Biking Down the Loire Valley - The First Day

The next installment of the Tour-de-France-des-Vieux-Hommes, or Old Men’s Tour de France, kicked off early Sunday morning – 7:00AM- June 21, outside Gerard’s apartment in the 6^th Arrondisement.  Anna met Roger, Gerard, and David there to capture our departure with a photo.  We loaded the bikes on Gerard’s car and were on the road by 7:30.  Ahead was a long drive to Blois, in the Valley of the Loire River.  This is the town where we had stopped last year, after five days and 300 kilometers.  Tom was coming from Paris to Blois on the train.



The Lyon Contingent of The Happy Group

We were determined to make it this year to St Nazaire, at the point where the Loire empties into the Atlantic.  Unfortunately for our plans, we had done a lot of sight-seeing last year, and this year we had to be back in Lyon by the evening of the 27^th.  That meant we had not done half the distance, and so now had something over 400 kilometers to cover.  This was going to a challenge!
To recapitulate – the group consisted of Roger, Gerard, Tom and David.  Gerard and Roger are experienced riders, averaging 100km per week [Roger], and 200km per week [Gerard].  Tom and David, the Americans, are novices by comparison.

After about three hours we made a short stop for coffee, and hit the road again.  We needed to put on quite a few kilometers on the bikes that afternoon if we were to finish the bike trip by Friday.

We arrived at the SNCF station in Blois about 12:45 to find Tom sitting at a table finishing a beer.  We unloaded the bikes and headed into a residential section of town near the river so we could park the car for the week.  The weather was pleasant, with partial sun, good for biking. 



Three of Us at the Train Station in Blois

We biked for a half hour or so and made a lunch stop at an Auberge in the small town of Chailles.  A vacationing English family there kindly offered to take our picture.  Several of us had the curried chicken – very good. 




The Happy Group at Lunch

We learned from the couple who ran the restaurant that they have been trying to sell for some time, had lowered the asking price, but had little to no interest from potential buyers.  As we have noted before, these old-style family restaurants are disappearing rapidly.  We are fortunate to have had some time here while these wonderful mainstays of French culture are still common.

After lunch, we were off again – we were not so near the river, and the sun began to come out.  The bike route had a bit of up-and-down, so we less-experienced types got  a workout.

This part of the river valley was becoming much wider and flatter – the river bed was also quite wide, with plenty of room to spread out at flood times, with fewer dikes with bike paths on top than there were up stream.  The path did not follow the river or an adjacent canal as much as last year, and the land was more densely populated and cultivated.
 

We arrived at our first night’s stop, the chateau town of Amboise, about 6:30PM, after covering about 45km for the afternoon.  Our hotel/pension, Hotel Le Blason, was on Place Richelieu.


Hotel Le Blason



Chateau Royal in Amboise

After cleaning up a bit, we went out for dinner.  It was the night of the national Fête de la Musique, so the streets, squares, and restaurants were crowded, with bands everywhere.  We found a restaurant with a table and had a nice dinner, with a bottle of the local rosé, Plou et Fils, Touraine-Amboise.  The winery has been around since 1508!

After dinner we listened to a great jazz combo in a small square – trumpet, 2 saxes, base, drums, guitar.