FRANCE – MAINE ET LOIRE (II)

JUNE 2015

During the car trip from St Florentin le Vieil to visit the Cycling Festival at Saumur I passed several campsites and selected one at which to stay next as a base for local rides and exploration.

The Chantepie site is situated on the range of hills forming the southern boundary of the Loire Valley about 12km north west of Saumur. It is very well appointed though the WIFI range is limited to a small area around the offices and bar. I particularly enjoyed the swimming pool that had both a covered pool of reasonable size and shallower open air play areas for children surrounded by a sunbathing patio.

From this base I enjoyed local rides through the undulating countryside to the south and others around Saumur city itself and along roads and paths beside the river.

SAUMUR CITY

Saumur, like so many other places along the Loire, has been the site of human settlements for thousands of years with written records illuminating our understanding of events from the first millenium AD. 

During the 9^th and 10^th centuries locals here constructed a castle after a particularly destructive raid in 845 from Vikings who had settled in Normandy.       But that castle was itself destroyed during another war in the 11^th Century.       Henry II, Count of Anjou and King of England, rebuilt the castle about 100 years later.

In the 15^th century King René, the last Duke d'Anjou, converted the Castle into a Residential Palace and later it successively became a Military Barracks, a State Prison, and a modern Museum.       It still stands today, high on the bluffs overlooking the city and river.

In succeeding centuries Saumur was again the scene of significant military action on at least three occasions.

In 1793 a Vendéan army, at the high point of their campaign, captured the city from Republicans (see 2017 post, La Vendée for a brief summary of this civil war).

In 1940 Saumur was captured by the advancing German Army that overwhelmed a small number of cadets from the French Cavalry School who made a gallant defence during the period between a ceasefire having been agreed and its signature.  This Battle of Saumur is therefore described by some as being the first action of the French Resistance.

Saumur was again attacked in 1944, this time by Allied 'planes that bombed bridges and railways to prevent, or at least delay, German tanks from reinforcing troops opposing the Allied landings and actions in Normandy. 

Bridge at Saumur

Situated in the heart of the Loire Valley's Chateau Country and enjoying a benign climate Saumur today is a prosperous and busy city largely focussed on Tourism, Viniculture and the production of Mushrooms!

LE CADRÉ NOIR

Saumur has a long history as a centre of equestrian excellence and in 1783 the French Cavalry School was established here,  later becoming known as Le Cadré Noir after the colour of their uniforms.

The Cadré typically numbers 22 riders of about 50 horses with both men and animals having an International reputation.       It was originally formed to teach officers and NCO's of the French Cavalry a riding style first formalised by Louis 15th's riding master and described in a book published in 1731. 

In 1972 when there was no longer a need for cavalry in the French Army the Cadré provided the core of the teaching staff at the newly established National School of Équitation.   

The Cadré continue in their teaching role, training horses and riders for Olympic and other competitions, and also give displays to the public in their purpose built centre at Saumur, and in other national and international venues.

I attended one such during my stay at Chanteprie. The School's establishment is located in a rural setting on the outskirts of Saumur and has offices, lecture halls, and so on as well as extensive stables, exercise Yards and a huge covered Display Hall.    The latter has artificial lighting so my 'photos suffer from this somewhat and from the distance of some activities from my viewpoint  – particularly the jumping displays I have not attempted to include.

But here are some of the others from which you can get an impression of the extreme discipline of movement and rider posture attained even when the horses and riders were sharing the arena with humans performing ballet movements.

In-Line Entrance

And March

Perfectly Poised

Dancers, Riders and Horses in Harmony

Pas de Deux

Two Beauties

Pirouette with Me

Close Formation

Grande Finalé

Time for a Shower

TUFFEAU STONE, TROGLODYTES AND CARVINGS

The region around Saumur is famous for its Tuffeau stone. Tuffeau is a type of limestone with a highly consistent appearance and structure. It has a high porosity and is very light in comparison with most other stones being only about 20% heavier than water.

Tuffeau has been quarried from the hills on either side of the Loire for more than a thousand years and used extensively in the construction of sarcophagi – it has been estimated more than 120,000 were produced between the 5^th and 8^th centuries - and innumerable buildings.      Most of the Loire Chateaux were built using Tuffeau and it was widely exported for similar use in other countries –including Westminster Abbey in England.

All this activity led to many holes in the ground of course, some completely underground (particularly around the town of Doué) and some visible on the surface such as those in the cliffs close to the river.      It is said there are more than 1,000 kms of tunnels left over from quarrying over the centuries.

The temperature in the tunnels is typically 10-12 °C and is remarkably uniform throughout the year whatever the external weather.      In earlier centuries this resulted in some communities using them as places of refuge and even as permanent dwellings. Hence the widespread reference to Troglodytes in Guide books and other tourist promotions.

Until recently people living in such a manner came to be seen as doing so because they were poor but now there are signs it is again becoming popular amongst artists and other bohemian types.    A number of hotels and restaurants have also adapted the tunnels and caves to their needs and I enjoyed lunch in such a one at La Matinière just to the east of Saumur.

Use of the tunnels as places in which to store wine has been much more constant with many of the numerous Vintners of the region taking advantage of the suitably dark and uniform temperature conditions to store their produce before offering it on the market.

Mushroom cultivation is another commercial use that has become a large business – the region here supplies over half of all the mushrooms consumed in France!

There are a couple of caves penetrating the hillside next to the D751 not far west of Saumur that are open to visitors. 

In one a wide variety of mushrooms are grown for both visitor edification and commercial sale. 

In the other a large number of intricately detailed Chateaux, Cathedrals and Abbeys each carved from a single block of Truffeau are displayed.     One showed a sequence of blocks at different stages illustrating how the sculptor had first created a bold envelope and progressively filled in the detail later.

Two of several stages

Carved from a single block of Tuffeau

A RIDE TO GENNES AND BACK

The Loire à Vélo route just west of Saumur runs beside and sometimes on the D751 passing through the small villages of Chenhutte, Trèves and Cunault before reaching Gennes.   It was easy to reach this road from the campsite with a fast downhill run from the Route de Chantepie - a minor road along the hilltops parallel to the river that provides access to the site.

Chenhutte, Trèves and Cunault are separate small villages each having its own history but so close together they are grouped with one another as a single commune for administrative purposes.

There are reminders of past centuries in all three but here are a couple of photos from Trèves .

11^th Century Castle

L'Église Saint Aubin

Gennes is larger than the three small villages just mentioned and lies at the southern end of the first bridge over the Loire downriver from Saumur. As such it was one of the sites defended by Cadets from the Cavalry School during the 1940 Battle for Saumur. Seventeen of them were killed and they are buried in the 11^th century Saint-Eusèbe church in the town.

There are of course many other historically interesting points and places in the town and one that particularly interested me was a Roman Amphitheatre on the outskirts still used for modern entertainments.

Roman Amphitheatre being equipped for 21^st Century Pop Concert

Roman Wall enclosing the Seating Tiers

At the top of the Wall there was originally a ticket booth and crowd Control Passage wide enough for just one person at a time to enter the seating area - plus ça change ......

Climbing up the hill leaving Gennes took me to an even steeper section I had gone up once before when returning from a ride to the south at the higher level.    (I say climbing but should explain I walked the steepest bits pushing the bike - I wouldn't want to be thought an aspiring entrant in the Tour de France!).     From the top it was an easy ride back to camp along the rue de Chanteprie.

LES ROSIERS AND CAMPING VAL DE LOIRE

Bearing in mind the need to make a return journey to England I decided not to camp further east during this trip but did make two visits in that direction by car - to Tours and to Fontévraud described in the next post.   

I did have time to move to Camping Val de Loire at Les Rosiers, north of the Loire and opposite Gennes. This was also a well equipped site albeit with smaller pitches and less splendid views.

Here I succeeded in finding flatter land and enjoyed a few rides into the hinterland and on roads parallel to the river.

Looking West at Les Rosiers

On the day this photo was taken I took the sign to mean the route lay down the ramp and bounced about over the uneven and stony surface for a mile or so until finding myself blocked from further progress by an ever steeper river bank covered in long grass and undergrowth.

Retracing my route I deduced the sign was pointing to a moderately busy tar-macadamed road and did indeed find myself travelling  parallel to the river but with cars whizzing along in both directions. Soon I found a turning into a minor road leading away from the river and enjoyed a pleasant ride along country lanes that eventually led me back to camp.

The route east along the north bank of the Loire from Les Rosiers similarly followed a shared use road through a couple of small villages to the northern end of the bridge at Saumur.

So I certainly found rides from Les Rosiers were over flatter ground than those from Chanteprie but they were along busier roads and through less interesting places.