Stories, photos & all that: 2009

Ana and my plan for this years summer holiday was to cycle down the Loire. So on the 26th of June we drove to Stokesly near Middlesbrough in order to catch the European bike express. It is a long journey especially from Scotland but this is the best way to ensure that your bike arrives well especially because they have a special trailer for bicycles.

Ana had a Felt hybrid bike equipped with a rear pannier and I cycled on a Thorn nomad which is a hybrid between a mountain and racing bike equipped with front and rear panniers. Here is us in France with our bikes...

... and here is my bike overpacked with too many warm clothes. I have my bike for well over 10 years and the Ortlieb bags for over 20 years. We didn't have a puncture or any problem the whole route.

On my handlebar I had another bag with a weather sealed map and a wee compass on top.

For the tour I had bought the book 'Cycling the river Loire' by John Higginson and then 'Le Loire a Velo' which is a set of maps describing the official Loire cycle way. The official cycle way is sometimes excellent but other times awful. Here is one of the negative highlights: a bit of downhill and then a zigzag. Zis will sort le roasbeefs out!

The best bit is to combine the official cycle path with D roads which are usually not very busy.

We didn't follow John Higginson's tour entirely but started a bit downstream in Le Puy en Velay in the Massif Central with a day of sightseeing. Here is a view over the city with the St. Michel d'Aguille church on a volcanic plug in the foreground.

The first week was hot and hilly and Ana did extremely well to do the long hills in probably up to 35 degrees.

The highlight on the first part is the Cheateau de la Roche which is the French version of Eilan Donan castle.

More hills followed...

... until the city of Roanne and then endless farmland with cattle seeking the shade because of the heat.

On the way we stayed in Neulise in a very friendly B&B and had the best dinner of the tour in the only restaurant in town. I never knew that duck leg could test that good... It was the best place of the trip. The next days it was flat and with again tempeteratures well over 30 degrees. At times we followed the canal parallel to the Loire...

... and if the temperatures are above 30 degrees then a bellyflop into the canal is a sensible thing to do.

We finally arrived at Marcigny, a more lively town. Asking the locals using the 10 words in my French vocabulary a local showed us 'La Musadiere' which is a B&B with a swimming pool. This was the best place we stayed together with a farmhouse run by some Dutch in Gannay sur Loire. In Marcigny we went for the cheapest meal option and the g-word wasn't chicken but frog legs. Not too bad under all the garlic but very bony!

Another long and hot day followed. France in summer means flowers like these.

No wonder impressionism started in France. After a couple of days in the heat I felt like Lawrence of Arabia going for Akabar and the theme tune appeared in my head. Shouting 'hat, hat, hat' kept my Thorn camel going. Finally an oasis appeared. Nevers. The first larger town on the tour. Here is Ana crossing the Loire into Nevers.

It is still off the main tourist trail but very wellcome after days of uneventful riding in great heat.

We then headed towards Sancerre, a wine city on a hill. Here is Ana passing a Tour de France sign...

... and here she passes yet more flowers...

... and here the hill of Sancerre appears.

We stayed in a good but expensive hotel and after a tour of the wine museum we had our first wine tasting. Well, after the museum you think that the wine would taste like caviar & lobster with champaign and so the first taste was a bit disappointing but I quickly got used and appreciated the local style. All the French wines we tasted were nice. The bad stuff probably all goes to Britian.

After Nevers the Loire became wider and changed from northerly into westerly direction and turned into a fleuve. The second week also was cooler and the hills were replacd by a steady westerly wind.

In Sully sur Loire we visited our first grand chateau and for me the best.

We continued to Orleans with anglers on the banks of the river going for pikeperch and other fish.

Orleans is known for Jeanne d'Arc who led the fight against the English...

... and was rewarded with free heating.

We spent some time in the cathedral following the lines of architecture...

... and enjoyed a good meal in a Maroccan restaurant. The next day we continued on the Loire cycle path which was sometimes just a sand track and met Win, a pensioner from the US, who spends month crossing Europe on a bike. We met a few pensioners in France who spend their summers cycling long distances.

In this region there is more tourism and we struggled to find accommodation. In the last moment we found a great youth hostel ideally located to cycle to Chambord, the grandest of the Loire chateaux. Here it is appearing in the distance...

... and here is the whole, symmetric rennaissance chateau. Not bad for a wee hunting lodge in the Sologne.

We carried on to Blois and saw wild flower fields on the way shown here.

The next place was Villandry, a castle with a symmetric garden which is upkept by countless gardeners. Here some flowers in the garden of the castle...

... and here some carp in the pond surrounding the chateau. They got used to being fed by tourists.

In France electricity is produced via countless nuclear power stations and the one at Chinon (the official cycle way makes a large detour to avoid it) is one of the largest. Big concrete towers and steam on a very large area. Bathing is forbidden downstream.

Near Saumur is the centre of the troglodytes who did long caves into the limestone lining the banks of the Loire. Here is one...

... and here is Saumur at night.

More Loire with typical boats here...

... and after two weeks we reached Angers after well over 800 km's of cycling not too far away fromt the Atlantic coast. We took a very busy train to Tours, spend the rest of the day sightseeing and then posed for the finisher photo on the pick up spot.

A very good holiday although in retrospect 10 days cycling followed by a couple of days on the beach would have been best.

Sometimes good photography is difficult. Sometimes it is easy. On Sandwood bay it is easy. Declan and I jumped into the car on Friday evening, drove first to Inverness to pick up supplies and then to Blairmore from where we walked 8 km to Sandwood bay. We arrived nearly 2 am, pitched the tent, had some pasta, beer and Talisker. It rained overnight but the morning started OK with happy mammals and avians.

Here more sheep in the morning light.

The beach is 1.5 km long and a freshwater loch is to the East. Spot our tent.

A few showers but the weather cleared while we walked on the beach.

Wide open spaces. It's good to be away from the office.

A blue pen on the beach.

After breakfast, exploration I bouldered, fished and took photos while Deco was walking up the cliffs in the North. A few others explored the beach as well.

The stream from the freshwater loch was swinging to the Atlantic with Am Buachaille in the distance.

At 14 h we walked back along the sea cliffs. Here is Decoman in the Singapore-style photo pose.

And here he is on a large cliff.

We visited Am Buachaille, a sea stack and it was a pity not to have any ropes.

Here a view back.

It was quite a slog back to Blairmore.

We then explored Sutherland and Western Ross by car in order to get cliche photos and more. Climbing over a fence to make a Highland cattle look results in good photos or extinction.