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There are few destinations in France, perhaps only Paris and the Côte d’Azur, as iconic as the châteaux of the Loire. Since 1995, exploring the area by bike - following the Loire à Vélo trail - has become the way to see the homesteads, gardens and towns of one of the most fertile parts of the country.

The trail itself runs some 800 kilometres, so when we discussed how far we could get along this trail, in the end the answer was “not very”. With long weekends and holidays allocated to other destinations, we had but one weekend to enjoy France’s longest river and all it has to offer. The real “meat” of the area lies in the UNESCO World Heritage area, which runs from Sully-sur-Loire (upstream of Orléans) to Chalonnes-sur-Loire (downsteam of Angers). In an effort to see as much of the crème de la crème as possible, we selected the section between Blois and Tours.

Ride on

Normally we would head to a destination on a Friday night, so as to maximise our time at the location. However, the train route from Geneva to the Blois is via Paris, so it made more sense for Mia to come to Paris from where we would head out early on Saturday morning. Whilst this trip was not over a long weekend, it did coincide with la fête de la musique. This is a national holiday in France, celebrated on the 21st of June simply to encourage people to play and listen to music. Started in 1981, it is a fantastic idea, and unlike anything I have ever experienced; musicians on every corner, stages set in the town centres and an overall party atmosphere. The year previous, I was travelling around Normandy and consequently we did not see too much action outside of towns. As were were to spend the night in Tours, we would be able to enjoy the festivities in the evening, but as an added bonus, the festival tends to suppress other more general tourism, meaning that the visits to the châteaux should be quieter than normal.

We awoke to a beautifully crisp summer’s day and headed to Gare d'Austerlitz, and there elected to take the the cheaper train - an intercités to Orléons and a change onto a TER to Blois - totalling just under 2 hours. There is also a TGV route which is much more expensive and can reduce the travel time by a whole 10 minutes! If we had had more time, I would have loved to explore Orléons, but as it was, I saw only a brief glimpse of the train station. The TER between Orléons and Blois was fantastic, following the Loire as it snakes through along the valley floor, occasionally providing glimpses of towns and their châteaux.

It was late morning by the time we arrived in Blois, where we had planned to hire bikes and ride to Chambord, before following the Loire down to Tours. There is no shortage of bike hire companies along the Loire, but we had chosen Détours de Loire as one can rent a bike in one location and return it at another without penalty. What we hadn’t counted on was them not hiring us a bike for the weekend, as they were closed on Sunday due to the festival and (presumably) so everyone could have a late night. This threw a spanner in the works, but with no viable alternatives, we decided to rent bikes for the day (15€) to get to Chambord, return to Blois and then take the train to Tours. We filled in the paperwork, were given a map and advice on which route to take to the château and then we were on our way.

Blois was a beautiful town, especially le Château Royal and la Cathédrale Saint-Louis de Blois, both of which we were obliged to pass on our way down to the Loire. Chambord lies about 20 km south-east of Blois, situated on le Cosson, a tributary of the Loire. Our first job was to cross the Loire, which was delightful thanks to le pont Jacques Gabriel, a 283m-long bridge built in the 18th century. South of the river, the town is much more sparse, so we grabbed the supplies we needed - primarily lunch - before heading to the château. We bought a few baguettes (and treats!) from La Fournee de Pierre and rode to the riverside to find a place to sit. This weekend was to be one of the most stereotypically tourist things one can do in France, but when we were eating our lunch on the riverside with our bikes at our side, I found myself remarking on how enchanting the entire experience was.

Setting out for the Chambord, the route was initially a bit hard to find as we were supposed to follow the highway, but take a series of smaller roads which ran parallel to it, crossing other major roads, rivers and streams in the area. The path was not well-marked, as we were taking a route less-traveled to get there, and planned to take the more common path along the river on the way back. We ended up just a little lost, however armed with satellite imagery, we managed to get back on the right track. The path was initially not very interesting, winding through small satellite towns, then becoming much more engaging where it turned off into farmland and forest. After about half an hour, we arrived on the château grounds, which are enormous. The path we took ran along le cosson and was nearly perfectly tunneled - the foliage of the trees either side of the path had grown together, forming a canopy. I know if I were a royal visiting in days of old, I would be impressed, and we hadn’t even seen the château! Eventually the path merged onto the main road, which is a fantastic destination to spot number plates from all countries of Europe, along with a huge number of buses. Being a little more mobile on our two wheels, we bypassed all the parking and headed to the south side of the château where we found ample bike parking, as well as one hell of a view!

We entered at a cost of 11€/person and proceeded to explore the enormity that is the Chambord château. I am not going to gush over the place, other than to say it was absolutely worthwhile; the stonemasonry is truly something to behold. The interior was more sparse than I had imagined, however given its size, it would be a difficult exercise to have the place fully furnished.

Once we'd explored the interior, we set out to look around the grounds. Having a bike proved invaluable, as we flew along paths that would have taken up a significant portion of the day had we been on foot! Other tourists were moving about the grounds in horse-drawn chariots, and the waters were filled with both powered and unpowered boats. We cruised around with no real destination in mind, other than the picture-postcard location to the north of the château. Once we had taken in all that was on offer, we started back to Blois. The route back was via the town of Montlivault and then following the Loire, which is the main track. Consequently, it has much better signage, but somewhat surprisingly, the quality of the bike path was not great. Particularly some longer stretches next to the river were not paved, with perfectly inappropriately-sized stones lying around to make cycling a little sketchy.

By this point, we were more or less on a mission to get back into town, as the constant heat was making things tiring. We made a bee-line for the bike rental shop and subsequently on to the station. Trains to Tours run between every hour and two hours, and take 40 or so minutes (at a cost of 5.60€/person). There was a train at 1726 and the next one wasn’t until 1924, so we made sure we were there to catch the earlier train. We arrived a bit before 1700 and so had some time to kill, and thought we might indulge ourselves with a refreshingly cold Orangina. It dropped from the vending machine, the lid was popped off and just as we were poised to enjoy some, it erupted all over us and our stuff, in addition to making a large mess on the floor. Saddened, we drank the remnants whilst we mopped up the mess with low quality toilet paper taken from nearby public toilets.

This left us sticky for the train ride into Tours, which immediately struck us as a great little town. The first order of business was to meet our Airbnb host and get access to our apartment, which was right in the heart of the old town. Tours is extremely old, having been an important crossing point of the Loire since the time of the Galls. Many medieval buildings still survive, making it a beautiful city to get lost in. Our (tiny) apartment was at the end of la rue de la monnaie, which is about as close to the action as you are going to find, and it cost us absolutely nothing. So we were stoked! We ditched our gear and then went into the old town to see the sights and have some dinner.

The main point of interest is Place Plumereau, where the highest density of medieval buildings are located, but the entire surrounding area is splendid. We wandered around looking for somewhere to have dinner and ended up at Le Vieux Comptoir, where we were seated on the back balcony overlooking a medieval alleyway, able to hear the festivities of la fête de la musique and enjoying good food and a beer. It is for moments like these that one travels.

Once we had stuffed ourselves and the sun had set, we wandered the streets taking in the music and activities. We did not stay out long since the day of cycling in the sun had taken its toll, and we had a busy day on Sunday. It was only once we got back to the apartment that we started to realise that staying in the heart of town may not have been a great idea; that marching band that we had just passed was doing laps around town, routinely passing directly in front of the apartment, and nothing was going to stop that noise. So our plan for a quiet night evolved into trying to squeeze in as much sleep as possible during intermissions, band changeovers and the absence of the marching band. Needless to say, there was not much quality sleep had that night.

Strike that

The festivities died down in the early morning, so from about 0400 we slept well, but we were up early as we had châteaux to see. Our bike plans had been disrupted, but we had also been thrown a second curveball due to train strikes. So although we had planned to see a few places in an efficient manner and then get back to Paris in time for Mia’s train to Geneva, it was going to be a major effort to get anywhere combined with getting back to Paris. Our main aim was to visit Chenonceau, which lies 35 kilometres east of Tours, on le Cher. Unfortunately, the only way we could visit was by taking the 0958 train to Chenonceau (which takes 28 minutes and costs 3.50€) and then returning on the 1134, leaving us just over one hour to see the château itself.

Bleary-eyed, we made our way to the station, picked up some breakfast from a bakery and scoffed it down on the train. Before long we arrived at Chisseaux, the commune home to Chenonceau. It is only a short walk to the château grounds where one must part with 13€ to gain access. The grounds are considerably smaller than those at Chambord, however I found them much more interesting. As we had a very limited schedule, we were really flying through the place; the gardens deserve more time, but we simply did not have time to give. Instead we dashed through, enjoying the colour and taking in the exterior of the château - the span of the building across le Cher is absolutely spectacular. It is a small wonder that after Versailles, Chenonceau is the most visited château in France.

Initially constructed in the 13th century, the original buildings were burnt down and a fort was built in the mid-1400s. After the turn of the next century, the fort was purchased by Thomas Bohier who turned it into what it is today, removing the fort - but leaving the keep - and constructing a new residence. Somewhat more recently, the castle was restored by the current owners, the Menier family (of chocolate fame) after sustaining damage during the second world war from both the English and the Germans. Interestingly, le Cher formed part of the border between occupied and unoccupied France, so the château acted as a gateway into “free” France; somewhat ironic given the history amongst the nobility of France.

The interior of the château is exquisite; being much smaller than Chambord, it is feasible to keep the entire building in period. The chapel - which was the most extensively damaged part of the château during World War II - was the highlight, followed by the amazing array of cooking utensils in the kitchen. But as quickly as we entered, we had to leave. We wandered (quickly) through a small hedge garden with a picturesque pagoda at its centre, which was one of the few places which could be considered peaceful, with nobody from the busloads of tourists paying it any attention. I really enjoyed visiting Chenonceau and would have happily stayed longer, but this was not an option so we made our way back to the station and back into Tours.

We arrived at midday and decided to see some of the town’s sights that we did not see the night before. Chief amongst the attractions is the Cathédrale Saint-Gatien, which was easy to find thanks to its sheer enormity. On our way there, we were attracted to the garden of the Musée des Beaux-Arts de Tours, which contain parterres en mosaïculture, meaning there are garden beds with mosaics created primarily from flowers. We were a little early in the season, as the plants were still being planted, but it was about 75% complete, which considering they usually use around 15,000 plants, is still mightily impressive.

The Cathédrale Saint-Gatien next door really caught me by surprise. It is not so famous, which is surprising given its size and scale, but its design is as impressive as any of the well-known gothic cathedrals, such as those in Chartres and Rouen. It was built at the site of the original river crossing, a feature on the main road from Paris to the south west of France, and this accounts for much of its grandeur. The façade is beautifully detailed, the interior is monumentally grand and the stained-glass windows were of excellent quality. Anyone with even a passing interest in cathedrals would be well served to visit Saint-Gatien.

Nearby, we visited the site of the original Loire crossing before going to grab some lunch. Rue Colbert, running parallel to the river, was packed with restaurants, and we ended up at Désire de mets which was pretty darn tasty, and very well priced. At this point we had seen as much of Tours as we were going to see; however our train back to Paris was not until 1615 as we had anticipated riding around to various châteaux. Luckily, the train was an intercités, meaning that the tickets are not for a specific train but rather for a journey, and we could break up that journey. The nearby town of Amboise, which we had passed on our way into Tours, is home to le Château Royal d'Amboise, an imposing structure built on cliffs overlooking the Loire. We took the 1403 train from Tours which put us in Amboise at 1420, and we had until 1630 when our train back to Paris was due to depart.

The old town of Amboise and the château are on the south bank of the Loire, about 1 km from the train station. By this point we were taking things pretty slowly as it was very sunny and warm, we had been rushing all day and had had very little sleep. We had plenty of time so we were happy to amble. Access to le Château Royal d'Amboise was 11.20€ (bringing our collective total for château visits to over 70€, not bad for a 24-hour period!); the climb up to the castle was quite noticeable, but the payoff was being above all the surrounds. Indeed the location was so perfect for a castle that prior to the current fortifications, the Galls had an oppidum on the site.

The castle was thrust into importance when, in 1434, King Charles VII confiscated the castle and it became a favoured royal residence, undergoing extensive construction works. In particular, under Charles VIII the château was further developed in an Italian style, and much of its present day stylings are from these works at the end of the 15th century. Unfortunately for Charles VIII, he never really got to enjoy the homestead as he famously hit his head on a door lintel inside the castle and died. The castle eventually fell out of favour with the royals and was left to fall into a state of disrepair. The castle was both used and damaged in World War II, but since then the castle has been undergoing restorations, both the ramparts and the château.

The chair of the king, Château d'Amboise — The chair of the king, Château d'Amboise

Perhaps we were a bit château-ed out, but the visit to Amboise was the least enjoyable of the three. That is not to say that it was boring, but just less interesting than we had found Chambord and Chenonceau. It did, however, have its moments. There was a gorgeous little chapel, the chapel of Saint-Hubert, where Leonardo da Vinci is buried. To my surprise, late in his life he worked there as a guest of King Francis I. There was also a middle-school music recital happening out in the courtyard, which is always a bit of fun. The grounds of the castle were somewhat restricted by the ramparts, but there was impressive round hedge garden, which was delightfully satisfying. Once we had been through the castle, we were really just a bit worn out, so we descended into the old town, grabbed an ice cream and just sat on the grass until it was time to head to the station and return to Paris.

Gardens of Château d'Amboise; highly satisfying

Our train was scheduled to arrive in Paris at 1823 at Gare d’Austerlitz and Mia’s train was due to leave just before 1900 at Gare de Lyon, a short walk from Gare d’Austerlitz. Our train actually pulled in about 10 minutes early, so we had plenty of time to get to Gare de Lyon... only to be told that because of the strikes, no TGV services would be running. This was rather annoying on a few levels, but mainly because we had arranged our train times specifically to be back in time for Mia’s connection; if it had been advertised as cancelled, we would have had enough time to take different trains - especially given how light it was at that time of year - and not be so rushed. However, given how lethargic we were late in the day, perhaps it was good that we were given an evening to just unwind in Paris.

Adventures

Les châteaux de la Loire

Ride on

Strike that