Through the Loire River Gorge

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After a month of following the maps and directions along the Camino de Santiago, today we were on our own as we cycled toward Digoin where we can hook up with the Eurovelo Route 6, which will take us towards Switzerland. Bill had printed out cycling directions for Montbrison from viaMichelin.com, but we ended up making up our own route as we cycled through the Gorge du Loire along the Loire River. This gorge was not as scenic as the Lot Gorges, but it provided plenty of beautiful views.

The first 40 kms. from Le Puy to Retournac were easy, flat. Then we climbed and climbed some more above the Loire River. An equal descent into Aurec sur Loire then more climbing, a bit unexpected as we thought the route along the river would be fairly flat or at least undulating. A short snack stop (cakes with peanut butter) outside of Firminy and we were quickly on our way to St. Just St. Rambert (yeah that's acutally the name of the town) where, unfortunately, we picked up the D8, which was not really wide enough for us and for the heavy traffic.

We entered Montbrison, looking for signs for the campground, and found them -- only problem, wrong campground, which we did not realize until we had steeply climbed a km or two. Back to the Centre Ville and the Office of Tourism. When we found the right campground, we realized that we had been quite close to it when we entered town, but there had been no signs. We hurried as an afternoon storm threatened.

The campground is nice with some of the best showers we’ve had in a few days. And less than 8 euros a night. Having biked over 100 kms. with very little food, Bill was having a Mac attack. Believe it or not, less than 2 kms. from the campground, we found a McDonalds. Though the food was as expected (unlike Chinese McDonalds), the service never would make it in the US. We waited probably 5-10 minutes for our food and there are no free drink refills, can’t even get water.

A few hundred yards away from the McDonalds was an Intermarche, supermarket, where we bought a carton of caramel ice cream and a melon for dessert. We were seriously hungry this evening and slightly dehydrated, as proven by Bill’s leg cramping when he tried to put on his shoes. Guess we should eat more often and definitely drink more tomorrow.

It is now nearly 8 p.m. The skies still look a bit threatening but we’ve taken care of the chores for today and may go looking for a cold beer at the campground café.

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Photos

Loire Gorge
House near the Loire River in the Gorge du Loire.

Road Sign in Loire Gorge
Share the road!!