July 1 Saturday
Rigney Usse to Saumur
We slept like lambs just as Catherine (our telephone interpreter) predicted. It was so nice to sleep in a bed with a real pillow, sheets and comforter. This was definitely a step up from the Muncipal Campground.
We met at the grocery store just before 0800 and Catherine called the police station. No pump. No memory. We're not sure what happened, maybe there's still a chance that they'll be found and mailed us but we're not holding our breath. We took a pictures of our new friends, bought some food from the store and headed to the next chateaux. We decided not to follow the Loire bike path as the road was a more direct route and the path was largely gravel at this point along the river and our bikes do not handle well under those kinds of conditions. We crossed the bridge to Montiserou, a very quaint town and quickly began looking for a cash machine. We had less than one € left to our names and the last couple of town had been so small they didn't have a cash machine and some didn't even have a bank! Nothing. Maybe we missed it. We decided to find the information building and ask. Turns out the nearest cash machine was in the next town about 5 kilometers away and across the Loire. We still had a little time before the chateaux opened to we headed toward the cash machine. I don't remember the name but it was yet another quaint town. Their Saturday market was in full swing - all five boothes. As we pulled into the center of town Jon informed me that the cash machine was "in a store" the gal at the information building did not specify which store. We stopped by a chain market we were familiar with, sure enough there was the cash machine. Cash in hand, I did a little grocery shopping for breakfast. When I walked out Jon was talking with a woman about the bikes. Turns out her husband has one leg and has a three wheeler. She was open and friendly Jon says and wanted to let us know she admired the bikes. After a trip to the boulagerie we picked up some produce at the market.
Back to Montiserou. It was already super hot in the sun. We parked and locked our bikes. They were able to store our bags inside which was really nice. The first part of the tour was in the dungeon,cellar, basement of the castle. Ahhhh, nice and cool. The chateaux had been purchased by the town in the early 1900s. The presentation was very high-tech. Motion activated, when you walked in a room the explanation would begin. Most of it was in French. Every chateaux we've been to has been a little different which has helped avoid Chateaux burn out. It's say my limit is two chateaux a day. We're usually there for at least two hours.
Jon enjoyed the dated graffiti on the walls, seeing the evidence of restoration and changes that had been made in the floor plan. I liked all the artifacts and weather veins.
After the chateaux we rode down the hill the the Loire and took a seat on one of the benches. We were both tired so we napped for a bit knowing that it was a short ride to our destination town of Saumur.
We kept to the rode all the way to Saumur. As we pulled into town there were more weekend markets and it looked like there had been or was going to be some kind of concert or other event going on in the town. We easily found the information building and asked about directions to a campground. Turns out there is a little island on the Loire where the campground was located - cool! We went straight to the campground. It was a campground with security. There was a line at the reception desk. We checked in and after finding someone else occupying our assigned campsite we were told to choose a pitch anywhere in the campground. We quickly set up camp - the World Cup was on and they were playing it in the bar: England was playing. I decided to join Jon this time - a beer was sounding really good. The bar had no air conditioning which didn't really seem to bother anyone but me and that was before I drank the beer. I was wiped out from the heat of the day (it just drains me) and so I had little interest in the game and probably should have stayed at the campsite.
When we (finally) returned to our site - the game had gone into overtime with penalty shots (doesn't that explanation sound like I know something about football?!) After a wonderfully refreshing shower and some food the neighbors that had moved in had invited us over for drinks. Jon had accepted so we made our way over after dinner. Ron, John, Heather, and Mary from Scotland were traveling together in John and Mary's caravan. They had picked up Ron and Heather in Brittany. Ron and Heather have been sailing their 11 meter boat. We had a couple drinks and some Scottish whisky just sharing stories of where we were traveling along the Loire, our bikes, boats, Jon and Ron talked tech, then we moved onto the World Cup game and Scottish media before calling it a night. What a lovely group of people! Ron's an engineer, Mary's a nurse (we're everywhere!), Ron and Heather are retired.
