Day 40: Amboise to Huisseau sur Cosson, France: Les Vedettes de la TV Francaises! (Stars of French TV!) - Grampies on the Go - Again! Summer 2012 - CycleBlaze
Day 40: Amboise to Huisseau sur Cosson, France: Les Vedettes de la TV Francaises! (Stars of French TV!)
Sometimes (last year) the Grampies made a bit of a splash when rolling into a small town, and we once got interviewed by a local paper somewhere in Minnesota. But today we apparently made the big time when French national television rolled up looking for a story about the Loire cycle way.
The municipal campground at Amboise was full of cyclists, and while the reporter talked to a few others (including our Belgian friends Pierre and Sophie) she seemed quite interested in the Grampies. In fact (don't know if they'll use the footage or not) they filmed us boiling water, putting on our helmets, putting on our gloves, and eventually, cycling off into the sunrise. We also spoke to them a fair bit in our fractured French about why we had chosen this route and what we thought of the place. They caught Dodie waxing quite poetic about it.
National TV seems interested in all aspects of our tour
A big claim to fame for the town of Amboise is that Leonard ds Vinci spent the last four years of his life there. He was the guest of Francois I, an arrangement that would be something like a National Science grant today: the state supports you and you are free to make your great contributions to mankind. In Leonardo's time, the "state" would be in the form of a nobleman or king.
The Chateau that Leonardo got installed in in 1516 had been built in 1471, and previously and since had housed all sorts of noble people. Leonardo is said to have really liked it here, and although he died here four years later, he seemed to have been highly productive until the end. He is actually buried in the Chateau of Amboise and not in the Clos.
Leonardo brought the Mona Lisa with him in his backpack when he came to France. Look closely at this reproduction and you will see Steve artistically woven in.
The Clos Luce was swarming with noisy school kids, making it almost impossible to make a clear shot of the interior. I opted instead to document all the school kids.
Each had a workbook with way tougher questions than I could ever answer. In sthis example, the kids are asked the epoque and function of furniture pieces.
The garden of Clos Luce is extensive, but after some quick crepes in the garden cafe, we decided that since it was going on 2 p.m. we ought to get going and cover some distance.
We were determined to make a bit of distance, after hanging around first with the TV and then with Leonardo for most of the day. We did in the end do almost 60 km, but it was very draining in the heat. I also spent most of the evening yakking with Pierre and Sophie, so now I am typing this with my headlamp at half past midnight. I think actually I will quit, and let the captions speak the rest of the narrative!
Only glitch, it was 38-41 degrees. That's way over 100F.
All along the Loire we have noticed woodlots, some small and some of perhaps 10 acres. The plantings seem to all be poplar or a similar species. To us this is part of an apparent sane approach to environment here. We do not see, as we did in Washington State, many - or any! herbicide sprayers, for example. All the fields - of corn and grain look extremely healthy. Some are completely free of weeds and some have weeds interspersed. We of course don't have access to information about what the agricultural methods and yields actually are, but we sure have a good feeling about it.
People here are very proud of the fact that the Loire Valley is a world heritage site. It means something, because of the prestige of UNESCO, but I think offers no real protection. There is an international convention that seeks to defend the sites from destruction during war, but that may be about it. As of 2011, 936 sites are listed by UNESCO: 725 cultural, 183 natural, and 28 mixed, in 153 coutries. Italy is home to the greatest number of World Heritage Sites to date with 47 sites.
THe whole Loire Valley is a UNESCO world heritage site. Not sure what this means in practice or who decided it, but it sure seems right.
Somewhere near Chailles, Pierre and Sophie zoomed up from behind us again. It's the tortoise and the hare - but how do the Grampies get their (temporary) leads?
In the heat we had drunk all the water we could stand, and were looking for camping. We passed Blois on the other side of the river and headed south, generally toward Chambord.
We found the camping at Huisseau sur Cosson and also Pierre and Sophie! Here Pierre (in a scene reminiscent of that one with the olive in the original Mash movie) pulls not only a pepper grinder but also a bottle of Bordeaux wine from his pack.
