BLOG: Our daily adventures,
Week 63 - Start of phase 3: Nevers to Sully-sur-Loire
April 23rd to 29th 2024
- Day 436: Start of phase 3: April 23rd 2024: kayaking down the Loire: Nevers to Garchizy - 16 km
We are super happy to get back on the rivers and roads to the North Cape. This year, we begin our adventures by paddling down the Loire. We have still ~ 600 km of active-drifting to reach Nantes. We were quite optimistic when scheduling the start of our 3rd phase for the end of April, but we were definitely not expecting such low temperatures in late April...10 degres and cold gust of icy wind....We are wearing every possible layers to counteract the apparition of blue lips and chattering teeth. Luckily when the sun peaked through my socks-equipped toes seemed to spring back to life. We might survive this afterall. But what about the -1 at night?
16 km done for a total of 5446 + 16 = 5462 km
- Day 437: April 24th 2024: kayaking down the Loire: Garchizy to Charite-sur-Loire - 16 km
Today we woke up quite tired, our first night in our new tent was cold as hell with sub-zero temperatures which kept our feet frozen, made us toss and turn in our sleeping bags and woke us up every hour or so: tough start! Luckily, we have our morning incentives to wake up: a warm cup of coffee with a square of Lindt chocolate...our smiles come back right away!
Gliding blissfully with the strong spring currents: almost no need to paddle, we are cruising at 5 km/hour without a stroke. Just as we started to feel comfortable, the dark clouds above us started to rain down on us, we had to paddle at a energetic pace to distance ourselves from them. It was too late though, we had to go through an hour of sustained drizzle with a sprinkle of hail to top it up!
I had to stay barefoot for a while and could barely move them after that. I jumped on the first opportunity to cover them with a double layer of wool socks: warmth at last! Simply heaven!
I had to stay barefoot for a while and could barely move them after that. I jumped on the first opportunity to cover them with a double layer of wool socks: warmth at last! Simply heaven!
Little lunch on a sunny-at-last sand bank: smoked trout, avocado, tartare spreading, cup of wine...luxurious treat.
The Loire is known for its castels spread along its bed..here is le chateau de "La Marche": auspicious name for a village!
We stopped for the night just before entering La Charite-sur-Loire...the bridge there is one of the oldest and most beautiful we will cross along our path...but it is also know for its tricky waters and rocky threshold right after it. It will be required for us to carry our boats probably around this first obstacle. We decided to keep the hassle for the next day.
Like every evening, I am tracing back our trail and estimating the number of kilometers we've paddled for the day on the maps provided in our crucial guide book " La loire vue du fleuve". The maps are super useful since they indicate each dangerous obstacles and tricky parts while giving information as well as descriptions of the fauna/flora, points of interested and historical landmarks. Fun!
Casey is preparing our evening meal (delicious spaghetti with Comte cheese) while I am starting our first campfire.
At last some good flames to warm our bones!
16 km done for a total of 5462 + 16 = 5478 km
- Day 438: April 25th 2024: kayaking down the Loire: La Charite-sur-Loire to Pouilly-sur-Loire - 18 km
First critical passage on our way, the bridge of La-Charite-sur-Loire is one of the oldest and most beautiful bridge on the Loire but also one of its most dangerous...Our guide book recommends to paddle underneath the 3rd arch on our right. We set foot on the river banks a few meters before and walked on top of the bridge to see what to expect: intense bubbling rapids, it will be quite tricky but doable.
Before the thrill, a little stroll in "the city of books" proved to be quite a charming discovery.
First little shop on our right holds a beautiful Name. For me, it is a sign that my grand-mother Alice is watching over us from the great beyond.
After a quick visit of the Charity monastery, small cathedral and Castel ruins, we roamed in the streets and feast our eyes on the charming stone houses and gray slate roofs soaking in the beauty of city center full of history.
La Charite-sur-Loire is known for its love of litterature. "La cite du livre" is hosting an ancient books market once a month and its litterature festivals are famous nation-wide. A illustration of its passion for words: all over the city, walls are covered with quotes and "traits d'esprit".
After an hour of roaming through the town, we sat on the terrasse of the bar "Le central" to sip some liquid courage: a delicous pint of the regional IPA beer called "Galia": fruity like we love it! Now we are ready to face the dangerous bridge and its rocks and rapids.
It's time to cross the bridge and its strong rapids. We've made it in one piece on the other side! This small ordeal definitely pumped up our levels of adrenaline though and my raft took in at least 2 litres of water in the turbulent stream. We spent the next break sponging the bottom of our boats.
18 km done for a total of 5478 + 18 = 5496 km
- Day 439: April 26th 2024: kayaking down the Loire: Pouilly-sur-Loire to Cosne-sur-Loire - 20 km
Today, we went groceries shoping im Cosne-cours-sur-Loire. We gathered enough supplies for 3 days of autonomy. We also started a new tradition: in every town we set foot in, Casey will discover one new french pastrie. Yesterday we had chocolate eclairs. Today, he is feasting on a Strawberry millefeuille...The objective is to make him concede that the frenchies are the best at baking desert.
20 km done for a total of 5496 + 20 = 5516 km
- Day 440: April 27th 2024: kayaking down the Loire: Cosne-sur-Loire to Ousson-sur-Loire - 24 km
Not the most beautiful sight this morning here at Neuvy-sur-Loire, this is unfortunately the first of 3 nuclear power plants we will have to cope with. This often implies that we'll have to cross by foot around the installations build on the river designed to redirect the water of the Loire to feed the power plant cooling system. Here we were lucky, a clear and short path has been designed for canoes transportation to the other side of the bridge.
Second obstacle done! While we were having a little post-carrying-bags break, we met Pascal from Orleans who knows a french guy who, not unlike us, paddled down 1000km on the Loire from its spring in Le Mont Gerbier to Saint-Nazaire. He invited us to recontact him when we'll arrive close to Orleans since he offers to possibly host us there on a traditional Loire house-boat called a "Toue". We are looking forward to meeting him again!
The wind today was unbelievable strong, as we were having a quick lunch break on a sand bank, Casey's packraft flew away, Casey sprinted like an olympic athlete and barely managed to catch it as it was reaching the end of our little island.
The rest of the afternoon was so windy that I've decided to design myself a mini-sail with my paddle and a towel...it worked so well that I was sailing as fast as Casey was paddling without breaking a sweat!
The rest of the afternoon was so windy that I've decided to design myself a mini-sail with my paddle and a towel...it worked so well that I was sailing as fast as Casey was paddling without breaking a sweat!
Short visit of Ousson-sur-Loire, a quiet and charming little village. At last the sun came back!
Serendipitous this little public book box! I was just thinking about getting a book to read while laying in our tent or gliding down the Loire...I got myself a good Mary Higgins Clark thriller "Un jour tu verras..." and Casey even found for himself a book from Niall Williams written in English "As it is in heaven"! The tittles are creating a beautiful message: "one day you will see as it is in heaven" ! We do, we do! Life signs' are sweet!
I don't know how we managed to get red-faced under the heavy dark clouds but we did!
To reward ourselves after battling most of our day against a cold, cloudy, windy and rainy weather, we were looking for a bakery but there was none in the village so we sat in the towns' only bar for a beer instead of a pastry..still celebrating Casey recent Birthday...
To reward ourselves after battling most of our day against a cold, cloudy, windy and rainy weather, we were looking for a bakery but there was none in the village so we sat in the towns' only bar for a beer instead of a pastry..still celebrating Casey recent Birthday...
Our little portable kitchen. On the menu today "pates a la provencale". Simple but delicious.
24 km done for a total of 5516 + 24 = 5540 km
- Day 441: April 28th 2024: kayaking down the Loire: Ousson-sur-Loire to Saint Gondon - 21 km
Little stop in Briare know for its chanel bridge and production of mosaic...its church is illustrating the beauty of mosaic art.
As we were having our picnic lunch, we met Bruno an amateur photographer who offered to take picture of us on the shore and and water.Thank you again for sending us these!
Gien and its beautiful Castel
21 km done for a total of 5540 + 21 = 5561 km
- Day 442: April 29th 2024: kayaking down the Loire: Saint Gondon to Sully-sur-Loire - 19 km
Second obstacle on our way, Dampierre-en-Burly's nuclear plant is the oldest one in France and has 4 reactor in function producing 900 megawatt each. It started operating in 1981 and 2 of its reactors are supposed to be closed in 2035. This means for us another water retention barrage that will require us to carry our boats o the otherside...a fallen tree rendered our job way more difficult.
We've reached Sully-sur-Loire and its majestic Castel surrounded by water and first Castel on the Loire protected as world's historical heritage.
We've left our boats on the sandy beach of the city under surveillance by a father already overlooking his 2 children playing in the sand. It's time for us to go groceries shopping, after a quick stop in a small bakery, we've also got ourselves some homemade sausages in the local halal butcher shop: tonight we'll have our first barbecue on our bonfire.
Today's pastry: Meringue au chocolat! Casey definitely loves our new tradition. Since he didn't get a birthday cake, I thought about this idea. Needless to say, Casey is savouring it!
We've found the perfect camping spot on a small island with a view of the city we've just left behind. Cherry on top, there is here enough drift wood to prepare our intended barbecue.
New champion of wood gathering and fire making!
We've witnessed tonight our most beautiful sunset so far...sunset on one side and rainbow over the city on the other: incredible light!
19 km done for a total of 5561 + 19= 5580 km