An expedition to discover the source of the Loire

Rog has long wanted to visit the castle at Guédelon and we were passing very close by. So we headed away from the Loire and found, not the little known castle we expected but full car parks and the roads parked solidly for kilometres. But we persevered, hiked back, and paid the entrance fee. (Dogs allowed) If you don’t know it, it’s a modern construction - 50 master builders have taken on the challenges of building a medieval castle from scratch using authentic methods. But honestly I think I’d rather see a film about than trudge around with loads of tourists learning very little. The castle, which is now pretty high (work started in 1997), is very impressive though.

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Then hightailed it to Cosne-sur-Loire and Camping d’Île where my father tells me I swam in the river - bet that’s banned now.

Van is clean(ish), we are clean (very), dog is not clean. Soon will be walking over the bridge to town to see what noshings are on offer.
 
As the crow flies you are about half way now I think - but plenty of wiggly bits to come if you choose to follow them. :)
 
Thanks. Yes, I’m hoping we can slow down a bit now and get some proper long hikes in too. Feels better to have rushed over the touristy part - though in general I’ve been surprised that we’ve not been turned away from anywhere in August. I’ve always avoided it before but this year couldn’t.
 
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Been missing alerts for this thread I've missed out on all the food.:cry:

Zingano said:
Just a quick question - do they police numbers of vans on aires? We’re the 5th at Parking La Croix du Pont.
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Don't be silly you are in France. We were on one last year that had 5 spaces, I gave up counting Motorhomes when I got to 40.
 
Zingano said:
Must just say again how brilliant the site at Parking La Croix du Pont was. There are two picnic tables so that you can sit out and the views of the river are lovely. Lots of birds.

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This morning we carried on with the plan to get somewhere less travelled (we’ve visited some chateaux in a previous existence, on our way to moving to Ukraine). Our first proper stop was Sully-sur-Loire where we had a look at the very pretty little castle (quite a livable size, I hinted to Rog). Also food shopped - cheese, tomatoes and bread. Sadly the Isle of Wight toms we’ve just finished were much better - must try harder, ideally a market.

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Then after a picnic lunch on to Briare - a lovely, sleepy place where the lateral canal of the Loire crosses the Loire via a 600 odd metre long aqueduct - the longest navigable one in the world until 2003. Think there is a good site at Briare but we pressed on...

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Is that the one built by Eiffel with a small Aire on the eastern side, if so we stopped on route and had a wander a few years ago, very impressive.

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Zingano said:
Rog has long wanted to visit the castle at Guédelon and we were passing very close by. So we headed away from the Loire and found, not the little known castle we expected but full car parks and the roads parked solidly for kilometres. But we persevered, hiked back, and paid the entrance fee. (Dogs allowed) If you don’t know it, it’s a modern construction - 50 master builders have taken on the challenges of building a medieval castle from scratch using authentic methods. But honestly I think I’d rather see a film about than trudge around with loads of tourists learning very little. The castle, which is now pretty high (work started in 1997), is very impressive though.

View attachment 324208

Then hightailed it to Cosne-sur-Loire and Camping d’Île where my father tells me I swam in the river - bet that’s banned now.

Van is clean(ish), we are clean (very), dog is not clean. Soon will be walking over the bridge to town to see what noshings are on offer.
Click to expand...
We went a couple of years ago it was mid September, not very busy we spent nearly the whole day there, brilliant experience. I don't think I would want to go if it was crowded I hate crowds.
 
Well, last night was a disappointment. Cosne-sur-Loire was a very down at heel feel to it with lots of empty shops. The two restaurants we fancied were both closed - the first because it was Tuesday. The new Monday, I suppose.

We ended up with a pizza - au feu de bois so you’d have hoped nice and crispy, but no, bottoms were soggier than Fanny Craddock’s. Two pizzas (his was beef mince, egg, chorizo and extra chilli, mine was ham, mushrooms & onions) and 2 glasses of wine each - any guesses?

Then to cap it all, this morning our propane ran out. The spare bottle we’d acquired from my father turned out to have just a squirrel’s fart in it before giving up too. I decided not to remind HWMBO about the conversation we’d had in which I’d asked him if he was sure it was full, and he’d assured me he was. But then I couldn’t resist and pointed it out anyway. I am evil.

Now parked up at Auchan trying to source more gas (him), writing this caffein-free (me), huffing in impatience (dog).
 
Nothing worse than a soggy pizza :oops: Time to get some caffeine down you by the sounds of it and head on to pastures new.
So two pizza's and 4 verre du vin eh.......:unsure:.....36 of your finest Euro's I'm guessing.
 
Pizzas can be expensive in France. Let's say 15 each plus wine at 4 a shot so 46 euros total. :)

Hope you can sort the gas out - and you don't have UK bottles!
 
We have UK bottles! Luckily for once two wrongs do make a right - Rog was wrong when he fitted the new and wrong when he said the bottle was empty. We’ve bought the attachment bits for French bottle just in case.

Loved the campsite last night - mostly for the amount of space but also for the lively dog walk this morning.

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After a short dog walk and a long Auchan stop we arrived at Sancerre just before lunchtime. Our two favourite restaurants were closed because it was Wednesday (the new Tuesday which in its turn was the new Monday). So settled for a single course at a brasserie - pikeperch for me and kidneys for Rog, two coffees afterwards and his was the greedy kind.

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Guesses please!

Then we went for a tasting which turned out to be extensive -“and now our thirty-fifth white, Madame...” We stumped up for a couple of the cheaper whites and one of the more expensive reds for a treat sometime.

Stopped for a decent couple of hours walk out along a nature trail by the Loire, and Flynn enjoyed beaucoup de swimming.

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We were hoping for a France Passion, but the one near the Loire was a fairly lengthy drive and the wine tasting had been, err, extensive. Settled for the municipal camping at Charité-sur-Loire, useful as we had a wash to do. So far seems good but a bit crowded. The manager complimented us Brits on our language skills - there’s a first! “You all know a little bit of French,” she said. “A little,” I agreed.

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Ok so zander and kidneys = 2x plat du jour ..... deux cafe and a creme brûlée eh ? hmmmm lets say, €32.60 ........

Do like a fine Sancerre ☺️ Very tasty indeed.
 
Café gourmand - he got a choccy mousse, a cb as you said and there was a macaron that got polished off before I even got the phone out to record it. I did dip my spoon in a few times...
 
Ah ha ....... cafe gourmand eh. ?. Only discovered them last year on our travels over ....... OK, upping my bid to €37.60
 
The wine was pretty expensive for a carafe...,

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Wine ? ....... you never mentioned wine ?....... Hmm a carafe eh ..... ok Revised bid .......€57.80
 
50cl of the local plonk - but not priced accordingly!
 
I’m getting the hint that I’m too low ?. Okey cokey. So maybe the two main courses were not plat du jour so....... along with the posh plonk ?.......€68.20 ....... final answer (or can I phone a friend) ☺️
 
Would definitely recommend stopping at the municipal camping at Charité-sur-Loire. The site is fine if a little crowded but the medieval town well worth stopping for. The ancient priory is a UNESCO heritage site.

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There’s a great little outdoor bar very near to the site too. Live music most nights, local beer and wine, also had snack type food.

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Before that ate at the Auberge de la Poulet Noire. Probably the best meal of the holiday so far, except maybe the tapas in Saumur, partly for the location too.

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Glass of Sancerre pink and crémant for apéros. Then a ½ bottle of white with boulots and prawn with lemon mayo for me, egg meurette for R. Then R had pork shoulder with truffle mash (supplement) and I had steak tartare, weirdly served with a baked potato which I left. Glass of red each with the main. No puds or coffees.
 
To be fair, I think scousebird won the last round ?
Looks like a fine spot you’ve stopped over at. I’ll look it up and see if we can swing in by on our September tour ☺️
So ........ another fine meal there by the looks of it ?. ....... €69.70?
 

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