LOIRE VALLEY, FRANCE (JULY 16-19)

Reflection of the finer things (Alice and Peter, we mean...)

July 16-18 - We arrived in Tours, France following our travel day from Switzerland, and quickly settled into an urban experience including glasses of red wine and superb chocolate gateaux. The next day was trying for Peter and I. We had intended to spend a nice day "touring" the area but ended up angry at one another (for various reasons) and the landscape west of Tours proved entirely boring (given the flat route and lack of sites within the 50kms we rode). So despite our excitement of waking up in France and ready-to-explore new sites, we had a crap morning and afternoon.

The laundramat in the early evening proved most enjoyable, however, as we met Alice, a lovely 21 year old art-history major at Tours University. She gave us some great tips, which we took advantage of, including dinner in the Old Quarter of Tours - definitely the most sumptuous meal of seafood salad and mussels in cream sauce (oddly served at an Irish Pub) - that we enjoyed while being entertained by a reggae band in the square.

The next morning we experienced difficulty (yet again) at leaving the city (seems that our orientation truly sucks and often brings us much stress before we settle in to our day) but we found ourselves in a cycling "zone" averaging some 23 km/hr and even hitting around 30km at some points. The bicycle routes remain inconsistent here in France (stark contrast to the impeccable organization of Swiss bike routes) and we have ended up preferring the roadside despite the traffic. Plus the pavement is such that you can hit your stride super well and pick up a lot of speed. The day's weather was rather ominous, and even rainy at times, which kept us motivated to keep moving. We did until Amboise where our new found friend, Alice, had recommended we take in a Chateau where she works.

It was nice to see Alice again and we wandered around the grounds together, including taking in Leonardo da Vinci's grave (he died at Chateau Amboise in 1519 after taking an appointment there to focus on his drawing and teaching of architecture and urban planning).

The weather improved slightly for us to be motivated to continue our journey - we did so at a similarly quick pace until the weather (read very dark clouds) forced us to take refuge at a Tourist Information office in Chaumont-sur-Loire. We dawdled until finding accommodation (which proved slightly difficult given the timing of being in Loire for the weekend) at a Gites in Monthou. A gites is accommodation for cyclists and other travelers who do not mind sharing common areas with others; what a lovely time we had that evening with our new friends-en-la-gites! Christian, Nathalie and their two kids, Emma and Antoine, from the North of France, plus stephane and Marie-Laure from Toulouse, were lovely. Peter and I had a fabulous time getting to know them and really putting our French to good use. We will definitely seek out more of these gites experiences - not only was the setting bucolic in its rural character but getting to know some local people has been a lot of fun.

This morning we all moved on to different destinations after exchanging contact information and offers of places-to-stay. Peter and I continued our route through chateaux and vignobles (wine) region towards Cheverny. And while we were discouraged by the local tourist official that hotels would be few and far between, we found vacancy at the first one. We dropped off our paniers, got on the bicycles and took in chateaux, gateaux et vins.

Second runner-up in the Miss Teen Ohio beauty pageant posing for us...wtf?!?

Auto-wine tasting in Cheverny

And our final day in Loire ended up being a nice tour through the countryside, including a stop at Chambord Chateau where we witnessed the bourgeoisie taking in their sunday horse exercises (okay, so these were actually riders getting ready for the exotic horse show but we liked our interpretation better). We put in some solid biking - 60km - which really satisfied both Peter and my itch for longer rides. We are definitely trying to balance more lounging days with fuller cycling days to get in both the tourist and athletic aspects we had in mind for this adventure. We ended up in Blois, a town suggested by our friend Melanie as a highlight in the region and we found it to be yet another lovely, historic site. This time we took in the Son et Lumiere (sound and light) show during the late evening hours - basically a touristy historical-overview of the Blois Chateau paired with the most spectacular light projections thrown up onto the chateau walls. Really quite breathtaking as you can see from the photos to give a sense of the spectacle.

Blois during the day...


And Blois Chateau during "le Son et Lumiere"...

Beyond the play-by-play above, we have had some first impressions of France that are worth sharing. First, the French are extraordinarly friendly, welcoming and approachable. Absolutely everyone greets one another with a simple bonjour, and in many instances this is followed by small talk, sharing a laugh or helping out with directions or suggestions of where to go and what to do. French hospitality completely debunks the stereotypes and it is a pleasure to be surrounded by so many lovely people.

Second, the food is truly superb. Even the most seemingly non-descript restaurants (an irish pub for goodness sake) prove to have the most sumptuous food and drink.

Third, on a personal note, being able to put our languages into practice continues to be, even more so now in France, a lot of fun. Amazing to realize how much I have retained from my junior and high school French classes, and Peter's French is impressive. Plus people understand us!

Fourth, we have deemed the Loire Valley a tour through the lives of the historically-rich-and-famous. Wandering through Chateau Cheverny this afternoon, it struck us just how history is dominated by the winners (or in this case the rich); there is really nothing historically significant about many of these chateaux and the tour-cards instead read like a whose-who of high society, filled with details of who-married-whom and who-became-angry-with-whom-and-ousted-them-from-the-grounds. The tourism industry here is defintely, in part, based on "society pages" and purposively removed from any political or socio-economic context. Interesting to reflect on the values that are passed on through such heritage sites and the ways in which "value" rather than "values" rises to the surface, reproduced through time. While the grounds are certainly beautiful, and the buildings impressive, there is a sense of superficiality here that gives rise to questions as to what-has-been-left-out of the "story". The opulence and grandeur of these chateaux provide a quick snapshot of why the French Revolution took place... A cynical viewpoint - perhaps. But not necessarily off base.

Random views along the way...

Loire Valley Section of the Trip - Grading:
- weather (B-) - cool but good cycling weather; little rain; not much sun
- landscape (C) - Chateaus and villages were magnificent but the cycling landscape was booooring...
- cycling challenge (too easy) - who knew any terrain could be 'too easy'...?!?
- physical and emotional response (A-) - confidence builder and Alice’s knee problems are GONE!
- our relationship (A-) - s/b A+ but for the one rocky day
- food (A-) - Every meal in France has been an A, but the local wine was nothing special at all... meal highlight was seafood in oldtown Tours (Irish pub...?!?)
- accommodations (B+) - highlight was the rural Gites in Monthou with the lovely people and homey feel
- other people (A) -really clicked with Christian, Natalie and their kids - may actually go and visit them later...
- entertainment (C+) - Conversations in French and Blois Chateau 'Son et Lumiere' show were highlights, but people seemed to go to bed very early...including us...)

Overall grade: B- (the biking was a bit of a disappointment after Switzerland in terms of landscape and we are still finding our groove in terms of distances we can cover. We are developing a good routine, but it is still developing...)


Next section...The Atlantic Coast of France.

Love,

Alice and Peter