Moving on (and resting) St Benoit-sur-Loire to Jargeau

Lunch stop

Leaving St Benoit we again had trouble finding our trail and eventually ended up on a really rough track which some off-road riders assured us was OK.  It was really hard going but we finally ended up in Chateauneuf-sur-Loire where we ate our picnic lunch under some very welcome shade.

Either we're rubbish at map-reading or there really is a lack of decent signs along this stretch - we had to have frequent stops to check our position and this was frustrating and resulted in a stop-start sort of ride.  The surface of the trail - when we did find it, varied from wonderfully smooth tarmac to rough chippings which were hard work with a loaded bike and one of the reasons why people riding lightweight bikes aren't prepared to take the chance and opt, instead, for the village roads.

Following the trial can also be a little 'same-y' as you are literally riding along the levée on the banks of the Loire - very lovely but not very varied.  If you want to engage with the picturesque villages you need to go 'off-piste', something we will do next time.  That would also give you a better chance of finding food outlets, bars, restaurants etc.  However, the huge plus for us travelling in June/July was being mobbed by butterflies as we cycled through a corridor of wild flowers - simply wonderful..

Taking the decision to cycle east to west has meant riding into the prevailing wind which has been a bit of an issue.  It's never been that hard but it has been constant - however, carrying 16kgs each seemed to help as we have been able to ride quite smoothly into it.  The big advantage of our choice of direction, apart from the psychological advantage of riding towards home, is that we always had the morning sun behind us and the afternoon sun to our left, the only problem with this being the rather bizarre sun-tan.  We usually arrived at our campsite no later than 5 p.m. so never had the sun set ahead of us - at this time of year it's light till gone 10:30p.m. by which time we were all tucked up in our tents....

UK post-box in Jargeau...

We opted for a rest-day at Jargeau - mainly owing to the temperature which was getting up to 38 degrees centigrade! We spent the morning chasing the shade as we enjoyed a quiet time reading and chatting.  Lunch was a terrific surprise at a local Hotel 'Le Cheval Blanc' in the town centre which was  recommended by the camp-site owner.  We had an excellent meal - home-made and tasty with generous portions, included wine and coffee for a mere 11€ each!!  The banana split, heavy with choccy sauce, cream and ice-cream, was to-die for.

Church of St. Etiénne

The massive stone church of St.Etiénne, where we sought shelter from the blazing afternoon sun, had a collection of 12 wonderful paintings showing the stations of the cross that were done by O.D.V. Guillonnet, born 1872, who had spent most of his working life in Paris.  He returned to the town of his childhood to do the paintings for the church when he was 80 years old!!  Unfortunately I was unable to take pix of them and have found no record of them on the web to share with you.

The municipal camp-site was green, shady and level with modern shower-blocks, even though there seemed to be very few showers for the size of the site.  An extremely pleasant place for a stop-over.