2019 - Loire Valley by Bicycle with Bob: 2019-09-08

Saturday, September 14, 2019

Day 14: Sat 14 Sep – Blois to Orleans, 87km; total ride: 263km

Fine and sunny, 14 to 28 deg, with a headwind we could have done without

A stunning morning greeted us as we rode away at 0745h. After such a great, rather large, salmon pasta last night we needed to get some km under our belts before feeling like brekky. The 5 km back into Blois went well then crossed over the old bridge to pick up the Loire Route. It wasn’t long before we were on our detour for today so we could take in a visit to Chambord Castle. A couple of missed or missing signs had us reaching for the technology to get us back on track. Fortunately, it didn’t add any km to the day.

It was with some relief when we saw the magnificent Chambord Castle loom out of the tree line. The bright morning sunshine added to the spectacle. It was nice to sit for a while take it in and eat our brekky, porridge, and banana. That done and €14.50 later we were inside and up close and personal with castle life. A very large and impressive place. I loved the spiral staircase and the intricate detail on the many towers and spires. You don’t appreciate them until you’ve climbed a couple of floors and step out onto the walkways. The memorabilia from the various Dukes, Kings and Queens added to the interest. While very spectacular, this castle is not as over the top as some I’ve seen, which I found pleasing. After an hour or so we were done and back on the bikes.

The rest of the day was fairly straight forward, but as it warmed up and the headwind picked up it ended up being a little tougher than expected. Arrived at our apartment at 1700h, a reasonably long, but satisfying day. After a cup of green tea and a shower I nearly felt human again.

Neither of us wanted to go too far for dinner so we settled for Japanese just around the corner. It was superb, fresh, and very tasty.

Early morning at Blois

Our paths this morning

We have arrived at Chambord

Chambord Castle

Castle gardens

Spiral staircase

Trophy room

Royal carriage

A bridge over the Loire

Lunch stop

Another nice bridge

Orleans

Japanese for dinner; it was yummo

Friday, September 13, 2019

Day 13: Fri 13 Sep – Blois

Ride/walk: 18km

Fine and mainly sunny, 13 to 28 deg

With a coffee machine and all the comforts of home it was too tempting to take our time over brekky this morning. The place is so quiet that it’s hard to believe anyone else lives around here. We did eventually drag the bikes out of the garage and head off into Blois, about 4.5 km away. A compact town with a very long history, (gets a mention in the books in the 6th century) evidenced by the remarkable number of medieval buildings and stately homes. Many Kings of France utilised the Royal Castle (first one built in the 7th century) here, Louis XII, Francois I, a couple of Henrys and Louis XIII, who gave it to his brother as a wedding gift. Why wouldn’t you, when you’ve got so many castles, you’re not going to miss one, even one as enormous as Blois. And it is huge. Joan of Arc was blessed in the Castle when she was on her way to kick the Poms out of Orleans in 1429. That’s a bit ironic because if I remember my history correctly, she was then persecuted and burned at the stake by that same religious mob.

Talking of big, they only knew huge when they built the two main churches in Blois, Saint Nicolas (real name St Laumur) and the Saint Louis Cathedral. The Saint Nicolas site first saw a church in the 10 Century while St Louis started growing out of the ground in the 12 century. Either one draws a “WOW” out of you when you walk in the door.

Another interesting feature of the city is the Denis Papin (1647-1713 the inventor of a type of pressure cooker) stairway. It’s been used over the years to display some great street art, this year it’s Mona Lisa.

Unfortunately, Blois could have been even more remarkable if the Germans hadn’t occupied it in 1940 as that caused it to attract some incoming bombs from the Yanks who liberated it in 1945.

Early afternoon we decided to call it a day and enjoy the space in the two-bedroom house. So, after picking up some supplies (smoked salmon & salad for lunch and salmon pasta for dinner) at the supermarket we headed home to do some relaxing and admin.

Part of the Royal Castle

A quiet Blois back street

St Nicolas Church

View up to the Cathedral

Blois

10th Century tower, Blois

Blois

Saint Louis Cathedral, Blois

Sun dial at Town Hall

Town Hall

Town Hall gardens

Joan of Arc

The old bridge at Blois, with the foundations of a medieval one in the foreground

Denis Papin Stairway

Dinner

The driveway of our pad

Thursday, September 12, 2019

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.