cycling from Briare to Gien, Loire Valley, France

Last year, I had the pleasure of cycling from the Atlantic Coast of France to Ulm in Germany, nearly 2,000 kilometres alongside numerous rivers and canals. One of the highlights was staying in the restored barn at the B&B of Jean-Paul and Regine in Saint-Firmin-sur-Loire. They fed me excessive amounts of satisfying French food and allowed me to dry off after my first rainy day of the trip. They also offered to bike-sit my red hybrid, named Craig, at the conclusion of my time in Europe.

This year, accompanied by my wife Cathie, our first stop in France is a two-day sojourn with Jean-Paul and Regine. Once again, they are the perfect hosts, offering a five course dinner. I won�t go into the sumptuous detail other than to say Jean-Paul�s cassoulet is premiere-class and the cheese plate of five fromages was perhaps too indulgent! We promised to ride off the calories the next day, if only it would stop raining.

Voila! The morning dawned dull and cloudy, but sans pluie, so after a breakfast of croissants, yoghurt, grapefruit, baguettes with home-made confiture and huge bowls of cafe, we took Craig and Cathie�s new velo, nicknamed Jenny, for a spin. 

First stop, Briare, a town on the confluence of the Loire River and the Canal lateral a la Loire, famous for the  Aqueduct which was the longest navigable aqueduct in the world between 1896 and 2003. It�s a curious site, a canal crossing a river - water flowing over water. At six hundred and sixty-two metres, the Briare Aqueduct is bookended by two ornamental columns styled on the Pont Alexandre in Paris. It�s an elegant and timeless construction, all the more atmospheric and regal in the early morning with no-one else around. 

We cycle along the Loire Velo path towards Gien, famous for expensive and artistic earthenware crockery, from the factory founded in 1821. The cycle path leads us through forests and alongside small landholdings. Although it�s a chilly 11 degrees, the fruit trees are bursting with colour and the tulips are lovely in their champagne-glass spendour in ornamental flower boxes at each village we cycle through. Many household gardens we pass are well-tended with vegetable patches taking up most of the space. The typical frenchman is more interested in cultivating food from his jardin than mowing the lawn. The Loire flows swift and wide and there�s a smell of dark wet earth in the air.  

We pass a Frenchman, wearing a long overcoat, walking his dog; two young men fishing in stream no wider than a metre; an enterprising jogger running beside his daughter who cycles at a gentle pace and two cross-country riders laden with panniers front and rear. 

At Gien, we enter a glass-fronted restaurant and order the formule menu, an entree of cold buffet servings - salami, terrine, hard-boiled eggs, salad - followed by grilled fish smothered in a butter and parsley sauce with vegetables. All this for 10Euro... $16 Australian. The woman at the table next to us eats a huge four-fromage pizza, her husband a mushroom version. It�s perhaps obvious that in a country so enamoured with fromage, that the french pizzas are excessively cheesy. 

We return to Saint-Firmin via a route away from the river and cycle past a chateau commanding the high ground above the Loire flood plain. A moat elegantly spans the entrance with intricate wrought-iron gates. Deep in the moat is an exhibit of ancient wooden battle weaponry, including a rather impressive twelve metre high catapult. 

We can�t resist another detour across the Aqueduct. On the Briare side a chocolatier has set up shop in the old lockmaster�s house. Although we�re tempted to eat chocolate and watch the slow barges putter along the canal, we continue into town and sit in a bar in the town square, admiring the grey stone Cathedral. 

It�s uphill all the way back to Jean-Paul and Regine�s farmhouse. We promise ourselves a large dinner to compensate.

Distance cycled: 41 kilometres.