-one has been refused access to a train with a bike and rail staff seem to have a very flexible approach to bikes and scooters in general.

For today’s journey we had to book spaces for our bikes on the first two trains (a bit of a faff as booking bikes is on a separate website to passenger bookings). But it was just one euro per bike per booking.

The third train had no bike booking requirement but there were still plenty of spaces for bikes.

Hanging the bikes from hooks is an excellent space saving method, though it’s not easy to hang a heavy bike from a hook 6 feet from the floor. We always removed panniers before loading the bikes in this way.

Returning to today’s trip, we covered about 180 miles by train (a similar distance to Leeds to London) in an about 5 and a half hours, which included a lay-over of almost an hour in Le Mans. The trains were all clean (including toilets), we had seats throughout and every one was on time.

It was relatively stress free (once we’d made that first connection) and gave us time to eat, read and even grab a power nap. Married to the cycle commute into Nantes and a steady 10 miles on the bike track from Caen to the ferry port, we did the door-to-door journey of around 200 miles in about seven hours, in total. It cost €99 for our two tickets, plus the £4 for the bike spaces.

Tomorrow we have an early start and a 2km ride to the ferry.

Bird report: a hobby just outside Caen was a surprise highlight of the day. It drifted over the river ahead of us and out over the adjacent marshes. A little time later a sparrowhawk passed overhead accompanied by a flock of mocking starlings.

Airbnb review: last night we booked what looked like a slightly old-fashioned apartment in the outskirts of Nantes. There was nothing eye catching and bike-friendly in the city (most were top floor apartments with no safe bike storage options), so we picked a slightly dull looking place.

It turns out that Airbnb photos can be deceptive and the apartment was spacious, quiet and very well equipped. We were even able to bring the bikes inside for the night. Bruno, our host, gave us a very detailed induction on the microwave and oven, charmingly pointed out a number of other details we didn’t need to know and then departed into the upstairs half of the house, which was a completely separate unit. We enjoyed a quiet evening and a good night’s sleep in complete comfort. Sadly I forgot to get a photo.

Julie: our host Nicole met us as we prepared to leave at 8.30am. She spoke no English but saluted our ‘Bon courage’ and waved us goodbye.

It was a cold, crisp morning and despite coinciding with rush hour traffic The cycle ride into Nantes was great fun and the train journeys surprisingly relaxed now we are well versed in loading our bikes on board and finding the right platform!

The ride from Caen to Ouistreham was into a strong, cold headwind and proved tougher than expected. I envied the cyclists heading for Caen with a strong tailwind!

At Ouistreham we returned to our first Airbnb, a cosy and quirky space close to the centre and explored this attractive seaside resort. Crepes and hot chocolate at a seafront cafe, a browse in a few shops. Food buying at the local supermarket and back for our final evening in France!

Our final day on the Loire was a relatively relaxing run into the city of Nantes. We had a light tailwind for most of it and some of the best surfaces of the holiday.

We left Ancenis mid- morning having never quite mastered the pronunciation of the place’s name. We think it was Ann-sen-nee. But whenever we tried, we always added an extra syllable. So we won’t be moving there anytime soon.

The last couple of days have been lacking spectacular sights. But some of the little things we have seen along the way have more than made up for it.

The farm bike shop we encountered down a tiny lane was fully equipped and ready for action. It also had a rather haughty cat guarding the entry – he wouldn’t let us stroke him and stalked off when we tried.

We also passed some intriguing agricultural activity on very carefully manicured fields (above). Very fine grained, sandy soil was being sown with precise rows of tiny green plants. There were also fewer vineyards around today.

Today’s surfaces included some of the smoothest tarmac I have ever ridden. Along with a lot of sandy tracks and shorter stretches of woodland singletrack.

Coffee was taken at Mauves-sur-Loire, a tiny village up a short and very steep road. As we drank, a man pulled into the square on a tired looking woman’s bike. He met another man who, it soon became apparent, was wanting to buy the bike.

The potential buyer submitted the bike to minute scrutiny and seemed to be pointing out its many faults to the owner. But, despite having all the appearances of a classic tyre kicker/time-waster, he did eventually complete the purchase, much to my surprise…. and probably that of the owner.

Nantes, when we reached it, proved to be an attractive, modern city that had a great mix of modern architecture and older buildings. All built around the Loire and various off-shoot waterways and docks. The jardin des plantes was a spotless city centre park with some exotic plants, including pitcher plants (which trap, drown and then digest insects).

Ironically, our first impressions of Nantes were based on a large and rambling scrapyard, through which the Loire cycle path passed as it entered the city.

You couldn’t fault the location of the scrapyard – it’s possibly the most attractively sited scrapyard I have ever seen. We didn’t linger.

After a quick tour of the city we headed to our Airbnb for a rest – the cold weather has added to the fatigue in recent days and were glad to put our feet up.

And speaking of Airbnbs, last night’s was ok. It was spacious, very well situated in the centre of Ancenis and the bed was huge and comfortable. But it was the most characterless accommodation of the holiday. It also had an unfortunately situated tank in the bathroom, which I bumped my head on. Ouch!

Bird report: a splendid green woodpecker calling from a tree. Woodpeckers have been a big feature of the bird-life of the Loire.

Tomorrow we head north, mainly by train, ready for Friday’s ferry back to the UK.

Julie: one positive of the Airbnb was its location. It took me all of 5 minutes to pop out for bread this morning as the Boulangerie was close by. We also nipped out at 9pm for a beer in a lively restaurant by the Loire.

Given the lower temperatures we treated ourselves to a larger breakfast than usual. Muesli with yoghurt and milk followed by scrambled eggs and the loaf mentioned above!

Olivia would have relished my interaction with the bartender at our morning coffee break. An older woman with a dour expression and terse manner she steadfastly refused to reply in French shouting coffe milk or coffee cream when I requested Deux cafe au lait!

However she shouted a more cheerful goodbye as we left, having taken 7 euros from me!

Today I also had my first proper fall, trying to execute a tight turn on the sandy track after Phil shouted me to turn back. Here is why!!

We’re into a different section of the Loire now and the better known chateaux and attractions are mostly behind us. The interest now lies in small towns along the way.

Chalonnes-sur-Loire, our start town was buzzing this morning as it was market day and everyone seemed to have come out to buy, chat and smoke together.

We bought a few things for lunch and admired the amazing fruit and veg that was on display. One stall was devoted exclusively to garlic. Cheeses were inevitably a major feature too!

The first part of our journey was along the île de Chalonnes, reputed to be the Loire’s biggest island. We rode along its deserted roads for several miles before crossing a bridge onto the river’s south bank.

We then entered the small town of Montjean-sur-Loire, which as well as being very pretty, boasted an impressive church – Église St Symphorien – which is just about to be restored. And a coal mining “cradle” (we guessed it perhaps held a winding engine) which looked like the remains of another religious building.

Our second town-stop of the day was in
Saint-Florent-le-Vieil (not on the map above as we didn’t track this detour). Again, very attractive, this town’s main feature, an abbey, was at the top of a short, steep climb that wasn’t at all friendly to loaded touring bikes.

We lunched in the large boules area within the abbey grounds.

Another feature of the ride was the suspension bridges we encountered. We crossed several and passed by others. Each different, with some many-spanned, others just a single span.

We also enjoyed many miles of firm, fine gravel roads which followed the river and railway. They were great to ride on and were almost entirely traffic free. There are also fewer cyclists in this area than higher up the Loire, but the signage and general infrastructure remain excellent.

Tonight we’re staying in the busy town of Ancenis. Here’s the view from our window:

Bird Report: lots of cattle egrets today. And quite a lot of cattle for them to hunt amongst.

Airbnb review: last night we stayed in a “real” bnb – our hostess was Catherine and we had access to the top floor of her lovely house on a hill. She and her husband, Gilles, presented us with a splendid breakfast in their kitchen and sat with us to chat whilst we ate. Their English was as bad as our French. Which levelled the playing field a little and allowed us all to get a bit creative with communicating. This was one of the best stats of the holiday.

Julie: last night we walked down the hill to a restaurant on the Quayside. Being a Monday, it was the only one open so we hoped for the best and were not disappointed. We dined on salmon with tagliatelle followed by crème brûlée, all washed down with local beer. Delicious and in a Rustic French setting.

Today was cold again with a fairly stiff wind, sometimes a head wind and at other times a crosswind. Together with our hilly detours I was more than ready to stop when we got to Ancenis. We dived into a snack bar cafe and chose a cake each from a huge selection!

Back on the Loire trail today. We began with an early trip to the railway station in Saumur. First to say goodbye to Olivia who was heading back to London and then to take a short hop ourselves (plus bikes) to Angers (where we’d begun our ride UP the Loire over a week ago), from where we are now riding DOWN the Loire to Nantes.

If you’ve been following this holiday from the start you will realise that our plans have changed significantly from what we had set out to do (a clockwise loop down from the Loire to La Rochelle and then back up the Atlantic coast and the Loire).

But we’d also planned to book accommodation only one day ahead at a time, to allow for weather and how we were feeling on any given day.

By the end of the holiday we will have ridden the Loire, one way or another, from Nantes to Amboise, with a few side shoots along the way.

Our original plans changed due to three main factors:

1/ lack of accommodation on some of the non-touristy areas of the Velo Francette route. Our short ventures onto bits of the VF soon revealed almost all services to be closed or closing for winter.

2/ the French rail network which is brilliant in some areas and sparse and poorly joined up in others. We soon realised that the Atlantic coast, in particular, is poorly served and, as it would have been the likely starting point for a final rail trip back to our ferry (in Caen), we realised that we might have faced a very long and difficult journey at the end of the holiday.

3/ the magic of the Loire. We’ve holidayed in the area before but never explored it by bike. And it’s brilliantly set up for bike travel and with towns and chateaux every few miles, all linked by bike routes and supported by a rich choice of accommodation and culinary options. In short, we realised that we’d only scratched the surface of the area on previous visits and that there was plenty more to see whilst enjoying some of the best touring cycling infrastructure in Europe.

Back to today and there was a real chill in the air as we exited Angers’ St Laud station. We quickly dived into a cafe for coffee and cake.

We then picked up bread and cheese for lunch and headed out of the city. Bizarrely, we’d just joined the cycle route alongside the river Maine when we found a fully packed cycle pannier lying in the trail. Happily the owner was found a couple of minutes down the path and she was soon reunited with her luggage. She and her sister kept re-appearing along the route during the day. They too are ultimately heading for Nantes on a similar schedule to ourselves.

We stopped for lunch on the island of Behuard which we did a loop around.

The sun had come out by this point and we began to feel warm for the first time in the day.

We also noted the differences in the landscape and agriculture as we left the classic wine districts of the Loire behind. The farming was suddenly less intensive and organised: beef herds intermingled with mixed cereal crops and a good number of unkempt fields which seemed to be out of use.

There is much talk (in promotional literature) about the Loire being Europe’s last wild or untamed river. We even met a local today who solemnly told us this exact “fact”.

In most towns on the river are detailed markers showing the levels of various historic floods. And these dates seem to be celebrated rather than viewed as disasters.

The Loire is certainly impressive. It splits into form islands very frequently and it is littered with sandbanks and rapids.

One can certainly understand why it is termed wild: bridges spanning it often extend across many hundreds of metres of low lying land on either side of the water, indicating the potential width of the flow in flood conditions.

We have seen it during one of its benign spells. It is tempting to come back to see it in flood.

And it’s a bridge-lover’s paradise –

Tonight we finished in the small riverside town of Chalonnes-sur-Loire. It was a slow day, a cold day and a day when we stopped for almost any excuse.

Bird Report: another non-bird. A common lizard basking on a wall.

Airbnb Review: we spent two nights in a pristine fourth floor apartment for two nights in Saumur. The equipment levels were outstanding as were decor and design. And it was two minutes from the town centre. Reached by a winding wooden staircase, it was one of the best we’ve experienced so far.

Julie: today I came unstuck from my bike by forgetting the bag on the back when getting off at our morning break in Angers. I ended up on the floor and entangled with my bike!! It gave us both a good giggle!

Before we resume cycling along the Loire we spent a day in the city of Angers, which had impressed us a week earlier. Now, with a free day, we took the train back to explore further, on foot.

After overnight rain, the sun came out and we took advantage of a day of free openings at various attractions.

Primary amongst them was Angers’ chateau.

The sheer scale of this castle is hard to take in. The walls are massive, tall and striped with alternate layers of slate and limestone (tufa).

The castle hosts a similarly awesome artefact, the Apocalypse Tapestry a large medieval set of tapestries commissioned by Louis I, the Duke of Anjou, and woven in Paris between 1377 and 1382. It depicts the story of the Apocalypse from the Book of Revelation, which is over 140 metres long in total. More info

It’s a jaw-dropping display on every level – you can see about a half of it in the image above.,

We also walked the walls of the chateau taking in some spectacular views of the city.

We also visited the cathedral and walked through the very chic shopping areas of this attractive city.

We ended the day with a meal in Saumur. Tomorrow Olivia returns home, whilst we head down the Loire on the first of three days cycling which should take us to Nantes.

Julie adds: I was keen to see Angers and the much heralded Apocalypse tapestry, having missed it a week ago as our schedule didn’t align with the castle opening hours. Although being a Sunday all the shops were closed, the city was thronged with visitors, mostly French enjoying a day trip and the chance to sample several attractions for free. It was some kind of festival weekend.

I also enjoyed people watching at a cafe outside the main gate of the castle. A wide variety of outfits passed by. Olivia remarked on how glamorous some of the French women are, often selecting slightly odd combinations of clothes that somehow work well.

We all had a giggle at a modern art installation in one of the castle towers called the fog of history. Phil likened it to something he might pull out of our shower plug hole!

It was accompanied by an over-the-top description, written by the artist who, amongst a lot if other things, said of hid work that it was “A captivating voice and a sound world coming from the limits of time ineluctably’.

Olivia’s hire bike had to be back in Saumur by 6pm tonight, so we all travelled back to where we were a week ago. Olivia heads for home on Monday, so we’re spending the weekend in the town.

The journey from Amboise involved a couple of trains (changing at Tours). We’d pre booked places for ourselves and for the bikes. The French love a bit of admin, so this involved two separate booking processes. But we got it done and the journey went to plan.

Once back in Saumur, the rain has stopped and having a couple of hours to wait before our Airbnb became available, we went for an exploratory ride along the Velo Francette route, which we’d originally planned to ride a lot more of.

We did a 10 mile loop, visiting a couple of very pretty villages along the way. Almost every service, shop and attraction in the villages was “ferme” and we couldn’t even get a coffee until we’d returned to Saumur. This experience rather vindicated our decision, earlier in the holiday, to re-focus our cycling on the Loire valley and its cycle routes and attractions, which don’t shut at the first whiff of autumn.

Here are the three sections of today’s short ride including a bit of the Velo Francette and featuring a range of closed facilities.

Airbnb Review: the last two nights have been in another quirky Airbnb – a house just outside the centre of Amboise.

The chief quirk here was the second floor bedroom, accessed by a very steep spiral stairway. Olivia took one for the team here as Julie and I would probably have broken our necks on the stairs.

Otherwise it was a really comfortable (and very lived-in) home. Many Airbnbs are spartan and pristine, but rather soulless as a result. This house had a bit of clutter including a kitchen where every cupboard and drawer was stuffed with implements, crockery etc. And it wasn’t quite as clinically clean as some have been.

But we cooked, relaxed and slept comfortably and it got the thumbs up from all three of us.

Bird Report: green woodpeckers seem quite prolific in the Loire and we saw several and heard more at various points of the day.

Julie adds: after a rest day yesterday and a morning train ride I was relieved my legs had recovered fully, so able to enjoy our short afternoon ride. Yesterday’s heat had receded with the rain leaving warm, humid conditions.

We finished the ride with an ice cream followed by Hoegarden beers at the same cafe in Saumur where we met Olivia a week earlier.

We decided to have a rest and a more relaxing day, in the busy town of Amboise. No cycling was planned!

Our accommodation is 5 minutes walk from the centre, so we popped in early to buy bread and croissants for breakfast.

We then spent a couple of hours exploring the shops and the large riverside market. More than any other town or city we’ve visited, Amboise is really busy. Perhaps it’s the narrow streets, but there’s a slightly claustrophobic feel to some of it, especially where cars are allowed.

But there are also pedestrianised streets close to the imposing chateau and walks along the riverside that are very attractive. It all feels as if tourism dominates, with hoards arriving in cars and coaches.

In a tree-lined car park, by the river, there was a large open market, full of the expected local produce – cheese, meat, leather goods, honey, more cheese. Apparently it opens early and when walked round, approached midday, the stall holders were winding down. The locals had been and gone (we met many of them coming away as we arrived, their shopping trollies bulging).

We therefore walked round accompanied by tourists and an enthusiastic throng of hornets, who were getting stuck into food stuff of all types. Hornets are probably more common here than their much smaller cousins, the wasps. And, on the whole, despite their size and obvious potential to sting, they seem a lot more laid back than wasps.

The rest of the day was taken up with lunch at the excellent Bigot cafe, a bike ride for Phil (over to the nearby Chenonceax chateau), and an evening drink and chat at a nearby bar.

Bird Report: a big highlight today, a flock of White Storks circling over the Loire. A first for all of us as we watched these huge birds circling overhead at close quarters.

Julie adds: I went for a solo wander to soak up the atmosphere and take a different picture of the imposing chateau. On my way back I found Phil and Olivia still happily chatting at the cafe, nearby were a party of American tourists accompanied by a guide dressed as Leonardo da Vinci.

In fact we heard many English and American accents today among the French tourists visiting Amboise.

The cafe Bigot was like a French version of Betty’s, the waitresses all dressed in black & white uniforms. Inside was a classy array of cakes. Olivia purchased a macaroon on leaving!

A culinary update. We have mixed cooking in with eating out, aiming to make the most of our accommodation while enjoying local food and wine at the restaurants and bars en-route.

The carrefour express supermarkets are well located in every place we have visited and stock a wide range of groceries. However we have been somewhat challenged by the different kitchen facilities at each stop. Some lack tea towels. Others have complicated induction hobs or lack some key cooking implements! Most tricky has been the electric coffee machines. In Amboise we had good coffee but most were disappointing or didn’t work well at all. We missed the traditional French cafetière!

Here are the three sections to today’s ride: each was a separate gpx file from the francevelotourisme.com website, which breaks its routes into 15-30km chunks. These are then uploaded to the Komoot app which then provides the voice and map for route finding.

A day of beautiful weather, beginning with a misty ride down to the Loire from our Airbnb which was on the hill behind Villandry chateau. It was also pretty chilly to start with – temperatures then built through the day to about 30 when we arrived in Amboise mid-afternoon.

Today’s route took us 45km further up the Loire and included a crossing of the city of Tours.

The run in to Tours was through low lying farmland alongside the Loire. The Loire is said to be a “wild” river, prone to dramatic floods and summer droughts. It’s contained to an extent by levees (high banks often topped with roads) built on either side, but the river still has about half a mile width in which to express itself.

The river we have encountered is running in random channels divided by sand and shingle bankings. Even through the city of Tours, the river is split with islands and banks.

The latter stages of the approach to Tours were well away from the Loire through parkland with a golf course, lakes, winding tarmac paths and what looked like student accommodation.

Tours is a big, modern city bustling with students, cyclists, scooter riders and trams. We encountered a small student sit-down protest blocking one of the main streets.

This small bunch has attracted the attentions of an equal number of heavily armed and armoured riot police, though there was nothing happening as we passed by as the two groups were about 100m apart.

We also passed Tours’ stunning cathedral which Julie and I last visited in 1996.

Lunch was eaten by the river just east of the city in a small country park. We had to sit on a log as there’s little or no tourist infrastructure close to the river. Winter floods carry away anything not made out of concrete and bolted to rock.

The final run into Amboise took us away from the river and through the vineyards on the surrounding hills, where the harvest was taking place. Although tractors follow the pickers to collect the grapes, this still seems to be a very manual task.

We were feeling the heat by this point, so the pickers must have been finding things tough.

We finally rolled into Amboise at 4pm and headed for our latest Airbnb. We intend to stay in Amboise for a couple of days. We cooked pasta bolognaise and then popped out for a drink at a bar under the walls of the chateau.

Airbnb review: our previous Airbnb in Villandry was another winner. Built in an old barn, it featured exposed beams and rustic details. But it was also comfortable and modern.

The main bedroom and bathroom both featured low beams, exposed vertical supports, sloping ceilings, low doorframes and single steps. Very attractive, atmospheric and probably building regulations compliant. But a midnight foray to the “facilities” required levels of agility and awareness that are hard to summon straight from a deep slumber.

Bird report – another non-bird. Common lizards are a treat for any wildlife enthusiast and although occasionally seen in the Pennines, down in mid-France they are very common. Though hard to spot. Of course I jammed on my brakes when I saw one on the riverside trail. Naturally Julie then ran into the back of me. All my fault – and not the first time my interest in the natural world has resulted in a bike accident. Happily there were no injuries to man or lizard.

Julie adds: I couldn’t miss the opportunity to revisit Tours cathedral. My memory didn’t disappoint. It is truly magnificent.

This is the organ, newly renovated when we visited in 1996.

At this point in the journey the cycling had gone smoothly but with legs and brains starting to fatigue I had a near miss with a fast riding Frenchman barrelling down a narrow path. A reminder to concentrate fully! Then at low speed I ran into the back of Phil when he stopped suddenly on sighting a lizard in the undergrowth! Fortunately I just bounced back off his rear tyre!!

This was the most tiring day yet compounded by hot weather from midday onwards.

Of all the places we’ve visited so far, Chinon is perhaps the one we were sorriest to leave. It’s a really lovely little town.

Airbnb review – our apartment in Chinon was equally good. A spacious two bedroom unit on the second floor of a newly renovated house in the old part of town (it was on a cobbled side street), it was quite roomy, modern and stylish.

Back to the bike riding and today’s route took us over the ridge behind Chinon and down to the Loire.

After joining the Loire, we followed the bike route along its southern bank for almost all of the rest of the day.

A lengthy stretch was on a traffic free gravel path, but this eventually gave way to minor roads shared with other traffic.

Towns and villages were few and far between on this stretch so we diverted into the small town of Langeais, on the northern bank to find lunch. We enjoyed an excellent meal (Caesar salad for me, seafood salad for Olivia and a huge smoked salmon baguette for Julie).

Our lunch stop was in the shadow of one of the Loire’s lesser known chateau.

Somewhat sluggish after our lunches we headed back out onto the Loire bike route which finally led us to our destination, Villandry (another chateau), on the banks of Cher, another of the Loire’s many tributaries.

All the chateaux have their defining characteristics and Villandry’s was definitely its garden, which is extensive, varied and immaculate.

We finished with a cold drink at the cafe. Villandry was the first reasonably busy location of the holiday. Many of the visitors had arrived by bike and lycra was the fabric most frequently spotted on our tour of the gardens.

In fact, once we joined the Loire bike route, mid morning, we were encountering cyclists in various group sizes every few minutes for the rest of the day.

Bird Watch: the Loire is teeming with life and the number of herons, egrets and cormorants we saw today reflected this.