October 19, 2009
Chinon to Azay-le-Rideau: beautiful vegetables
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Weather: sunny with headwind most of the way
We enjoyed a terrific breakfast at the beautifully set table downstairs--homemade chunky applesauce, good croissants and other bread, yogurt and excellent coffee. We talked with the one other couple from Minnesota who were staying at the Logis. This chambre d'hote was exceptional, and had we not just started cycling, we would have liked to spend another night there.
It took us awhile to pack up and we headed off to Azay-le-Rideau after 10:30. We went up the road out of Chinon, then through Huismes, passing rolling fields and grape vines. Near Isle Saint Martin we encountered our first self-cleaning toilet in a little picnic area. Al used it, and then it locked itself up for 15 minutes to clean before Eva could try it out. After this adventure, we followed a path along the river, for about a kilometre until we reached the turnoff to Chateau Usse, the “Sleeping Beauty” castle. We cycled up the road past the cornfields to get a good view of the chateau, but decided not to stop to visit. We had heard that the chateau was most impressive from the outside. Just then the folks from Minnesota drove up in their rental car, and we stopped to chat for a few minutes.
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From Chateau Usse, we rode along the river with a headwind all the way to Villandry a good 20 km. By then (1:45) we were really hungry. We found a nice little hotel restaurant in Villandry and enjoyed their three course menu du jour lunch with a glass of wine. Very good value and just what we needed.
We had travelled out of our way to visit the gardens at Chateau Villandry since we had heard they were quite exceptional. After lunch we pedalled the short distance to the chateau and were delighted to find a special bicycle parking lot bathed in warm sunshine. We didn't want to leave our loaded bikes unattended, so we took turns going through the gardens. They exceeded our expectations, and we realized we were visiting at the perfect time of year--harvest time. We are enthusiastic vegetable growers, and Villandry featured beautiful potagers, extensive formal vegetable gardens, loaded with produce and mixed with flowers inside boxwood hedges. The potagers contained white eggplant, different types of peppers, cherry tomatoes, chard, beets, cabbages and more, and were bordered with espaliered fruit trees. While each of us waited in the sunshine in the bike parking lot, we chatted with other cyclists and enjoyed relaxing for awhile.
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Afterwards it was a pleasant 15 km ride to Azay-le-Rideau with no more headwind. We rode through the town and arrived at Troglododo about 5pm. Here we checked into our most unusual “troglodyte cave”, a huge room with state of the art wiring and plumbing as well as a small kitchen. The caves are about 400 years old, and originally were homes for large groups of people. Now they have been skillfully refurbished into a very nice B&B, with electric exterior shutters on the two south facing windows (controllable from the bed headboard). There was even a little storage room off the bedroom big enough for the bikes. Alain (our very pleasant host) gave us some milk to have with our tea, and after resting for awhile, we walked back into Azay-le-Rideau, about a kilometre, for quite a decent dinner in a hotel dining room, one of the few places open on Monday evening.
Today's ride: 53 km (33 miles)
Total: 102 km (63 miles)
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