2019 - Loire Valley by Bicycle with Bob: Day 12: Thu 12 Sep – Tours to Blois, 82km; total ride: 176km

Another fantastic day weather wise, 12 to 25 deg, fine and sunny. It couldn’t be any better if we’d ordered it.

Had a little sleep in this morning, 0630h and rode away at 0815h. The temp was a very pleasant 12 deg already and 23 deg by the time we reached Amboise, our planned stop. No rush as we’re only going 60-70 km today.

First port of call was Montlouis-sur-Loire, a picture of a little village where there was a fresh food market set up; they seem to follow us around. At Amboise (1000h) we got our caffeine fix at a lovely, but rather pricey cafe which had a view of the Castle entrance. Before going into the Castle, we had a wander around town and St Denis Church.

The Castle was a real treat, lots of history, as usual, dating back to the 14th century. Each French Revolution (there were three apparently) saw the Castle taken from the Orleans Family and later given back. Luckily it survived all that violence and it’s here today for us to admire, which we certainly did. Lingered a little over a very nice chicken salad lunch and headed for Blois (another 41k) at 1400h. It turned out to be a bit of a tough ride, with plenty of hills and even a few bumpy and sandy bike paths. However, we arrived in one piece and was greeted by the owners, who spoke as much English as we did French. With some help from Mr Google and a lot of hand waving Bob managed to get through to them and them to him. They had some tradesmen giving quotes coming and going which added to the mayhem.

Couldn’t be happier with the pad, two-bedroom house with everything provided, except food and drinks. So, it was back on the bikes, minus the panniers thank goodness, for a 10 km ride to the shops for some dinner and milk for coffee and porridge in the morning. Bob cooked up a nice salmon salad for dinner. Bedtime followed not long after.