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.