Day 40 Angers to Saumur

Day 40. Angers to Saumur. 71.81 kms cycled. 4.36 hours cycling. 31 km/h max speed. 15.56 km/h average speed. Weather – sunny and warm, perfect for cycling.

What a perfect day for cycle touring … sunny, warm, no wind and all in the beautiful Loire Valley.
It must have been the weather, but with my energy reserves back to where they should be, the kilometres from Angers to Saumur just flew by.
After an enjoyable day sightseeing in Angers I was keen to get to Saumur, another Loire town I wanted to see much more of than I did in 2007.
Following the Loire velo (bike) track can be a bit confusing at times with the odd crucial sign missing, so there were a few wrong turns along the way. But it wasn’t a concern; I was in cruise mode and wasn’t fussed too much about anything.
So much so that I think I lost the plot at one stage. Cycling along what I thought was a flat track, the bike suddenly seemed to be hard to pedal.
Thinking there was some sort of problem, I stopped, checked both wheels and the pedal crank, got back on, but it was still the same.
Scratching my head to work out what was going on, I took all my panniers and luggage off the bike and turned it upside down to give everything a closer look.
But I still couldn’t work out what the problem was. Resigned to having to struggle to the next town to find a cycle mechanic, I set off but immediately found the problem. I was going uphill. Not a big hill mind you, but big enough to make me think the pedals were harder to turn they should have.
Felt like an idiot, had a laugh to myself and continued on.
Anyway, I am now in Saumur writing this at a café after booking into the local campground. When I was here in 07 the huge Chateau overlooking the town was closed for renovations, so I made a beeline for it to have a look inside.
Unfortunately only a small section is open, but it is impressive nonetheless.
Saumur is another beautiful town full of restaurants, cafes, classy-looking shops and that definitive French flair.
I now realise that we saw very little of these towns on our guided cycle tour in ’07, so it is good to revisit to look around better the second time around.
My destination tomorrow is Chinon, another town we stayed at in ’07 and another town I want to see more of. Like Angers, Chinon isn’t actually on the Loire River, but one of its tributaries, another fact I wasn’t actually aware of last time around.
I think that when you are on a guided tour you just follow the pack, or at least I must have. Because I am discovering much, much more the second time around.

captions. Pic 1: At one stage I had to use a punt to get across a small tributary of the river. Pic 2: A nice shot along the way. Pic 3: There are great picnic areas along the track complete with tables and chairs and toilets. Pic 4: A peaceful scene on the river. Pic5: Coming into Saumur Pic 6&7: The Fairytale Saumur chateau. Pic 7: A great poster inside the chateau. Pic 8: Oneof the many squares in town.