West Coast Tour

Maggie and I had a good time in Dieppe - but, my goodness, it was wet.  But the fine sunset at dinner gave a hint of better things to come, and next morning we set off in warm sunshine, heading for the Loire.

We stayed at a little town called Chitenay, which is on a number of good cycle-ways, and rode to Blois, Chaumont and Amboise.  All of the riding was very good, with well set out cycle-ways taking you even into a large town like Blois.  There is a continuous cycle-way of more than 800km along the Loire, with many side routes joining on.  The route stays close to the river, but doesn't stick to it, so there are interesting meanders to nearby villages and the odd hill, which makes it a bit more interesting than the typical river path.  Plenty of Chateaux, vineyards and restaurants - it makes a good, relaxing tour with weather that is, on average, better than here.  It is worth noting, however, that away from the main tourist towns there is little to be found.  The villages are pretty - lots of holiday homes - but  sparsely populated.  So don't rely on them for your lunch.

Then we headed South West to the Marais Poitevin, which we have visited before.  This is a large area of reclaimed estuary and marshland, now a fertile area about the size of East Anglia.  The reclamation was started by the French in the thirteenth century, with work continuing, latterly under the Dutch, until the end of the nineteenth.  Perhaps because the reclamation started earlier, the fields are mostly much smaller than in East Anglia, so you get an intimate, slightly strange landscape with lots of wildlife.  We saw herons, otters, swans and lots of small birds.  Eels often appear on the menu, and I enjoyed the dish I had.  Like the Loire, the villages are suffering -  a farmer we talked to over lunch was saying that the young people were leaving the land and that things weren't what they were.  Interesting place, though.

Lastly, we went to the Ile de Re.  We're fairly regular visitors and it's a good place to go. It's very flat, and many people travel by bicycle - there are thousands of them.  It's a popular (and very chic) holiday resort, so no problem with depopulation and no trouble finding lunch either.  

Then it was back North to Dieppe, to see the Tour.  But we'd had a good little trip - good cycling and, for a change, some good weather.

Mark