Total distance: 180.3 km

Orléans to Amboise: 116.3 km, Amboise to Tours: 34.5 km, Tours to Villandry: 29.5 km

I’m writing this post from the inn we are staying at for the night, in a small (1000 people) town called Villandry. There’s an incredible thunder and lightning storm going on outside and we’ve opened all the windows in the room. Given the ‘unseasonably’ rainy weather that northern France has been experiencing, we’ve made some tweaks to our route and chopped bigger rides up into smaller days. Spontaneity and impulse have become our friends, and we’ve ended up in some incredible digs the past few nights.

After leaving Orléans, we hopped onto one of the multiple bike routes that run throughout France and its neighbouring countries. The “Loire à Vélo” is pretty much cycling paradise. Guided by small route specific direction signs, sometimes seemingly surreptitiously placed, you get the sense you are part of  of scavenger hunt for adults. Paved paths run alongside the Loire river, taking brief breaks and veering off around farms or small clusters of homes, but always winding back to the river’s edge. Steve discovered an app that gives you real time geo-locating, as well as listings for food, hotels etc, along your route. We used it.  As per the usual now, roughly five croissants each were consumed and we had the tastiest local cheese plate in a teeny tiny town on the river.

Having found a rare available night at an otherwise booked solid airbnb gem, we opted for a longer day, solely so we could make it to this particular lodging. Nestled in the hills on the outskirts of the town Amboise, we stayed in an ancient troglodyte cave. Apparently as ubiquitous as French châteaus, the Loire Valley is home to hundreds of these domesticated cave dwellings. Passing 100km of riding, we pulled into a rainy Amboise around 9pm and ate a large pasta meal at a cheesy (bad pun) Italian resto. Our hosts—a young Danish/French couple—met us halfway across the town’s major bridge…they were having drinks at a place just on the other side. After unfortunately turning down their invite to join, purely from exhaustion, we followed their directions and headed for OUR CAVE.

The cave offered a cooool and deep sleep, and we were greeted first thing by our host Alexis, with a delicious breakfast. We sipped coffee on the cliff outcrop and chatted about how one comes to own/live in a cave.

Right before leaving the town, we hit the local car wash and had a hilarious and much needed bike power wash!

Given we were facing another potentially rainy day of cycling, we decided to head to the next big city and  explore some of the area’s châteaus. We grabbed a hotel in Tours (a bustling university town) and hopped on a train to the famous Château Chenonceau to see what life was like way back in the 16th century.

Back in Tours, we went out on the town.  We visited a small Spanish tapa bar with an extensive wine list and some obnoxiously stinky cheese (which we ate and I think sweat out today), and finished the night at an French Irish pub, where we made friends and through our broken french, almost certainly invited a small French man to come live with us in Vancouver……we live in Victoria.

We woke up this morning, had a massive breakfast and headed out for another manageable day of cycling. Tours was many things, but most of all I will remember it as the place where Steve, very much accidentally and unknowingly, ate the gastrointestinal tract of a pig. It wouldn’t be good travelling without some questionable food choices.

We biked through Villandry around 3:30 this afternoon and liked what we saw. We found this inn, which is a restored church which boasts not one but TWO hot tubs just a few hundred feet from the town’s château. We meandered down the road to one of the best restaurants in the region, and despite his misguided choices earlier, Steve somehow ended up eating the small intestine of a cow! For me, his day of food choices is a gift that will keep on giving. Can not stop laughing.

Looks like the weather may be finally turning so we are looking forward to a few days of some big rides as we head towards the Atlantic Ocean. Next stop, Angers.

Here’s a clip which should give you an idea of the cyclist’s dream that is the Loire Valley.