Along Canals, the Loire Levee, and Some Minor Roads

We rolled along the Canal du Pont this morning at 8. It was gray but not raining. That's fine with us. 

Our first stop was at the top of a climb into San-Martin-sur-Ocre. There was a public well right by the road. It looked right at home on a central corner. 

It was a quiet town, but we did see a steady stream of people in and out of the boulagerie. The riding was exactly what you might imagine riding through the French countryside would be like. Between medieval towns, we rolled along back roads that were practically car free. 

At Gien, we started downstream with the Loire. The town was heavily bombed during WWII while Germans were trying to destroy a bridge to prevent a French retreat. The bridge was defended by French and Czech soldiers. 

We rode through St Gondon which, in addition to lots of streams and a picnic area, also has an intact medieval area. 

It looks a bit like Hobbiton. Today along the path we were looking forward to the chateaux at Sully-sur-Loire and it lived up to expectations. From the path, your first view is of a guard tower and the main facade. 

The building itself was design by the same architect as the Louvre, Raymond du Temple. 

The moat is still flowing and forms a major corner of Sully-sur-Loire. 

From there we crossed the Loire on an old train bridge that was a quarter of a mile long and proceeded to the levee. We discussed whether a crosswind or a headwind was more work to ride in. We didn't reach a conclusion but got lots of practice riding in to the wind.

The wind made riding up into tiny hamlets above the river a welcome break. In was a route that flowed up and down today with a climb total of about 900 feet. 

 Along the levee we saw lots of (what we guessed) were egrets and swans enjoying the vast waterways. 

Today's ride was our longest, easiest to follow and best scenery so far. Rain was called for but it didn't really materialize.  Who could ask for more?