Friday was a gorgeous day – blue skies, little wind, warm
enough so I could take my jacket off at times.
We arrived at Chambord, an absolutely spectacular chateau in an equally spectacular
setting. Now owned by the state, it sits
in huge grounds. We approached down a
long drive that opened up to reveal the château. There is a small village adjacent to the château
and we had lunch in a restaurant with a full view. The food was quite good – I had a turkey roll
with hazelnut stuffing while the other three had fish.
After lunch we bought some postcards, and rode our bikes to
the other side of the château and took several more photos.
After research the night before, we had decided to spend our
last night in Blois as it had several trains a day that we could take on our way back to Nevers. So, off we went on a scenic trail through the
woods surrounding the château. We had an
easy day as the terrain was flat and scenic and the weather extremely pleasant.
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| Chambord - the Largest Château in the Loire |
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| Tom, Roger, and David Lunching at Chambord |
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| David, Roger, Gerard, Tom at Chambord |
The only minor down note were the swarms of gnats we
occasionally ran into Thursday and Friday.
We had to keep our mouths closed or we would have exceeded our daily
protein allowance.
Our hotel was a scenic, slightly run-down Belle Epoque structure
across the square from the Blois Château – a great location, and a serviceable hotel. We had dinner in a little wine bar next to
the château, where we polished off two bottles of Pouilly-Fumé. I had duck à l’orange for dinner – very tasty. After dinner, Tom had Cognac, I had Calvados; we then all had coffee. Roger and Gerard then went off to find an
Irish bar, and Tom and I called it a night.
Just as well – Roger said something the next day about being charged
eight Euros for a Guinness.
Distance traveled 57km. |
| Château at Blois |
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