 |
| A festive air in the Saumur square. |
As predicted it has been an
extremely hot day, probably not the best for a bike ride, but we did it. Did a
load of washing and hung it out to dry before we left. Followed the bike trail
into Saumur, but not the most interesting of rides as we couldn’t see the
river. Quite a number of riders, many with large packs on their bikes who I
presume are cycling the full length of the Loire.
We crossed the large bridge into
town along a very wide separate bike track, great to be able to stop and have a
good look at the town. We followed the Velo track signs leading into town and
surprised to see a convoy of horse drawn wagons holding up a large string of
traffic as the plodded along the town road. Gathered they were part of a
circus.
 |
| Motorway" for cycles across the Loire |
 |
| View of Saumur |
 |
| Wonderful to see the Horse "Convoy" |
 |
| A man gets hungry driving these horses! |
We tootled through town, trying
to follow the Velo signs, but losing them at times but we managed. Town was
very busy. The Chateau du Saumur sitting on a high point dominates the
landscape. Meandered back through town and came across the town square ringed
with cafes and looking so festive with numbers of multicoloured umbrellas
hanging from wires criss-crossing the space. Ended up sitting in the shade
outside a café and having lunch. It was a great place to people watch, many
cyclists were passing through as well as lots of tourists. Took a look inside
the church that is on the square, with beautiful stained glass windows, and so
nice an cool inside.
 |
| The chateau |
 |
| Double exposure of the umbrellas. Just playing! |
By now it was really getting
warm, temperatures well into the 30’s. Rode back through town and then
continued along the other side of the river for a while but realised how hot it
was getting and we still had to get back to camp, so turned around and headed
home. Only 25kms today, but really felt
the heat. A nice cold beer in the shade before putting our feet up and having a
wee siesta!
PS…Temperatures peaked at 36
tonight, still sitting outside at 10pm as still just too hot. Will turn the
aircon on later to go to sleep. Note to self, don’t use hair drier at the same
time as aircon, like last night – blew the fuse and no electric all night!
 |
| View under the bridge. |
Comments