Landing in the Loire via Paris

Hi everyone, thanks for your comments and interest they are hugely valued. Our first stop was Amiens, which is very close to the Somme battlefields - there are reminders everywhere - very moving. We stayed at the Best Western there, highly recommended, We visited the huge gothic Cathedral which dominates the centre of the town. We then got the train to a place called Creil. The plan was to get off somewhere even nearer to Paris but would allow us to do a big ride to it. With help from the hotel in Amiens (and a big up for Carolines French) and the trourist info place in Creil we located a camp site in Nesles de Vallee. It was advertised as a 4 star site. It was our biggest ride so far fully loaded, not helped by a  8k diversion toward the end. As light faded and rattiness set in we realised what the de Vallee bit means ie we had to tackle a really steep hill to get over into the valley. We pushed the bikes up most of this because we were cream crackered; this must have showed to the campsite owner who got it into his head that we had cycled from Calais! The campsite was in a beautiful setting and there was hardly anyone on it;, but the french campsite rating system now fills us with dread because if that was four star god help us on two star. Still there were some very noisy fat geese to keep us entertained and dog that stole Mark's pate. We cycled around the area which is dominated by the Oise river.including a delightful visit to a place called Auvers  where Van Gogh lived for a stage and is buried with his brother: Having visited the Van Gogh museum in Amsterdam this created a interesting linkfor our trip: We had a go at cycling in Paris( rush hour on a Friday possibly wasnt the best time) Pretty hairraising but an experience to remember! Yesterday we left our 4 star residence and came to St Nazaire; the start of our Loire valley trip. And that is as far as we have gone so far. Lots of Love to you all,we will keep you posted C and M xx