Loire à vélo

We arrived in Blois excited about renting bikes and getting into the countryside.  We picked up our bikes, packed our panniers, looked carefully over our cycling map and set off toward one of the most beautiful castles in the region 'Chateau Chambord'.  The route stayed close to the Loire river until about 5 km before the castle when we followed paths that wove between villages and fields.  

Typical cycling path between fields: level, paved and nobody in sight.

We had to stop for a picture at our first sunflower field.  Sunflowers as far as we could see!

We arrived at the castle after a couple of hours of cycling.  We were impressed with our first glance of the castle.

Picnic on the Loire.

The following day we left our back packs in our home base of Blois, packed our panniers with our essentials and headed East along the Loire towards Amboise.  It was another beautiful ride and we passed some impressive castles and many gorgeous villages.  We are overwhelmed with how beautiful everything is.

Castle in the centre of Amboise.

We arrived in Amboise after a long, but enjoyable day of riding.  We checked into a hostel which seemed more like a hospital.  We planned to go for a ride the following day, but when we discovered there was a swimming pool down the street from our hostel we dropped our plans and spent all afternoon lounging around the pool.  It was fun to have a relaxing day.  There are strict rules about the type of swimsuit that men can wear in swimming pools in France.  Here is a sign that strictly informs men of the rule.

We need to remind Martin to bring his speedo!

Jas took some great pictures capturing the beautiful sunsets we in Amboise

Wandering through the streets trying to find wifi!

Taking a break in some empty boxes on the street!

After our break day we headed off in the pouring rain to the last town on our cycling trip, St. Avertin.  It rained for most of the day, but it was warm so we didn't get too cold.  St. Avertin is a beautiful village and the hotel we chose was cute.  The owner was excited to find out we ere from Canada and was pleased to inform us that other Canadians had stayed at the hotel before.  He later came to get us so that he could introduce us to the mayor of the town.  We were lucky enough to catch a small music festival on the river during our one night stay.

Playing air hockey before the music festival in St. Avertin.

The next day we returned our bikes, repacked our backpacks and boarded a train for Limoges.