In episode two of their France cycling tour, Jenny and Patrick explore the ramparts of Chateau Saumur and wander through Saumur’s Saturday market. They then get on their bicycles and continue along La Loire a Velo Eurovelo 6 bicycle route to Chinon. Along the way, they visit the Troglodyte dwellings and learn about the history of how these caves were formed and their importance in winemaking. In Chinon, they explore the town that sits below Chateau Chinon and share their accommodations and dinner.
[Music] The last video ended with our arrival in summer. We were tired but very excited to explore the town. The chateau of summer is perched upon a hillside above the town. We headed in the direction of the chateau to get a closer look. The chateau has a long history. It had been destroyed by invading armies and then rebuilt. Today, it is a historical monument enjoyed by countless visitors. We had a lovely time in the evening strolling along its ramp parts. Below the chateau sits the town center where there are restaurants and cafes to sit in and relax. Patrick and I found a crepery to eat at that evening. After a restful sleep, we headed out in the morning to acquire picnic items for our day of cycling. To our delight, we discovered a Saturday market taking place and were able to secure tasty items for our picnic. We had to be patient and wait in line. Patrick finally got a chance at the cheese counter. With our bikes fully loaded and our picnic items securely fastened, we headed out on a beautiful day with the final destination of Shinome. Today we would be traveling a distance of around 25 miles or 40 kilometers. Along the way we would be passing through troglodite communities, towns where people have been dwelling in caves for centuries. Not very long after we left summer did we come to the first tropodite community that we could wander through with our bikes. We learned that the caves were used for making wine in the past. Patrick and I got off our bikes and walked them through the community. Troglodites are people who live in dwellings carved into the rock. The caves were created centuries ago when they mined the tufo stone to build the chateau along the Lir Valley. The temperatures in the dwellings also make it a perfect place to store wines. It looks like they took the tufo stone, which is a chalky limestone, to build the outer walls to their dwellings. Walking through there, I realized why the shadows in the region were all that chalky white color. Mhm. Mercy. He says once we get up above it’s flat. Okay. Um says that there is an important slope. I think it talking about that one. Thank you. Oh my god, it keeps filming. Wow. I know. You wouldn’t believe what you come out into. So incredible. Wow. Yeah. Messi. That man said to us, “Bo,” which means basically nice hats. And we got that all day long as we rode our bikes because we had those rims that we attached to our bicycle helmets giving us a lot of shade around our head. Um they’re called debrims and they’re easy to find online. But here we are. We’re we um had come up out of the troglodites and onto the vineyard. And so um we felt we had made a wrong turn somewhere and missed a lot of the um troglodites. So we rode our bikes back down into the town and we’re locking our bikes up. And now we’re going to walk back in and see some more of the truck lights. depress boat. Oh, neat. So, this they make grapes. So, they put the grapes in there. They step on them and then they dance a merry song. Dance a merry jig. [Applause] onen a piseri. [Applause] So a a market. That is so fascinating. It’s a spice place. Oh my gosh. All under here. Yeah. Wow. And then we had to go through the screen door. [Applause] You’re looking amazing. Jenny, [Applause] this is so neat that you can just come through here. Yeah. R do Gomez. Oh, but this is the uh the commercial street, the commercial center of this place. Check it out. So they’ve got this all locked now a bit. Oh, those look like um wine. Very cool. I think it’s like I think it might be wine production cuz grapes have that musty smell when they um Oh, and then up here. This look incredible. We spent all morning exploring the troglodite dwellings. It was time for lunch. We found a shady spot in the churchyard that you can see in the background and enjoyed our picnic items. We then got back on the bikes and rode through vineyards and small towns. [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] That afternoon, with still a long ride ahead of us, we decided to take a rest and park our bikes at this little cafe where we ordered chocolate cake and two espressos. After our visit to the cafe, we bicycled across a bridge and headed toward Shinon. [Music] [Music] She known was not on laar AL the main UVL 6 bicycle route. Once we left the main cycle route, we were on narrow hilly vehicle roads. By the end, I was so tired riding up and down the hills that I ended up walking the last hill. Patrick cycled the whole way. The good news was we were at the top of the hill and it was smooth sailing downhill all the way into the town of Shinon. We were sandwiched between two fortified walls with the fortress of Shinon beckoning in the distance. Shinon sits along the Vienn River. Its chateau built a top a hill dominates the skyline. We had been attracted to Shinon after learning about how Jonavar met the future king Charles IIth here. And there is the chateau right up there on top of the hill. The hotel that we were staying at turned out to be right around this corner. In fact, in beyond that tree in that courtyard, our room was right there. And then we kept our bikes right down this alleyway, right in that garage to the left. We put our bikes and the entrance to the hotel was right along the road there, the hotel Gabriel. This is We made it to Shinon. And this is the Gabriel Hotel. We have a little courtyard with some other rooms. It looks like we’re here and you step into the room and there’s a bed. Not bad. It’s 80° today. And we have a little bathroom. a shower and a little toilet. Okay, for Patrick and I were so hungry at the end of that long bike ride when we saw hamburgers and French fries on the menu at Beastro Fav. We didn’t hesitate and ordered them. They were delicious. After our dinner, we strolled through the streets of Shinon, happy to be tourists on our feet and off our bikes. That evening, we stumbled upon a beer garden that had a band performing. And we will leave you with that. [Music] [Music] Nobody. [Music] What’s going to [Music] happen?
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Can't wait for part 3!