Troglodytes and sloglodytes

The Chateau at Saumur is fairytale-like and compelling. Before leaving town we take a walk up to the castle only to find it doesn’t open for visitors until 10am. Our host seems a little anxious that we be back and out of the place by 11am so we have to forgo a castle visit to keep her happy.

The route out of Saumur is a hard gravel track that winds through forest alongside the river and which makes for great riding. This feels like a good day.

After only about 5km the route crosses the nearby road and heads sharply up to … some kind of other world. The world of troglodytes.

In the 15th century much of the soft limestone from this area was excavated and sent down river where it was used to build, amongst other things, the Nantes cathedral. People have moved into the spaces and carved out homes and wine cellars. And other people come to gawk at them.

Margaret d’Anjou, the French wife of Henry VI of England even owned a castle here. I love it when the bits of history I know weave around into the places I travel.

Apart from the other-worldliness of these caves the thing that strikes me most is the coolness. How great a place this would be to escape to on a hot day (as this day is shaping up to be). Another thing about this place is that it engenders conversation amongst travellers passing through (mostly cyclists in our case as we travel slowly, gawking, through the first village of Souzay). We speak with some friendly Belgians who helpfully translate some of the signage. We also meet an Australian couple who are doing a self-guided, supported cycle tour. They’re spending a week travelling from Tours to Saumur. We’re doing the same thing in one day!

I get so engrossed that I mostly forget to get my camera out – a good thing, maybe?

We pass through a later troglodyte village which is much more touristy with restaurants, shops and hotels, but I am pretty happy with the quiet and cool calm of Souzay.

We travel through a wine area next. A glass of wine would be quite fine! And the sun is over the yardarm. We approach a likely looking winery. It’s busy with plenty of cars. Perhaps? But as we come closer we hear a rather boisterous rendition of “Happy Birthday” coming from inside the building. A private function perhaps. It’s Tuesday. There are people out birthday partying on a Tuesday at barely lunch time.

We move along, pass through some vineyards and then back down to the main road beside La Loire. Another winery! This one with a very bold Ouvert sign. We swing into the yard, dismount, remove helmets and gloves. This winery, like all other French wineries I’ve seen, does tours. It would be pretty cool as the winery is part-built into the hillside but the next tour (so the sign tells me) is later this afternoon. Never mind, a glass of wine while watching the world go by will do.

But no. Despite the ostentatious “Ouvert” sign out the front, this place is well and truly fermé. No wine for us today.

We have dawdled along this morning having a lovely time, but we’ve only covered about 12 of the 70+ kilometres we need to get through to get to Tours tonight. As much as it would be lovely to linger in this area we do need to get moving.

From here the day gets a little tedious and frustrating. There are plenty of things to see along the way but we are now running against time – and to be honest out of patience. We’ve not worked this day out well and have to just keep on going, stopping only occasionally for cold drinks (did I say it was hot). We promise ourselves that once we get to Orléans we’ll slow down and take an easier and more pleasant pace.

I have to tell you though, when you feel like you’ve been riding all day and then you strike a sign that tells you there is still 39km to go – which is half of the day’s ride – and it is four hours into the day already, it’s a bit disillusioning.

So it’s just a hard slog to the end of the day, mostly along a levee, and mostly a shared car/bike route. We need to make several stops for cool drinks. The water in our bottles is now almost warm enough to make a cup of tea and is very unappealing.

Finally, and to cut this sorry story short, we reach the outskirts of Tours and navigate ourselves directly to our hotel which is pretty close to the old town. The Logis Hôtel des Châteaux de la Loire isn’t a bad place to stay. It is cyclist-friendly, which mainly means that it has a place to store bikes, and at this place it is a secure, but uncovered courtyard at the back of the hotel.

We clean up and head into the old town for a post-ride beer and dinner.
I’m not convinced I love this place. Compared to sweet and quaint Saumur, this is a big and loud city, though it does have a fairly charming old town.

Stats for today:

• Distance: 77.18km.
• Climb: 132m
• Average speed: 15.8km/h
• Average temperature: 31C
• Moving time:4:52:44
• See our ride on Strava

The beer picture

At the end of a day’s ride, our tradition is to enjoy a beer, and to photograph it for posterity. Today’s beer picture was taken at a bar in old town Tours where we collapsed in desperation after a long ride. Rather than wait for service, Neil went inside to order (very un-French) and came out with two suspiciously red beers. He thought they were amber; they were some kind of fruit beer. Not great, but they did the trick.

Along the way today: