September 18, 2019
Blois
Head winds
Last night we had a lovely meal of galettes chatting to a pair from Guersey. I learnt lots - it really must be rather a strange way of life, they had both been born there and after university their children were back on the island. I didn’t realise what an important financial centre it is and that how nearly all their GDP comes from financial dealings.
Breakfast at our overpriced hotel. Was 16E/person so we had a banana then sat at a cafe drinking coffee and watching Amboise wake up and get ready for another day. A huge tour group came walking up the street they obviously wanted to have the Chateau to themselves when it opened at nine, the route goes up the street getting steeper and steeper until you are high above it with superb views over the surrounding country
Now we were in vineyard country again. We were passing through some tiny hamlets all looking so neat, well maintained and prosperous. We came across a big group of people hand picking grapes and went past small cellars with all their wine making equipment out and ready for the grapes to come in - it reminded us so much of the days before picking when we got everything just right. It was lovely cycling the only problem being the increasingly strong head wind that was challenging us
Then we swooped down again to the river and onto tracks that for a short while gave us some shelter. We had been looking forward to getting to Chaumont sur Loire, it looked a fairly big town and we were imagining all sorts of goodies. Well it was a quiet big but not a service of interest to us - we could have gone wine tasting, but that was hardly appropriate on bikes. On we went and eventually found a fairly grotty looking bar that seemed like an oasis to us
From them there were few areas of interest and it was just a matter of slogging along against the wind until the glorious vision of Blois came into view. Just before we crossed the old stone bridge we met a lovely Dutch couple and sat and chatted before swooping over the bridge. There was a cafe with a sheltered outside area so we stopped and felt that our lunch was well deserved - it was very big so it will be a salad in our room tonight
Today's ride: 46 km (29 miles)
Total: 2,396 km (1,488 miles)
| Rate this entry's writing | Heart | 9 |
| Comment on this entry | Comment | 3 |
4 years ago
When we stopped to look back we were invited in to a nearby house by a charming old woman and offered a drink. We thought it was strawberry juice but it turned out to be cassis - at 10 am. Our pedals flew around after that !
4 years ago
4 years ago