Armed with two rent bikes, Explorer Thomas and his spouse Erin cycled the Loire Valley in France over 11 days – oh and their two youngsters towed alongside in a trailer behind. A full household French affair.
The complete ‘La Loire à Vélo’ cycle path runs from the Atlantic Coast at Saint-Nazaire and follows the Loire River all the best way previous Orléans to a city referred to as Nevers, a complete distance of round 650km.
This path can also be a part of the much less romantically titled ‘Eurovelo EV6’ which will be ridden all through France, Switzerland, and Japanese Europe, ever onward till the Black Sea close to Bucharest, although this can be a bit formidable with youngsters.
For logistical causes, our journey started at Orléans, a direct prepare experience, south of Paris and completed at Nantes (which has an airport). A distance of about 400km, which we did over 11 days.
Learn extra: Keep in mind to depart no hint
Setup on level
L’Équipe (The Staff)
Our little household of 4 cycled with one other Australian couple and their two youngsters, who’re smarter than us and so employed an electrical bike. The plan was that they’d connect the trailer with their youngsters to the again of the electrical bike (together with any heavy gear) whereas their second non-electric bike would carry the light-weight gear and baby seat.
Nevertheless, this wasn’t to be. The trailer didn’t truly match onto the electrical bike so needed to be hooked up to the conventional bike. My spouse Erin and I used non-electric bikes in an try and get our quota of annual train in a single go.
The very first thing I did was connect the youngsters’ trailer onto Erin’s bike, the plan being that I’d pack the heavier gear onto my bike and likewise take our older baby on the hooked up seat, whereas Erin would tow the trailer with the lighter gear… however the youngsters had their very own plan and wished to experience collectively.
So my little spouse began the journey towing two youngsters, in addition to a random assortment of no matter we may match into the trailer, as rapidly as doable.
Learn extra: A Guardian’s Information to Bikepacking With a Child
Le Grand Départ
It was early night by the point we completed packing. We discovered an indication for the trail, ‘La Loire a Velo’ and commenced biking alongside the river financial institution and throughout an extended bridge.
‘Where are you going?’, a useful French bike owner requested casually as he handed by.
‘We’re camping in a place called Olivet, but don’t actually know where it is.’
‘I do. Follow me’, he stated.
With that, he launched off, at a tempo which will have appeared sedate to him however was frightfully quick for my spouse and accompanying youngsters trailing behind, who may barely sustain.
We hadn’t even had an opportunity to take a look at a map, so discovered ourselves blindly following a French bike owner with no concept how far we would have liked to journey. Ultimately, he got here to an abrupt halt at a river.
‘You cross here. Bridge is broken the other way. Campsite is just along there’, he defined with a obscure gesture in the direction of farmland on the opposite facet.
We thanked him for his assist after which pretended to maneuver our bikes in the direction of the river whereas he cycled away.
‘We’re not actually going to ride through the river?’ requested Erin.
‘Definitely not’, I replied, turning my bike round as we acquired able to comply with the observe.
Again on observe! Or so we thought…
However who ought to we meet across the nook however our bike owner buddy.
‘No. No. No’, he insisted. ‘Bridge closed. You need to go that way.’
And so we did. And he was proper. A couple of kilometre down the highway, on the opposite facet of the river was the campsite ‘Camping Olivet’.
The campsite didn’t settle for Visa, so we cobbled our change collectively and had €5 left for a bottle of wine. Because the night rolled in, the adults drank surprisingly good French wine on plastic camp chairs whereas the youngsters took benefit of the camp playground.
Our first morning’s experience, from Olivet alongside the Loire, adopted a devoted gravel bike path, underneath a cover of timber, by means of a sequence of little villages and orchards.
As soon as once more, the youngsters insisted on using collectively, which was cute however meant my spouse nonetheless needed to carry the load of each youngsters within the trailer. On downhills the youngsters took turns yelling:
‘It’s not Super-ba. It’s SUP-PA-BAAA!’
To at the present time, I nonetheless do not know what Sup-pa-ba is. Erin and I agreed to swap the trailer over to my bike later that evening.
The following cease was beside one of many orchards to feed the youngsters and stretch their legs.
Consideration, pickpocket!
After a minute, our three yr previous got here operating again with an armful of apples he’d pilfered. That evening the campsite supervisor assured us that it was nice and that it’s a childhood ceremony of passage. I’m unsure the proprietor of the orchard would agree.
Tenting Municipal
All through this journey, we utilized the inverse rule of journey. This states:
‘When visiting an expensive destination, stay somewhere cheap. When visiting a cheap destination, stay somewhere expensive.’
This meant we ended up staying in a succession of municipal campsites.
These tenting areas are maintained by the French native councils and price about €15-€18 Euros an evening for the entire household.
The websites are fairly fundamental and are usually situated in the course of a village – it’s the French equal of staying on the native showground. You get fundamental services, however are pressured to traipse a few hundred metres to the native restaurant for a glass of French wine and inevitably sensible meals.
She is aware of precisely what’s up
Disaster!
As we depart our campsite at Montrichard, I hear an ominous crack and a second later the sound of 100 objects cascading throughout the cobbled highway. I look down, and certainly one of my saddle baggage has exploded and wedged itself into the wheel.
Learn extra: Newbie’s Information to Bikepacking Baggage
I spend the following hour transferring all my heavy gear into the trailer with the youngsters, which continues to be hooked up to Erin’s bike. I then stuff my sleeping bag and garments into a big plastic bag contained in the damaged pannier.
The clasp that bolts the pannier to the bike rack has mangled itself and so I take advantage of a few bungees to Macgyver a sling for the miscalcitrant baggage. We resolve to depart the youngsters’ trailer on my spouse’s bike till we get an opportunity to repair the saddle baggage correctly.
Our subsequent cease is Chenonceax. Essentially the most stunning chateau within the Loire.
We discover the gardens with the youngsters, however the spotlight is a experience to the opposite facet of the river Cher, the place the youngsters uncover that sticking ft within the river leads to a swarm of fish.
It’s a free French fish foot spa. I stick my scorching ft into the river and you may virtually see the water foam as hundreds of little fish gorge themselves. It’s a bit disturbing.
Shortcut Time
The cycle path doesn’t have a direct route between Chenonceax and Amboise, however a fast look at Google Maps reveals us {that a} 20km jolt alongside the D-31 would do the job.
Dangerous name.
The D-31 is a fantastic highway for automobiles… however not for a small lady towing a trailer with two youngsters and the heavy baggage.
We actually ought to swap it onto my bike, but it surely’s too harmful with all of the vans and automobiles passing us at terrifying pace.
Napoleon as soon as despatched an pressing order to plant timber alongside the primary marching routes of his armies all through Europe with the intention to present shade.
‘But sire, the trees will take 40 years to grow’, got here the response from one normal, to which Napoleon replied. ‘That is why the order is urgent.’
Sadly, the D-31 didn’t exist when Napoleon was Emperor and there aren’t any timber.
We cycle by means of the evident warmth of the mid-summer solar. I gallantly stroll Erin’s closely laden bike and trailer up the ultimate incline the place we attain a Lidl grocery store and each gulp down gallons of water.
They had been nice sports activities!
In the meantime, our wiser pals adopted the shaded cycle path alongside the river and had a beautiful day. After establishing camp, cooking dinner, and placing the youngsters to mattress, we’re too drained to modify the trailer over and have an early evening.
Le Petit Déjeuner (Breakfast)
The following morning, the youngsters eat a conventional French youngsters’s breakfast. A croissant dipped in scorching chocolate, and a small glass of orange juice.
Salut!
Later, as we experience throughout the bridge in the direction of the campsite in Saumur, I discover that using uphill feels a lot simpler than earlier within the journey. After ten days, our health is clearly enhancing. I point out this to Erin who glares at me, as she struggles up the hill, trailer and youngsters in tow.
We keep at a extra upmarket campsite tonight the place the youngsters swim in a big out of doors pool watched over by the Château de Saumur. The children be part of the campsite vacation program the following morning, regardless of our son’s insistence on solely talking ‘Australian’.
The following morning our group splits in two after our pals take a look at a map, and resolve to skip Angers and take an alternate and far shorter highway route.
Our first cease is a guide ferry crossing. This resembled the fox, grain, rooster state of affairs as we couldn’t match all the kids, bikes and each dad and mom onto the ferry in a single go.
Don’t get to do that daily
Angers was a spotlight. I wouldn’t describe myself as a ‘tapestry guy’ however the Apocalypse tapestry was magnificent. A 100-metre lengthy sequence of large hand stitched friezes, displaying varied scenes of torture from the e-book of Revelations – it’s significantly better than I make it sound.
These tapestries have one way or the other survived centuries of use as horse blankets earlier than being rediscovered, collated, and now superbly displayed on the chateaux in Angers.
By the point we cycle into Rochefort, we had been drained however glad. It’d been an amazing day. Our pals didn’t look fairly so stoked. As soon as once more, we learnt the worth of sticking to the official path.
Adieu, Loire!
Many of the ‘La Loire à Velo’ maps spotlight the journey from Orléans and finish at Angers relatively than Nantes.
The standard of the observe declines noticeably as we method Nantes, and we realise why this a part of the journey wasn’t included on the maps. It’s nice, however Nantes is a correct, working metropolis, not like the day dream that’s the remainder of the Loire.
The scenic wonders give option to concrete and glass. Nantes is a beautiful metropolis, but it surely’s a correct metropolis. Not a nostalgic relic of a bygone age. We’re again within the trendy world.
What an journey!
We return the bikes and it takes about two minutes to uninstall the trailer from my spouse’s bike. In hindsight, I in all probability ought to have finished this about ten days in the past.
For our last evening within the metropolis, we splash out on a pleasant resort. It takes an hour to examine in after which all of us migrate to the city sq. the place the youngsters chase one another round statues, whereas the adults drink French beer because the final rays of solar disappear over the horizon.
We increase a glass and ‘salut!’ to a job nicely finished.
