GLOUCESTER

SEPTEMBER 2018

Constrained by the need to be in Tunbridge Wells at the end of October (to provide access to my flat during external redecoration), this year I had to forgo an autumnal search for the sun in Europe.

Instead I decided to visit Wales again and to travel there in easy stages from the caravan storage farm near Winchester.

I stayed first at a basic campsite near the small village of Slad, high in the Cotswold Hills on the escarpment overlooking Gloucester and Cheltenham. This was a single field in which I was the sole occupant for the first 24 hours, and had all essential services (including a power supply) but no showers. 

One of the reasons for choosing this place was to visit an annual History Festival in Gloucester. For the most part that was a disappointment due to congestion in the city centre that was once a beautiful place – when the population was about 5 % of its present number. 

Cathedral Design and Construction

But one of the events was a talk on Cathedral Green by a young stone-mason being trained and employed by the Cathedral as one of its small team maintaining the fabric of the building. His talk and demonstration of traditional tools was very interesting and I was surprised to learn most of the work was performed with an axe - chisels and claws being employed only for fine work and decorative carving. 

I very much enjoyed the discussion that followed, leading as it did to confirmation critical decisions on the design and construction were originally taken by a Master Builder and a Master Carpenter. Both reached their positions after a long apprenticeship and many years experience in their trades. 

I also learned the Master Carpenter became less important as time passed because there were so many roof fires that timber vaults and construction were replaced in stone and flying buttresses developed to carry the greater weight and outward thrusts resulting from this change – all done empirically since the mathematics and physics of science and engineering were not developed until centuries later. 

The young mason confirmed many problems and accidents arose from this empirical approach because, knowledgeable and skilled though they were, contemporary masons couldn't foresee all possibilities. 

Perhaps the most famous example is the free-standing Bell Tower of Pisa Cathedral in Italy and it is less well known that the central tower in Wells Cathedral suffered a similar problem in the same period (14^thCentury). 

In both cases the problem stemmed from the underlying ground being unable uniformly to support the weight of the towers. At Pisa it was softness of the ground on one side that caused the inclination observed during initial construction and prevalent ever since. The central tower at Wells was first discovered to be leaning about a hundred years after construction and is now thought to have been caused by a fault generated during an earthquake a hundred years before that. 

Many unsuccessful stabilisation measures have been tried at Pisa but the latest series, starting as recently as 1964, seem to have led to a successful result in 2008! 

Medieval masons were more successful at Wells and the strong but elegant“Scissors Arches”were introduced in the first half of the 14^thCentury. 

Gloucester Cathedral Construction and Use

Christianity had been established in England for many years before the Norman invasion and an abbey built in Gloucester in the late 7^thCentury. At that time it was secondary in importance to one already established at Hereford that originated, along with one at Worcester, as a sub-division of the Bishopric of Lichfield. These latter places were at the heart of the Kingdom of Mercia, established after the Saxons had pushed the Britons into Wales but later over-run by the Viking invaders from Scandinavia and then the Normans.

The Normans quickly changed everything they found and immediately after their victory at Hastings in 1066 imparted a new vigour to both civil and religious life with a massive programme of Castle and Cathedral building unlike anything seen before in strength and size.

In the Midlands they started at Hereford in 1079 to replace an Abbey destroyed by the Welsh under Prince Llewellyn, and the Norman Bishop of Hereford started construction of another new Abbey at Gloucester ten years later in 1089.

A 7^thcentury Saxon church had previously stood on the site chosen but the new building was stone-built as a great place of Worship that would completely overawe the local population.

In common with many other Norman buildings the Abbey was largely completed in the 13^thcentury but extensively expanded and modifed over the next 100-200 years. It had many Royal associations, with Henry III being initially crowned there in 1216, Edward III buried in 1327, and Henry VIII destroying its ownership during the Dissolution of the Monasteries in 1520 but re-instating it as a Cathedral one year later.

Today, it continues as an active place of worship and a magnificent reminder of past glories.

In these less devout days it is also used for more secular purposes such as film-making. My grandchildren may be interested to learn it appeared as Hogwarts School in several of the Harry Potter films and my daughter that it was the setting for Wolf Hall in the BBC's adaptation of Hilary Mantel's novel of the same name. 

CENTRAL LOIRE VALLEY

CHATILLON SUR LOIRE AND BRIARE

MAY 2018

Please note this post deviates from the chronological sequence otherwise adopted as illustrated by this map of my travels.

There is a campsite at Briare itself but I chose to stay at a smaller one on the right bank of the Loire opposite the town of Chatillon. This was less well equipped and serviced, but less crowded and with pitches right on the riverbank as this photo shows.

You can't get closer than this

From here I was able to make rides along pleasant cycle paths and minor roads into Briare downriver and on either side of the river in the other direction.

The Chatillon site was run by the municipality from a large building originally used as the lock keeper's residence and this stimulated my interest in the origins and facts of the canals hereabouts.

The 16^th Century was a turbulent time in the history of Paris with rapid population growth to about 350,000 citizens in the middle of the century that dropped to 300,000 by 1600 as a result of plague and religious wars between Catholics and Protestants.

Catholics committed the notorious St Bartholomew's Day Massacre of Huguenots in 1572 and this was followed by Protestant Henry of Navarre's siege of the city in the 1590s. The siege was finally resolved when Henry agreed to become a catholic and was accepted as King HenryIV by the whole country including its capital city.

Henry therefore had good reason to try and keep the citizens of Paris as well fed and content as possible. At the time that was no mean task since the city streets were narrow and congested and roads outside the walls were little more than primitive cart tracks. Most grain and other supplies were conveyed and distributed by barge on the Seine and local canals.

So it was that Maximilian de Béthune the Duc de Sully who restored the castle on the Loire and was Henry's Finance Minister, conceived the idea of building a 57 kms long canal from Buges on the Seine to Briare on the Loire crossing the watershed between the two valleys.    This would enable grain from the interior to be more reliably brought in larger volumes to the capital but would require reservoirs near the summit and 36 locks from end to end to climb and descend the hills.

Construction was started in 1605 but Henry's well conceived plan to keep the populace happy didn't have time to work as he was assassinated six years later. The Duc de Sully was disgraced and work on the canal stopped until twenty seven years later during Louis XIII's reign. The canal was completed and became operational in 1642.

This canal was a vital link in an ever widening national network including the Canal Lateral de la Loire that terminated at Chatillon at the time.    Barges travelling across the Loire had to pass into the river via locks on each side.

The one on the right bank, connecting the Briare Canal to the Loire had the unusual need for an external and an internal gate system at each end because the huge range in water level in the Loire between times of drought and flood meant the riverside water varied between being higher than the canalside in Spring and lower in Autumn.

External River Gate

Internal Canal Gate

I haven't been able to find accurate figures for the full range but, from observation and my own  photos, estimate it could be as large as 40 feet.     Apparently the same problem did not arise on the left bank, presumably because the height of the canal water rose and fell at the same time as that in the river.

Whilst here I had a direct indication of the speed with which the water level could change lending real meaning to a number of signs showing a running man and a wave formation with the words – “en cas d'inondation”. 

There were a couple of days with relatively light rain but perhaps it was heavier farther inland and in the Cevennes where the Loire rises.    Whereas the water level had left many signs of sands at the river edges and was flowing at a couple of knots when I arrived, two days later it had broadened and deepened considerably and was running at more like 6 or 7 knots.

Although Henry didn't survive to see the degree to which the canal was used others did and about 100 years later bulk goods of many types were being conveyed along it – including wine apparently requiring more than 500 barges at one period so great was the thirst of an ever increasing population.

Unlike many other canals haulage was normally performed by two men and not by horses.

Two important extensions and improvements were made in the late 19^th Century. The first was installation of a pumping system so water could be supplied to the reservoirs during droughts and the canal kept operational all year round.

The second was to do away with the need for barges to enter and leave the river at Chatillon by extending the canal lateral to a point opposite Briare from which a viaduct carrying it across the river could be built to directly link with Briare's Commercial Port and Canal.

Canal viaduct over the river

And river under the viaduct

Links Briare's commercial port to the Canal Lateral

Nowadays the viaduct is still in use but as a leisure facility with tourists either walking across or riding on a canal long-boat built within an inch to just pass through the stonework sides where the viaduct joins the canal proper.

Passengers

Bikes

On wide barges

That only just squeeze past the narrowest section

OUISTREHAM

June 2018

Ouistreham is a seaside resort and ferry port a few miles north of the big city of Caen.

It is very popular and convenient for a one night stop before or after the crossing the English Channel from Portsmouth and is sometimes used for a longer stay as it is also close to Bayeux where the famous Tapestry is displayed and to the beaches where the Allied forces landed during World War II.

Northern Normandy Coast

The site was easy to find but as I turned off the D515 onto the short approach road I noticed a large crowd of African Immigrants on a stretch of green land between the two.         In the following days too they were invariably there just sitting around, talking to one another, smoking and so on.        But it was also noticeable there was usually a Police car nearby and perhaps for this reason I never experienced or saw any signs of trouble.

Having already visited Bayeux and the WW II landing beaches in years gone by I didn't feel a compulsion to do so again and had a rather dull time for ten days before my ferry was due.        I would have preferred to stay longer at Tuffe in the absence of flooding but even so should perhaps have gone to another site in the interior rather than spending so much time at Ouistreham.

Mostly I prepared food in the caravan but on my last night I treated myself to dinner at La Glycine Restaurant in Benouville just a few miles down the road towards Caen.

This was expensive but very, very good.     All the dishes were perfectly cooked, had intensive flavours and were elegantly presented.    Here is the menu -

Mise-en-Bouche - small concoction of raw salmon and apple 

Entree - Foie Gras de Canard and Pomme Confites with toast 

Plat - Turbot with exquisite vegetables and prawn sauce

Dessert - Strawberry Capuccino - liquified and strained strawberries with Creme Fraiche and Mint

Wines - Touraine and Sancerre Sauvignon Blanc

So, I was feeling very satisfied and relaxed as I returned to the site and picked up the  van at 21:30 to catch the late night ferry.

That feeling didn't last long as explained in this email I sent to family after returning home :

A CALENDAR BLIND SPOT AND ITS CONSEQUENCES

When I reached the ferry terminal an hour before the boat sailed last night the girl at the check-in booth said - "You were booked to travel yesterday! "

'Never mind she said, 'We're not full so you'll be able to go anyway".    Then after looking up details on her computer she also said "But we don't have any cabins left so the best we can do is revise your booking to a reclining seat and later send you a refund for the difference".

I had no alternative but to accept, and immediately 'phoned Alan to explain and re-arrange our meeting place for transfer of the van's contents to a service station on the M4 thus fore-going the benefit of a good night's sleep at a site near Marlborough I'd already paid for and a less rushed transfer on Saturday morning.

So, I had a very uncomfortable night with little sleep but the next interesting thing to happen was when I went through UK Customs and Immigration at Portsmouth.      "Did you look inside your van before coming off the ferry"? asked the officer at Passport Control, to which I replied "No".       Whereupon he said, 'We'd better have a look then", which we did and found everything in order.         He then said "They smuggle themselves inside lorries to get aboard the ferry and then get out and break-in to caravans and the like when every-one has left the car decks - we've had one every day this week."       This exchange related to the illegal immigrants from Africa who base themselves in Ouistreham, some of whom I had seen every day at the entrance to the campsite. 

The transfer of contents to Alan's trailer took place as planned the previous evening and I delivered the van to the Caravan Dealer near Swindon for its first annual service.

I also managed to get home without dozing off at the wheel and having an accident and am now relaxing with a "nice cup of tea".        

Thus ended my summer land-cruise in France this year and I'm now enjoying the greater ease and comforts of living in a larger space for a short time before setting off to share another summer holiday with Alan and his family in Cornwall. 

PAYS DE LA LOIRE

TUFFÉ

JUNE 2018

I stayed at Le Po Doré site near Allonnes for a week but then moved on to Camping du Lac at the old town of Tuffé, a few miles north east of Le Mans and about half way between Saumur and Caen.

This small and quiet rural village grew up around an Abbey unusually founded and occupied by Nuns in the 7^th Century. Benedictine Monks were admitted 400 years later and the House was demoted to become a Priory subordinate to the Abbey of St Vincent in Le Mans.

The old buildings were extensively replaced and extended in the 17^th and 18^th centuries and, as with so many religious and aristocratic buildings in France, gutted during the Revolution and turned to other purposes thereafter.        In this case they were used as a pottery workshop and garage for farm equipment.

Modern volunteers care for the remains, particularly the principal two-storey building and a separate cloister and gardens with a large Pigeonnier nearby. The pigeons for the Prior's table had the luxury of an extensive array of pottery lined nesting boxes on the interior walls of the tower-like Pigeonnier. Volunteers are currently engaged at a leisurely pace in archeological and restoration projects.

These historical remains are rather dwarfed by recent housing developments though it has to be said those nearest the Abbey have been done tastefully and are limited in height.

One of the sources of the villages current prosperity and interest is a “Base de Loisirs” (Recreation Centre) created around a large lake in the valley just north-west of the village.

The lake is roughly rectangular in shape with long sides of about 1 km and short ones of ¼ km each. It is surrounded by a mostly flat and gravel-surfaced track popular with anglers, walkers and cyclists.  I very much enjoyed using it frequently, sometimes for just one circuit and sometimes for two. These rides were shorter than others earlier on the trip but more regular.

There is also a sailing club with boards for windsurfers, small dinghies and catamarans very popular with locals at weekends, and at one end of the lake an artificial beach has been created with imported sand that's also popular for sunbathing, swimming or just relaxing.   

Near the campsite and sailing club there's a restaurant and bar with a "Menu Touristique" - not exactly a gourmet's first choice but a distinct cut above a typical English, or even French café/bar.       Pedaloes and canoes can also be rented here.

So, taken altogether this was a very relaxed and calming place to stay - at least for the first ten days. 

I chose a pitch at the lowest level of the site as it had a good view of the lake – seen through the window of the caravan in this picture.

View of lake and glimpse of its peripheral track

That was fine for most of the time but led to a dramatic curtailment of my stay at the end after a few days of thunderstorms and heavy rain.     

I was awoken one night at 02:00 by a loud thumping on the side of the van and a voice saying “Fireman”.    It wasn't a fire alarm though but instead a flood alarm announced by “Les Pompiers” who provide civil emergency services of all sorts.    

The lake is fed by a small river that flows down the valley and the heavy rains increased the inward flow to an extent that the outflow couldn't match so the water level was rising rapidly.   The Pompiers had issued notice to evacuate the site with occupants taking cars to a park at a higher level but leaving vans where they were.

Here is a copy of the email I sent to family describing what happened.

I used always to have a Grab Bag containing vital essentials on the boat but never thought I'd need one in a caravan!

The worst thing last night after being woken by Le Pompier was remembering the most important things to take, finding them, and thinking the bike, table and chairs that were all outside might float away or be badly damaged if I just left them where they were.

I'd put the bike in the car so often that was soon accomplished but in my haste I broke one of the table leg's locking struts - so I don't know if that will still stand up any more.

It was 03:00 by the time I'd retreated to the car park and I went for a short drive to try and discover how high the water had reached - but the easiest access point in the village had been taped-off, so perhaps low-altitude citizens had been evacuated as well.

But I did find an entrance to the path around which I had cycled several times and the water had risen nearly to that level- perhaps 18 - 24 inches below the level of the van's lowest feet and 24-30 inches below the lowest floorboards. 

But of course the slope was fairly gentle so I realised the volume needed to really trouble the van would be huge because of the large area of the lake.

Nevertheless it was on my mind when I returned to the car park at about 04:00 and again at 05:15 when I woke from an uncomfortable doze as daylight began to creep over the landscape.

So, I was back at the campsite entrance at 06:00 to find the access key I'd been given didn't work and the reception office was in darkness. I thought I'd have to wait for some-one to show up. But, luckily a staff member who had been dozing in the office was alerted by the car's headlights and came out to investigate.

He said - "You can't stay in your van". "That's OK" I replied, thinking it could easily be a couple of days before enough water drained away for residence to be resumed, or even longer if there was more rain. "I just want to collect my van and leave the site. I can do that in 30 minutes maximum". "OK", he said.

So that's what I did and was on the road by 06:30, though tidying up and packing away the pots and pans, unwashed dinner dishes, etc, wasn't up to my usual standards. He also advised using Routes National only since he'd heard many of the Départemental roads and villages along them were impassable.

My objective was to reach the site at Ouistreham at which I had already booked a pitch for Friday and I was glad I took the site staff member's advice, even though I had to go back some distance to Le Mans to do so.  It continued to rain most of the way to Caen and several minor roads leaving the A28 and A88 had notices at the Junction - "Barré, Inondée".

It took a lot longer than usual to set up the van when I reached the Bella Riva campsite at Ouistreham but eventually the rain stopped and I finished doing so.

Its now windy but sunny and all is over except for the broken table leg and that I'm very tired.

Altogether an interesting experience but not so traumatic as arriving at Richards Bay in a Violent Storm (See Grandpa's Voyages blog).

CENTRAL LOIRE VALLEY

SULLY SUR LOIRE

May 2018

To orientate myself and others I have prepared this map of my expedition that I'll also use in later posts - it shows the places at which I stayed and my travel direction.

Early Summer Route - 2018

I decided not to visit Orléans because of the congestion that undoubtedly clogs the city most of the time and certainly on 8 May when there is an annual festival celebrating Joan of Arc's triumph in relieving the English siege in 1428 (the first French victory after their disastrous defeat at Agincourt 13 years earlier).

Instead I cut across country to Sully opposite which is the small town of St Pere-sur-Loire and the campsite “Jardin de Sully”. This was somewhat larger and more pretentious than “La Poterie” but comfortable and very well situated. There was no direct access to the river bank but the water could be seen through trees in the grounds.

Well, its hard to see the river but it was there, through the trees

Here it is with a view of Saint Ythier College on the left bank

The town of Sully developed at this place because it was one of the few at which the river could be forded. This naturally made it strategically important and the site was fortified from early historical times with the oldest remains still in existence dating from 1102.

The castle was seriously damaged by floods in 1363 and the owner at the time appointed Raymond du Temple, designer of the Louvre, to plan and oversee its restoration.      In 1602 it was purchased by Maximilian de Béthune, Henry IV 's Finance Minister and the first Duc de Sully who started a process of expansion and conversion to a palatial residence continued by others in later centuries and culminating in public ownership after the second world war.

Here are some photos taken from different viewpoints.

From the Park

Over the Moat from the Esplanade beside the river

From the Town

The land upriver of Sully is densely cultivated now but was vulnerable to regular springtime floods in years gone by – no doubt enriching the soil with deposits and minerals carried down from the interior.      This transformation was created by a levée on each bank I estimated to be some 25 feet above the water level in May 2018.

There is now a surfaced roadway along the top of the southern Levée running eastwards for about 8km from the Chateau for the use of pedestrians, cyclists and approved but strictly limited “riverains” as the owners of the one guest house and four or five farms beside it are called.

Voie Verte on the top of the Levée

I made an expedition along this part of the “Loire a Velo” route, continuing on a minor road to the small village of Lion-en-Sullias and back along a slightly larger road with very little traffic as this part of my ride was during the traditional French lunch hour when very nearly everyone is occupied with their vittles. I returned to the levée along a single track lane in order to get back to the Chateau without going through the town.

There were several places with pleasing views and spring flowers as the following photos show.

A Bend in the Loire with Dampierre Nuclear Power Station in the Background

Dampierre is one of several such stations along the Loire, sited there to use the river water for condensing exhaust steam from the turbines, and has four 937 MW reactors.      Construction was started in 1974 and electricity first produced six years later. So that reactor has been in operation for 38 of its 40 year design lifetime and will be one of the first in France to be closed.     As in Britain, measures to extend the life are being taken but the cost of eventual de-commissioning and disposal of irradiated materials is the source of much controversy.

France's nationalised electricity supplier – EDF – has made some financial provision for these closures but critics assert the final bill will be much higher than has so far been allowed.       That was one of the reasons EDF's own Finance Director resigned a year or two ago when he thought the company's commitment to finance and build the next generation reactors at Hinkley Point in England would create too much debt for the company and market to bear.

Gorse and Mayflower Bloom together

I was in clover here

I also made a couple of explorations by car whilst staying at the Jardin-de-Sully site but the “Loire a Velo” route to the east ran some distance from the river through rather open agricultural fields that I found less interesting so I didn't attempt that on the bike.

CENTRAL LOIRE VALLEY

AMBOISE AND BEAUGENCY

April 2018

LEAVING MARCILLY

I ended up staying nearly three weeks at Marcilly, mainly because of the van problems.

Initially, the only help the van dealer provided was to say they would ship a new hitch and stabiliser unit to me (at my expense). In due course that arrived bringing with it a manual explaining its design and installation in more detail than I'd ever seen before.

The manual very heavily emphasised the risks of the unit failing to work properly if the tow-ball wasn't fully compatible and

the kit supplied included a new ball meeting the requirements – but it wouldn't fit my car because it was too short to clear the rear bodywork.

The manual also confirmed design and manufacture of the ball should conform to ISO 50 (nominally having a 50mm diameter) and should not be worn to less than 49.61 mm. The Subaru ball supplied with the car when both were new was hard-stamped accordingly and having learned the French for a Vernier Caliper (Pied a Coulisse) I found an electronic one in a hardware store on the Industrial Estate in Dreux. Use of that confirmed the minimum diameter of the Subaru ball was 49.74 mm. So that didn't seem to be the source of the problem.

The site maintenance engineer and I then tried fitting the new hitch on the car's ball without fitting the hitch to the caravan, and compared the position of the colour indicators, allegedly showing whether or not the hitch and ball were properly connected, with the equivalent indications on the original hitch fitted to the caravan. 

There was no visible difference.

I reported these findings to the UK dealer and then had a long telephone conversation with the new workshop manager appointed during the time I was at Marcilly.          He explained the colour indicators were not a fully reliable method of confirming security of the connection and neither was my physical test of trying to lift the rear of the car by heaving upwards on the van's tow-bar though that thinking was on the right lines.           But I might have just been lifting the downward weight of the van, resulting in the rear of the car rising on its springs without moving up enough to actually tension the springs via the tow-bar.

The new manager had now introduced a new briefing instruction to be given by the despatch assistant when customers take delivery of a van emphasising the only foolproof way of checking hitch security is to lift the rear of the car by winding the van up on its jockey wheel.

In the meantime the site maintenance engineer had made a good job of re-wiring the 13-pin electrical plug and using the now recommended method of checking, the van duly followed the car without a problem on a tentative test drive – and has done so on all subsequent journeys.

So, it seems the only real problem was an inadequate briefing when the van was delivered coupled with unreliable visual indicators of connection security.         

I now think the latter was probably more of a problem with the Subaru than the Mercedes, as the initial spring rate is softer to give it more off-road capability.        I hope to get a price refund for the new but unused hitch and stabiliser unit.

POSITION AND GEOGRAPHY OF THE CENTRAL LOIRE VALLEY

The source of the Loire is in the Cévennes (part of the Massif Central) not far from Lyons in the Rhone Valley and over 1,000 km from where it debouches into the Atlantic west of Nantes.

The section from Tours to the river-mouth is roughly one third of this distance passing westwards through the region I visited during my first land tour in 2015.        So this year I decided to go farther upriver and have a look at that part of France now known as “Centre-Val- de-Loire” (a huge region roughly circular with a 400-500 km diameter south of Paris).

Overview Map

Here the land slopes gently east-west and the river passes in a huge semi-circle with a diameter of about 150km centred on a city called Vierzon having Tours at its western end and Nevers in the east.

This is the area famous for its rich History, Chateaux and Vineyards, including such well-known names as Tours, Blois, Orléans and Sancerre.

Whilst fascinated by historical events and the benefits of viniculture I was though as much interested in the prospect of being near water with scope for some some gentle, traffic-free cycling, as I was in traipsing around busy cities and the domestic circumstances of ultra-rich people in the past.

AMBOISE and MOSNES

Having enjoyed Tours Castle and Fonteyvraud Abbey in 2015 I decided to start east of there near the city of Amboise and chose a small campsite at Mosnes village called “La Poterie”. This was delightful and operated by a very friendly couple who always had a cheery word and smile for campers and passing cyclists alike.

Cyclists and campers were often the same because the “Loire a Velo” cycle route passes immediately outside the camp entrance within a few metres of the river itself.     Several expeditionary cyclists carrying all their possessions pitched their bivouac tents at “La Poterie” for an overnight stay.

Looking Upriver from the Camp Entrance

And Looking Downriver

The site was very small, perhaps 40 pitches and a handful of chalets, but had all the necessary facilities – ablutions, washing machine and drier, waste disposal etc.

The site also had WIFI access on each pitch included in the overnight fee, and arranged delivery of “Une Demi-Baguette” and “Un Pain au Chocolat” every morning. Together with French butter and a large cup of “Café au Lait” I prepared myself this made a wonderful breakfast leaving me satisfied until evening dinner.

The nearest supermarket was in Amboise, that has a Chateau, but not one in which I had a particular interest. Otherwise it was a busy regional centre with lots of traffic and too many people.

I did explore by car a few times and went for three or four cycle rides up and down river on the Voie Verte sections of the “Loire-a-Velo” route during which I took these few photos.      

The Loire here is pretty wide

And has many beaches created from sands brought down during springtime floods

The rides were all pretty short though because soon the cycle route had to use multi-purpose roads and riding along with cars whizzing past every so often doesn't have the same appeal.

BEAUGENCY

This is another old city with its own Chateau but I chose to go there because it had a campsite by the river and I hoped to find another Voie Verte section of the cycle route.

But that didn't work out so well because it turned out much of the route here was again on roads used by other traffic.

A travelling fair set up on the river bank on the city side was another deterrent.      The campsite on my side was very open and contiguous with a small golf course in the same grounds with both being fully visible from the fairground.

So I was mildly concerned about van security in these circumstances – I had no evidential reason for this but it would have been so easy for one of the “Travellers” to drive across the bridge and whisk my van away that I decided not to risk leaving it for longer than a quick trip to the supermarket.

My only record of this place is one photo I took because I liked the contrast of the pink blossom against the green background.

Contrasting Colours at Beaugency