Around Saumur
We arrived in Saumur around 11:00am on Saturday 2nd
May, two unseasoned Brits abroad speaking very bad French, worse for our
estuary English accents. We were disorientated and punch drunk after an
overnight ferry crossing with patchy sleep and a much earlier start than we’re
used to for the drive south from Ouistreham. Leaving the autoroutes and coming
to Saumur from the north, we crossed the Pont des Cadets de Saumur and came to a
broad but busy street, though this wasn’t the main town. We were on the the Île
de Millocheau, one of the numerous islands in the Loire. We then, though came
to the main river channel, the wider one, crossed via the Pont Cessart to the
main town, built beneath a ridge of limestone. After a smooth, blissfully quiet
journey along the autoroutes during the early morning, the busy streets and
traffic were a shock on the system. It was market day, with stalls in the main
square and the road from the bridge closed to traffic. We grabbed a coffee and
galette in a café in the Place St. Pierre then had a wander around the town,
before the rain really set in. Much of it appeared to be a building site: both
the chateau at the top of the hill and the Eglise St. Pierre in the square of
the same name.
Wikipedia – Loire
English
French (more info’)
What I hadn’t factored was spring snow melt in the
mountainous Massif Central, where the Loire rises. Its regime is pluvio-nival
océanique (according to Wikipedia France), ie its flow is fed predominantly by
rain bearing north Atlantic weather systems, like Britain’s rivers, but there’s
also a significant contribution from mountain snow melt.
Usually in a car, (as we found on our way down here),
signs labelling rivers at bridges are pretty pointless as there’s seldom much
of a view. All the more on motorways and
dual carriageways and even on narrower roads, the view’s invariably hidden by
the wall of the bridge. The Loire was far too wide to miss but these signs at
bridges over French rivers say whether it’s a “girl or a boy”. In French all
nouns are masculine (le for the) or feminine (la). I don’t know what determines the sex of rivers / who decided
or where or when – rivers running off the Alps tend to be powerful and robust -
le Rhone, le Rhin (Rhine), der Inn (German masculine) – but it’s la Loire is
feminine. Confusingly, la Sarthe has le Loir as a tributary. We crossed both of
them on the autoroute south of le Mans.
By the middle of the afternoon, the rain was really
setting in. We retreated to the car, following the road running along the beefy
10m high floodbank (levée) protecting the town, passing Careful Where You Park…type signs for the parking areas on the quay
beneath it:
Secteur
Inondable - Submersing
Area Danger
On another nearby wall was a trilingual No swimming sign. The German Achtung Schwimmen verboten tends to grab people’s attention
when spoken, or maybe even the French Attention
Baignade interdite. The English – Careful – was whimpish in comparison.
We were parked at the LeClerc
supermarket-cum-shopping Mall (another place we couldn’t quite get our heads
round given the punch-drunk state we were in), situated alongside Saumur’s
“junior river”, Le Thouet. Junior to La Loire maybe, but it’s about the same
length as the Tewkesbury Avon, one of the larger rivers in England. Though it
flows northwards as far as Saumur, it then “has to” take a left turn about 2 km
before it can join the Loire at Bouche Thouet. In comparison to its more senior
partner, it was appeared to be a quiet, unassuming river and not unduly high.
It’s regime is purely pluvial.
There was plenty of this (rain) throughout the rest
of the day, overnight and into Sunday morning. We knew it was coming: the
anticyclone that had been with us for much of April, like us, decided to go on
holiday. A low pressure, tracking further south than had been typical for the
year so far, filled the gap. Though not particularly deep, it had lengthy rain
bearing fronts stretching at least as far south as central France. Once it had
passed through, the weather during our week in the Loire valley remained unsettled,
though not as wet as on our arrival. We sat out the worst of Saturday's lot in the car – we needed to take time to dose and chill out anyway – before
undertaking a somewhat dazed and confused supermarket shop, before turning up
at the holiday cottage to the north of the town.
We had a much quieter (and drier) stroll around Saumur on the Sunday afternoon, beginning along the Avenue du Marechal Foch, passing the École de Cavalerie (photo right) on our right and La Distillerie Combier a bit further along. We then walked up to the château from the Place St. Pierre. Here we strolled along along the ramparts and admired the views over the river and the town. However, the chateau itself was closed for essential longterm renovation. Much of the building was clad scaffolding. Photo opportunies restricted here then. When we returned to the public garden near the small vineyard on the east side, I focused on the view down to the river, though still had to use some artistic license for the building when I sketched the view down to the river. I also did some quick sketches here before our stroll along the ridge on Sunday: looking westwards along the Loire to the Pont Cessart and the Pont du Cadre Noir beyond it. The latter was a plainer, more modern design carrying a fast, busy dual carriageway linking with the autoroutes. In the view eastwards towards the railway bridge, I indicated strong currents and ominous clouds. Actually, the sky was beginning to clear, though it remained warm and humid and we felt a bit too hot when the sun came out later in the afternoon.
The
Château was built on the Butte des Moulins – there used to be lots of windmills
here; still evident in the names of some the houses we passed as we began
walking westwards along the ridge. As with all the hills in the area, it was
composed to tuffeau. This is a form of chalk, the same age as the chalk in the
rest of the Paris Basin and, indeed the chalk we have in England, late
Cretaceous, c 90Ma. Though, it all
formed in much the same way, is much tougher and the colour is yellower. It is strong
enough both for use as a building stone in the châteaux, churches and to
support the distinctive cave networks / trogolodytes cut into the
hillsides along the Loire. with f and
other buildings along the Loire. and easily carved into blocks. However, all
limestones chemically weather in mildly acidic rainwater. From what we saw
during the course of our week, it looked particularly susceptible.
We then walked eastwards along the ridge, roughly
following a section of the GR3 route along the lane at the top. Several house
names pertained to windmills, such as Moulin Solaire. The road then opened out
into farming country, with another vineyard. Though no windmills, two water
towers. As seen with the Cargate Water Tower (see notes in April), most water
towers in the UK have been torn down now. In France, they are still common.
Presumably, they are to serve farms. A man with a laden donkey passed us along
the lane.
Trogodytes,
modern cave-based food cultivation and art studios
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We had a much quieter (and drier) stroll around Saumur on the Sunday afternoon, beginning along the Avenue du Marechal Foch, passing the École de Cavalerie (photo right) on our right and La Distillerie Combier a bit further along. We then walked up to the château from the Place St. Pierre. Here we strolled along along the ramparts and admired the views over the river and the town. However, the chateau itself was closed for essential longterm renovation. Much of the building was clad scaffolding. Photo opportunies restricted here then. When we returned to the public garden near the small vineyard on the east side, I focused on the view down to the river, though still had to use some artistic license for the building when I sketched the view down to the river. I also did some quick sketches here before our stroll along the ridge on Sunday: looking westwards along the Loire to the Pont Cessart and the Pont du Cadre Noir beyond it. The latter was a plainer, more modern design carrying a fast, busy dual carriageway linking with the autoroutes. In the view eastwards towards the railway bridge, I indicated strong currents and ominous clouds. Actually, the sky was beginning to clear, though it remained warm and humid and we felt a bit too hot when the sun came out later in the afternoon.
Though it had a long way to go before reaching the
point of débordement (overflowing out of bank), and it was still well down in
the levêes, the Loire had indeed risen in response to the rain and overnight.
This was most noticeable on the north side of the Île de Millocheau, the full
width of the channel here now submerged. Though it was a modest rise, this river still seemed to respond quickly - I thought bigger ones took longer (though see later notes about its notorious flood history). It rose a bit more during Monday and probably peaked during the middle of the week after inputs from tributaries such the Vienne, though the rise was slower and less obvious. It didn't quite spill onto the onto the quay, meaning my worries about parking there turned out to be unwarranted. As far as I know (Vigicrues) there weren't any flood alerts or warnings along the Loire, though there were a couple of alertes jaunes - We don't expect things to get serious, but Watch Out (probably equivalent to the Environment's Agency's Flood Alert in England and Wales. I later found out (France 3, website, 5th May), though that there had been flooding along the Indre and in the grounds of the Chateau at Chambord, on le Cosson to the east of Tours. It was as well weren't in that area this time.
View
across the river to the Île de Millocheau. At the eastern tip, a campsite. We
couldn’t see whether the or not the Loire had spilled among the greenery here,
though this end of the island looked particularly low lying and more exposed.
When we got to the farm buildings and were roughly
level with the railway bridge, We followed narrow and paths steeply down the
hill to the river, following the Loire back to the Pont Cessart. We came down
near the railway bridge, where there was a small park. Solo angler and
dogwalkers. A St. Bernard. Upstream of the island here, it was a bit wider, the
current not quite so strong. Despite the current, a pleasure boat. Though the
Loire is officially navigable for the last 35 miles downstream from Nantes,
where it is tidal, but that’s for modern shipping, requiring deeper water.
Until the late nineteenth century, however, it was a major trading route.
Strong currents, the very varied flow regime with a tendency to both drought
and flood, navigation on the Loire was always difficult. Today, for its size,
it’s remarkably free of boats, though there are now pleasure boats like this
one, making considerably faster progress with the current than against it.
To our left along the road by the river was the
tuffeau cliff in the hill, with a trogolodyte dwellings. A sign to the tank
museum. Church / cathedral with large dome. This was the Notre Dame des
Ardilliers.
After spending the Monday morning in Saumur, we headed westwards across the Thouet to sample some of the underground culture along the Loire, at the Musee du
Champignon. This was set in a network of caves cut into the tuffeau hillside. We were able to buy a
combined ticket for this and The Pierre et Lumiere (€13), which was 300m westwards along the road. apart. Both museums were
set in cave systems going well back into the hillside. The mushroom museum was
particularly extensive. Both educational and also a working site, mushrooms
cultivated in the cave systems to sell to shops / restuarants in Paris and well
beyond. The biggest mushroom producer in France. These caves are great for
cultivating mushrooms as they stay at a fairly constant temperature and high
humidity through the year. Displays in French and English. In the two main displays: the myriad of mushroom
varieties from all over the world, all shapes, colours and sizes, edible and
toxic mushrooms (not always easy to tell the difference). Furthest back in the cave was La Champignonniere,
where they cultivate mushroom. Not only in beds of soil / compost on the
ground, but also in more unsual ways – grow-bags, some hanging “nougat” slabs
of soil with mushrooms growing out from the sides.
Just ahead of a big coach party of French youngsters, we headed 300m westwards to the next one, the Pierre
et Lumiere.
Pierre et Lumiere - Stone and Light.
Here there was stone sculpture of various landmarks
along the Loire and riverside towns, mainly carved in situ from the tuffeau.
All viewed via a one way system through the cave network, moving up the Loire
from west to east, beginning west of Angers and ending east of Tours at
Amboise. It could have been twee, but wasn’t. Intricate carving involving
tonnes of tuffeau, one 40 tonnes. All tastefully lit. The sculptor was Philippe
Comander. Noted he started out in Brittany, carving granite, which would have
been much tougher / literally harder than tuffeau. It gave us ideas for places
to visit during the week. Chinon and Candes St. Martin were a must. Other
highlight sculptures were: Angers – riverside view (from the Maine), ochre tint
of water and sky added constrast enhancing the overall effect. Chateau and
buildings. Use of Anjou slate in the chateau walls (ardoise). Angers is about
where the Loire enters the harder, metamorphic / igneous terrain of the
Amorican Massif. Saumur – view from a cross the Loire, plied by a sailing
barge.Sculptor had to work in 95% humidity to create this. The cathedral at
Tours, with its twin spires on the west front. Changing colour backlighting. Intricate carving of stained glass windows
etc.
Troglodytes dwellings along the Loire valley have various uses, among them homes, eateries, wine storage, also art studios. I'm not a sculptor and painters usually seek plenty of natural light. However, the cool, constant temperature of a cave and being able to control the light / achieve even lighting throughout the day assuming and electricity supply, without the intrusion of glare I have to contend with at home during the spring and summer appeals.
More photos from Saumur - shop and gallery windows
More photos from Saumur - shop and gallery windows
Around Fontevraud Abbey - 6th May
