Day 25: De Saumur à Angers le chemin lentement/Saumur to Angers the slow way

8 kms ridden - perfect day for it

I looked up the train timetables from Angers to Saumur to see what times the trains left. The times worked well with one leaving Angers at 2:30pm and another one at 5pm. We thought that if we started riding at around 10am we would get to Angers in time to get the earlier one but if we didn’t then we had a backup option.

River craft

The day was perfect for riding, cool to start off with but it warmed up during the day. The route took us, for first part alongside the Loire, then we crossed the Loire and the path paralleled the main road on the levee. It was easy riding and an occasional rise in the road was an exciting event. At one point the path turned inland for a bit which entailed a steep climb on a country road to an off road path alongside a rather nice lake which I suspect was a reservoir.

Early in the ride Bev became concerned about a loud squeaking noise her bike was making and on examination I found that the brake pads were hitting the rim on the back tyre. Then when I watched, it was apparent the wheel was warped and had a distinct wobble. I was able to stop it for a while but whenever she braked the issue arose again. I think it made riding it a little bit harder than you would expect.

St-Mathurin-sur-Loire opp. St-Remy-la-Varenne

Most of the Velo de la Loire between Saumur and Angers is on quiet country roads. What traffic there was slowed and passed with care. It felt much safer than in New Zealand or Australia.

At about the halfway mark we crossed the Loire at St-Remy-la-Varenne and proceeded on a series of extremely quiet roads in parallel to the main road on the levee(it was Sunday so I suppose most people were having lunch with their friends and family).

The river crossing punt

In a little village called Le Daguenière, and with 14km to go, we had a decision to make - whether to continue along the same road or take the route via Ardoissier. At that moment a woman stopped her car and started talking to Bev in French. Bev said that I spoke a little French and she told us that there were two options. One option was to go straight ahead, the other was to go via Les Ardoisières. I asked which was the best and she said they were about the same distance and easy. We decided to go via Ardoisières. A few kilometres on we came to a river which had a little barge or punt to take us across. It involved pulling on a chain which dragged you, the bikes and punt across the river. It was hard work. When it was our turn I got us across ok but got off on the downstream side which then caused the barge to head out to the river and almost take me with it. With a bit muscle and not too much help from Bev, despite being willing, I managed to stabilise the boat while at same time getting my shoes wet. Bev then got the bikes off the boat.

Angers at last

It took a little while to find our way into Angers as the route signs were not so clear. Finally with my superior navigation skills and a with little bit of help from Mr Google (although it was a bit useless for direction) we successfully found the Gare Saint Laud Angers.

We still had a bit of time to look around. Initially it looked like any other city - modern buildings with average architecture. Then we discovered the old part of the city that sits on the banks of the Maine (a river). It was beautifully maintained, had an fortress which looked in good order and of the kind that would have been around at the time of the Norman invasion of Britain. It was the seat of the Plantagenets (who ruled Britain). So we discovered a city with a long history and one that I would like to go back to and explore.

The train we took back to Saumur took 20 minutes compared to our slow bike ride of just under four hours or five hours taking into account our stops along the way. In all we covered around 65 kilometres. In comparison the train literally went in a straight line from Angers to Saumur so it may have covered around 40 kilometres or possibly even less.

A drink at yet another bar in Place de St Pierre finished our day nicely. It was superb way to end our time in Saumur. I think I could have stayed easily for another week as it felt like we only did a little of what I had planned.