Day 37, 27 6 2013, Montlucon to La Charite sur Loire
We went out for dinner last night to Buffalo Grill, mainly because it was directly across the road from our hotel. There were excellent views of the Cher River. This restaurant is part of a chain with a faux-American theme. There is lots of scarlet, dark wood and brass lamps with frills.
We probably had the second-best restaurant meal of this trip there. The service was prompt and excellent, the food superb and in ample quantity and the price reasonable.
The previous night we had eaten at the very nice restaurant attached to our lakeside hotel, with wonderful views over the lake. The restaurant was staffed by lovely people who took 15 minutes to get a menu to us, and when my meal of a rack of lamb was served it looked great, encrusted with herbs. Unfortunately it was raw inside, not simply rare, barely luke warm. I did not send it back because of the experience Roz had with her duck, reported earlier. Desert was pleasant, an apple tart of a kind I have seen in the super markets, and this was 14E more than Buffalo Grill. I do not mean to unduly denigrate French cuisine, but you really have to do your research to get the good stuff. The street food is no better than In Australia, if as good.
We are riding to get to Fontainebleu to meet a nephew on Saturday, so have quite long days to do this. Today was through increasingly flat country after a big ride up out of Montlucon.
There was nothing spectacular about the scenery, just attractive farm and forest. The villages also did not have a lot to offer, but were perfectly pleasant in their way. They did not have a lot in the way of service, so we did what we often do and used our emergency rations.
I have just returned from dinner at our hotel. We were attracted by a number of signs from various accrediting agencies outside attesting to the high standard of the food. It was nearly up to the standard of Buffalo Grill, but considerably more expensive.
Towards the end of the day we descended into the Loire valley and found a bike path along the canal that we followed almost all the way to La Charite. This is the first town in the Loire we have visited on this trip and it is very attractive, with a lot of 17th century architecture, including our hotel.
So, this was a long day, plenty of time to muse about French food and not a difficult ride.
112Km for the day.
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