Cycling Montsoreau to Tours, France: Sunflowers, a Monster and Two Flat Tires
22-25 July 2019
Montsoreau to Tours (22 July 2019, 73 km, 45.4 mi)
It’s not Sunday, it’s Monday. But the church bells rang at 7am again. Luckily, we were up before the bells, because there was no way to sleep through it.
We hoped to hit the road early because today was going to be very, very hot. But PedalingGuy’s front tire was flat again. Nuts. Before leaving camp, we replaced the tube with a new one, because we couldn’t find the hole in the old tube. I’ll have to work on that when we get to a hotel in Tours. I wouldn’t be that surprised if the patch is leaking.
We stopped for breakfast at a bakery in Montsoureau. In addition to a healthy breakfast item (quiche), we gave ourselves a treat. We shared a pastry called a tartelette vigneronne, that is a local specialty. It was divine. The name translates to “winemaker’s tart.” It’s basically a pastry, topped with thinly sliced, baked apples. But the secret’s in the sauce. The apples are smothered in a jelly that’s made with the local Chinon red wine. Yum.
Our tartelette vigneronne. A little breakfast treat seemed like a great idea. Montsoreau, France. Copyright © 2018-2019 Pedals and Puffins.
We had just finished breakfast, but the day was already heating up quickly. So we hopped on our bikes, and focused on covering the kilometers as fast as we could. The route stuck closely to the river today, which meant that there were virtually no hills to speak of. There was just the slow, steady climb from the coast into central France.
A quiet, old alley in Candes-Saint-Martin, France. Copyright © 2018-2019 Pedals and Puffins.
Whimsical art in the town square at Avoine, France. Copyright © 2018-2019 Pedals and Puffins.
A highlight of today’s ride was our first, genuine sighting of a Eurasian Red Squirrel. There are a couple of iconic species that get a lot of attention in Europe, and the red squirrel is one of them. The reason is that, in places like the UK and Italy where North American gray squirrels have been introduced, they have almost completely driven out the native reds. So there is quite a lot of conservation attention being devoted to rescuing the red squirrels from gray squirrels that could migrate in from Italy.
Our little guy scampered across the trail in front of us, then headed up a tree. He didn’t seem to want to have his photo taken, but PedalingGuy managed to catch a shot, as the squirrel peered down to make sure we weren’t up to any mischief.
This Eurasian Red Squirrel didn’t seem to want his photo taken. But he couldn’t help peeking down from his tree to see what we were up to. France. Copyright © 2018-2019 Pedals and Puffins.
As the mercury rose past 32 C (90 F), we stopped for a drink in the town of Bréhémont. Instead of getting lunch, we had ice cream to try to cool down. At least, that was the story we told ourselves.
Feeling refreshed, got back in the saddle to finish our ride. But as we were exiting the bakery, I realized my back tire was going flat. What a bummer. We changed the tube in the shade of a big, old church. Now I have two tubes to patch when we get to Tours.
Yep, that back tire has gone flat. At least we could take care of it in the shade of the big, old church. Bréhémont, France. Copyright © 2018-2019 Pedals and Puffins.
Just up the road in Langeais, we spotted a chateau across the river that looked interesting. So we rode over to have a look. The bridge across the Loire River was especially picturesque. It looked like a classic castle drawbridge, setting the tone for a visit to the town’s medieval center.
Langeais Bridge. La Chapelle-aux-Naux, France. Copyright © 2018-2019 Pedals and Puffins.
Up close, the Chateau de Langeais was quite impressive, with three, round towers on it’s front facade. It was originally built in the 1400s. But a major restoration effort in the late 1800s makes it look almost like new.
Chateau de Langeais, France. Copyright © 2018-2019 Pedals and Puffins.
PedalingGuy climbed up the chateau’s main staircase, and went through the gate to have a look at the courtyard inside. Given the hot afternoon sun, I preferred to stay in the shade of a nearby store. Besides, someone had to watch the bikes. Right?
I’m keeping an eye on our bicycles, while PedalingGuy heads up the grand staircase to have a look inside the Chateau de Langeais. France. Copyright © 2018-2019 Pedals and Puffins.
Throughout the day we saw more of the toue boats anchored along the river banks. Given the number of boats around, it’s surprising how rarely we see any of them out sailing on the river. But today one of them had a group of people on board, motoring them on a tour of the Loire River.
Sunflowers continue to brighten our days. Loire à Vélo, France. Copyright © 2018-2019 Pedals and Puffins.
We’re ready for a rest day, and decided to stay at the Hotel Ibis in central Tours. Two key features that attracted us to the Ibis were that it had air conditioning and really fast internet. We need the good internet to catch up on syncing photos and updates to the blog. And the air conditioning will be essential, because another heat wave is about to descend on Europe. Tomorrow, the high temperature will be over 40 C (105 F). We plan to spend a lot of the day indoors.
After dinner we went for a walk near the Place Jean Jaurès, the central square in Tours. It’s quite impressive. The plaza is flanked by two imposing buildings: the town hall and the palace of justice, with two big fountains in the middle. Almost as grand, the city’s main train station towers over the Place du General Leclerc. Its stone facade is carved with the names of major French regions, such as Bordeaux and Toulouse, for which the train continues to be a major transportation artery.
Statue near the Place du General Leclerc. Tours, France. Copyright © 2018-2019 Pedals and Puffins.
We haven’t even been here a day yet, and the air conditioning in the Ibis Hotel is having a trouble keeping up with the heat. The room’s kind of stuffy and warm. Hopefully it will cool down over night.
Tours (23-25 July 2019)
We stayed in the air conditioned hotel room to avoid 100+ degree weather. Outside, the temperature topped out at 41.5 C (107 F). Looking ahead, the next two days are going to be just as hot. So, rather than subject ourselves to those wilting temperatures on the trail, or in a campground, we’re going to hunker down in Tours for a few days.
There was plenty to do. I have been having trouble with the bolt on my kickstand coming loose every day. So I’ve decided to coat the bolt with Loctite, with the hope that it will be more secure. I’m worried that by having to tighten it every day, I’m at greater risk of stripping the threads on the bolt. PedalingGuy helped me with the operation, and the Loctite will have more than a day to set. With luck, that will take care of my loose-bolt problem.
Another project was figuring out the best way to set up our iPhones so that we can use data in Europe. Since leaving the UK, we haven’t been able to use the data on our iPhones because our EE eSIMs only worked in the UK. Unfortunately, T-Mobile (our primary carrier) still doesn’t support eSIMs. If they did, that would allow us to free up the phone’s SIM slot for a local SIM card. We can’t get eSIMs in France that would give us a local phone number, either, because the phone companies either don’t offer them or require a local bank account.
But there are several providers of data eSIMs. After doing some research, PedalingGuy found one called Truphone that I can use throughout Europe. Because it’s an eSIM that installs with an app, he was able to purchase the eSIM and install it on my phone via the hotel’s wifi. Now I’ve got 3 GB of data, which renews every month, and the eSIM will continue to work within most European countries (Switzerland being the big exception). Very nice. Even though this doesn’t give me a local phone number since it is data only, I can keep my T-Mobile primary number active on the physical SIM for phone calls and messaging (with my US number) and use the eSIM for data.
We also completed a few others tasks, like laundry, uploading photos to the cloud, patching the two punctured tire tubes, drying out our tent, and washing some of the accumulated dirt and grease off of our panniers. Regarding the tire tubes… it turns out that the field patch I did on PedalingGuy’s tube a couple of days ago didn’t take. It was surprisingly easy to peel the patch off of the tube, which you’re not supposed to be able to do. So I re-applied the patch, with much more care this time. I’m pretty sure the patch will hold air now.
We tried to get out each morning to see some of the sights in town, before the days got too hot. Here are a few of the places we visited…
The Musée du Compagnonnage focuses on the trade guilds that developed and supported craftsmanship in France from the Middle Ages through the early 20th century. To become a member of a Compagnon, an apprentice had to create a “masterwork” in his field. The museum displays a truly fascinating collection of these masterworks, collected over time. Tours, France. Copyright © 2018-2019 Pedals and Puffins.
The Pont Wilson is the main artery across the River Loir in Tours, France. Copyright © 2018-2019 Pedals and Puffins.
An instrument-maker’s shop, on a side street in Tours, France. Copyright © 2018-2019 Pedals and Puffins.
Look out, he’s about to pounce! Place du Monstre, Tours, France. Copyright © 2018-2019 Pedals and Puffins.
Medieval, half-timbered houses in old-town Tours, France. Copyright © 2018-2019 Pedals and Puffins.
In the end, the air conditioner in our hotel was not able to keep up with the extreme heat (42 C on Thursday). Our room has gotten progressively warmer and stuffier over the course of the days we’ve been here. Last night was a very warm night in our room. We’re looking forward to a weather front that’s supposed to come through tomorrow. It will bring rain, but also much cooler temperatures. That will be a welcome change.
