East to the Burgundy border
France > Loire > East
Upstream from Orléans, single-lane roads – ideal for cycling – run along the top of the flood banks of the Loire. To the north is the rambling Forêt d'Orléans, crisscrossed with roads. Beyond it, a bland, treeless wheat plain stretches to Paris, and the immediate countryside to the south is likewise drab: sticking to the Loire itself is the best advice.Along the river are plenty of lesser-known attractions, most notably the abbey at St-Benoît, the Château at Sully-sur-Loire, the small town of Gien, the aqueduct at Briare and the hilltop town of Sancerre, right on the Burgundy border, which makes some of the best dry whites in France. If you're out on or in the river, or even camping on the bank, be aware that the Loire's placid flow along these reaches is deceptive; it can swell within 24 hours and has been known to break its banks.
Pages in section ‘East’: Germigny, Sully, Gien, La Bussiere, Briare, Sancerre.
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