Back to the Loire River
Updated: Oct 4
Day 22. September 30, 2026. Moulins to Digoin, France.
Today marks the 20th Anniversary of Andy's and my wedding day. It was a beautiful day back then in the Columbia River Gorge with our families. I have been grateful each and every day since then for the gift of living my days with my best friend.
Today, instead of being alongside the Pacific Northwest's Columbia River, it was the Loire River we found ourselves along. The Loire River snakes through the heart of France from the southeast up north and then west to the Atlantic. We passed over it in Orléans five days ago, and are now further up river and will be riding along it once again for the next day or so.
We first rode through some gorgeous countryside and then dropped down into the Loire Valley along a stretch of the Loire Lateral Canal, built in the 1830's to bypass the unpredictable, shallow Loire River and enhance transportation. This canal was quite a feat of engineering as it stretches 122 miles! We only pedaled along 16 of those miles today from the town of Dompierre-sur-Besbre in the west to Digoin in the east.
We arrived in Digoin just in time, as the thunderstorms and rain that had been predicted for the area arrived soon after. We stayed in a lovely old hotel, beautifully done up and had a nice french dinner with local wine and desert!
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