Today's post highlight is from Nevers, which is located on the Loire Valley in central France in Bourgogne-Franche-Comte region, 260 km south-southeast of Paris.
Has been some time since my last post, I know, but there is no day passing by without me thinking about it. With this market priorities have changed for me but still I haven't sold my steem to the devil :)
As you can see I was not alone in this camping, other fellow velo tourists called Camping de Nevers - Aquadis Loisirs their home for last night. Speaking about the camping I thought it would be a good idea to show you more pictures around. In general I was very happy with the campings in France, for around 10 Euro you can rent your own 2 square meters of french land to sleep on for the night plus have access to a hot shower the following morning and very important, access to a clean toilette and bonus some free electricity to charge that huge power bank, so you'll have enough juice in your camera for all those Loire Valley castles you will encounter.
Speaking about castles, there is a gorgeous one just across the river in the old town of Nevers.
The Ducal Palace of Nevers was the residence of the counts and dukes of Nevers in the 15th and 16th centuries, nowadays being occupied by the local courts of justice and an important ceramic museum. It is considered to be the first of the Loire castles with its wide Renaissance façade surrounded by polygon turrets, more info about its history here.
Just a few steps away from the castle you will find the Nevers Cathedral which is a national monument and the seat of the Bishop of Nevers. This beautiful Roman Catholic church dates back to the 14th century and is a combination of two buildings dating from different periods, so its present form is the result of two architectural styles, Romanesque and Gothic, beautifully complementing each other. Together with the surrounding old houses and narrow winding streets they all make up the charming old town of Nevers which is well worth visiting.
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Now it's time for me to leave Nevers and continue on EuroVelo 6 this afternoon to Sancerre along the Loire.
Hmm, fresh asphalt traffic free, the canal on the right, the castle and cathedral I just saw earlier or may be it's just that strong espresso I had before leaving Nevers, don't know, but all this make me feel good today...I call it EuroVelo therapy :)
"And we're rolling, rolling, rolling on the river"
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Listen to the one and only Tina Turner singing this beautiful song here.
Hey, what have we found here? This is the The Guétin Bridge Canal built in 1838 which allows the Canal Lateral a la Loire to cross the River Allier. It is an impressive aqueduct (343m long with 18 arches and a double lock at one end, for a total of 9.6 m in water level difference). This must have been quite an engineering achievement at that time. Nowadays it is still in operation mainly for leisure boats.
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The confluence of rivers Allier and Loire nicely presented on this concrete slab.
Left the Canal Lateral a la Loire behind and from now on continued cruising on the Loire dikes which on this particular calm afternoon of July, was such a joy to cycle.
Took a short break here to admire the river and the surroundings and listen to the birds for a while until this lady passed by with her dog and offered to take me a photo.
Love the french biking infrastructure to the asphalt, this is how Haven looks like for me.
Just another small castle on the Loire Valley...must be twice this size for me to stop :)
Often on the EuroVelo routes you'll find these panels with interesting information about the area you are transiting, so when you stop for a quick rest or for a snack you'll always learn new things. In France they have La Loire à Vélo which is an interregional cycling itinerary consisting of 900 km of cycling route that connects Cuffy (near Nevers) to Saint-Brevin-les-Pins (at the Atlantic), managed by a consortium of regional institutional tourism bodies. Among their tasks is the development and promotion of tourism in the French regions and other foreign markets. On their site you'll find useful information if you plan to visit the Loire Valley, starting with suggestions for a week/week-end/day trips, logistic information to get to your destination by car, train or bike, maps, bike service shops, where to sleep and eat, what to visit and many other good recommendations so you can have and unforgettable experience.
Later that evening I arrived in Sancerre and opted for my thousand star tent in a nice camping I found on Gmaps, called Flower Camping Les Portes de Sancerre.
Really clean and nice like most of the campings in France. This is just one other reason why France is one of the best destinations (if not the best destination) for bike touring in the world. For around 10 Euros you can set up your tent in a safe camping like this and have access to a clean bathroom for all your needs, not to mention the excellent infrastructure you ride on to get here, and now just add the cultural and gastronomical heritage of France on top of all this and voila!
And to better illustrate what I just said, I'll end up with the dinner picture. Just outside the camping was this restaurant called Le Ligérien where I ordered for a local dish and this is what was offered to me. A tart au chèvre and a glass of local sauvignon blanc for which Sancerre is well known for...well don't know if because of the wine or the view or may be the combination of two but I can only say that I still remember this simple dinner to this day. A perfect end to a perfect day on EuroVelo 6 in Sancerre, France.
Now since all this got me excited and a bit nostalgic, I also made a short video of the day for you with some videos I found in my archive. Tried with DTube first but couldn't embed so used YouTube instead (better user experience).
Here is the map with our progress on EuroVelo 6 for today:
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Until next time,
©Discover EuroVelo
Do you plan to travel in the future? You can use my link here to get 10% off your next hotel room on Booking.com while also supporting Discover EuroVelo project (I'll get US$15 from them too), so both of us can travel a bit cheaper next time. This is an affiliate link. Thank you!
All photos were taken with my iPhone 6S.
“EuroVelo, the European Cycle Route Network” are registered marks of ECF asbl.
I have no affiliation with EuroVelo or other organisations mentioned here, I am just a tourist sharing his opinion.