Warmer this morning, 11 deg, and
getting up to 22 deg late afternoon. Some clouds but mainly clear and fine.
Brilliant sunshine the last half of the ride.
Rode away at 0730h again, no planning involved just get up when it was starting to get light, have some overnight soaked porridge, muesli, and banana and mosey off. It’s fantastic to be out as the sun comes up with the river in the foreground. The first 20km to Montsoeau and a few after were some of the best I’ve had on any tour and it’s hard to imagine how it would get better. A staggering 1,500 km of cave houses, churches, cellars, galleries, and Chateaus which have been excavated out of the rock. Rooms were added to meet the needs of a growing population. The oldest habitation apparently dates from the 13th century. The complex was gradually expanded right up to the 19th century. The dwellings are excavated from sandstone which contained seashells. Once the rock (a kind of calcareous sand) was dug out it was used by farmers to neutralise soil acidity. We’ve put this on our list for a closer look one day in the future. Can’t expect to do everything first visit, especially considering we didn’t know the cave complex existed.
After that we rode through some lovingly cared for vineyards in Parnay and then some more stunning cave houses. We settled back into the rhythm and soon found ourselves at Chinon, the 36 km mark. It was a little off the cycle path to Tours. What a little gem Chinon turned out to be, with its medieval town, picturesque location on the Vienne River and the imposing Castle standing guard on the overlooking hill.
The detour to Chinon added an extra 50 km to the day but it was well worth the effort. Castles are inevitably built on top of hills but luckily for us we were treated to a lift that takes you from the town level up to the entrance. We didn’t have time for a visit, so we just admired it from the outside, impressive enough. However, the Castle level was only the start of the climb; the next couple of km involved a lot of pushing and grunting. Nearly impossible to walk the bikes up let alone ride them! It all soon came to an end, and we were coasting down the other side, back towards the Loire path. Unfortunately for us a nasty little NE headwind kicked in which made for a character-building 60 km ride into Tours.
A few very pleasant rest stops during the afternoon broke up the ride nicely. Bob had a rather quick visit to the Villandry Chateau Gardens and said it was a treat. I stood guard on the bikes and panniers. The last 20 km were devoid of any features, so we made fairly good time. After being stuffed around by remote check-in for a while we finally made it to our two-bedroom apartment by about 1730h. Apart from some minor issues (no WiFi, not enough linen, which were promptly fixed by the caretaker) the place exceeded our expectations. We could have done without the three-storey stairway climb with all our gear after 94 km in the saddle, but you get that. It’s giving the legs a workout each time we return to the apartment.
We were both getting hungry by now so after a shower and change we headed out to find we were slap bang in the middle of a district with 100s of restaurants, bars, and eateries. Now we were really hungry, so we settled on a Singapore noodles with prawns or chicken from an Irish Pub, (yes weird cultural mix) and it filled the gap.
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