{"id":1747,"date":"2019-07-03T17:48:42","date_gmt":"2019-07-03T16:48:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/tandem.lynas.info\/?p=1747"},"modified":"2019-07-03T20:45:34","modified_gmt":"2019-07-03T19:45:34","slug":"stage-17-blois-to-amboise","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tandem.lynas.info\/?p=1747","title":{"rendered":"Stage 17 – Blois to Amboise"},"content":{"rendered":"

Distance: 41 km<\/em><\/p>\n

Time: 1 hours 58 minutes<\/em><\/p>\n

Average speed: 20.8 kph<\/em><\/p>\n

Ascent: 168 m<\/em><\/p>\n

Descent: 185 m<\/em><\/p>\n

<\/em><\/p>\n

Total distance: 946.7 km<\/em><\/p>\n

Total time: 51 hours 14 minutes<\/em><\/p>\n

<\/em><\/p>\n

Our rest day at Blois (a planned one this time) was very relaxing. After an excellent night’s sleep we wandered past half-timbered houses into a leafy square in the centre of town and enjoyed an unhurried lunch.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Thereafter we headed up the Denis Papin steps, decorated for a certain Leonardo da Vinci (of whom more later), pausing to re-create a photo of Clare’s Mum, Lesley, and late Grandma, Eva, who visited the Loire with Lesley’s late sister, Gill, some twenty-six years ago.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Turning right at the top of the steps we discovered the town’s unusual cathedral, set high on the hillside. Inside it had modern stained glass based on the theme of calligraphy.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

We threaded through town towards the ch\u00e2teau – no fairytale spires but an impressive edifice nonetheless.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Then, after a little shopping, it was back to the apartment, where the tandem was awaiting a wash and brush-up, and a new set of rear disc brake pads. All of this was soon achieved, leaving time for a relaxing evening.<\/p>\n

Today’s route was not a lengthy one. This was a deliberate move, as Amboise offered plenty to see. So we set off fairly late, on our sparkling clean tandem, with its newly-impressive braking power. Almost straight away we crossed over to the southern bank of the Loire, and straight onto well-surfaced cycle paths where we made the most of today’s cooler temperatures and set off at a good pace, surrounded by arable crops and not a single vineyard.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

After an hour we reached the Ch\u00e2teau de Chaumont. We only saw its riverside aspect, and should perhaps have investigated further. However we’re having to ration the number of castles on this trip, for fear of ch\u00e2teau-fatigue!<\/p>\n

Almost straight away we encountered vineyards!<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Not since Sancerre have we seen a single row of vines, but now we were surrounded by them. Also, hills. This was slightly unexpected, but we coped with them well enough, and before long we were descending towards the riverside road which brought us into Amboise.<\/p>\n

We were impressed, straight away. A magnificent ch\u00e2teau looks down upon the river and town.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Before exploring it, we turned into the attractive main street which was lined by restaurants. It was extremely busy, but we found a quieter restaurant after a short walk. A good lunch fortified us for the steep steps up to the ch\u00e2teau entrance.<\/p>\n

What a perfect place for a castle, and what a good job they made of it. Triangular in outline, with one wall abutting the cliff above the river, the bastides gave excellent views over the town and the Loire. Inside the Chapel of Saint Hubert contains the tomb of Leonardo da Vinci, who spent the last three years of his life as a guest of King Fran\u00e7ois I at Clos Luc\u00e9 nearby.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

It was a most enjoyable experience – we strolled around the grounds for a while, spotting a view over to the Chanteloup Pagoda (tomorrow’s first destination) and admiring the lavender borders, chock-full of bees and butterflies.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Returning to the tandem we cycled uphill to take a look at Clos Luc\u00e9, a delightful brick building with a Tuscan-style elevated loggia.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

There was a long queue for the interior, though, so we returned to the town and found our apartment for the evening.<\/p>\n

Tomorrow we head away from the Loire, as the Ch\u00e2teau de Chenonceau is set on the side of the Cher river, a tributary of the Loire which doesn’t actually meet with it until after Tours. We can’t miss this particular ch\u00e2teau, though. Thereafter we’ll cycle on to Tours itself.<\/p>\n

Here’s a video<\/a> of today’s route and today’s track<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Distance: 41 km Time: 1 hours 58 minutes Average speed: 20.8 kph Ascent: 168 m Descent: 185 m Total distance: 946.7 km Total time: 51 hours 14 minutes Our rest day at Blois (a planned one this time) was very relaxing. After an excellent night’s sleep we wandered past half-timbered houses into a leafy square … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “Stage 17 – Blois to Amboise”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false},"categories":[12],"tags":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paXphT-sb","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tandem.lynas.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1747"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tandem.lynas.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tandem.lynas.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tandem.lynas.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tandem.lynas.info\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1747"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/tandem.lynas.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1747\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1758,"href":"https:\/\/tandem.lynas.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1747\/revisions\/1758"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tandem.lynas.info\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1747"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tandem.lynas.info\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1747"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tandem.lynas.info\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1747"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}