France
Saumur

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    • Day 19

      Saumur

      June 27, 2023 in France ⋅ ⛅ 23 °C

      First stop on our way home.

      Nestling in the heart of the Anjou vineyards, the medieval town of Saumur, nicknamed the pearl of Anjou, is a very scenic place with its magnificent turreted château overlooking the Loire Valley and old town stretching along the river.
      The historic centre of Saumur is the perfect place for a stroll – along the narrow streets edged by old houses and around Saint-Pierre square where there are old timber-framed houses and a church containing stalls and tapestries.

      Overnight stay at Aire CAMPING-CAR PARK de Saumur.
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    • Day 51

      Saumur

      October 4, 2022 in France ⋅ ⛅ 21 °C

      While I was driving along the Loire in the last few days and kept seeing sandbanks, I remembered the headlines in German newspapers, according to which France has experienced a particularly severe drought this year.
      In conversation with an interested citizen, this was confirmed: the water level had dropped massively, which is why you can see sandy beaches on the banks everywhere. I talk to him about the central government of France, the generation conflict and that one can only learn from one's mistakes.
      One of my travel wishes has been fulfilled with this dialogue: to have good conversations with locals and to have a little insight into their world. At the same time, it confirms my assumption that you can find like-minded people everywhere. Of course, that is still easy here within Europe, so I am all the more excited about the future. ☺️

      Finally, he gives me the tip to continue on to Saumur, one of the pearls along the Loire.
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    • Day 2

      In Saumur auf der Loire-Insel

      October 9, 2023 in France ⋅ ☀️ 28 °C

      Wir hatten keine Lust mehr noch weiter zu fahren und sind zur Loire runter gefahren. Am Ufer des Flusses haben wir unseren ersten Stellplatz auf einem Campingplatz mit Blick auf das mittelalterliche Schloss von Saumur gefunden. Es ist fast hochsommerlich und wir zischen das erste „Anlegebier“ weg.Read more

    • Day 5–6

      Flower Camping L'Île d'Offard

      May 9, 2023 in France ⋅ 🌧 15 °C

      Flower Camping L'Île d'Offard
      GPS: N 47° 15’ 41’’ E 00° 04’ 00’’
      Tagesetappe: 58 km

      Das Wetter ist sehr schlecht. Daher haben wir uns das Schloss nicht näher angesehen. Auch der Campingplatz war aufgrund des vielen Regen in den letzten Tagen alles Andere als gepflegt.

      Wir haben den Platz daher als reinen Übernachtungsplatz genommen. Es funktionierte hier nichts. Wir können diesen Platz nicht empfehlen.
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    • Day 27

      Château de Saumur

      October 17, 2023 in France ⋅ ☁️ 10 °C

      Auf dem Berg über Saumur thront dieses Schloss mit einem herrlichen Blick über Saumur, die Loire und die Weinregion. Ein großer Parkplatz befindet sich gleich am Schloss. Wir setzen heute Mittag unsere Tour weiter an der Loire fort um diesen Ort und eventuell noch ein weiters Schloss zu besichtigen.Read more

    • Day 30

      Carol's in the Closet

      September 23, 2015 in France ⋅ 16 °C

      Day 30 – In Which Carol gets caught in the Closet (and we lunch with the Troglodytes)

      Since we were to be only riding around 45 km of mostly flat paths near the river, we knew that today’s ride was going to be quite enjoyable. We just didn’t realise at the start just how much fun it would turn out to be. The fact that we were able to ride out of Chinon under a lovely clear blue sky certainly did wonders for our early morale. For obvious reasons, even the toughest riding always seems easier when the sun is shining.

      When we rode into the small hamlet of Savigny, it did not take me long to find a lovely Patisserie, well stacked with a fine assortment of sugar laden cakes. I instructed the peloton to stop as “it could be some time before we found another suitable cake stop”. A few minutes later we left the shop laden with lovely white bags packed with all sorts of tooth rotting goodies. We had learned all along the ride that it was virtually impossible to find a shop that sold coffee and cake and a quick scout around the town suggested that this place was to be no exception.

      I went back into the Patisserie and asked the lady in my best French whether there was a coffee shop in the town. She looked at me a little strange and assured me “oui, oui”. I thought that maybe she thought I was asking for the closest toilet, but smiled and walked outside her door. We looked for the elusive coffee shop again without success, before going back in the shop and asking the same question all over again. The lady rolled her eyes, before indicating that the coffee shop was actually right next door. No wonder we couldn’t find it. It was hiding in plain sight.

      I went to the door of the coffee shop and knocked. No answer. I tried turning the handle. It opened. I walked inside. “Bonjour” I called in fluent French. No answer. “BONJOUR”. Still no answer. Eventually the owner emerged from a rear room and looked like she might have either been in the toilet or fast asleep, or both. I asked for coffee and she flashed a big smile and beckoned for us all to come inside. Even better was the fact that she did not object when we asked if we could eat our cakes inside. This was a real bonus.

      The women also quickly discovered that there was even a toilet situated at the end of a short corridor. Carol apparently had the greatest need, and rushed to make use of it. The rest of us sat and drank our coffees and munched on great globs of rich cream. About ten minutes later someone noticed a faint tapping noise coming out the back somewhere. We ignored it, but it would not go away. “Probably just something blowing in the wind”, I surmised. Ten minutes later Carol still had not returned, and the knocking increased in intensity. Perhaps the two items were related ? It turned out that Carol had somehow locked herself in the toilet and was starting to panic that she could not get out. I assured her that we would have realised her absence when we gathered for our evening meal.

      The rest of the ladies were a little nervous about the inescapable toilet after that, especially as we had noticed numerous life sized effigies along the roadside just outside the village. Maybe they were a little more sinister than just dummies ? Would that have been Carol’s fate if we had not rescued her ? I guess we will never know. After doing a final head count to ensure that no one was still in the toilet we resumed our ride.

      A short distance further on we reached the larger town of Candes St Martin, home to a huge ancient church. This was probably one of the oldest we had seen so far and, judging by the large cracks opening up on some of the walls, perhaps it will not survive to see another 700 years after all. While some stayed to mind the bikes, the rest took a short but steep walk up to The Panorama. This was a sensational vantage point which gave a glorious view out over the surrounding countryside and right across to the impressive nuclear power station which was belching a mammoth amount of steam into the otherwise blue sky. I am not so sure that I would like to live with that sight every day.

      At this point we had two choices as to which route to take. One path led to the nearby Abbey of Fontevraud, while the other continued along the river. Since I had already seen enough Abbeys and Abbots to last me for quite some time I decided to follow the river. Some of the others will still working on their Abbey Quotas and grabbed their bikes, cameras and selfie sticks and headed for Fontevraud.

      We had not ridden far before I remembered why I wanted to come this way. This area is famous for its huge underground caves and dwellings. Many of these huge underground caves are used for wine storage, but the most interesting of all were actually used as underground homes. The bike path actually passes through a series of these medieval tunnels, and all agreed that it was one of the most amazing things we had seen in our ride so far. Certainly far more interesting than another Abbey.

      We even managed to find an underground restaurant/winery and settled down for a delicious and somewhat leisurely lunch before resuming the ride.

      All though our ride so far we had been in the Eastern hemisphere, but each turn of the pedals took us further west towards the Atlantic. I had been monitoring our progress on my GPS and knew that we would soon be approaching the prime meridian of longitude. This is the meridian that passes through Greenwich and marks the dividing line between east and west. I walked the final few metres and marked the exact location with a prominent pink chalk line across the road. We then proceeded to conduct our own traditional ceremony. Since we didn’t quite know what to do, we though that maybe a bit of Moorish Dancing might be fitting (since we were due south of London).

      At that moment a rather pompous looking Frenchman drove out of his drive, looked at what we had drawn on his road and did not look pleased (even when I waved and tried to look intelligent). I suspect he came back as soon as we had gone and washed it all away.

      The rest of the ride into Saumur went without a hitch. The consensus of opinion was that it had been one of the most enjoyable days of the entire trip so far.
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    • Day 14

      Saumur an der Loire

      July 18, 2019 in France ⋅ ☁️ 26 °C

      Womostellplatz Aire de Camping Cars Saumur (13,40€ + 5€ Karte)

      Wir haben die Bretagne verlassen und folgen nun der Loire Richtung Osten. Der erste Eindruck überzeugt uns noch nicht. Der Fluss hat jetzt im Juli nur sehr wenig Wasser.

      Saumur ist bekannt für guten Wein, Sekt Champignonzucht und für die Kavaliersreitschule
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    • Day 11

      Chinon à Saumur. 35km

      April 25, 2021 in France ⋅ ⛅ 16 °C

      Au bout de 6 jours, j'ai du mal à partir de cet endroit. Imbibé d'eau de vie et de bons souvenirs, je fais route vers Saumur. Je longe la Vienne, puis je pédale au milieu des vignes et enfin je retrouve la Loire. Je contourne un barrage de flic à un rond point (3ème confinement,-+10km). À cause du relief ça me prend du temps. Je passe devant le château de Montsoreau et le château de Saumur. Pour la soirée je prends une chambre dans unRead more

    You might also know this place by the following names:

    Saumur, Горад Самюр, Сомюр, سومور, סומיר, XSU, ソミュール, 소뮈르, Salmurium, Сомир, 索米尔

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