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squiz Member Member#: 6644 Location: Registered: 27-05-2007 Diary Entries: 2882 |
18th October 2016 Mt. Biking: Figure of 8 around Beaugency Wind Direction: Wind Stength: Surf / Sea State: Air Temperature: Sea Temperature: Weather: sunny periods Max Speed: 19.94 (knots - unless stated otherwise) Distance Covered: 39.40 mile (Nautical Miles - unless stated otherwise) Tuesday 18th October – Bike ***** Figure of 8 around Beaugency – sunny periods. 39.40 miles (our longest ride), out 6 hrs., 19.94 kts max speed. This holiday we have biked 401 miles in 17 trips – 23 miles ave., per session :) Nice night in the camper parking by the Loire in Beaugency and woke to mainly blue skies and a misty river – lovely:) This is our last chance of a bike ride this holiday so after a bit of a read in bed and breakfast we set off to the left of our van on the marked bike path which ran close to the Loire the 8 km. to Meung-sur-Loire another nice old riverside town with an old centre with chateaus and a big church. We explored the town, passing on the chance to spend 18 Euro’s to visit the chateau and did what most were doing walk in the gates, take a photo and leave! It was a bit chilly to start with so gloves were needed but it warmed up later even if the wind did pick up! We then crossed the river for the first time and had to bike on the road this side of the river as there were no dedicated cycle paths on the straight 4 km. to Clery-St-Andre a tiny village famous for a huge church where an 12th Century King and his wife are buried and a well known spot for pilgrims to visit, sadly we couldn’t visit the church as there was the biggest funeral we had ever seen going on:( There were people waiting at the cemetery, the church was packed and there were loads of others waiting outside – Mag refused to have her picture taken riding past so I just took a pic of the church – not the best of taste I know with a funeral in full swing! We found a cycle path by the busy road but then were signed off to the right on a quiet road to Dry which we drove through yesterday when it was very wet! We then cycled the same way we drove yesterday to the closed bridge just outside Beaugency but unlike yesterday when we turned around, we turned right and found the main old stone bridge and were back to where we started! Having made such good time, we decided after crossing the river to turn left, away from the van and head for the huge cooling towers of the Nuclear Power Station opposite Avaray. Again, this side of the river, the cycle path closely followed the river, we were getting hungry now and started to look for a picnic spot. We found an ideal place right opposite the two towers, which looked cool hissing out steam against the blue skies. We had nice French cheese and crackers watching swan wars with cormorant’s, herons and egrets feeding:) We continued on the long section on top of the flood wall to Muides-sur-Loire to cross the river where we crossed on a bike ride a few weeks ago but coming up from the other way! Again with no bike path this side we used the roads, which were thankfully not too busy, to St-Laurant-Nouan where we made a short detour to visit another old windmill. Then it was a left turn at a roundabout and back to Beaugency. After crossing the Loire for the 4th time we had a quick trip to look at the old town before heading back to the van for a well-deserved cuppa and apple puff:) There were black clouds coming so I put the bikes on the van quickly but we didn’t get any rain. We couldn’t believe we had biked nearly 40 miles when Mag checked her Strava, a lot of it into a head wind too! Then it was read and doze before delicious Lidl salmon for tea as the campervans arrive and surround us really close!!! It is great place to watch French life with, as last night loads of Boule players, joggers, dog walkers and at 6 o clock a group of Nordic walkers set off along the river getting back in the dark – it’s all action here:) The bikes have been a huge success having been used 17 times and we have covered over 400 miles with an average of 23 miles per session and the calories burned help compensate for the French bread and butter and cake and biscuits we have eaten:) Wednesday 19th October We had a leisurely start on the Loire then drove up to Seignaville on the Somme again for our over night spot. We had our usual stop at Pont de L’Arch for lunch but the journey was very short compared to our usual homeward travel. We had a look at St. Vallery which had the highest tide we have ever seen there! One of the car parks we have been to before was completely under water and the sheep had been taken off the marshland and put in a higher field. The boats on the quay looked as if they were going to come up into the road! If we had got to the bay a bit earlier I could have sailed at Le Crotoy – what a shame :( We called in to Lidl and Carrefour to get some last minute bits and pieces. Thursday 20th October We packed up and had a slow drive up the last 60 or so miles towards Calais. We had a drive through St. Vallery and Crotoy – saw the steam train at both ends :) Toyed with the idea of sailing on the last day but the high tide was too late and the wind didn’t turn up while we were there. We moseyed around all the coastal places and stopped for lunch, a walk then cuppa and cake at Ambleteuse before going to the shuttle early and luckily being let on the 6.20 instead of 8.20 crossing. We spent some time in the terminal on the wifi then crossed and drove up towards the M25. Then we had to go into London to get the board I bought for £25 before we left. We thought it was just a quick detour off the M25 but it turned out it was 17 miles into central London!!! It was quite scary and if we hadn’t had the sat nav we would have been completely lost – twists and turns everywhere. We locked all the doors because everyone looks like a serial killer!!! It took about 1 minute to collect the board then we got sent round through the blackwall tunnel right in the middle of London, through Greenwich and could see all the big Naval buildings and famous landmarks lit up and passed the Olympic park. It took us ages to get in and ages to get out although the roads were easier on the way out. We got home around 10.30 and after getting enough out of the van to get to the quilt we went straight to bed. Missed our old cat Holly not being here to greet us :( Dan and Jay already asleep! |
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