Day 7 – Surprise chateau

Woken by an amazing dawn chorus to rival the frog chorus of last night. Frogs 5 – Birds 10. Got up about 7.30 and Jackie cycled to the local boulangerie while I indulged in some top quality faffing. She returned shortly with pain au choc and a fresh crunchy baguette, to find me in the communal kitchen where our collapsible kettle was causing quite a stir amongst our fellow cyclists.

Breakfast of bread and cheese, pain au choc and decaf cappuccino from some powder in a sachet. Letting the side down somewhat with my coffee but I didn’t want to carry a cafétiere on my bike! Charged our electrical items while we ate.

Left the campsite via a bridge over the Loire with great views of Saumur. Walked through a busy street market and then cycled off on our way.

Last night we replanned our route for today to make it 40 miles instead of 50. There were two extremely steep hills on the new route. The first one took us up to a beautiful medieval town with a stunning chateau. We sat outside a café right opposite and had sandwiches for lunch. We hadn’t researched our new route in much detail and this place came as a complete and very welcome surprise.

Down a very steep hill at high speed – wheeee! Rode on for a while until we found the next steep hill of the day, so steep we had to get off and push while some passing locals cheered us on. Emerged at the top into a small town with a TH in its name and a patisserie that was jam-packed with mouth-watering delights. I had a pomme delice and Jackie chose a Paris-Brest, most appropriate for a cycle trip

The third and final leg of today’s journey was speedy due to our recent sugary fuel and a helpful tail wind.

The campsite was run by and full of Brits. It was ok though, we had a lovely pitch, a serviceable dinner and the showers were the best campsite showers ever. The post-prandial entertainment in the bar was from four elderly men who took it in turns to play guitar and sing a predictable selection of songs. It was good fun.

Off to bed. I was disappointed that there was no frog chorus tonight.

Miles today: 42

Total: 273

Good things today: