An expedition to discover the source of the Loire (1 Viewer)

[Jane And Rog]

Hello! I love reading other people's blogs of their trips and pick up many useful tips, so thought I should try to do the same in return.

We're Jane, Rog and Flynn the German Wirehaired Pointer, and we're crossing the channel tonight to start our 16 day trip to try to discover the source of the Loire. No one knows where it is, right?

Plan for the first night is to stay at Parking Hubert-Latham at Sangatte. I'm hoping there's a beach where the dog can stretch his legs. Then as we've such a short time, we'd ideally get all the way to the mouth of the Loire at Saint-Nazaire, but it's over 7 hours. An early start and a long lunch are probably in order.

As ever there's our Wordpress blog which will have more photos and added posts from Rog: https://denby.home.blog

Van is on the drive, I spent all yesterday have a massive cleaning session and now all that remains is to pack my clothes. Decisions, decisions.

 

[Gaston aires]

There’s a free aire just down the road at Wissant, near the town and beach too, stayed there many times, could be an alternative stopover.
Love the Twin colour, ours is silver, no orange on offer when we bought ours three years ago.
Enjoy your trip.
Phil

 

[Lenny HB]

We like following rivers Last couple of years we have followed the Meuse from Belgium to the source & the Mosel from Luxembourg to the source. Links to the threads on my trips are in my signature.

Have a good trip.

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[Figaro]

Great plan, looking forward to reading your blog

 

[Fenman]

Are you putting regular updates on here or just your blog link?

I, and a host of others, always forget about blogs so only see threads like DBK does when they're here on the forum.

 

[hilldweller]

Beat you !

Real source of the Loire River : Natural heritage in Ardeche Sainte-Eulalie | Ardeche-Guide

Natural heritage in Ardeche Sainte-Eulalie : Real source of the Loire River The Touring Club de France built a landmark in 1938 to mark the ''source

en.ardeche-guide.com

Le mont Gerbier de Jonc et les sources de la Loire - Guide Tourisme & Vacances

La célèbre Loire prend sa source en Ardèche, au pied du mont Gerbier de Jonc - La fameuse Loire, dont le trajet parcourt la France sur 1 013 kilomètres,…

www.france-voyage.com

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[Jane And Rog]

hilldweller fingers in ears, hands over eyes. Yes it's anatomically impossible but I'm trying.

 

[Jane And Rog]

Fenman Will try to remember to do it here too, this audience is much more informative than the family

 

[Jane And Rog]

Thanks gillnphil - that Wissant stop sounds better actually.

I'm guessing the orange wasn't very popular as it doesn't seem to be available on Adria's site now...

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[DBK]

We did it a couple of years ago and it was a good trip though I think I enjoyed our journey this year down the Lot better. The Loire is a bit industrial in its lower reaches and the upper sections are hard to follow in places, unlike the Lot. But still well worth doing.

Our "expedition" starts on post #32 on this page:

Two Return to France

The sunshine has now ended for a few days. Just had a heavy shower and rain forecast for the next three days. :( Things should be better come Sunday. :)

www.motorhomefun.co.uk

And ends on post #95 on this page. :

Two Return to France

We've been able to follow the Loire fairly closely today, especially in the afternoon as we ascended up the "Gorges de la Loire" on a good road with frequent views of the river, such as the one below. The river is frequently dammed along this stretch, with both large dams creating significant...

www.motorhomefun.co.uk

We didn't follow the river very closely, it was more a trip up the Loire valley. There are roads close to the river in places but most are very narrow and trees etc prevent you actually seeing the river.

Have a good trip and post photos etc!

 

[suavecarve]

I am sure as I can be that we found A source of la Loire a few years ago. There was an indication going up the side of the mountain that if the rain fell on one side it went into La Loire and the Atlantic and if it fell on the other side it went into another river and went into the Med.
But luckily for you we havent got a scoobie where it is. Somewhere in the middle probably

 

[h1ghway1]

St Nazaire, apart from the sub pens very little else there , imho, the allies destroyed the city. Decent payable Aire directly opposite the sub pens. Enjoy your trip

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[pappajohn]

Beat you !

Real source of the Loire River : Natural heritage in Ardeche Sainte-Eulalie | Ardeche-Guide

Natural heritage in Ardeche Sainte-Eulalie : Real source of the Loire River The Touring Club de France built a landmark in 1938 to mark the ''source

en.ardeche-guide.com

Le mont Gerbier de Jonc et les sources de la Loire - Guide Tourisme & Vacances

La célèbre Loire prend sa source en Ardèche, au pied du mont Gerbier de Jonc - La fameuse Loire, dont le trajet parcourt la France sur 1 013 kilomètres,…

www.france-voyage.com

Funny how water expands the further it flows.

 

[DBK]

I am sure as I can be that we found A source of la Loire a few years ago. There was an indication going up the side of the mountain that if the rain fell on one side it went into La Loire and the Atlantic and if it fell on the other side it went into another river and went into the Med.
But luckily for you we havent got a scoobie where it is. Somewhere in the middle probably

That's near the Gerbier de Jonc which stands above the sources. My post above links to my scramble up it. I've seen another sign like the one below somewhere in France but this is the only one I've photographed.

 

[rangi]

Ages ago when based in Fremington with the Amphibious Transport mob, a couple of us were allowed to kit ourselves out from the QMs and trace the source of the Fal river.
Really?
It was one big jolly for us, we all ceremonially peed in it, spent a couple of nights in a bivvy here and there and every where. We pushed the newly commissioned 2nd Looee to the fore when ever an angry land owner raised his ugly head. Once we reached Tregony, we went all water, and had canoes, so a leisurely paddle for the rest of the way.
Finally, 5 days after we started, we stood on Pendennis Point and watched as our "joint effort" flowed past the Black Rock, the entrance to the Fal from the sea.

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[Jane And Rog]

We are here! 21:08 French time and we’re in the middle of a mass of vans in the Sangatte aire. At least we’re orange! The dog was being super painful all through the channel crossing which put us off travelling any further than we had to (turned out he needed a comfort break but indistinguishable from just generally being keen for a walk, so hard to tell).

We’ve not bothered levelling so tonight will be uneven. Will help us to get up early.

Just polished off some guacamole I made with a beer for Sir and a cava for Madam - mains will be a steak from the Juicy Steak Co with a “fridge leavings pesto” - in this case pretty much watercress.

 

[Jane And Rog]

h1ghway1 I think we’ll miss Saint-Nazaire apart from a drive. We don’t do many big cities because of the dog, but probably will try to see the machines at Nantes.

 

[DBK]

Take your time, there's lots to see in rural France.

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[Jane And Rog]

Sadly only just over a fortnight to see it in though. Wet here overnight, and HWMBO forgot to cancel his alarm for the early train to London so it’s a quick cuppa and hit the A16.

 

[Jane And Rog]

Not a good day generally but saved by an excellent lunch and just ending up on a lovely aire.

We had the worst night’s sleep we’ve had in Denby and vowed not to skip the levelling next time, however tired we are.

After a very brief dog walk we set off on the A16 through biblical weather. In fact I said I’d never driven through worse, but HWMTOPS (he who must top other people’s stories) claimed that the air was 99% water once when he was driving through Louisiana.

The rain continued all morning so we postponed a proper dog walk and headed for Sées where I thought I’d found a good crêperie.

It was shut because it was the biggest tourist month of the year and they’d decided to take a holiday. Honestly, I’m not very capitalist but this is ridiculous.

Then the next one was off on his hollibobs too, but luckily the Au Normandy was totally ouvert and selling gallettes to a massive crowd. Being late and very hungry (no breakfast) we ordered two “Trois Fromages” - the cheeses being big Norman hits like Camembert and Liverot. I had a demi pichet of cider and Rog a small bottle of Badoit, then we shared most of a second demi as the service was pretty laid back.

Totally stuffed, we both admitted defeat before the end. Anyone fancy guessing the cost ala Robert Clark?

We wandered round the town - very much worthy of an overnight we thought, and with a pretty impressive cathedral to boot.

Then the rain eased off and we walked the dog through a forest, very pleasant.

As we were approaching Mayenne, Rog was overcome with tiredness so caught a nap for an hour while I had a look round town.

Then via Super U to our aire here on the river at St Jean Sur Mayenne. Very nice, fairly private pitches with hard standing and grass beside, electric hook up and a communal barbecue area. Dinner tonight is local sausages with two salads - lentil and rémoulade. We were feeling tired and lazy!

 

[Robert Clark]

Not a good day generally but saved by an excellent lunch and just ending up on a lovely aire.

We had the worst night’s sleep we’ve had in Denby and vowed not to skip the levelling next time, however tired we are.

After a very brief dog walk we set off on the A16 through biblical weather. In fact I said I’d never driven through worse, but HWMTOPS (he who must top other people’s stories) claimed that the air was 99% water once when he was driving through Louisiana.

View attachment 323360

The rain continued all morning so we postponed a proper dog walk and headed for Sées where I thought I’d found a good crêperie.

It was shut because it was the biggest tourist month of the year and they’d decided to take a holiday. Honestly, I’m not very capitalist but this is ridiculous.

View attachment 323363

Then the next one was off on his hollibobs too, but luckily the Au Normandy was totally ouvert and selling gallettes to a massive crowd. Being late and very hungry (no breakfast) we ordered two “Trois Fromages” - the cheeses being big Norman hits like Camembert and Liverot. I had a demi pichet of cider and Rog a small bottle of Badoit, then we shared most of a second demi as the service was pretty laid back.

View attachment 323368


Totally stuffed, we both admitted defect before the end. Anyone fancy guessing the cost ala Robert Clark?

We wandered round the town - very much worthy of an overnight we thought, and with a pretty impressive cathedral to boot.

Then the rain eased off and we walked the dog through a forest, very pleasant.

As we were approaching Mayenne, Rog was overcome with tiredness so caught a nap for an hour while I had a look round town.

View attachment 323366


Then via Super U to our aire here on the river at St Jean Sur Mayenne. Very nice, fairly private pitches with hard standing and grass beside, electric hook up and a communal barbecue area. Dinner tonight is local sausages with two salads - lentil and rémoulade. We were feeling tired and lazy!

Looks yummy!
€20

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[pappajohn]

View attachment 323368

Is that a sample?

If not I'd be disappointed...... And hungry.

 

[Jane And Rog]

It was 90% melted cheese. More than €20. This is not going well

 

[scousebird]

Hate to say it but we've eaten there and it was deeelish

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[scousebird]

€25

 

[DBK]

My guess is €36 but could could be more. This is based on the galettes being €8, the cider €4 and the pichets of wine €8.

Breakdown of the menu is raising the stakes!

Just checked on the map where you are - should be on the Loire tomorrow hopefully. Uphill after that!

 

[Robert Clark]

Just for clarification my guess of €20 was per person

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[DBK]

Just for clarification my guess of €20 was per person

Have you thought of going into politics?

 

[Jane And Rog]

Ah at 20 per person you are spot on! And it was absolutely worth it. Cheesetastic.

 

[Robert Clark]

Ah at 20 per person you are spot on! And it was absolutely worth it. Cheesetastic.

Thanks very much !
I love playing Guess The Bill

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}