A Hot Ride to Orleans

At just under 60 km, today's ride should not have been all that tough, especially now that our team is bike toughened after many days of cycling. We all found that the long stretch of dry, hot weather that has been plaguing Europe all summer, decided to increase the level of difficulty quite a bit.
As we rode out of Sully Sur Loire, we were quite staggered to see how little water there is in the Loire at this point. If the water level drops any further, they may have to drop the "Sur Loire" from the town's name. All along the bike route we saw huge regions of crops that had been destroyed by the fierce summer heat. It must have been so heartbreaking for the farmers who had worked so hard, only to see their crops come to nothing. Although the dry weather makes our riding simpler, we can all see just how desperate the situation has become. Today's forecast, just like about every day's forecast since we arrived, was for another hot day with a temperature around 34C. There is no rain predicted for as far into the future as the weather forecasters can see.
Although today's route tended to follow the elevated levee bank of the Loire for most of the way, the quality of the surface varied greatly. At times it was beautiful and smooth and at other times it was bone shattering rough cobbles.
About 20 km from the start we made a 3 km detour to visit the famous Germiny des Pres and its ancient church, claimed to one of the oldest in France and dating back to the Knights Templar, It was worth the effort, even though the rising temperature was starting to take its toll on our stamina.
We then resumed the ride, eventually finding refuge in a wonderful Boulangerie in Chateauneuf Sur Loire. The salmon wrap was probably the best I have tasted since arriving in France. The decadent cake was rather special as well.
With our tummies full we resumed the ride for the remaining 25 km or so to Orleans. By this time the sun was beating down fiercely and each km of progress had to fought for. When we found a patch of shade, we stopped to rehydrate and cool down a little. It turned into quite a battle.
When we finally reached the outskirts of Orleans, it was a huge relief, although we still had to navigate our way through the city to our hotel. The final kilometre took us through the beautiful central square with its impressive statue of Joan of Arc, the so called "Maid of Orleans". We could not help but notice how clean and well maintained the city was compared to just about every previous town we had ridden through.
Our home for the next two nights is the comfortable Hotel D'Orleans, ideally situated near the centre of the city. In the evening we walked back to the square for an outdoor dinner in Le Chancellerie, probably the most iconic restaurant in this part of town. It was a beautiful end to a long day. Tomorrow we can take a well earned break from the bikes and explore the city.Read more