Sunny days holidaying in the Loire

the days since our last post have been full of sun and spectacular sights. We are shifting on down the valley, putting up the tent and exploring away from the river. We have been to Chinon on a day trip and what a pleasure it is to ride without the load. There is a plateau above the river and here is where there are grape vines as far as you can see. On the edge of the plateau there are limestone cliffs with ancient caves once used as houses and now been renovated as businesses or homes. One of my lasting memories will be cycling through ancient oak forests and the birds are amazing. They are so loud and abundant. As you will see from the pics we have had a bit of a disaster with the tent. On Sunday a great wind gust blew a bbq table into the tent leaving about a 10 cm gash in the side. We have tried to tape it up but tape doesn't stick very well. Thankfully the weather is really settled and the forecast for the next week has no rain. The temp yesterday was 27 degrees and I hear yours has been down in the minus'. One good reason to come away at this time of the year.

Amboise and Leonardo

Our day in Ambroise was spent mainly at the Chateau du Clos Luce and the Parc Leonardo daVinci. In 1561 L de V, as is his signature on some of his art work, accepted an invitation from Francois 1 to live and work at the Chateau du Clos Luce  and " appointed him as first painter, architect and engineer of the King. He spent the last 3years of his life in this place and carried on his skills.
The park is filled with models made from his drawings, and copies of his paintings and design drawings. An exhibition of his work included copies of his famous art works.
The images show where he lived and worked and contemplated in the beautiful park like gardens.

Meandering down the Loire

What a great valley this is for cycling. With the exception of a couple of steep short hills, all the track is flat with the majority being on dedicated cycle paths and quiet roads. The cycle track surfaces are mostly sealed with concrete or asphalt.
So our strategy is to move a short distance down the valley every couple of days, set up camp, and then explore the routes that radiate out from the Loire. We have travelled through oak forests, grain fields, old villages and of grape country. Not to mention a few of the 72 chateaux that surround the Loire. The chateau in the pics is Chambord, which is the most elaborate. Chambord estate since 1947 has been a French version of a national park. There are 5,500 hectares surrounded by a 3 metre high old stone wall. There are wild deer and pigs along with an untold number of bird species. They live capture the deer and relocate them to other parts of France. They maintain the pig population by allowing a certain amount of very controlled hunting.
We travelled to Blois and then on to Amboise, both home to royal chateau from the 1500's.
Here are pics of this part of our journey.

The Loire Valley is a Unesco world heritage site so it was interesting to come around a corner and be confronted with a close up encounter of one France's "nucleaire"plants.

Going down river

After catching the train up the valley to Orleans, we found the traffic to be horrible and closed a camp site, so we quit the city and headed into the country. An incredible contrast. We were now cycling through green pastures and hay paddocks on a great flat riding surface with the sun streaming down above us and the wind at our backs. Magic stuff- this is what we came for. Grocery shop closed on Monday so we were forced to have pizza and frittes(chips) and a karafe of Beaujolais... Decadence!!

Tomorrow further on down river and if weather plays the game we expect more of the same.

Below pictures of our current location, the medieval town of  Beaugency where Joan of Arc lived.