Palinges-Diou-France-9-2-14

We are getting closer to the Loire River. We are beginning to see some of the historical architecture that has made this river valley famous. We stop first in Paray-Le-Monial to photograph the fabulous  Basilique du Sacre Coeur.

Palinges-Diou-France-paray-le-monial

Today we saw our first château. It was the château Digoine. It’s high on a hill overlooking the canal. It costs €12 per person to go inside the grounds, but we had a fine view of the château just looking inside from the gate. It was rather plain, the very same brownstone that we see in the villages, certainly not fancy. But obviously, some family enjoyed living there in absolute luxury.

The Euro Velo 6 route follows paved roads through the countryside. Our hosts at the campground in Palinge suggested that we simply follow the road along the canal. This we did; it was flat except for the ramps that require going up and over the locks. The paving was rough chip seal as have been many of the roads here in France. The scenery was quite pleasant and as we progressed it just got better and better. Then, we picked up a very beautiful bicycle path that was right along the canal. The paving was excellent smooth and a lot of fun to ride.

Lamoni looks like a very nice town; we were about to stop in and have something to eat but we were enjoying the bicycling so much we just kept going. That may have been a mistake, as we got more hungry as the day went on and we had not yet found a market or anymore cafés along the route. It is possible to find a market and restaurants to eat, but not on the bicycle route. Again, you must leave the route and go into the town. We thought about Germany and Austria where we had cafés all along the bicycle route. Of course, there are so many more cyclists in Germany and especially Austria that can provide business for these cafés.

Our route took us to the the Loire River. The Canal du Centre now flows over a bridge above the Loire River. Yes, one river on top of another. It is fascinating.

It was a big event as we reached the Loire River. Although the Euro Velo 6 route does not follow the River closely, we feel we have made a milestone just by crossing over it.

We found the campground in Diou which is another tiny town with basic grocery store. The campground was closed for the season. It was easy to slip around the gate and find a place to camp out of sight, but we spent the remainder of the day at the adjacent beautiful park on the Loire River and enjoyed our Rum and Cokes. When we went to the grocery store to buy supper supplies, it had closed for the afternoon. No special reason that we could determine. So, once again, we had no food.

There are two eating places in Diou. We chose the one with a daily plate. We were starved, and daily plates were often a better value. But not here. We paid 30 Euro for beef stew and noodles. Wow! We will not be eating out again in France!