More than a bike ride: Montsoreau to Tours

September 10^th – 12th

From Montsoreau to Chinon, on the Vienne, isn't far - though since we were on bikes we stopped at a church we were cycling by and it turned out to be a winner! If you are ever in the area, Candes-Saint-Martin collegiate church is worth a few minutes of your time. History, statues, stunning architecture, stained glass. 1km away from Montsoreau.

Chinon castle, or at least the ruins of it, dominates the town of Chinon from across the river.

There's a big area to explore both inside and out and while we were there there were dragons popping up all over the place.

Royal Fortress of old, now restored, at least in part, over a period of 5 years, to its 15th century form, within medieval walls. With lovely surprises here and there, apart from the dragons - a reconstruction of a 12th century lifting machine, terrific views in all directions, a descent underground.

uncrowded campsite...

We left the Vienne to bike over the hills and back to the Loire, arriving in front of Ussé castle as the sun was setting. We'd already decided to leave this 'sleeping beauty' castle and just wanted to find the camping ground for the night. Pleasant surprise - almost empty, as it was now no longer 'the season', and secondly it was well-endowed with facilities - a lock-up for the bike, great showers and washing facilities, and friendly company.

Morning saw us away fairly early, with a busy day ahead. First, along a levée of the Loire to Langeais.

The Château of Langeais which has extensive grounds, many well-furnished rooms and some audio-visual displays. One of these recreates the secret wedding of Anne de Bretagne with Charles VIII, using wax figures and a sound and light display.

One wall of the original fortress (994) has a reconstruction of the type of scaffolding used to build it. From the top you can look at the second castle (XV century) through the window.

In the later castle there are beautiful furnishings including trunks and safes with exquisite locks and protection systems and some lovely tapestries lining the walls. There's even a working drawbridge which is raised and lowered daily. And over the road is a well-priced restaurant with delicious food. What more could we want?

On to Villandry, a chateau well known for its magnificent gardens, bought to be a 'dream home' for the family. Photos just don't capture it.

Joachim Carvallo, a Spanish doctor, the great-grandfather of the present owner bought it in 1906 to serve as a family home, and together with his American wife, Ann Coleman, created the gardens in 16th century (Renaissance) style, to match the style of the château. Henri, the great-grandson continues to work passionately to maintain and enhance the chateau's gardens. The château remains set up as a family home and welcomes hundreds of thousands of visitors each year, while the family occupy other buildings in the grounds. The gardens are truly amazing and can be seen from different angles as you visit the 'house'. If you get near Tours, this is a thoroughly worthwhile excursion.

Entry/exit to bike path into Tours

Into Tours, then. Savonnières, where we camped for the night, lies on the Cher, not far from Villandry and 10km out of Tours. The night was cold, as nights had been for a week or two, and we were to draw our cycling to halt at Tours, where we had parted from Chris at the end of July. Thus we had completed, in a roundabout way, the Loire à Vélo cycle route, which joins Nevers to Nantes, or Nantes to Nevers, if you prefer.

We had also completed our cycling for 2013 - a constantly damp tent, short evenings and cold nights were taking the pleasure out of the camping and anyway it was no longer 'the season', with many camps on the point of closure (15th September is a common date). Altogether 2500 km, from June to part-way through September, with plenty of stops with friends and family.