Thursday, May 22nd, 2014
Route Map and Garmin Ride Statistics
On the way out of Beaugency we crossed the Loire river which is quite wide at this point.
And the bridge which crosses it must be 500 years old, at least. You also get the impression that the river floods regularly, and when it does it poses some risk to the town.
There were two ride options for today - the "long" option which went off course to visit the magnificent Chateau Chambord, and the "shorter" option which did not. Chambord is set in very extensive grounds which must measure 5km to 10km square. That's Trevor in the distance on one of the roads leading through the grounds to the chateau. We saw a number of other riders, so this must be a popular route for locals and tourists alike.
You approach the chateau (more correctly, a palace of the French monarchy) from the side, so this was our first view of it.
This was a pedestrian and cycle route only, so we took it. The last time I was here was almost exactly 40 years ago! Note that I am still in wet weather gear because it did rain a little during the 25km ride from Beaugency.
As usual when visiting important monuments, there always seems to be some restoration going on, and therefore scaffolding obscuring part of the building.
It must also have been a quiet part of the year because there were only a few Chinese tourists, plus us, visiting it - all the better to get a clear view.
The road curves around the chateau and the view from the back is just as fantastic as the one from the front. The rain has stopped and the clouds are beginning to break up.
At our morning coffee stop about 10km further on, the children from the local school were preparing to go on a bicycle excursion, we believe into the park of the chateau.
At the first lunch option, another 30km or so further on, the sun was shining and we saw another "Tudor" style building similar to many we had already seen elsewhere. We probably should have stopped here for lunch, bu instead decided to press on.
Anne, Keith and Noreen were smarter - they stopped for lunch where we should have stopped, and also for a snack further on!
Lunch for me was a delicious piece of beef with onion and butter sauce, potato, beans and tomatoes - superb. Trevor looked on because there were no vegetarian options in this restaurant. It seems we were breaking the rule by trying to snack when it was really lunch time!
We arrived in Vierzon before 3:00pm and I finally got a hotel room with a view - ironically, of the local river and the (now disused?) Canal de Berry, and one of its locks.
Our hotel is back behind this bridge, and there's another "Tudor" house on the corner.
Of course, I headed straight for the lock, which is by far the narrowest lock I've seen in France. Perhaps that's the reason it was shut down. Incidentally, this canal was only built in the 19th century, compared to the 17th century for the Canal du Midi. Competition from railways probably also explains why it was shut down.
After my walk I found Dennis, Les, Chris, and the Tonys in a nearby pub. I had a beer and then went to relax before dinner.
Some aspects of the hotel were "bizarre" - there seemed to be a Hollywood theme running through it - this being one of many posters decorating the corridors and stairwells.
But the biggest surprise was room 30 which Chris and Dennis were allocated. It was a themed bar, complete with grand piano, and two double beds which folded down from the wall. All about the room was a collection of American "pop" memorabilia! They told us earlier about the room, but we didn't believe it until we saw it!
Seven of us went back tot the pub for a lovely pub dinner, and some "Frog Pink" (ie. Rose), and as I started to write this blog entry, the sun was setting over the canal/river at 9:30pm. Let's hope the sun comes back up again in the morning!
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