Un autre jour, un autre Chateau/Another day, another Chateau

Family out for a day of cycling

I think I am almost over Chateaux.  Our destination for our last full day in Saumur was Chateau de Montsereau which is about 14 kilometres east of Saumur towards Tours.  The day dawned fine with only small amounts of cloud occasionally obscuring the sun.  It was a more relaxed start to the day. 

Trogolodyte home

As it was a holiday (Whit Sunday) again most of the town was closed except for a few Tabac/Bar places.  That was not a worry to us as we were going to follow the bike  (Velo Loire) signs to Chateau de Montsereau.  The first part of the ride was along the footpath and then on to a dedicated cycle path that was also used by walkers.  The path then took us into a village called Turquant which is described as a place of troglodytes because in the past people built their houses into the cliff face.  There was even a main street  which was underground.  It was an area where the white stone called Truffeau was mined.  Also it had some royalty who lived and founded the area.  There are six significant wine makers who make Chenin Blanc and a red Cabernet Franc. 

It was a lot of fun riding slowly through the village and exploring something so different.  On the slopes above the villages are gently rolling vineyards which are called coteaux.  We road through them for a little while before then descending through another village to Chateau Montsereau. The Chateau is the only one that is built in the bed of the Loire.  It has a moat that was at one stage according to old designs at the same level as the Loire which I guess over the centuries silted up.  The river side of the Chateau has no particular beauty but the side facing the village is much prettier. It was quite difficult to get a good picture.

Part of the Rue de Commerces

We had a late lunch at a little café where Bev had one of the best gallettes we have had on both our trips to France together.  My salad was very good as well. 

Troglodyte art

Bev had a moment of indecision about the way we were to ride back.  Primarily she wanted to ride back along the Loire but not on the busy road that ran along the side of the Loire.  While there was a cycle track for most of it, on one part we would have to mix with fast moving cars.  Bev did not want to do that.  In the end I made the decision to climb on to the coteaux and do a couple of short cuts that would then take us back down through Turquant and then back on to the cycle track alongside the Loire.  There were a few tense moments on the coteaux where Bev thought we might make some wrong turns but I was confident we wouldn’t as I had already studied the map.  Fortunately my navigation was accurate and a crisis was averted. 

Art Centre

We returned the bikes and it was discovered that two spokes had broken on mine and that I had would have to pay for them.  It was one my more frustrating moments as I tried to explain in my broken French that spokes regularly break due to wear and tear and are usually included in the rental charges.  Also the bike was not new and I had not done anything reckless that might have caused the problem.  It seemed that the young man had decided my French was so bad he was going to feign poor comprehension of both my French and English.  In the end rather than be frustrated with him, we gave up, paid and left. 

Wrong side of the road Bev!

We realised when we got back to Saumur that we had run out of milk for Bev’s tea and wine for our dinner.  We had hoped to pick some up on our ride but nothing was open. It is such a contrast to NZ where if money can be made, a winery or shop will be open except in exceptional circumstances.  I then had a brainwave! An alimenter  or small grocer might be open.  We found one open and successfully got our supplies including a bottle of the local Cabernet Franc. 

Coteaux

The wine was an older bottle and I realised later that they must not have much wine turnover than you get in the larger supermarkets.  It was ready to drink as it had aged and was a beautiful rich and soft wine that went well with our cheese and vegetarian meal. 

Our final day in Saumur was great – the weather was warm (more than 12 degrees) and sunny.  We  completed another 40 kilometres of rather easier bike riding and it was good to be able see the countryside (paysage) at a slower pace than either a train or car.  It was with some sadness that we would be having our last evening there and then heading north to Paris. 
 

Chateaux de Montsereau

Cute square near our apartment