Wednesday July 19, Bouchemaine

The Medieval church at Martigne-Briand with the old Chateau behind.

It was well after 11 before we went inside last night, but so thankful for the aircon  - cooled us down quickly and slept quite well apart from a huge thunderstorm during the early hours. There was some rain but not very much. Today the temperatures have plummeted to about 20 degrees, just makes it so much more pleasant.

After loading yesterdays blog, we had the most amazing sunset.

A bit of a leisurely day today as we decided to take some of the lesser roads and explore this area of the Loire Valley. Crossed the river at Gennes then drove through some great arable country, a lot of harvesting happening and baling of barley straw…and still lots of sunflowers. Somehow it seems more the flower of France than the poppy.

Narrow bridge over the Loire.

Popped into Brissac-Quince for some supplies then a lunch stop at an Aire in Martigne-Briand. Wandered into the town, and as per usual over lunch time nothing was happening. There is an old medieval chateau beside the church that is looking very unloved, wonder what will happen to these old buildings as they fall into disrepair, the cost of bringing them up to scratch must be huge and there are so many of them all over France.

The back of the old Chateau du Martigne-Briand

Returned on the tourist route to the Loire that just happened to be the Route of the Winemakers! Called into the Chateau du Fresne and were welcomed by David, the winemaker. This was our first tasting of wines from the Loire and really enjoyed them, especially the Cremant (bubbles!). David spoke good English and he showed us right through the winery, and the downstairs cellar and I was intrigued to see the frames that the bottles of cremant were rotated in, three times a day for 3 weeks to let the sediment settle before bottling. David said that the start of the harvest this year will be early September instead of the normal mid-September because of the very hot weather we have had. No wonder we have been surprised by the temperatures, much more than we expected.

You can bring your containers here to fill with wine of your choice.

Frames of Cremant, ready for turning.

This campsite on the banks of the Main River near where it joins the Loire had been recommended to us and can understand why. We have a view of the river across the bike track and there has been much activity.

Heard some voices at the door soon after we arrived, and it was fellow kiwis from Auckland who have bought a new motorhome in UK and are travelling around France in it before bringing it back to NZ. Thoroughly enjoyed a long chat and exchanging stories of our travels. The New Zealand sticker on our back really has made us visible. Hopefully, weather permitting, we will cycle into Angers tomorrow. It’s so nice to feel pleasantly cool tonight, we really struggle with the high heat.