{"id":15077,"date":"2015-04-12T19:03:18","date_gmt":"2015-04-13T01:03:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/rivercruiseadvisor.com\/?p=15077"},"modified":"2016-02-22T20:44:34","modified_gmt":"2016-02-23T03:44:34","slug":"loire-princess-day-4-ancenis-to-angers-to-ancenis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rivercruiseadvisor.com\/2015\/04\/loire-princess-day-4-ancenis-to-angers-to-ancenis\/","title":{"rendered":"On Loire Princesse: Day 4, A Walk Along The Loire"},"content":{"rendered":"

Earlier, I wrote about how the crowds were lining up along the Loire to cheer\u00a0our paddle-wheeler upstream, see\u00a0The Crowds Come To See Something Not Seen Before: A River Cruiser On The Loire<\/a>. Today, we reached as far up the river as we’re going, tying up alongside in\u00a0Bouchemaine. As we approached the dock, a band greeted us from the shoreline. Trumpets and tubas blared to a steady drumbeat. People alongside the banks snapped photos, as they have done all along the river, and once we were docked, dozens approached the ship to see if they might have a look inside the vessel. The people who live along the Loire\u00a0have\u00a0never seen anything like\u00a0Loire Princesse.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a>

A band greets us in Bouchemaine. \u00a9 2015 Ralph Grizzle<\/p><\/div>\n

Our tour today was to Angers, the capital of the historical Anjou province and home to the famous 13th-century Ch\u00e2teau d\u2019Angers, which houses the extraordinary Apocalypse Tapestry. I wanted badly to see it, but I also wanted to go for a long walk along the Loire. The latter won me over. My fellow cruise passengers promised to tell me about the tapestry and to take photos if permitted. As they departed on the bus, I set out for a long walk.<\/p>\n

\"\u00a9<\/a>

The locals come out to see the Loire Princesse. \u00a9 2015 Ralph Grizzle<\/p><\/div>\n

My walk was nothing short of glorious. I followed a path along the river for a couple of miles, passing scenes\u00a0worthy of postcards – ch\u00e2teaux\u00a0overlooking\u00a0the river, beautiful little fishing boats tied up in the tall grass at\u00a0the shoreline. The river\u00a0had the feel of an estuary in the south of the\u00a0United States, except all along its banks, French was being spoken, and I was experiencing the\u00a0joie de vivre<\/em>.<\/p>\n

When I felt I had walked far enough, I journeyed inland to make my way\u00a0back through the villages, past churches and more ch\u00e2teaux. I had put in more than four miles when my walk came to an end. I felt euphoric and exhilarated, a good day to be alive and in France.<\/p>\n

The ability to get out and walk (or bike) \u00a0is\u00a0one of the things that I like most about river cruising. While tours are offered every day, you can still tailor your experience to your liking. I desperately needed some rigorous activity, and the walk along the Loire provided that.<\/p>\n

\"\u00a9<\/a>

Walking alongside the Loire. \u00a9 2015 Ralph Grizzle<\/p><\/div>\n

\"\u00a9<\/a>

A small square with an inviting bar. \u00a9 2015 Ralph Grizzle<\/p><\/div>\n

\"\u00a9<\/a>

Boats along the river. \u00a9 2015 Ralph Grizzle<\/p><\/div>\n

\"20150412-2015-04-12<\/a>

An old church that I passed on my walk. \u00a9 2015 Ralph Grizzle<\/p><\/div>\n

I returned to Loire Princesse to have a beer on the top deck with a few others who had seen the tapestry in Angers and had stayed in the village near the ship. The afternoon was gorgeous, sun shining bright, the blue sky reflecting off the river, and the beer, cold and refreshing.<\/p>\n

The others eventually returned from their tour to Angers and said they had enjoyed a wonderful\u00a0day just as I had. In hearing them describe what they had seen, I had a moment of buyer’s regret that I had not gone, but that sentiment\u00a0quickly vanished when I thought about my walk on the Loire and how good I felt now.<\/p>\n

Tonight, the Gala dinner. We men pulled on jackets (some even wore\u00a0ties) and attended a cocktail reception with a champagne toast, then proceeded downstairs for a delicious\u00a0dinner. The staff had gone to the trouble of folding the linen napkins to resemble dinner jackets. It was a small touch that added to the sense that we were doing something elegant.<\/p>\n

Tomorrow, a long day ahead, a full day excursion to see the ch\u00e2teaux of the Loire Valley that we had all come to see.<\/p>\n

\"\u00a9<\/a>

Tables adorned for the Gala dinner. \u00a9 2015 Ralph Grizzle<\/p><\/div>\n

\"I<\/a>

I am a fan of the French-inspired \u00a0food on Loire Princesse. \u00a9 2015 Ralph Grizzle<\/p><\/div>\n

\"\u00a9<\/a>

To end it: Baked Alaska, with a smile. \u00a9 2015 Ralph Grizzle<\/p><\/div>\n

\"\u00a9<\/a>

Thanks for coming! A grand old dame on the Loire \u00a9 2015 Ralph Grizzle<\/p><\/div>\n

Loire Princesse - Nantes, France, roundtrip<\/h2>\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t
Day<\/strong><\/th>Event<\/strong><\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n
Day 1<\/td>Loire Princesse Preview: Cruising The Loire River, \u2018A Royal Legacy\u2019<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Day 2<\/td>Pre-Boarding Loire Princesse: Getting To Know Nantes, By Bike<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Day 3<\/td>Loire Princesse: Day 1, Boarding In Nantes<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Day 4<\/td>Meet The People Who Built CroisiEurope\u2019s New Loire Princesse<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Day 5<\/td>Loire Princesse Preview: An Innovative Ship With A Soul<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Day 6<\/td>Loire Princesse: Day 2, Nantes to Saint-Nazaire<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Day 7<\/td>Loire Princesse: Day 3, Ancenis & Muscadet<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Day 8<\/td>On Loire Princesse: Day 4, A Walk Along The Loire<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Day 9<\/td>Loire Princesse: Day 5, Visiting The Beautiful Ch\u00e2teaux of the Loire Valley<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Day 10<\/td>Loire Princesse, Day 6, Nantes, End Of Cruise, Summing Up<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Earlier, I wrote about how the crowds were lining up along the Loire to cheer\u00a0our paddle-wheeler upstream, see\u00a0The Crowds Come To See Something Not Seen Before: A River Cruiser On The Loire. Today, we reached as far up the river as we’re going, tying up alongside in\u00a0Bouchemaine. As we approached the dock, a band greeted […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":15905,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"full-width-content","footnotes":""},"categories":[533,171,24,41,465],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/rivercruiseadvisor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15077"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/rivercruiseadvisor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/rivercruiseadvisor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rivercruiseadvisor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rivercruiseadvisor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15077"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/rivercruiseadvisor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15077\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rivercruiseadvisor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15905"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/rivercruiseadvisor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15077"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rivercruiseadvisor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15077"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rivercruiseadvisor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15077"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}