Today has been a day off the bikes, partly because we’ve pedalled an average of over 80km perday for 6 days and need a break, but more that today is the first day of a Red ‘Danger to Life’ Heat warning, with the temperatures due to rise to over 40 degrees for the next few days.
This week has been hot enough, and we have been up early, packing the tent away and cycling out into the sunrise, by 6am. We did try cycling the distances that we had planned, but on a couple of days, it meant that we were having to cycle into the afternoons. With the heat radiating from the roads and the lack of shade, it made it really uncomfortable and sent us seeking any pools of shade that we could find, just to cool enough to pedal just a bit further.
The thing is that eventhough we like to think we’re invincible, we aren’t spring chickens any more, and as a result are more vulnerable to the effects of heat than we were, perhaps at 40, which is pretty much 20 years ago now for me.
So however much we had wanted to pedal all the way to Roscoff, we have had to have a rethink. We could do it, but all the planned rides from here are between 80 and 90km each, and some have quite a lot of climbing on them too. So we’ve done (what we believe to be) the sensible thing.
We have planned a shorter ride tomorrow, from where we’re staying in Saumur, along the banks of The Loire, just up to Angers, where we’ll stay tomorrow night, before catching an early train to Saint Brieuc, first thing on Tuesday morning.
This will get us out of the ‘red’ warning area, into an orange warning one instead. It won’t make a huge difference temperature wise ( although today we can’t even raise an eyebrow, without becoming a soggy mess of sweat), but it will mean that we can do the ride back to Roscoff in much shorter stages, and even spend a couple of days by the sea.
It hasn’t been the easiest of processes, as taking bikes on trains in France can either be ridiculously simple, or turn into a process that would have make tasks in an ‘Escape Room’ seem easy.
We started by finding a train, which showed bike spaces were available, tomorrow afternoon, which would have been perfect. So we booked and paid for the train, then went onto the TER site, to see if we needed to pay for the bikes. It isn’t much (just 1 euro per bike, per trip), but every region has its own policy, and you have to visit each area’s website to make the booking.
We still didn’t imagine this would be an issue, we had booked the train tickets, bike space was shown, so a couple of clicks and we would be done.
Cue, an afternoon of stress, anxiety and screaming into the void that followed.
I went onto the site and followed the link to see what was needed for the journey. The journey we had booked was nowhere to be found. We had booked a train with one change at Rennes, yet according to the system the only train we could take bikes on left at the same time, but went via Nantes and Rennes.
It didn’t matter how many times I put it into the system, we could not find the train. By trying another time of day, I found a train that just went via Rennes, so followed the link and managed to find out that we would need to book the bikes onto the train, in 2 different companies. First using Aleop, the provider for the Loire for the trip from Angers to Rennes, then Breizhgo for the trip from Rennes to Saint Brieuc.
It felt like a huge step forward, so I tried Aleop, but kept getting a system failure on the search. So tried Breizhgo, yet the same again. The high temperatures weren’t the only thing making my blood boil. We had booked the train, and paid for the ticket, yet knew that if we hadn’t got our bike coupons that we wouldn’t be able to travel.
Every way I tried to do it failed, so I decided to call Breizhgo, just to see if the national system was down. I hate using the phone at the best of times, so things must have been desperate.
I spoke to their lovely customer service, who checked and said that the system was working and that there were plenty of spaces still available on the train we had booked from Rennes to Saint Brieuc, so it wouldn’t be a problem.
When I asked why I couldn’t see that whenever I did a search, she asked if I had an i-phone. Yes, I replied, and she went on to explain that for some reason, the system doesn’t like Apple technology and that if I used an Android, it would work perfectly. All I needed was an Android phone or a computer. Not great as both of us have iphones.
She went on to explain that alternatively we could just turn up for the train and talk to the train manager and pay 3euros per bike, if there is space. The word ‘if’ did a lot of heavy lifting in that suggestion, as if there was no space we would be stranded.
I thanked her, screamed again into the void, and then remembered I have my tablet with me, which happily is Android and not the totally unacceptable Apple.
After finding some wifi (it doesnt have a SIM), i finally managed to get onto the site, and almost wept with relief, until I accessed the bookings for Aleop to find that the train we had bought tickets for was already fully booked for paying bike spaces.(ours not included). Honestly, by this point I was ready to cycle 90km a day in an oven – it would have been easier than this!
So we cancelled the train ticket, we had booked and found we could either leave Angers at 6.30am with bikes or very late in the evening. Everything else had been booked. So once again we changed the plan and looked at Tuesday’s trains. There was an option for 2 bikes at 7.30am, so without any more thought I booked them, at least the bikes had a space, all we had to do then was try to book a ticket for us to get on the train with them.
Happily, everything came together and we finally had the start of the escape to the North in place, and were able to book the bikes onto the train we selected from Rennes to Saint Brieuc too. After a frustrating afternoon, we had a solid plan, sorted out the route from Saumur to Angers and booked an apartment close to the station too.
I could breathe again.
So we have spent a quiet day in Saumur, hiding out of the heat in the apartment, with the fan doing its best to move the stifling air around a bit.
It’s a very lovely town, and this morning, we dragged ourselves away from the fan to visit the spectacular chateau that dominates the skyline.
It proved to be much more fascinating than we had imagined. It is a beautifully restored site, and was wonderfully cool too, with its thick, stone walls. in one room there was an image of damage that had been caused by shells in WW2, with evidence still to be seen in the ancient stone walls.
That was all that was mentioned, so when we got back to the apartment, I started to see what else I could find out about the attack that had caused the damage. It turned out to be a very fascinating story indeed.
In June 1940, when Petain had just agreed to collaborate with Germany, ordering a ceasefire by French troops, the German troops were approaching the Northern banks of the Loire. The Cadets at the Cavalry School in Saumur were ordered to retreat to Montauban, but the commander realised this would leave a 40km stretch of the Loire vulberable to being crossed by German soldiers.
The Colonel in charge of the Cavalry School consulted his Cadets, and all chose to stay and confront the attack, in the honour of their school.
The 250 Cadets were joined by other reservists, and soldiers who were in the area, with a total of 2500 french troops and their very basic munitions, facing down 40000 German troops with all the hardware they had available.
By destroying bridges and maintaining attacks this small group of french soldiers managed to hold the southern bank for 3 days, whilst the town of Saumur, and villages of Gennes and Montsoreau were bombarded.
Finally the Germans broke through, on 20th June, securing the south bank and Saumur on 21st June (86 years ago today). The Cadets and the troops had sustained serious losses, but had equally gained the respect of their captors too.
218 were taken prisoner, yet over the coming weeks the Germans allowed them to move into the southern ‘Free Zone’ of France, giving them their freedom and even honouring them as they crossed the line.
The Cadets of Samur and their actions were considered to be the first action of the French Resistance, and the town was subsequently awarded the Croix de Guerre with Palm, with a reference to the town being a symbol of french patriotism.
Another layer to the fascinating history of this beautiful town, which we would not have discovered if it hadn’t been for that single photograph in the Chateau.
It’s been a delightfully slow day off, and we will enjoy the bands at tonight’s Fete de la Musique, as the stage is not far from the apartment balcony.
Then tomorrow, we will head on again. Not the 90km we had originally planned, but 60 gentle kilometres along the river.
So back to pedalling with you again then.
Postcards from Provence and beyond 