2023 - La Loire à Vélo: Day 36: Wed 28 Jun

13-27 degC, a beautiful morning, then a hazy afternoon with a light breeze

Walk: 5km; total: 267km

Ride: 7.5km; total: 760.5km

After breakfast, we fastened our walking sandals and walked into town. First stop was at the Town Hall and secondary info centre for a map. We had seen the little arrow-head markers on the road and knew that they would show the way to the sights. The Decize emblem is a catfish.

Decize is the main centre for activity in the southern Nivernais and one of the southern gateways to the Burgundy region. It is an island city, sandwiched between two arms of the Loire, and built on a rocky outcrop. You have to cross five bridges to get from one end of town to the other: the Nivernaise Canal, the Aron River, the Vielle Loire, the Loire and the Lateral Canal of the Loire. We crossed all five bridges twice on our afternoon ride to source lunch and dinner.

The sights on the walking map were not all up to our rigorous standards for photographing, so we gave them a miss. Others that were deemed suitable were photographed and enjoyed. However, there is always one or two vehicles that just has to park exactly where we wants to take a picture. Just like we don’t like any people in our pictures, we don’t want any cars either, but of course it doesn’t really matter.

The photogenic sights are:

Town Hall and Clock Tower. The Hall was built on the site of a former hospital, and inaugurated in 1911. The tower was built in 1848, is 33m high, has three bells, the heaviest of which weighs 1,300kg.

The Ramparts. The two remaining towers (Ravelin & Watchtower) are the last vestiges of the enclosure built in 1194. The ramparts proved insufficient after after the city was looted by a band of Italian mercenaries. To prevent a similar occurrence, two triangular projections, or ravelins, were built, with ditches dug at the foot of the walls. The corner that was to serve as the lookout had an “elegant watchtower” built on it.

The Old Loire Bridge. The original stone bridge was built in the 16th century and eventually fell into very poor condition due to the river current. Some stone arches were replaced with wooden footbridges. The first stone of this current bridge was laid in 1775. Its 11 arches were designed to cross the Loire, but now only span an old arm of the river - the Vieille Loire.

Saint Aré Church. Saint Aré was Bishop of Nevers. On his wishes, upon his death, his body was deposited in the 6th century in an oratory by the river and it is thought the Church was erected on this same spot.

The Gate of The Marquis D’Ancre. Built in 1194 and remodeled in 1468. It was part of the city’s enclosure and once marked the entrance to the city.

We also saw things that were not on the tourist map. After that lot we’d had enough so went home for a rest. It was then off to lunch at Maccas. We had to cross the afore mentioned five bridges and the road was hectic, with every thing from small cars to semi trailers. And the roads are not that wide. We had big trucks behind us on a few occasions but luckily they were all very respectful and didn’t try and run us over.

After lunch, we visited the Lidl supermarket for dinner and then cycled back to the hotel via the end of the Island where the Loire, the Aron, and the Nivernais Canal all converge. You couldn’t really tell this was a confluence as we were not high enough to see it. Took the obligatory photo and a screen shot of Maps.Me and moved on.

The afternoon was spent relaxing, sorting photos, Facebooking and blogging. We know we have at least 66km to ride tomorrow, maybe even more, depending on the final route. The profile has a few hills in it, in addition to the fact we’re riding uphill because we’re heading upriver. At the start of week 6, we should be a bit fitter so all’s good.