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squiz Member Member#: 6644 Location: Registered: 27-05-2007 Diary Entries: 3688 |
20th September 2015 Mt. Biking: Lac Villerest to Roanne Wind Direction: Wind Stength: Surf / Sea State: Air Temperature: Sea Temperature: Weather: cloudy with afternoon sunshine Max Speed: 30 mph (knots - unless stated otherwise) Distance Covered: 20 miles (Nautical Miles - unless stated otherwise) Saturday 19th September – travel – sightsee – little walk – cloudy with rain :( A very dark morning with thick black cloud overhead but no rain so still did exercises outside even though it was a bit damp on the grass! River still beautiful. Had good wash and brush up and had breakfast outside. Set out about 10.30 and drove down the motorway towards Moulin. Stopped for water in a lay-by but didn’t have lunch there as wanted something a bit more interesting!! Eventually travelled a road we had been on before although we didn’t realise until we saw the sign to a waterfall (Cascade de Pisserote)we stayed at a couple of years ago! We had lunch at the Barrage de la Tache near Renaisson and had a wander over the dam wall afterwards. Drove on to find the Loire again at St. Jean-St. Maurice sur Loire where we parked and had a walk around the historic old village. We were up the tower of the ruined castle overlooking the Loire (which has been dammed up and is sadly half empty) when it started to pour with rain. We went back down the spiral staircase with many steps and sheltered in the entrance to the tower until there was a gap in the showers (one minute sun the next rain at the moment) and got back to the van ok. Had a ride to Villarest to look for somewhere to park up for the night and although there were places at Lac Villarest (which is actually on the banks of the Loire and not a separate lac at all) we decided to return to St. Jean-St. Maurice and parked in a car park away from it all near the cemetery. Had our tea then went for a walk to the Passorale du santé which sounded intriguing and was just down the hill from us. We took a torch as it was getting dark but didn’t need it. The path followed a small river which started as a ditch and turned into a slightly wider tributary making its way to the Loire. There was a trim trail all along until you reached the actual Loire where the path turned into steps and a pathway to the old town again. Very nice walk and got back to the van just as it got really dark. Sunday 20th September – Bike ***** Lac Villerest to Roanne - cloudy with afternoon sunshine – 20 miles – 30 mph max. Quiet night in our spot by the cemetery and it wasn’t until we had done our exercises and eaten breakfast that the locals started to arrive for a do in the village. We headed over to Lac Villerest, packed a picnic and headed off on our bikes to Roanne just before midday, wrapped up a bit as it was on the chilly side! This is the River Loire which has been dammed but the water level is low at this time of year and even the pleasure boat has been left high and dry so it is not all that pleasing on the eye. We biked down onto the beach past the stranded jetty and loads of fisherman’s cars then on to the campervan aire and the dam which is closed for maintenance. We found a steep track down to the bottom of the dam where water was spurting out covering everything in a mist of water :) The river here was natural looking and we could follow it approx 5 miles into Roanne. We passed under a railway bridge as a train passed then came up by a tree lined park where there was a horsey event!!! There were horses everywhere but sadly we had missed the action in the ring. We got there just in time to hear a few numbers from a brass band – The Les FanFarons Cordellois:) the highlight was their toe tapping version of Mary Hopkins Those were the days! Hot dinner was now being served which looked good so we headed off not wanting to get in the way. We crossed the road to the Port de Plaisance - a basin at the end of the Canal de Roanne a’ Digoin which was packed with narrow boats. We had a spin around the town centre looking for anything of interest and to be honest there was very little :( a church with crowds leaving after a service, long narrow traffic free shopping streets like a ghost town as everything was closed but we found an impressive town hall where we stopped for a pic. Hungry now we headed back to the port and had our picnic by the lock before heading a different way back. Crossing to the other side of the Loire we found a foot path at Le Coteau which lead us to a lovely dead end by the river with a Great Egret was feeding, we found a track through a farm to the road and headed towards Villerest which was uphill for several miles! We reached a roundabout which lead down to the closed barrage, we had gone too far and missed the turning to the open bridge at Comelle Verney! I thought we could squeeze past the fenced off dam so we whizzed down the steep road but could not get any farther so had to return slowly back up but found a Belvedere with stunning views of the River, lac, dam, St. Jean-St. Maurice and it had a little Train Touristique which left the station as we watched chugging very slowly around the lac! We had a cuppa here and Mag even managed to find a bag of wine gums in the ruck sack – we know how to live! We then retraced our steps for a couple of miles, found the bridge and headed up into Villerest and our van after nearly five hours away! The car park was now packed with locals enjoying the late afternoon sunshine so we made a drink, I had my Lidl apple puff and we sat on our chairs like a couple of old people watching the world go by:) We then topped up the vans water tank, loaded the bikes on, filled our water bottles at the camper aire before heading over to the other side of the dam looking for somewhere to stop. We were unlucky near the Belvedere but found a turning on the way to Cordelle and happened upon a car park in the middle of nowhere at the Hamlet of Conseille with stunning views of where we stayed last night! We enjoyed the last of the sunshine by the van before walking down the lane as the sun set over the hills before returning for Potato surprise which consisted of all the things left over in our fridge and a top meal it was – great day :) PS – have lost some ball bearings in a peddle so now need a new set! Photo Gallery Here |
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