Tour de France

Today was a special day on our cycling holiday as we had timed our visit to catch one of the stages of this year's Tour de France. It passed through Montrichard on its way from Le Mans to Chateauroux and we were fortunate enough to stand next to a group of primary schoolchildren who were clearly exited to be there. They had all made banners and when the Caravane came by they had lots of freebies thrown towards them from the various sponsors. They made lots of noise, as did most of the spectators. It seemed ages before the riders came by as some strong winds had delayed them along the way. And they were gone very quickly too! The Caravane that came by before the riders lasted much longer with lots of floats, motorbikes, official cars etc and most of the spectators got a gift of some kind. I landed a 'king of the mountains' red, spotted cap and a keyring.

Before the tour came by we visited the castle and walked around the town again. The castle is mostly ruined but they have a museum on the grounds with prehistoric items, fossils, pictures, old costumes etc and a room showing the history of windmills, with lots of old stone grinding wheels and other equipment that was used to process the various grains.

Montrichard from across the old bridge (over the river Cher)


Waiting for the tour


The Caravane








Throwing gifts to the spectators






The leading group come into town



Followed by Cadel Evans' group leading the peloton



And then the rest!









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Location:Rue de Sully,Montrichard,France

Blois to Montrichard for Le Tour!

Yesterday we spent a very pleasant day in Blois. After a hearty breakfast we walked uphill to the castle gardens and then spent a couple of hours inside the castle itself, where there is also a gallery of fine arts. It is a famous castle in these parts as several French kings resided there. Joanne d'Arc came there to be blessed before resisting the English attack on Orleans. Afterwards we had our lunch outside in a wide tree-lined square and were again treated to the salamanders protruding out of the windows of the 'house of magic'. It is quite a performance and most people seem unaware until it starts and then they get their iPhones and cameras out to record the event. On the hour, and half hour, the windows open and the salamanders start to come out, they look around in different directions and make strange noises before opening and closing their jaws. Tails come out from the roof and twirl and the railings bend over as the salamander's claws push out and over them. It is all mechanical, but quite impressive in its scale and effect. At night we dined again in the hotel. It had extremely high reviews in Trip Advisor so we had booked a demi pension, which gives you a discount on breakfast and dinner combined, compared to the full cost. The chef had won several awards and we were not disappointed with the food. In fact it was delicious and some of the recipes had been handed down from the chef's grandmother.

Today we set off along the Loire and it was good to be on the bikes again. It's surprising how strange it seems to have a rest day now and we enjoyed flying along the cycle path until a we hit a headwind that seemed to have some kind of grudge against us. It changed direction and increased in intensity at every turn. We even had to cycle downhill at one stage! We left the Loire and headed southwest towards another famous castle, Chenonceau. We had been told that it was not worth paying the entry to visit, but that it could be approached from the back by a small track and was worth a look from the outside. The track was not way marked but we eventually found it. The castle has been built over water and now seems to be a big tourist attraction. There were boat trips from upriver, canoes and rowing boats for hire and a hefty admission fee. The car park was full of coaches and hundreds of cars and we wondered if our detour had been worthwhile. It was only a short cycle from there to Montrichard and this time the wind was on our backs as whizzed down the country lanes. The town is preparing for tomorrow's race and barriers are at the side of the road ready to be put in place. Camper vans are in the caravan park and a fairground has been set up across the river Cher. We dined outside in one of the squares and a jazz quartet played music as we ate.

I am excited at the prospect of seeing what happens in a French town when Le Tour arrives and looking forward very much to tomorrow.

King Louis XII on the front of the chateau.


King Nigel


Views from inside the castle





Leaving Blois


Morning tea: apricots


Cycling along the Loire by chateau de Chaumont



Chenonceau


Montrichard


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Location:Montrichard

Orleans to Blois, via Beaugency

The forecast was for a very hot day as we set off from Beaugency. Our first stop after only a few km was to see the 'blue waters' at Tavers. Hot water bubbles out from the sand into a stream and this enables underwater plants to thrive. It did not even feel warm to me, but there were plenty of fish in the pools and we watched them for a while in the shade of the trees. The cycle path was pretty rough in this area as we avoided the main route and stayed by the river, rejoining the path near Miudes where it crossed the Loire to the south.

This photo is of the bridge over the Loire at Beaugency, 'built in one night by the devil' ,they say, in the 14th century. Each of the arches is slightly different from another.



The 'Blue waters' at Tavers


On our way to Blois



Along the Loire there are several nuclear power stations. they don't feature much in the tourist information offices. I wonder why?


We left the Loire at Muides, after racing a group of cyclists for fun, and headed south towards Chambord, where there was a large castle in the centre of a wood.



The castle was an amazing sight, especially the roof an chimneys, and being midweek there were not too many tourists. We cycled all around the castle and bought some extra water, as we had depleted all four of our own, and carried on to Blois through the estate.






We had booked two days in Blois, as we have been covering more distance than planned and needed to arrive in Montrichard for the Tour de France on Friday, so had a quick look at the town before dinner at the hotel. It is a very hilly place, which is unusual for the Loire and contains a castle, natural history museum, house of magic and several other tourist sites. As we were having an ice cream the windows opened on the nearby building and dragons came out!



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Location:Rue de Lauricard,Blois,France

Orleans

A relatively short day took us from Sully-sur-Loire to Orleans, a city that was saved from the English by Joan of Arc. The cycle path was amazingly smooth and we had the wind behind us, so it felt effortless as we sailed along the riverside. We first stopped by a Benedictine abbey, where a Sunday service was being held, and passed by fields of sunflowers along the way to Orleans, where we arrived early and walked into the city centre. This is a very bicycle-friendly city and the cycle path took us right into the city centre. They also have a bicycle hire system in the city and it only costs a euro or two to get on the bikes, which can be left at any of the other stations. It was very quiet, with hardly any traffic, until a parade of veteran cars entered the road up to the cathedral, blearing their horns and waving to passers by.


The view to our hotel from the square opposite showing the bicycle station.


Some of the cars that were part of the rally. the drivers and passengers also dressed in old clothes for the day.


Jeanne d'Arc (in the city centre and near the cathedral)





Orleans cathedral in the background.






My favorite, an Austin.



Orleans cathedral in the late evening light as we headed back to our hotel


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Location:Rue de Lauricard,Blois,France

Along the Loire to Orleans

Our overnight stay at the lock house was very peaceful as there were no other buildings nearby and the only noise was birdsong. This picture was taken from our bedroom window on the top floor and shows where boats from the canal crossed the Loire to canals on the other side.


Looking back towards the lock as we left.


We set out that morning across to the north side of the river and headed for Briare where the Pont Canal designed by Gustav Eiffel takes the Lateral canal over the Loire. We watched a few boats cross and then cycled over ourselves.


Later in the day we approached Briare and took our lunch stop on the south side of the river where there was a great view of the town. We normally buy fruit, pastries and sandwiches in the morning, eat the fruit and pastries around 11am and have lunch a couple of hours later. There is always somewhere pleasant to stop and we enjoy eating outside.


The day's end was at Sully-sur-Loire, where there is a famous castle (lots of them in these parts!) and after we checked in and had our showers we toured the grounds and castle itself. There were lots of fish in the moat, mainly catfish, and we saw another water vole like creature.


Inside the castle


Birds in the castle moat.


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Location:Place de la Grève,Blois,France

Back in time

Yesterday we had another wonderful day cycling across farming country to a place where they are building a medieval castle using the same tools and methods that were current at that time. On the way the farmers were harvesting wheat and it was a fine, pleasant day as we cycled along the quiet country roads. It was not so quiet at Guedelon where coach loads of schoolchildren were visiting the castle site. It is a huge project which started in the 1990's and the castle will not be complete until around 2020. All the craftspeople are dressed in old costumes and work in dedicated areas. There are stonemasons, tilers, blacksmiths, rope makers, potters, carpenters etc and they dig their own clay on site and cut stone from large boulders. It's great for children and adults and we spent a couple of hours walking all over the site and watching the work. After a glass of castle-made cider we cycled to St Fargeau where we had booked a room at an old farm, called 'Castle Farm' in French. The scene we saw on our arrival was a little surprising though. After passing through some large gates we found ourselves in a farmyard that had not changed for over a 100 years. It was a tourist attraction and contained old farm machinery and animals. There were goats, hens, ducks, peacocks and several dogs all running around in the same area, which also had a duck pond and manure heap! When we were led to our rooms I thought the kitchen looked a bit dirty, but it turned out to be one of the exhibits. The whole area had a farmyard smell and in the morning a donkey forced open the window and started eating the curtain.

Today we had another easy cycle towards the Loire and headed north, again through farming country to Chatillon sur Loire where we are now staying for the night. Its claim to fame is a series of locks and channels that were used to enable boats to cross the Loire from canals on either side. It is now an historic site although there are lots of pleasure craft moored here. It is also a haven for water birds and a prime fishing spot.

On our way from Colognes la Vineuse to Guerdelon Castle






Guerdelon Castle















Water rats?


Ferme de la Chateau


On the way to Chatillon earlier today



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Location:Rue Octave Montembault,Châtillon-sur-Loire,France