This post recounts the third day of my English Channel to the Mediterranean cycle tour in France with Peak Tours in June 2025. Read Day 2, Bagnoles de l’Orne to La Flèche.

At first glance, this should have been a fairly easy day, given we’re all more than capable of cycling 80 miles. The route had a lot less climbing than yesterday, and the weather was set fair. As it turned out, the session after lunch was a struggle thanks to that cyclist’s curse, a pesky headwind. But I’m getting ahead of myself…

It was tricky getting out of La Flèche, and we had to squeeze past the cars clogging the narrow streets of the town centre. But we were soon crossing the bridge over the Loir, which was lined with handsome buildings. We passed few typical French villages once again, although these seemed less prosperous than those in Normandy. The countryside was also flatter, as the route profile suggested.

We were in for a treat at the first brew stop at Noyant. Guide Fernando had donned a ‘Coffee and Croissant Club’ apron, and was rolling banana slices in coconut. He’d also sliced kiwi fruit and oranges, which went very well with my morning coffee. This stop was next to a church with a war memorial commemorating those from Noyant who died in the world wars and also in Vietnam and Algeria, the two great colonial wars of independence that led to the collapse of the French fourth republic in 1958.

The next section was a delight, and I made good time along wooded roads towards the town of Langeais, with a dramatic chateau at its heart. We stopped to take photos here before winding our way down to the mighty Loire – the real one, and not the Loir from La Flèche. (I got the two confused on the highlights video at the end of this blogpost.)