54.8km
174m elevation gain
Plus 10.4km, 165m elevation gain outing to Sancerre without bags
Today was a great day, and shows why I perhaps need to be more flexible about stuff. I had originally booked a campsite that was only 45km or so along the route from last night's, but a day or so ago I realised I would be in the Sancerre region and I couldn't work out how I could easily do some wine tasting at a sensible time of day from that campsite.
I had a slow morning and was the last of the four groups of cyclists (two couples and a dad with four kids on Bromptons!) leaving the campsite. I didn't sleep particularly well last night due to allergies, either grass or the cat, and also the traffic noise from the nearby road. A pity as this marred the perfection of a great campsite.
Eventually I was en route at a fairly leisurely pace with no clear plans other than perhaps breaking from my planned route to take the southern option instead of the north where the route divided (did this) and also to stop at a village with an old church and some medieval houses after about 30km.
I did both; the route, along the canal that runs parallel to the Loire, was delightful - French canal paths beat British ones - and the village, Léré, was pretty although the church was locked. I found a boulangerie and for lack of sandwiches bought a baguette, which i later ate with the rest of the salami I overbought for tea yesterday - success!
About 20km into the day I stopped to check a sign and it suddenly occurred to me that perhaps there would be a campsite closer to Sancerre than the one I originally planned. There was. I don't know how I missed it in planning. And it had space.
So, after my stop in Léré and a later stop for lunch by the canal, I rolled into the new campsite bang on check-in time. Tent up and kit rinsed and I was off to Sancerre on a blessedly light bike, which was a good thing as Sancerre is on the top of quite a big hill!
I was too late for the tourist office stamp but had plenty of time to climb a tower for the view, see the church, have an ice-cream and go to the wine museum. The latter was excellent, a thorough description of why Sancerre makes such good wine (exclusively sauvignon blanc and pinot noir, two of my favourites), including a fun 4D video about the wine-making process. It ended with a tasting of three wines, where you had a decent choice of several to taste.
In a spirit of tasting more wine I bought a half-bottle for my tea and a local goats' cheese too, to finish up that baguette with. Then it was a delightful spin back down the hill, a splash in the local pool, and time to eat.
One more day on the road to come. Going to miss this life.
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