Due south was the direction we took next and as we avoided driving on the toll roads we found ourselves cruising through beautiful countryside and quaint old villages. The pace of life was pretty good.
Our destination was the Loire river where wine tasting and bike riding awaited us.
We had chosen a campsite right on the river and had a feeling that arriving at 1pm would mean that the reception would be shut and indeed it was. In fact it was going to be closed all day and most of the next (fairly French) but to be fair they had left a mobile number and actually answered the phone when I called. They gave us the entry code and we were soon set up right on the banks of the Loire. Not a bad spot for €6.50 a night.
We were located just on the outskirts of the small village of Ingrandes and on the first afternoon we had a lovely walk through the narrow cobblestone streets looking at all the wonderful old buildings. It’s often difficult to believe that anyone actually lives in them but you see just about enough evidence of life to suppose that people do.
We had seemed to have picked one of the few spots on the Loire that didn’t have any local vineyards so had to hold our horses on the wine tasting but we were keen to get on our bikes and start exploring.
The Vélo a Loire is a stretch of 600km of bike routes along and around the Loire Valley and while we didn’t know what to expect the route ran just next to the campsite so we hopped on our bikes and set off. It was brilliant to ride along the gravel paths with no cars to worry about. They were wide enough for us to ride two abreast which meant we could chat away while soaking up the beautiful countryside.
It wasn’t all bike paths but the roads we had to go on weren’t too busy and drivers seemed considerate of bikers’ existence on the roads. It was all a new experience for us as our usual bike efforts involve going up and downhill on Mountain bike tracks yet this experience involved us riding for 20km but while the legs were a little sore after our first effort we will no doubt build up some fitness and be enjoying some road biking soon enough (not sure I will bother buying a full Lycra set yet though 😂)
We were lucky to get our bike ride in before the weather turned and it got a little windy and rainy so it was back to the van and we settled in to wait out the storm. While not the biggest space we were definitely comfortable relaxing for the afternoon.
Baring the weather which wasn’t that bad but just wasn’t great we had a lovely time staying in Ingrandes. We were the only non French at the campsite and it was nice to feel that we were finding some spots a little more off the beaten track and gave us both a good opportunity to practice our French! I have a feeling that as we head further up the Loire we will probably encounter a few more tourists. But hopefully with that we will find some more bike routes and some wine tasting too! T