Chateau of Chaumont-sur-Loire
PADDLER 73
Chateau of Chaumont-sur-Loire
tower , wreathes of ancient buildings , formal fronts to the river which had once been quays , and an overall impression of quiet prosperity and first-class maintenance . But were , for example , all the flower baskets just for the many touring cyclists I could see on the river banks ? And were the settlements rubbish-free for the same reason ? I rather think not . On the river , draining after all a fifth of the entire French landscape , it was astonishing that I came across scarcely a single piece of plastic flotsam or jetsam each day . Someone somewhere is doing something right .
Although I ’ d seen the odd fisherman motoring in a small boat , it was only on reaching Sully ( -sur-Loire like many other settlements ), when a class of paddlers appeared , that the river , here averaging about 250 metres wide , briefly took on its role as a place of leisure – one that expands enormously as summer advances .
The river , although noticeably lowering in level , was now carrying with it whole trees and large branches torn away by the flooding , demanding a watchful eye from me and providing perches for wagtails , terns and gulls . Instead of natural banks , stone dikes now lined the river and contained it – at least most of the time . The Loire flooded badly in 2003 and 2008 but not nearly as much as in 1846 , 1856 and 1866 , whose high water marks are recorded on numerous walls down the river . The word crue for flood is well worth learning since Vigicrues ( short for Vigilance crues ) is the keyword for seeking online river flood alerts across France .
On the afternoon approach to Orléans , the northernmost point of the Loire , I was paddling for the first time into the sun . From its source , the Loire had been heading generally northwards , but now it began the southwest course that would take it to the sea at St Nazaire . Since the cathedral was barely visible from the river , the most arresting architectural sight of Orléans was the gleaming arch of the new Pont d ’ Europe . With a warming sun , a strong current and a following breeze , the 25-kilometre passage down to Beaugency was a pleasant run of about three hours . This is a lovely town on the right bank of the river with its municipal campsite on the left . The intervening bridge displayed an information board about the colonies of black-headed and Mediterranean gulls that nested on the island just downstream – again evidence of a clear pride in the river ’ s wildlife and concern about looking after it .
As the valley became more settled , and grand houses and chateaux appeared on its slopes , it was noticeable that the wildlife had changed too : for example , far fewer raptors and bee-eaters than before . Occasionally , there stood a bare pole or dead tree with the huge nest of a white stork on top , and along the river ’ s edge were frequent copyu , a large South American rodent eradicated from Britain as a pest in the 1980s .
The last day , my eleventh on the water , took me 50 kilometres from Muides-sur-Loire to Amboise , most famous as the final home of Leonardo da Vinci . First , I saw the departure of the firemen whose tracks I ’ d crossed again . It was cloudy but warm , and there was little warning of what was to come . The passage under the old bridge in Blois was exciting ; at Chaumont , there was a waterfront of old houses overlooked by an impressive castle ; and at Chargé , a storm arrived with sudden ferocity . The river boiled with the mass of raindrops , lightning struck land to the right , and thunder seemed louder than ever out in the middle of the 300- metre-wide river . Drenched but exhilarated after two hours of this , I pulled out at the campsite in Amboise .
LA FIN
Like others , it was well organised , not very full ( the crise économique was hitting tourism badly ), and with all the essential facilities at the price of just a few euros . There was one thing shamefully wrong : fellow Brits ( on bikes and in camper vans ) turning up and , unlike any other nationality I came across , failing to make the slightest attempt at speaking the language of the country they ’ d come to see .
If you paddle the Loire , do learn at least some of the basics : not just bon jour and merci but also aquatic essentials like étanche ( waterproof ), en amont ( upstream ), en aval ( downstream ) and ligérien ( adjective meaning ‘ relating to the Loire ’) and bon voyage ! – ‘ have a great trip ’! My own of 400 kilometres had been just that .
PADDLER 73