THE LOIRE VALLEY – CHATEAUX AND WINERIES – 1ST -10TH JUNE, 2014

On Sunday, 1^st June, nine intrepid cyclists from the Midweek Wayfarers (Frank, Françoise, Cliff, Maureen, Tim, Alan, Ian, Pam and Gill) met up with 25 French cyclists at a hotel in Haute Goulaine on the other side of the Loire, south of Nantes. That morning, when we got off the overnight ferry at St. Malo, we had been greeted by Frank and Francoise, already in France, and FFCT leader, Gérard,

who very kindly transported us and our bikes to Nantes where we had a lovely picnic lunch sitting under cherry trees in the garden of Guy (organiser/FFCT leader) and his wife, Yolande (back-marker & tour supplies facilitator).

After lunch, on arrival at the hotel, each participant was presented with a bottle of Muscadet (local wine) and a complete set of maps for the coming days, with accompanying cross-sections showing the heights above sea level of the routes – it was definitely NOT going to be a flat ride! This was followed by a briefing on the tour, a ‘welcome drink’ during which we had an opportunity to exchange names with a few people – after this we relied on the name tags we had been asked to attach to our bikes. Dinner that first night was at a nearby restaurant, involving a cavalcade of cars and the van for us.

The first day of cycling, 2^nd June, set the pattern for the next seven days – breakfast at 7.00 a.m.; on the road at 8.00 a.m. after depositing our panniers (large suitcases for the French) in the sag-wagon. (We moved on to a new hotel each day.) The two leaders, Gerard and Guy, took turns in driving the sag-wagon, stopping to guide us at tricky intersections and to provide us with coffee and tea breaks (a picnic table with thermoses, cakes and bananas!) – always a welcome sight after a long straight stretch or a strenuous climb. At lunchtimes, apart from two occasions, we had picnics which comprised ready-made salad trays picked up by the van driver. In the evenings, the routine was to check into the hotel, hopefully with time for a drink before briefing at 7.00 p.m. and dinner at 7.30 p.m. We cycled approximately 50-60 miles per day depending on whether we stopped to visit a château or winery and were extremely lucky with the weather, with showers on only one day and temperatures reaching 28 degrees by the end of the week – a bit too hot for comfortable cycling, but who’s complaining!

Day 1 was a 60-miler to reach our hotel at Les Ponts de Cé, near Angers. We followed the Loire first on one side, then the other. The flat sections were generally on roads on the levées beside the River Loire which is very wide and shallow, with lots of sandbanks and islands - not surprisingly all the boats we saw were flat-bottomed. Away from the river, the countryside is quite hilly. On the second day we stopped at our first château, Château de Brezé, renowned for its huge pigeon-loft. Being inland from Saumur, it had involved quite a detour away from the river and was followed by an afternoon of climbs to reach our hotel at Chinon on the R. Vienne, rather later than anticipated due to a second stop. This had been at Fontevraud Abbey, originally part of a mediaeval monastic city and in the 19^th-20^th centuries, a prison. There is a very fine Romanesque kitchen and the Abbey itself contains the tombs of members of the Plantagenet family, with effigies of Henry II, Eleanor of Acquitaine, Richard the Lion Heart and his brother, John’s wife, Isabelle – it’s amazing how closely our history is linked with the French at times!

Wednesday was the day of sunny periods and showers. We returned to the R. Loire and its tributary the R. Indre where we saw Château d’Ussé, famous for being the setting for the fairy tale ‘The Sleeping Beauty’, before crossing over to the R. Cher and Chenonceaux – home of one of the most famous of the French chateaux, built right across the river. It was on the last lap from Bléré to Chenonceaux that the heavens opened and we all got drenched! However, after hot baths/showers at the hotel and with the sun out again, most of us rallied and walked the short distance to this amazing château.

The next day the weather was fine and sunny again and once more we were cycling cross-country, with morning coffee outside Château du Gué Péan (privately owned) and a glimpse of Château de Cheverny (of Tin-Tin fame) before arriving at the Château de Chambord at lunchtime. This is the largest château in the Loire Valley and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, registered in 1981. After a picnic lunch in the car park, it was a group of the English cyclists plus ‘three French Musketeers’, who visited this royal château. All the rest went to see nearby Blois which they said was more important to them in terms of French history.

The return journey began on Friday – back along the Loire to Amboise where we stopped to visit the château. Leonardo de Vinci is buried in the tiny chapel in the grounds of the château and used to live nearby – another surprise! Shortly afterwards we stopped at the winery, Montlouis, high up in limestone caves, where we also had our picnic lunch after tastings. Reluctantly coming back out into the heat of a 28 degree day, we managed to bypass the city of Tours on paths beside the river, eventually crossing over to Villandry on the R. Cher. Here the hotel was almost next door to the Château which is famous for its gardens. They really do have to be seen – especially the vegetable garden!

We started Saturday’s ride with a visit to the 15^th C. Château de Langeais. It was beautifully furnished and there was a short son-et-lumière in English on the political intrigues of the time. Today’s lunch was in a Troglodyte Restaurant. The meal was based on mushrooms which are grown in the caves. In the afternoon we mostly retraced the outward route back to Les Ponts de Cé, and was flat and fast (15-18 m.p.h.?) and hot!

Sunday was the last day of the tour and our first stop, which doubled as a coffee break, was at the winery at la Haie Longue (Côteau du Layon). The early hour did not stop us from sampling the wines on offer and some from purchasing! After this the morning’s ride was very strenuous, being fast and hilly. It was a relief to reach the lunchtime picnic spot – the same shady viewpoint about the Loire that we’d used on the first day. The afternoon’s ride had long flat stretches with a couple of hills and a never-ending climb all the way from the river to the hotel – a killer at the end of a 65-mile day! That evening, the last with our French friends was quite a party – a wine-tasting of Muscadet wines, followed by dinner at a nearby restaurant.

The next day we said our farewells and were transported to Guy and Yolande’s where we had tea and coffee before being led on a ride into the city of Nantes, using the many cycle paths provided. There are some fine buildings in Nantes built with money from the slave trade and we were shown a monument to the abolition of the slave trade. Today was a public holiday for Whitsun and everyone was out and about. In a huge square we came across a crowd of thousands waiting for two immense figures – the Grandmother and the Little Black Giant* - to be raised upright by cranes. We couldn’t wait as we had an appointment with a mechanical elephant – Le Grand Elephant – which you may remember visited London a few years ago. Carrying up to 50 people, it moves less than 1 k.p.h., trumpets loudly and sprays water on anyone nearby – the kids love it! We were treated to a ride on this and on a 3-tier carousel featuring all sorts of mechanical marine creatures. All this and the workshops are located on former shipbuilding yards next to the river.

After all this excitement, the noise and the crowds, we were happy to retreat back to the peace and quiet of Guy and Yolande’s where we made presentations to thank our hosts and to thank Marie-Joelle who had been our official interpreter.

The next day, after another hotel and a meal at a pizza restaurant (little choice on a public holiday), we were transported to Frank and Françoise’s home where we had a wonderful lunch before cycling back to St Malo with Frank as leader. Timing was perfect for the ferry despite delays en-route due to a spectacular fall by Cliff when his brakes failed on a steep descent. Thankfully neither he nor the bike was harmed. What a wonderful trip it had been – we had covered almost 450 miles, explored new territory, made new friends. The French organisers had done an amazing job and thanks, too, to Frank and Françoise for making the arrangements for us to be able to take part. We left them in Brittany as we sailed off into the sunset. Gill Finlay

*These turned out to be creations of the French Street Theatre Co., Royal de Luxe, and the 7.4m. Grandmother is to join a little girl and her dog in Liverpool on 23^rd-24^th July.

TOUR STATISTICS

Mileage:
FFCT Leaders/Organisers/Sag-wagon drivers: 2 (Guy Bourmaud & Gérard Cohen-Bacri)Backmarker/Supplies facilitator: 1 (Yolande Bourmaud)Participants: 31 (9 of which from the Wayfarers Section, the 22 others came from various French cyclo-touring clubs)

To keep everyone watered and fed at “coffee & tea breaks” during the week, the following was consumed:
Bottled water: 150 litres
Wine: 15 litres
Fresh ground coffee beans: 4 kgs
Plastic cups: 500
Bananas: 22kgs
Large Brioches: 5
Pains d'épices (family-size Ginger breads): 10
Photos: 
Gill's Photos

Tim's Photos - Loire Valley

Tim's Photos - Nantes

 

Oh the joy of owning an old banger!

In my last blog, I mentioned that instead of sailing to Spain on Sunday morning, we were stranded in New Malden due to exhaust problems with our car. 
We now have to apologize to our faithful Honda Accord which has never been much trouble in the 13 years we have owned it and has not yet behaved as a "banger" really.
The problem is not mechanical at all but theft. The cataleptic converter, a sensor and part of the exhaust system were dismantled from underneath the car and stolen whilst it was parked right in front of the house. Apparently, according to the local garage and New Malden police, it has become a fairly common occurrence and several such incidents have been reported on various types of vehicles. The pattern for the thieves is to "work" in an area before moving on elsewhere. So we thought we ought to share this information with you - although there is not much that can be done to protect cars unless they are locked away in a garage...
For the good news, we are now booked to cross to France tomorrow night and we shall make our way to Spain leisurely.
See you in the spring and "Au revoir"!
F & F

Group "B" - Dorking to New Malden - 21st January 2015

On a dank January morning, I led the B Group to the Watchman in New Malden. My original plan was to go to the Anchor in Hammersmith, but having seen the weather forecast, I thought a shorter ride was in order. Approximately 15 started in Dorking but only 11 of us ended up in the pub.

Leaving Dorking, we climbed little Switzerland and headed towards Headley. We skirted Chessington and Worcester Park to arrive at the Watchman just after 1 o'clock. Although the pub is local to many of the cyclists, most had never been there before. Considering the numbers and lack of warning, we were served promptly whilst enjoying the warmth of the log fire.  It is a relief for the leader that Wetherspoon pubs do not ask for pre-orders (except for Xmas lunches), and usually can cope with any numbers.

The inclement temperatures were not conducive for a long ride and I hope the group still enjoyed a short winter ride. If I lead in June, we shall make up for it as I am thinking of the Little Hatch in Cranleigh via the woods....

Frank H.

PS. Today (Monday 26) by now, we should have been well on our way to Spain but the car's exhaust "conveniently" packed up outside our house just as we were about to depart to catch the ferry to Santander. Oh the joys of owning a 15-year old banger!

Group "B" - 17th December 2014 - Leatherhead to "Woodies", New Malden

Tony, our leader took us all around Surrey to get to "Woodies", a very unusual pub, so well hidden, that in the 29 years we have lived in New Malden, we had never heard of it. (F & F)

3rd December 2014 - Cobham - Box Hill - Raynes Park

John Scott, celebrating his 70th birthday, kindly provided cakes at the coffee-break at Cobham for which we all thank him and wish him many happy returns.

On a chilly and sunny morning, I led 17 cyclists from Cobham, to the Tree on the Hill pub on top of Box Hill. After leaving Cobham, we went up Plough Lane, before turning left down Old Lane heading towards Effingham. We continued along Effingham Common Road, up Beech Avenue, Critten Lane towards Ranmore Common we were turned left. We followed Ranmore Common Road and then down onto Westhumble where we picked up the zig zag to Box Hill. We reached the refurbished pub by 1 o'clock. (previously known as the Hand in Hand).

We all had a pleasant lunch by a log fire. Although there was a Christmas Party, we were served reasonably promptly by attentive staff. Certainly a pub to be placed on Tim C. 's list of suitable lunch-time venues.

After lunch several cyclists retraced their route back down Box Hill to make their way to Leatherhead. Seven of us continued to Headley with the intention to have tea in Raynes Park, but as the drizzle turned into more serious rain, we abandoned the idea and every one went home in their separate ways.

Ralph, a newcomer on a gap year, had no problem keeping up with us and is a candidate for the A Group.

A round trip for F & F of about 40 miles – which is sufficient in winter.

Frank H.
 

Too cold to wait for the full group....
Happy 70th Birthday, John! Many happy returns!	Ralph, on his gap year,  first ride with the Club

More photos of grey Surrey countryside



More Wayfaring in the Costa Blanca

Wednesday 19th November - Quesada - Dolores - Callosa del Segura

Mid-November a year ago marked the start of the Spanish winter and the colder weather arrived very abruptly. Fortunately we had no such bad luck this year as lovely warm temperatures and bright sunshine have continued all through November and were particularly enjoyed during last Wednesday's ride (19 Nov.) and this Wednesday's  (26 Nov.).

Last week, a small group of 5 followed Leader Lynn on a very rural ride to Callosa del Segura, which lies at the foot the Callosa Sierra. We were 5 ladies from 5 different countries, ie. Lynn from Scotland, Lesley from England, Randi from Denmark, Ann-Karina from Norway, and yours truly from France (albeit a long time ago).

We left Quesada towards Benijofar, Formentera and soon found ourselves on small rural lanes lined at times with fields of vegetables, other times along orange groves or pomegranates trees. We crossed through tiny hamlets with their single story terraced casas giving a feeling of travelling back in time. No doubt this is what Costa Blanca looked like before the invasion of the Northern Europeans seeking sun and warm climes. Although just a few kilometres away from the coast, these hamlets are in marked contrast from the newly built villas of the coast.

Our coffee-break was at Pasticeria Roman in Dolores. The Pasticeria is famous for its cinnamon magdalenas, freshly baked daily, which were devoured with café con leche. Dolores is one of the largest villages in the area and has a pleasant square dominated by a blue-tiled dome church and extraordinary tall palm trees.

Refreshed, we moved on to Catral and progressed on a quiet road taking us to the Callosa Sierra which was facing us all the way. For lunch we stopped at Toscana Restaurant in Callosa and enjoyed tapas and bocadillos.

Our journey back took us via a long cycle road lined with thin and tall conifers. I could not help thinking that these were too thin to be of any help at providing shade for the summer rides. I felt quite hot and bothered in this mid-November and I cannot imagine what it can possibly be like to cycle in the middle of the summer -  although Lynn's Ladies Section continues riding all through the year. May be I shall give it a try one year!

Door to door kilometrage = 65 kms.
Francoise H.
Photos: Quesada-Callosa


Wednesday 26th November - Quesada - Parc natural del Hondo - Crevillent
With another fine day ahead of us, Lynn guided a group of 7 ladies (from 5 different countries) to Crevillent, which lies at the foot of the Sierra of the same name, in the Alicante Province. For this we set off towards Elche, famous for its footwear and palm groves. This was a pleasant change from the rural lanes of last week as we were effectively crossing through a nature reserve (El Hondo) and an impressive forest of palm trees. So many palm trees... and no one to pick their dates meant that at times, there was quite a heady aroma in the air from the perishing dates on the ground. That too made a change from the cabbage smell which rises on hot days from the cabbage fields.

We stopped on the way at Los Molinos for our morning coffee. A very Spanish ambiance awaited us in this bar/restaurant with its selection of Serrano hams hanging from the ceiling whilst at the table next to ours, four dominoes players were so engrossed in their game that there was no talking (rather a rarity in Spain) and the only noise was the "clacking" of the dominoes pushed face up on the table at the end of each game.

We continued our ride through the palm groves with the Crevillent Sierra in front of us getting larger as we were getting closer to the town of Crevillent, known for its worldwide renowned hand-made carpets. We stopped for lunch at a Pasticeria with a good display of savoury and sweet offerings. The former were the order of the day and however tempting, the sweet counter was ignored.

On the way back we rode by large fields of yellowing pomegranate trees and freshly cut hay. In this part of the world, there is no real "autumn feel", no real change of seasons. Most of the trees are not deciduous - the orange and lemon trees are green all year round, so are the palm trees. Only the pomegranate trees bothered to change colour through the month of November. In the same way, hay-making is not just a spring occupation as in northern Europe, the very verdant lucerne had just been cut at this end of November.

We crossed through San Isidro where we stopped as Lynn pointed out a Memorial marking the "forgotten grave" and the site of a concentration camp during the Spanish Civil War, as explained in an article published in the Leader, a local newspaper for English-speaking Expats:

http://www.theleader.info/381/article/29977/spain/national/san-isidros-forgotten-grave/

Having cycled at a good pace, there was enough time for an afternoon break and at Formentera which boasts around its square some very unusual trees pollarded as a kind hallo (photo below).

A few more kms and we were back at the cycling shop having travelled 71 kms (81 kms door to door for yours truly).

A change of scenery awaits us next Wednesday (and temperatures, I dare say) - we shall be cycling in Surrey as Frank will be leading the B Group from Cobham. And to the Ladies of the Costa Blanca, it is only "Au revoir", as we shall be back in Torrevieja at the end of January.
See you soon.
Francoise H.

Photos: Quesada-Hondo-Crevillente

Wayfaring with the Expat Ladies in Costa Blanca

As we are spending November and shall be coming back for February/March in Torrevieja (Costa Blanca), I joined a local Ladies cycling group in Quesada. For that, unfortunately, I had to swap my Dolce Specialised road bike for a hybrid bike. Garry & Lynn who left Scotland seven years ago to set up Cyclogical, the Quesada Bike shop, and who are also dynamic rides organisers in the area, made the swap easy with their range of bikes for hire.
Under cloudy skies as it had rained a lot the day before, a group of eight set off at 11 am. Very soon blue skies and a warm sun appeared and remained with us for the rest of the day. Lynn lead the "LADIES ONLY" Section* at a good steady pace (having left Garry manning the cycle shop) and took us via Benijofar, among the orange groves, the artichokes fields, on traffic-free roads lined at times with palm trees (some looking menacing with their pointed black hoods to protect them from being attacked by a small insect which has decimated many palm trees over the last ten years in this part of Spain).  We continued through the Hondo, a nature and bird reserve, to get to Santa-Pola for lunch at Lugano Restaurant on the edge of the marina. A very friendly lunch followed where most of us shared pizzas and large bowls of salad, apart from a Norwegian lady with a more adventurous taste bud who partook in an extra large portion of pulpo (which is a Santa-Pola speciality).
Refreshed we set off for our journey back, riding at first in some marshy land (this is when I appreciated the "hybrid" bike which coped rather well, and certainly better than the Doce would have, in the sand and mud...), along the salty lakes, behind the scenic Santa-Pola salt mounds. We cycled towards La Marina, then to San Fulgimencio where we stopped for refreshments at the Spanish run "Power Pub". After hosing the muddy bikes down at the local garage, we were back by 5 pm at Quesada, having enjoyed a pleasant, trouble-free and friendly ride, performed in summer clothing on this 12th of November. A 70 km round trip.
* The Men Section had left at 10 am and was destined to perform a much higher mileage. The LADIES ONLY section, today was comprised mostly of British expats apart from two Norwegian Ladies and yours truly.
** Meanwhile Frank is developing his table tennis skills twice a week at a local expats club.

Francoise H.
Photos:
Wayfaring Spanish Style