2023 - La Loire à Vélo: Day 28: Tue 20 Jun - Sully-sur-Loire to Briare, 46.5km; total: 595km

17-25 degC, overcast for most of the day, with a few spots of rain every now and then, to an outright downpour once we were in the hotel, clearing to blue skies and brilliant sunshine

We have been traveling for a month now, seems like yesterday we left home. Another 5 weeks to go.

After breakfast, we packed up slowly (could only check in at 3pm), however, were on the bikes riding riding away from Sully-sur-Loire at 8:30am, half an hour too early by Wendy’s reckoning. We stopped for many photo opportunities along the way as there seemed to be a lovely scene around every corner. One of the prettiest rides thus far. However the main towns we stopped at were St Florent, St Gondon, and Gien. We passed another giant nuclear power station, some tranquil forests, lots of crops - wheat, maize, sunflower, canola, grapes, and asparagus and a few smelly barns. The route was a tad lumpy especially over the last 15km but we must be getting fitter as it didn’t slow us down at all. We stopped for the obligatory selfie on the Briare canal bridge just as a houseboat was approaching. The captain/driver certainly knew what he was doing as there was no yelling or sounds of hulls scraping along the walls, despite the fact that there was only cm to spare. We arrived at our hotel, Logis Hotel le Cerf just on 2pm and thought we may get lucky and be able to check-in, however, the front door was firmly locked and there was no one around. So we walked back to the Place de la Republique and sat in the shade, upeople watching. At 3pm, we returned to the hotel and the door was still closed so Wendy pressed the button and was told to wait another one minute (it was now 3:05pm), so Wendy, said “yeah no worries mate.” We were soon checked-in by a very serious man who spoke really good English, albeit with a French accent.

St Florent (our first stop) is a small place, about 38 km2, thought to be first inhabited around 1100. It has a large’ish church, St Florent Church and a number of very nice looking buildings. We had mornos on the church steps, but unusually the door was locked so couldn’t take a look inside.

Onwards to St Gondon, another small town with some pretty parks and two historical buildings, a church and priory. The Priory is made up of the priors lodge, the monks lodgings, a barn with a grape press and a large garden, all contained in an enclosure. It dates back to the 9th Century. Building of the church commenced in the 10th Century then continued into the 11th and 12 Centuries, with more work being done in the 19 Century. The clocktower of the church dates to the 16thC. A new bell tower was constructed in 1865. The dimensions of the church (34m x 13m) give it a Romanesque touch. Most of all we loved the picturesque public parks and gardens.

We stopped in Gien for lunch and to kill a bit more time. After lunch, Wendy went for a walk up the 117 steps to visit the St Joan of Arc Church and Gien Château which is now a museum. She was able to enter the Church, but wouldn’t you know it, the museum is closed on Tuesdays unless it is a Bank Holiday (sound familiar?) Never mind, the church was pretty special.

It wasn’t long before we arrived at the Briare canal bridge. It is 663m long and 11m wide and is one of the greatest engineering feats of Europe. Its sturdy foundations were built by the Eiffel company in 1890 and provides a crossing of the Loire River for boats. It reminded us of our houseboat trip down the Yonne River in 2006.

After checking-in and unpacking, we had a rest then walked back to the Place de la Republique to have dinner. We were looking for a juicy steak and Wendy had seen it on their menu before. This was one of the few restaurants in Briare that was open, however they had only snacks left, no steak. Not happy, Jan! We found alternative sustenance at a small supermarket up the road, not the best, but fed the worms. We would have even settled for pizza if we could have found a pizza shop open.

Blogging, shower, bed.