A New Adventure in France

Although the title of our blog is ‘Exploring the Lot Valley’, our first stopover is the Loire region and we won’t be arriving in the Lot area until the end of the week.

After our early departure from the UK we slept very soundly despite the unfamiliar surroundings and riverside wildlife. During lockdown we’ve been doing some early morning exercise (running for Claire and cycling for Joe) and we’re determined to keep that up while we’re away so that we can enjoy local specialities without disastrous results for our waistlines. The present location is certainly more inspiring for exercising and hot air balloons pass overhead with early morning sightseers – what they will see is a huffing, puffing jogger and a furiously pedalling cyclist. When we first bought the campervan we removed the roof rack and bike rack that came with it, thinking we would not have use for them. Both have been refitted and the cheap bikes we bought – we are leisurely cyclists – have proved their worth since our pre-lockdown camping breaks.

Our fellow intrepid campers are mainly French with one another British car and the rest comprising Belgian, Dutch and Swiss number plates. There don’t seem to be any special COVID measures in place on the campsite but facilities are good, clean and there are plenty of them.

We recognise that it will probably take us a little while to settle in to a ‘non-holiday’ routine, so the first couple of days have probably been a bit more frenetic. We set off the first morning on our bicycles to explore the area, heading east along the opposite riverbank towards Montrichard. A very flat and scenic ride with frequent stops for photos and to see the locks at various points. At the Écluse de Chissay, whilst admiring the elegant mill building on the opposite bank, a helicopter from the Gendarmerie hovered low in front of us and appeared to be carrying out some kind of exercise, dropping a weighted bag on a long rope onto the lock – to collect water we thought although they didn’t get any. The down draft certainly created some spray.

When we arrived at Montrichard, a medieval town on the banks of the Cher, we headed into the centre of the town. Although France is a couple of weeks ahead of the UK in emerging from lockdown measures it was extremely quiet in the town, with many shops shut, although most restaurants appeared to be ready for lunchtime service. We enjoyed our first beer outside at a small bar with COVID measures in place, i.e. hand sanitiser at the entrance, perspex screen at the bar, staff wearing face masks and tables separated by the required distance. We were surprised, however,to see that the typical kissing greeting was still evident! Perhaps it was just an isolated case.

After lunch on the banks of the river we retraced our route and took a walk later in the afternoon to the beautiful Chateau de Chenonceau, about half a mile to the west of our campsite. This is the second most visited chateau in France after the Palais de Versailles and it spans the River Cher. Unfortunately it’s not open on the days we are here but we had beautiful views from the river. We also had the chance the next day to see it at even closer hand when we hired a small electric boat from the pontoon opposite the campsite and passed underneath the arches of the chateau. Even though the electric boats do little more than walking speed we still managed to be t-boned by an erratic mother and son canoe combo and then, for good measure, we rammed the pontoon on returning to our embarkation point. We obviously need to stick to dry land.

The next day we set off on the motorbike – well we have to use all the ‘toys’ we bought with us! It was market day at Loches, an attractive medieval citadel town about 25 kms away. We have become quite practised over the past couple of years at travelling out for the day on the bike in full biking gear and, particularly in the hot summer months, changing into shorts and t-shirts on arrival. We didn’t need shorts but discarded helmets and jackets to explore. Here as well the market seemed quieter than might be expected and there was much more evidence of face masks being worn given that the required distancing was more difficult. We have come prepared with various face masks and gloves and wore our masks in the town centre. We also walked up to the former Royal City complex including the castle keep (le donjon) and the former royal lodgings. We took in a panoramic view whilst we had a coffee at a restaurant in the city walls but by the price of it we were probably paying for the upkeep of the view!

We’re already enjoying the variety of birds along the riverside including herons, terns, woodpeckers and the exotic hoopoe. It’s amazing how much time you can spend gazing at a river …..