Our last full day in France. We left the Aire in Saumur at a reasonable time intending to visit nearby Turquant. It’s typical of the area with many ‘troglodyte’ dwelling hollowed out centuries ago from the limestone ‘tufa’ cliffs. Turquant has converted many of these to craft shops & resturants.  However, we forgot the Vélo Vinage weekend included rides through that area and all road access to the village was closed off to anything other than bicycles!

We ended up the other side of the road blocks at Saut aux Loups in Montsoreau – a visitor centre for one of the most popular uses of the caves, mushroom growing! In the 19th century the ancient caves were rediscovered and put to use as the ideal location for growing mushrooms, even today 70% of France’s mushrooms come from this area. The things we could now tell you about the fungi and the compost they are growing in!  The other main use for these caves is storing wine – we’ll have to get back to that one next visit.

Our final visit was to Abbaye de Fontevrand,opened in the 12th century as one of Europe’s biggest monasteries. It was closed in 1793, used as a prison in the early 20th century but now restored to (almost) it’s former glory. It houses the tombs of Eleanor of Aquitaine, once Queen of France and then Queen of England (not a bad CV) along with husband Henry II and son Richard the Lionheart.

Needless to say the Cyclists got to the Abbey first, it was being used as a rest point for one of the rides…….

We then set off for the long haul north and five hours later here we are again at Montreuil, where we spent our first night in the van in France in what seems a lifetime ago.

We’ve decided to stay an extra day in Saumur so we could see the Anjou Vélo Vintage – a big weekend festival where hundreds of of people descend on the town to take part in cycle rides of varying difficulty, the longest being 120 km.

Everyone is encouraged to turn up in vintage outfits bringing vintage bikes, if possible.  Not everyone does but many join in the sprit – there even seemed to be a large British contingent complete with plenty of old bikes & tandems.

Some of the rides were led off by a collection of four vintage cars – spot the Trabant at the back which I’m sure had trouble staying ahead of the bikes!

There was a also a big collection of stalls selling local food and wine plus vintage ‘stuff’ (got the message about the theme yet?). My favourite was the giant peanut roasting machine…….

.…… and to top it off a stage featuring some very entertaining musicians. A day well spent.

Definately cooler today (at last!).  We have moved from the Saumur campsite to the Aire next door. Good thing we moved in the morning as by late afternoon the Aire was almost full (with no space in the campsite either). People appear to be flocking into the town this weekend with their vintage bicycles for the races starting tomorrow at 9am.

We spent the day wandering around the town but didn’t have the energy or inclination to climb the hill and visit the chateau…….

One attraction in the town we couldn’t say no to was a guided tour of the Combier distillery, built in 1848 by the creator of the ‘Triple Sec’ orange liquor. The processes used now seem to have changed very little over time with next to no automation. The Stills are almost 200 years old and feed up to a cooling platform designed by Gustave Eiffel (yes – the tower man).  The tour ended with tasting and we had to show our support by purchasing a bottle!

The distillery also produces Absinthe, banned in France until 1988. I asked about it and was treated to our own tasting ceremony: ice cold water dripped onto a sugar cube over a glass of Absinthe. All very fascinating but not sure if it would be the top of my list the next time I visit the pub!

An early start and we were on the road heading east up the Loire valley hoping that temperatures would drop fairly soon. By lunchtime we had arrived at Saumur.

We booked into the local campsite but they could only fit us in for one night due to a huge event in the town over the weekend – a Vintage Bicycle rally (don’t ask!).

We walked into the town centre an had an excellent meal.  I’ve a bit of a soft touch touch for good sunsets so you’re going to have to indulge me with these shots of the sun going down over the Loire………

We feel the need to move today but as the temperatures inland are still in the mid 30s we have driven a mere 20 minutes to an Aire outside the small town of Guérande north of Saint-Nazaire.

The centre of the town dates back to medieval times and is completely surrounded by ramparts…

The main entrance is through St-Michel Gate (sorry, couldn’t find a St Rhys Gate) and if you look closely you can just about spot a Welsh flag…..

Inside the walls are many narrow streets with many of the shops selling the produce of the local Salt Marshes……

The church at the centre of the town (St-Aubin) dates back to the 12th century but now features a fascinating art installation representing the many people of the local community who have passed away……..

….there were yet more impressive stained glass windows…

We had to finish the day with some of the local cider which, interestingly enough, was served in a cup not a glass…

Nothing much to report today, just doing our best to stay cool. We had a very nice breakfast…

….and one of us chilled out with a dip in the Atlantic (along with the seagulls!)…..

Last night was very hot with little breeze. We checked the weather forecast this morning which shows the next 3 days as even warmer with a max temperature of 36°C!

An adjustment of the plan was called for. Our original idea was to gradually work our way down the Loire Valley to the sea. The forecast for the coast seems a fair bit cooler so we have decided to reverse the plan and have spent the day driving west past Angers and Nantes stopping at a site near the beach at Le Croisic to the west of Saint-Nazaire.

There’s a bit more breeze here so we’ll stay in this area for a few days before heading back east.

As you might expect from a beach campsite it’s a bit on the commercialised side but at least we can see the sea!

We left the Amboise campsite this morning heading west alongside the Loire, skirting around Vouvray and Tours to stop at our third and last major chateau – Villandry.

This site is famous for it’s grounds – six quite different but beautifully maintained gardens….

..…and how’s this for a vegetable plot…….

We then headed a little further west stopping for night at a campsite on the river in Chinon. After another long hot day we were delighted to find a bar next door which overlooks the river and the fortress guarding over the town……

Off to Château de Chenonceau today, a quite spectacular building stretching out across the river. It has a fascinating history being given by King Henri II to his mistress, Diane de Poitiers, and then when the King died his widow, Catherine de Médici, turned up and turfed Diane out and settled in herself!

It is one of the most photogenic sites we have been to, especially the huge gallery built over the river…….

Back to the campsite for a BBQ dinner but not before a few pre-dinner drinks overlooking Amboise..

Amboise is dominated by the Chateau (also once owned by King Francois I) which overlooks the river and town.

Walking across the bridge from the campsite, we spotted one of the traditional flat bottomed Loire boats (the river can be pretty shallow)……

The town is very attractive with lots of narrow streets full of shops and restaurants (to which we returned for dinner).

Today we walked through the town to Clos Lucé, the villa where Leonardo da Vinci spent the last three years of his life.  He moved there at the request of King François who was a big fan of his work! The building has been restored, with his bedroom and many workshops looking as if he had only just left.  Much of his work showing his artistic and engineering genius is on display with the gardens containing full scale models of many of his designs that were way ahead of his time – a helicopter, a tank and many others.

Oddly enough there was also a collection of Ferraris and Masseratis in the gardens on their way to Le Mans – Sue was quick to show me which one she’d like to have….

Incidentally I’m not so sure about Sue’s ideas about making earrings out of fruit – she claims it’s perfectly normal behaviour but I’ll let you be the judge of that!

So as the sun sets on another beautiful day there’s just enough time for some of the local sparkling wine……