Holiday reports
| SECRET MILLIONAIRE |  | | | VIEW FROM THE HILL | | | | YOUR HEALTH | | |
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Free wheeler
PEDALS whirr beneath my feet, the sun beats down and the mighty river Loire flows alongside.
A bell rings out to interrupt my companions' conversation on this cycling holiday through the Pays de la Loire region. The sound comes not, as you might expect, from an irate French cyclist frustrated by my preference for the left-hand side of the road but from a small computer mounted on my handlebars.
The Cyclopedia is part GPS navigation system and part electronic guidebook.
The Anjou tourist board in the Western Loire has filled 10 pocket PCs with a wealth of factual information on a 65-kilometre stretch of the river between Gennes and Montjean-sur-Loire.
A fully refundable 250 euro deposit at any of seven participating tourist offices secures a Cyclopedia for 48 hours. Photos, audio clips, short films and text documents can be accessed by pressing gently on the computer's 3.5in LCD screen.
Better still, the technology that plots your position on the map is synchronised with an encyclopaedia. When passing an item of interest, the related document appears on the screen - the bike's bell alerts you to the information, and the reading break provides a perfect excuse to stop pedalling.
I collect my bicycle from the quaint Hotel Le Bussy, in the town of Montsoreau, about 50 miles from Angers.
It's a hybrid bike, combining the comfortable, upright position of a mountain bike with smooth, free-rolling tyres, and comes equipped with a few cycling essentials, including pump and lock, although an inner tube would perhaps be more use than a puncture repair kit, and wheel spanner and tyre levers are notably absent.
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| The beautiful Chateau de l'Epinay at St Georges-sur-Loire |
That aside, the service provided by hire company Detours de Loire is excellent. Bicycles can be collected and returned at any of their depots, or tourist offices, along the Loire.
The hire firm, and hotels participating in the Accueil Vélo scheme, will also arrange for your luggage to be collected and driven to your next destination.
Apart from Champagne, Saumur is France's best-known area for sparkling wine.
The house of Louis de Grenelle is the city's last family-run vintners, producing wine for over a century. Its storage caves stretch deep underground and are ventilated by huge chimneys, maintaining a constant temperature of 12 degrees.
Many of the four million bottles stored here are turned by hand at strategic intervals to create smaller bubbles and more complex flavours. The house speciality is a sparkling rosé, recommended as a deliciously decadent counterpart to dark chocolate.
La Cave aux Moines at Préban has been divided into a nightclub, restaurant, museum and snail and mushroom farm. Like many of the region's caves, it was created by quarrying Tuffeau limestone.
A section has been dedicated to the quarrymen ("perryeur") who worked the rock for seven centuries from the 1300s. Huge stone slabs, 6ft square and 15in deep, were hewn with little more than picks and wooden wedges hammered into cracks in the rock.
I stay at the friendly Domaine de L'Oie Rouge at Les Rosiers-sur-Loire, a three-storey, 19th-century town house, and perhaps the most elegant bed and breakfast in France, with views of the Loire from the bedrooms at the front, and a garden at the back of the house that is almost as beautiful as its interior.
The museum at Saint-Mathurin-sur-Loire tells the history of the Loire, including the 12th century construction of a huge dyke by the Count of Anjou, Henri Plantagenet, later King Henry II of England.
Peasants working on the giant seven metre high dyke were granted tax breaks, and its construction has afforded the very existence of many Loire towns, including that in which the museum stands.
The approach to the prosperous city of Angers is almost imperceptible, with the banks of the Maine melting into parkland.
A quick change at the clean and functional Hotel de l'Europe is followed by dinner at Le Favre d'Anne, a haute cuisine restaurant with views of the castle and the Maine.
The restaurant is owned and run by Pascal Favre d'Anne, a dynamic culinary talent destined to join the ranks of the super chefs. At only 33, he has just won his first Michelin star.
My ride ends at Montjean-sur-Loire, and I deliver my bicycle to the town's tourist office with some sadness. A cruise on a traditional, flat-bottomed fishing boat raises my spirits - its young pilot, Nicolas Juban, provides a wealth of information on the river.
A short car journey to St Georges-sur-Loire ends in the beautiful grounds of the magnificent Chateau de l'Epinay, the sumptuous setting of my final overnight stay.
The bulk of the castle was built in the 16th and 18th centuries, with the two towers that frame the chateau dating back many hundreds of years earlier. The ground and first floors have been completely refurbished and fitted with eight luxurious suites. Tennis courts, spa pool, and an outdoor swimming pool of naturally filtered water are among the many features enclosed within a two-mile stretch of glorious parkland.
Back in Angers, there's just time for a brief tour around the city's 12th century castle with its beautiful Apocalypse Tapestry, the world's largest at nearly 100 metres long, commissioned by the Duke of Anjou in the 14th century.
factfile
Getting there - Eastern Airways operates four flights a week (Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday) between Southampton and Angers-Loire Airport. Fares start from £118 return, including taxes and charges, and can be booked via easternairways.com or contact reservations on 08703 669100.
Hotels - hotel.lebussy@ wanadoo.fr or +33 02 41 38 11 11; domaine-oie-rouge.com or +33 02 41 53 65 65; hoteldeleurope-angers.com or +33 02 41 88 67 45; chateau-epinay.com or +33 02 41 39 87 05.
Bicycle hire - visit locationdevelos.com or call +33 02 47 61 22 23
Cyclopedia - visit anjou-tourisme.com or call the tourist offices at Angers on +33 02 41 23 50 00 or Saumur on +33 02 41 40 20 60.
2:23pm Thursday 5th June 2008
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