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.