Eurovelo 6 - Day 13 - Orleans to Blois (via Chateau de Chambord)

Another great breakfast at the hotel this morning and then a short ride of a few 100 metres back onto the Eurovelo 6 route. It's an easy ride out of the city in the crisp morning air. It's our first ride with Stewart and we take turns riding beside him to get to know our new friend better ... and how far we can push with our Australian humour.

Our route is a mixture of nice bitumen cycle paths and some dirt country lanes - all of which add to the experience. We do travel a couple of secondary roads where the traffic was a bit busy this morning, however, drivers are generally very courteous to cyclists.

As I came around one bend in the trail, I saw a guy smashing a large pole into the branches of a tree. I assumed it was one of those nouveau or niche anger release sessions that are all the rage. I stopped to observe, and found myself invited to eat walnuts! This local monsieur was in fact knocking walnuts out of the tree! After a brief lesson in French on walnut hunting, none of which I understood, I rode on.

The pace was a nice 18 km per hour, and at the 30 km mark, we searched for a coffee. In the town of Beaugency we found the Cesar et Firmin Cafe near the Abbey Notre-Dame de Beaugency - the perfect setting for morning tea, and just off the Eurovelo route.

We ride another 15 km before we leave the official Eurovelo 6 tour to detour to the Chateau de Chambord. The off-route ride took us through some small villages, before entering the estate and riding on forest trails towards the Chateau. As we came to a clearing, you could see the magnificence of the home of a French king.

Chambord was constructed by a King of France, Francis I, between 1519 and 1547. It is now a UNESCO World Heritage site ... understandably so. As we rode around the site, the building and its gardens truly showed off French opulence. While I ate ice cream (and the peasants ate cake!) David and Stewart toured the building. Apparently, it's not as big as ancestral homes in North Carolina but impressive nonetheless.

 

I have a flat rear tyre ... again.

Col and Brett decided to ride ahead to Blois to visit Decathlon to top up spare tubes as we're still having daily issues. Not surprisingly, Brett develops a rear wheel issue, changes the tube, and then has a disc brake issue. They finally arrive in Blois only 15 minutes ahead of us after starting over an hour earlier ... slackers! Fortunately, there was a bike shop around the corner from tonight's hotel ... and the issue was fixed. The bike shop owner refused to take payment ... another example of the life felt here in France (all together, drum roll, a collective 'awwwwwww').

David is sharing a room with 5 bicycles as, for the first time on our trip, the hotel has no bike storage facilities. I get to bunk with the newbie, Stewart.

A nice walk around town saw us have a cold beer, then dinner before I headed home to prepare for tomorrow's 60 km hilly ride to Amboise via yet another chateau!

 

 On touring Blois I did get to see Lord Maximus Farquaad's palace (of Shrek fame) with his statue above the entry gate ...

 

 Au revoir.