What a delight it was to spend the night in the Abbey grounds. We headed off to breakfast in one of the converted older buildings to a nice breakfast offering.

The only thing I thought out of synch with the hotel in such historic grounds (initially constructed in the 1100’s) is a series of bright coloured, twisted metal ‘art’ such as you can see in the photo below. That is my view from our table looking out to an inner courtyard.

Leaving the Abbey and village, we rejoined the EuroVelo 6 at Montsoreau on the banks of the Loire.

We continue to be amazed at the variety of structures embedded into the cliffs.

This morning was spent more on bitumen whereas this afternoon was more gravel. The day was hot. It peaked at 34C. Some photos of interest from this mornings happy snapping.

Finding our bearings in a village, we were approached by a chap who only spoke French. He was curious about my Garmin radar. He asked if he could take our photo as he wanted to show his daughter. So we agreed and then reciprocated and took his photo.

A short distance after meeting Alain were a group of children with donkeys.

Returning to the banks of the Loire, Tony was intrigued by this ‘bike’ that was operated by pedalling.

What a beautiful river the Loire is. Sandy shores but still no more beaver sitings.

La Pierre Becherelle is a monolith that was a traditional landmark for the Loire bargees in the 16th and 16th centuries. It was larger as it was partially used for the construction the nearby railway, but still stands at more than 50 metres. Rock climbing classes are held here.

We both liked this little red car. Not sure what it is, but it is super small.

This arch is part of a larger cluster of ruins on a hill that we rode by.

I liked this piece of metal art! The rooster is France’s national emblem. The origins of this emblem date back to ancient history. At that time, the Romans would laugh at the Gauls due to a linguistic coincidence.

In Latin, the word gallus means Gaul, but also rooster. In time, the French king adopted the rooster as a symbol of courage and bravery.

A second piece of metal art I thought ok!

This church was near the end of our day.

We are now at Champtoceaux for the night, the sight of an ancient citadelle. Most of it is on private land. The gateway below was one of the original entrances. There is a plan of the original city plus some English information.

The end of day 9. 137 km completed today. The washing is done and hanging out of our window for people to admire 🙈😁. We have had a really nice meal in the restaurant of our accomodation.

It’s time to get some sleep. Thanks for reading, smile on 😊