In this section we would visit some of the dinosaur landmarks of France, the
chateaux that continue to bedazzle anyone who wanders near. We would brave the tourist throngs to achieve this, but the sight of Bodhi seeking dragons around every corner, wild pigs in the castle depths, and trolls in every dark hole and passage made it all quite extraordinary. There would, however, be a dark side in all this... the Loire is considered (and marketed as) a wild river - that is, undammed and unchanneled - but don't be misled: nuclear plants are placed at disturbing intervals along its length, shattering the idyllic wonderland of it all!
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| Departing Tours, we had some fine riverside riding with distant views of Tours' Cathedral in the background. |
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| Passing vineyards on the slopes above the Loire. |
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| A fine campspot in quiet semi-open woodland, in la forêt d'Amboise. |
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| A splendid morning in the Amboise forest. Katy and Bo enjoying the forest tracks... |
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| On the road near Dierre, heading towards the River Cher. |
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| A classic Cher-side stretch brings us to our destination of the day... |
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| ... the inimitable Chenonceau... straddling the Cher. |
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| Jeff and Bo admire from a distance. |
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| This wild boar's head mounted in the kitchen area of the chateau fed Bodhi's imagination like nothing else. |
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| Jeff and Bo in the great hall of Chenonceau, spanning the river, and used during World War II as an escape route out of German-occupied lands. |
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| ... sumptuous everything... beds... |
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| ... wood paneling... |
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| ... and painting frames, this one a portrait of Louis IV - perhaps the most elaborate we've ever seen. |
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| Diane of Poitiers, French noblewoman of the 16th century, one of the women who left a notable mark on Chenonceau. |
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| We had some mad hide-n-seek games in the Labyrinth in the chateau gardens. |
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| Daddy and Bo clowning around in the gardens. |
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| Katy asks water from some local gardening women while Bo gobbles a granola bar. |
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| Le Chateau de Chaumont, which we opted to admire from afar. |
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| Bodhi in action: heading down to explore the banks of the Loire; |
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| ... taking a break from the sun... |
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| ... and hitting the trails in La Foret de Russy.... |
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| ... catching up to Mammy. |
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| ... which we found in this open woodland just outside Le Domaine de Chambord. |
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| Our next stop: the grandiose, overdone, utterly absurd - and yet fascinating - Chateau de Chambord... |
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| Built from 1519-1547, it was designed as a grand hunting lodge for King Francois I. It is rumored that Leonardo da Vinci, who spent the last years of his life nearby, had a hand in its design as well. |
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| King Francois I, whose passion for hunting is the raison d'etre of Chambord. |
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| The king's symbols: a renaissance "F" and a salamander, to be seen all over the chateau. |
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| ... to appreciate the scale of Chambord you have to see it to believe it... |
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| Views out over the lawns of Chambord, and beyond to the expansive Chambord forest, which has been a royal-and-then-government hunting grounds since medieval times. |
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| Bo explores the rooftop... |
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| ... making friends with a French kid of similar age and energy levels. |
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| A splendid royal carriage from the 19th century. |
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| Artwork depicting scenes for which Chambord was famous: royal hunting on a grand scale... (above: stag)... |
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| ...here: wild boar. |
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| The palace from a short distance; note the queue for ticket purchase. |
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| Katy in form; back on the Loire again, near St. Dye-sur-Loire. |
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| The EuroVelo 6 is busy here, near Muides-sur-Loire. |
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| ... while Bo double-checks his calculations. |
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| La centrale nucléaire de Saint-Laurent-des-Eaux. After all the above architectural grandour, amidst breathtaking natural scenes, the sight of nuclear power makes you sick to your stomach, literally, leaves you feeling like France and its people have signed some horrible tract with the devil (they have)... and this, just a short hop and jump from some of the most unbelievable manmade creations on earth. High plutonium levels in the Loire have been linked to radioactive leaks from this plant. French media, however, will tell you that French nuclear reactors are "safe". |
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| A picnic near Beaugency. |
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| Marilyn hosted us for two much-needed days of rest in Meung-sur-Loire. Marilyn is the mother of Julie, our friend from Bretagne whom we recently saw at Villandry. |
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| Bo having a classic bath on Marilyn's back lawn. |
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| The Loire, just before Orleans. |
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| Orleans' history is inseparable from that of Joan of Arc, a 17 y.o. peasant girl who successfully rallied the forces of uncrowned King Charles VII against the English siege of Orleans in 1429. The city holds an annual festival, one of the oldest continous festivals in France, every May to commemorate her deeds. We had planned to attend, but Orleans no longer has any campgrounds and we were forced to ride on. Boo. |
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| Pont George V (1760), its nine stone arches spanning the 339 meters of the Loire. |
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| La Cathédrale Sainte-Croix d'Orléans, seen from across the Loire. |
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