Great but long day of riding, cold in the morning but warm and muggy by afternoon. We left La Croix-en-Touraine around eight AM and didn’t get to our gite outside Chinon until past five PM.
We passed through the city of Tours enroute, stopping only long enough for coffee and to admire the shiny new streetcars.
Lunch was a picnic outside Chateau Villandry, then we took about an hour to tour the famous gardens, which include a huge decorative garden composed mostly of vegetables. The carnivorous cabbages only come out at night, apparently.
After Villandry we did a quick photo stop outside the chateau d’Usse, which was one of the inspirations for the Sleeping Beauty story – its all pointy towers and frilly bits in stone.
We paused again for coffee in Chinon, then decided to head for our lodging instead of exploring that town – easy to come back tomorrow, as we’ve got a short day of riding.
Our lodging is a lovely old farmhouse that has been turned into a gite, basically a bed and breakfast setup. Nice and quiet just outside the village of Lerne, except for the dog on the next farm over…
Off to Saumur tomorrow, a short run of under 50km.
