Elisa Francesca Roselli
June 3rd 06, 10:23 AM
Image Index
http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/efroselli/album?.dir=/599dre2&.src=ph
Slideshow
http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/efroselli/slideshow2?.dir=/599dre2&.beg=0&.src=ph
Disposing of a four-day weekend for the Ascension, I decided on the spur
of the moment to revisit my previous home town of Tours, and to take
advantage of the Spring to do some cycling along the Loire. I had
already explored the project called Loire à Vélo in November 2004.
http://www.tourism-touraine.com/general/page_static.php?id_article=263
This initiative of the Tourist Board consists of providing secure,
car-free bike routes westward out of Tours all the way to Chinon,
including connections and drop-off points to many of the famous castles
along the way. An eastward branch towards Amboise and Chenonceau is also
projected but has not yet begun.
In November 2004 Flyzipper had just come into my life (Scorpio,
Sagittarius Ascendant, my perfect mate) and I needed a place to try him
out without having to worry about traffic. My ride from Tours to
Savonnières was the longest I had ever attempted at that point - 32 km.
Unfortunately, the distance between Tours and Savonnières is only 14km!
All the extra was owing to the path being so infernally badly marked
that I kept getting lost and having to double back on my route. The
worst was just getting out of Tours. There is NO indication of where the
cycle path starts. You sort of know it's supposed to be behind the
swimming pool but what are they calling a swimmming pool anyway? WHERE?
Miles of circling around La Gloriette, nothing glorious about it. Then
you never saw a sign saying Loire à vélo that did not point in one
direction and its opposite simultaneously. Rarely did it bother to
display a destination. There were also rumours of hostile farmers
doctoring the signs because they did not want their lands invaded by
frivolous cyclotourists. But having done the first part of the route
once already, I was a little more sanguine that I would be able to find
my way. The second lap, Savonnières to Langeais, just follows the south
bank of the Loire -harder to get lost. Besides which, there are many
more cyclists out in May than in November, and thus more people to
follow and ask directions from.
I staid in the smack center of Town, at the 2-star Hotel de la
Scellerie, but do not recommend it. Singles always do get shafted,
treated like teenagers on holiday whatever their age. They put me in a
sweltering hot room just under the roof, up four flights of break-neck
stairs. With my balance problems, I had so much trouble getting down
those stairs that on my last night I even missed a fireworks display
because I could not face them. The room was billed as having shower and
toilet, and indeed it did, right there in the middle, with no dividing
wall or door. Moreover the toilet was so directly in front of the
window, that every time I peed the whole of Scellerie Street could see
my ****, if they happened to be looking. The tiny, badly designed
shower, with not a shelf to hold your soap or shampoo, was closed with
just a flimsy plastic curtain, creating a lake every time it was used. I
don't think mopping the floor should be the job of the guest. The hotel
was also billed as having a secure place to put bikes. SO secure was the
bike shed, that you had to book access to it in advance, and could only
have this during reception hours - sucks to all you dawn riders. I
recommend the Hotel du Cygne where I normally stay, except they had no room.
I arrived in Tours early on Thursday 25th, a rainy and windy day. Having
surveyed the weather forecasts with attention I chose Saturday 27th May
as the best day to attempt the trip and gave remaining time over to
movies (Il Caimano and Marie Antoinette, Tours having one of the best
cinemas in provincial France, Le Studio), shopping, dining with friends
and other fun stuff. Food-wise, I had occasion to revisit two of my
favorite restaurants, Le Grand Marché (very good, fresh 3-course dinners
with wine for less than 25E per person) and La Tour de Chine (excellent
inexpensive Chinese where the crispy chicken is really crisp), and the
wonderful Marché des Halles, great for world class goat cheeses. On
Friday a friend took me to the Prieuré de Saint Cosme, a medieval abbey
just outside of Tours, currently being used as a community venue for
concerts, and having a famous garden which hosts horticultural shows. It
was a riot of peonies and roses in colors both exquisite and bizarre. I
loved the silhouettes of the Gothic arches against the rich gunmetal
clouds, and was grateful for the delightful cool. (Slideshow to 067)
(Images 68 and 69, fluffy pollen drifts)
Rain on my cycling day was not the only environmental discouragement to
worry about. The radio and TV had all warned about unprecedented pollen
levels and advised hay fever sufferers to keep indoors. Now, I am a
sufferer, but I guess I have a different allergen or I'd have been dead
by Sunday. As I headed out about 9:15, under an overcast sky and in a
light misty rain, I had runny eyes but only a mildly itchy throat.
Nevertheless even I was shocked when I saw drifts of pollen on the
pavement so thick they looked like snow.
Image 70 is the entry to the Loire à vélo cycle path south of Tours.
I've photographed it for posterity because even this time, I managed to
lose some 20 minutes before finding it.
(Images 71 to 82, some sweet cows and poppies in Image 78)
Beyond here, the trip was almost perfect. Great, flat, open, car-free
cycling paths through fields and flowers and by the lush quiet banks of
the river. On the good bits I could cruise at about 15 kpm. I mainly
used Fly's gear middle 5 (out of low, middle, high, one to 7). On the
earlier trip, I had used the highest gear but as you have all told me,
better a lower gear and a higher cadence. As anticipated, there were
quite a few travelling companions. I kept passing and being passed by a
pair of German women, expertly kitted out with those map-stands mounted
on their handlebars, making them look like ambulent orchestra
conductors, and a large group with some kids up front who were
impossible to pass, just too fast, but fun to chase. Their parents
lagged way behind and I hope they all found eachother at the end. The
weather was what I consider ideal - thoroughly overcast and cool, no sun
to stun and burn and blind me, but without actual rain. On the leg out
of Savonnières to Langeais, there was about 1 km of very nasty
cobblestone pavement that I had to walk. I could not understand the
logic of that on a cycling path - but this section was shared with road
traffic. It was so unpleasant underfoot that I considered hitching a
ride from a cager but it ended just then. On the last section as I was
approaching Langeais, a stiffish head-wind developed and my speed
dropped to about 12 kpm, middle 3 gear.
(Image 83, Langeais Castle)
I arrived at 1pm just in time for lunch. The friend who had taken me to
Saint Cosme on Friday kindly met me in her car on the south side of the
bridge into town. It would have been possible to return by train, but
there is only one per day, and there would have been anxiety about
missing it. Now that my Hadrian's Wall tour has been cancelled, I may
plan a move-on holiday with overnights in Langeais, Usse (the "Sleeping
Beauty" castle, original model for Disney parks the world over), Avoine
(notorious for a major nuclear power plant, apparently open for some
very interesting visits) and a train back from Chinon, or perhaps even
bike back the same route. I hope, too, that they get their act together
soon on the eastward leg of the journey, because I think Amboise and
Chenonceau are the loveliest castles, and the landscape is even prettier
that way.
Happy cycling to all, and thanks again to James Thomson for fixing Fly
and making this weekend jaunt possible, but for him I'd have been moping
in front of the TV for four days,
EFR
Ile de France
http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/efroselli/album?.dir=/599dre2&.src=ph
Slideshow
http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/efroselli/slideshow2?.dir=/599dre2&.beg=0&.src=ph
Disposing of a four-day weekend for the Ascension, I decided on the spur
of the moment to revisit my previous home town of Tours, and to take
advantage of the Spring to do some cycling along the Loire. I had
already explored the project called Loire à Vélo in November 2004.
http://www.tourism-touraine.com/general/page_static.php?id_article=263
This initiative of the Tourist Board consists of providing secure,
car-free bike routes westward out of Tours all the way to Chinon,
including connections and drop-off points to many of the famous castles
along the way. An eastward branch towards Amboise and Chenonceau is also
projected but has not yet begun.
In November 2004 Flyzipper had just come into my life (Scorpio,
Sagittarius Ascendant, my perfect mate) and I needed a place to try him
out without having to worry about traffic. My ride from Tours to
Savonnières was the longest I had ever attempted at that point - 32 km.
Unfortunately, the distance between Tours and Savonnières is only 14km!
All the extra was owing to the path being so infernally badly marked
that I kept getting lost and having to double back on my route. The
worst was just getting out of Tours. There is NO indication of where the
cycle path starts. You sort of know it's supposed to be behind the
swimming pool but what are they calling a swimmming pool anyway? WHERE?
Miles of circling around La Gloriette, nothing glorious about it. Then
you never saw a sign saying Loire à vélo that did not point in one
direction and its opposite simultaneously. Rarely did it bother to
display a destination. There were also rumours of hostile farmers
doctoring the signs because they did not want their lands invaded by
frivolous cyclotourists. But having done the first part of the route
once already, I was a little more sanguine that I would be able to find
my way. The second lap, Savonnières to Langeais, just follows the south
bank of the Loire -harder to get lost. Besides which, there are many
more cyclists out in May than in November, and thus more people to
follow and ask directions from.
I staid in the smack center of Town, at the 2-star Hotel de la
Scellerie, but do not recommend it. Singles always do get shafted,
treated like teenagers on holiday whatever their age. They put me in a
sweltering hot room just under the roof, up four flights of break-neck
stairs. With my balance problems, I had so much trouble getting down
those stairs that on my last night I even missed a fireworks display
because I could not face them. The room was billed as having shower and
toilet, and indeed it did, right there in the middle, with no dividing
wall or door. Moreover the toilet was so directly in front of the
window, that every time I peed the whole of Scellerie Street could see
my ****, if they happened to be looking. The tiny, badly designed
shower, with not a shelf to hold your soap or shampoo, was closed with
just a flimsy plastic curtain, creating a lake every time it was used. I
don't think mopping the floor should be the job of the guest. The hotel
was also billed as having a secure place to put bikes. SO secure was the
bike shed, that you had to book access to it in advance, and could only
have this during reception hours - sucks to all you dawn riders. I
recommend the Hotel du Cygne where I normally stay, except they had no room.
I arrived in Tours early on Thursday 25th, a rainy and windy day. Having
surveyed the weather forecasts with attention I chose Saturday 27th May
as the best day to attempt the trip and gave remaining time over to
movies (Il Caimano and Marie Antoinette, Tours having one of the best
cinemas in provincial France, Le Studio), shopping, dining with friends
and other fun stuff. Food-wise, I had occasion to revisit two of my
favorite restaurants, Le Grand Marché (very good, fresh 3-course dinners
with wine for less than 25E per person) and La Tour de Chine (excellent
inexpensive Chinese where the crispy chicken is really crisp), and the
wonderful Marché des Halles, great for world class goat cheeses. On
Friday a friend took me to the Prieuré de Saint Cosme, a medieval abbey
just outside of Tours, currently being used as a community venue for
concerts, and having a famous garden which hosts horticultural shows. It
was a riot of peonies and roses in colors both exquisite and bizarre. I
loved the silhouettes of the Gothic arches against the rich gunmetal
clouds, and was grateful for the delightful cool. (Slideshow to 067)
(Images 68 and 69, fluffy pollen drifts)
Rain on my cycling day was not the only environmental discouragement to
worry about. The radio and TV had all warned about unprecedented pollen
levels and advised hay fever sufferers to keep indoors. Now, I am a
sufferer, but I guess I have a different allergen or I'd have been dead
by Sunday. As I headed out about 9:15, under an overcast sky and in a
light misty rain, I had runny eyes but only a mildly itchy throat.
Nevertheless even I was shocked when I saw drifts of pollen on the
pavement so thick they looked like snow.
Image 70 is the entry to the Loire à vélo cycle path south of Tours.
I've photographed it for posterity because even this time, I managed to
lose some 20 minutes before finding it.
(Images 71 to 82, some sweet cows and poppies in Image 78)
Beyond here, the trip was almost perfect. Great, flat, open, car-free
cycling paths through fields and flowers and by the lush quiet banks of
the river. On the good bits I could cruise at about 15 kpm. I mainly
used Fly's gear middle 5 (out of low, middle, high, one to 7). On the
earlier trip, I had used the highest gear but as you have all told me,
better a lower gear and a higher cadence. As anticipated, there were
quite a few travelling companions. I kept passing and being passed by a
pair of German women, expertly kitted out with those map-stands mounted
on their handlebars, making them look like ambulent orchestra
conductors, and a large group with some kids up front who were
impossible to pass, just too fast, but fun to chase. Their parents
lagged way behind and I hope they all found eachother at the end. The
weather was what I consider ideal - thoroughly overcast and cool, no sun
to stun and burn and blind me, but without actual rain. On the leg out
of Savonnières to Langeais, there was about 1 km of very nasty
cobblestone pavement that I had to walk. I could not understand the
logic of that on a cycling path - but this section was shared with road
traffic. It was so unpleasant underfoot that I considered hitching a
ride from a cager but it ended just then. On the last section as I was
approaching Langeais, a stiffish head-wind developed and my speed
dropped to about 12 kpm, middle 3 gear.
(Image 83, Langeais Castle)
I arrived at 1pm just in time for lunch. The friend who had taken me to
Saint Cosme on Friday kindly met me in her car on the south side of the
bridge into town. It would have been possible to return by train, but
there is only one per day, and there would have been anxiety about
missing it. Now that my Hadrian's Wall tour has been cancelled, I may
plan a move-on holiday with overnights in Langeais, Usse (the "Sleeping
Beauty" castle, original model for Disney parks the world over), Avoine
(notorious for a major nuclear power plant, apparently open for some
very interesting visits) and a train back from Chinon, or perhaps even
bike back the same route. I hope, too, that they get their act together
soon on the eastward leg of the journey, because I think Amboise and
Chenonceau are the loveliest castles, and the landscape is even prettier
that way.
Happy cycling to all, and thanks again to James Thomson for fixing Fly
and making this weekend jaunt possible, but for him I'd have been moping
in front of the TV for four days,
EFR
Ile de France