Angers to Saumur

Will and I said our goodbyes this morning then parted ways.

Near the end of yesterday’s ride, I felt pain on the outside of my left knee. Today the pain kept me from riding more than five minutes at a time.

I made it to Saumur after what felt like 20 hours of riding. I had planned on riding all the way to Tours today, which is about 115km. But the pain was so bad that I cried mercy in Saumur and jumped at the last sub-100euro hotel in town. To add insult to injury, in the truest sense, one of my three water bottles fell out en route. In the words of Timon, our trio’s down to two.

Today’s ride sucked. But what began as a painful trudge turned into a nice evening. There is a fantastic little place in Saumur called 1929. I walked in and immediately heard, “Take your seat and I will take care of you!” And take care of me they did. I ordered the mushroom pate and an open sandwich with chevre, honey, and walnuts.

Tomorrow begins anew. 

Ancenis to Angers

I’ve seen all the green

We packed up the campsite in Ancenis and set our sights on Angers. The weather was overcast and damp after overnight rain. Will and I set a leisurely pace riding through green wetlands.

We stopped for lunch at a roadside restaurant and had the prix-fixe menu and some espresso. I’ll never turn down white asparagus. Apparently it’s just regular asparagus grown underground? 

A couple of breakfast beers too…

After a patisserie pit stop ( I had the most decadent almond croissant), we made it to Angers. 

There is a great bar along the Loire on the way into Angers. Will and I stopped there and shared—you guessed it—another bottle of wine. It started to sink in that Will was leaving the next morning. I ignored any sadness and just dig into the fun we were having. 

Bike path bar at Angers

We buzzedly made it to our hotel, dropped off our bikes, and ventured out for some food. Within a half a block we got distracted by the Delirium Beer brewhouse. I opted for an 8.5% cherry beer thinking that at that high of an ABV it couldn’t be sweet. I was wrong. No problem though. We happily downed our beers and waxed poetic about all things ethics, relationships, and our grand plans for the future.

The night continued on in this fashion punctuated by a quick stop for falafel wraps.