October 17, 2009
Paris to Saumur by train: heading to the Loire Valley
Weather: mixed sun and cloud
We got up at 7:30, snacked on a bit of leftover apple tart and packed everything up to carry down the three flights of stairs. We loaded up the bikes, and were ready to go by 10:30. Mme Chatignoux came down to “see us off” and took our picture in the courtyard. We rode to Gare Austerlitz along the Seine path, and had time for coffee at a station cafe while watching a movie being shot on one of the nearby platforms--quite entertaining. The movie featured an old fashioned steam locomotive with steam pouring out of it (and fogging up the whole station) along with a crowd of actors in top hats, bonnets and long dresses carrying old suitcases. We saw several takes of the actors alighting from the train and walking down the platform before we headed to our own train, walking our loaded bikes right to our assigned car.
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We packed up the panniers and handlebar bags in the duffels and folded the bikes and put them in their bags to haul onto the train. We got everything organized and enjoyed a comfortable ride through the outskirts of Paris and through fairly boring agricultural areas (mostly fields of corn stubble). We were glad to have bought some very good baguettes at the train station—chicken and coleslaw, and smoked salmon with greens. We changed trains at Tours which was a bit of a scramble, since our connection from Paris came in late. Luckily there was a luggage cart right near the train to carry one cumbersome bike bag and the duffels over to the Saumur train. That leg was only half an hour, and after carrying everything up and down a few flights of stairs to exit the station, we loaded up the bikes and rode to our hotel—about a kilometre across two bridges into the centre of Saumur. We had a beautiful view of the chateau and town as we rode along.
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Hotel de Londres was fine with good secure bike parking and an excellent location. The sun came out after we got settled, and we walked up to the chateau and then around town to explore. We were really hungry and thought we would eat in one of the brasseries/cafes that served food all day, but none of the menus looked appealing. In the old part of town we found a restaurant that served dinner starting at 7:00 with a salad that looked really tempting on the menu—rocket, roquefort cheese, and walnuts. After some discussion we made a reservation for 7:00, then went back to the hotel and enjoyed the free wifi in the room and read a bit. Dinner at the restaurant turned out to be a really good choice. We had a prime table by the window in front of the bar and got to see all the Saturday night activity. The place filled up completely with people at all the tables and standing three deep at the bar, and the food was really good and quite reasonable. We both had the salads, then Eva had lamb with delicious white beans and veggies and Al had a pork dish with lentils (no frites!). Dessert was profiteroles (Eva) and tarte tatin (Al). The house wine was local and excellent—mostly cabernet franc. We were there for more than 2½ hours and enjoyed ourselves, talking with an English couple next to us, although practically everyone there was French. Back to the hotel around 10:00 and to bed at 11:30.
Today's ride: 5 km (3 miles)
Total: 15 km (9 miles)
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