Got as far as the facade of Blois Chateau but have had enough castles and Flemish tapisteriesand gilt cabinets so gave it a niss infavour of the 50% sales . The rest of the town was closed due to it being Sunday but I did have some very nice plum tart before taking a beautiful bike path back. The bike paths are really nice in this area and reasonably well marked. Did not get lured in to the Degustation Gratuit on the way home as I always feel obliged (isn't that the greatest rationaliztion!) to buy a bottle and down this way they don' have half bottles. Gt to finish off yesterdays purchase tonight.

Broussay

Rode into Blois today to test the legs. On the way came across this "Manor House" as opposed to Chalet. Got a guided tour and it was really beautiful. Particularly like the towers on either end ..one with a clock on it and the other with some thing latin like time is the ultimatum. Someone was having a wedding in the arvo. It is even nicer than Johns farmhouse in La Tuliere. ..breathe easy Bryan , Its wasn't for sale and Claire isn't here.

This is Chateau Moi. Its my home for 2 days until I head east. I'm traversing the Sologne.. a large forested area with lakes. Probably no wifi either. I plan to arrive in Briare thursday then head up the canal towards Fontainbleau.
Abientot

This is a pretty aweful photo but it does illustarte this incredible detail of the decoration of the fireplace and roof of the Kings Bedroom. All of the chateua have a room for the king , just in case there was a royal visit. A bit wasteful. Give me minimalism anyday.

This is the Chateau Cheverny...completely unfortified impeccably decorated , with amazing portraits of a range of family members...but dont walk on the grass. It has stables and a big house for the hunting dogs. They still hunt twice a week.

No not here. This is Dianne De Poitiers modest dining room. I stopped at a small town on the way and the lady at tourist info booked a B&B called All Saules Ferme. It was very hot and the proprietor who was a chef made dinner which we ate outside..with aperitif (Cassis...blackcurrent wine), smoked salmon the osso buco then home made tiramisu. thought this a fitting reward for my latest 250 km. There were 2 couples from the UK although one couple actually owned and ran a B&B in Pahia in the Bay of Islands. it was pleasant company. Unfortunately they dinlt have a vacancy for tonight or I might have settled in. I moved next door to the camping park into the ...yes I'm getting soft...little cabin. It was great today lounging about , getting my washing dry , buying my pain , fromage and saucisson and a bottle of chardonay from the town . Had to have a siesta.

Chaumont

She had some nice hunting stables built complete with a swimming pool for the horses. Its the round building . The stables were classy too but the nicest part of the chateau were the lovely lawns where people could walk and children roll about...unlike the other chateaus where the lawns are not to be touched. There was a expo if weird performance art that night. I would like to have stayed but the road called and I ploughed on to Cheverny seekign relief from the 5 days of riding.

Chaumont

Wild boars roam in the royal hunting grounds so its not all biere and skittels here. Someone told me that they saw a snake too! Chaumont was the castle originally owned by Catherine De Medici, wife of Henri 11. He died jousting and Catherine wanting to get her own back on his favorite mistress swapped Chaumont for Diannes De Poitiers castle CHermonceau. Dianne De Poitiers made it pretty comfortable and on her shield is a boar

Amboise

I ended up at Amboise and camped next to a young couple from Warnambool who are also doing 2 months...but a bit faster than me. They started at the same time in Spain, have traversed a pass in the Pyrenees and are headed for Rome. This is the view from the camping ground, The city is quite pretty and touristy and it was lovely strolling along the Loire levy bank with half the town in the late evening. On my way there , on a hill in the middle of farming land I saw a group of caravans with power. At first I thought it was a road work camp but there were little kids running around. They must have been gypsies.

Where Am I?

Wednesday seems like a long time ago. Its Saturday night. I must have been riding to Amboise Thursday and I know that yesterday I decided against going to Blois because it is not easy getting in or out of largish cities. Unless there is clear "veloroute" its easy to miss a turnoff and end up lost. Then the next morning , with my sense of direction I can end up going 180 degrees to the desired course. Thrusday morning I did a tour of Chateau Azay de Ridea which has the Indre river routed around it. Its interior was sparse and medieval.

And the water gardens. It was really quite amazing requiring 9 full time gardeners to maintain it. I then set off in the heat but by the time I reached the camping ground at Azay de Rideau the clouds were gathering but I knew better than to go to a hotel. Out the tent up. Headed for town and made the very best of the shelter in the garden of the restaurant til every last patron left and the rain finally stopped. Battery running out.

The vast ornamental kitchen gardens set out in geometrical shapes

This is the ornamental box hedge bit

The next chateau was a big tourist attraction with buses and people of every nation all present at the time I arrived. The sun came out and with the humidity i was glad to stay in the cool interior and do an audio tour . This chateau was bought at the turn of the century by a Spanish scientist and his very rich American Heiress specificlly to house their extensive collection of medieval and renaissance art. The family still owns it but I think there is generoussupport from the French government. The interior is pretty amazing but the spectacular thing is the gardens.

This is the drawbridge which is of less interest.

I checked out the exterior of Chateau Langieas which was the first one with a real drawbridge but decide against a visit...just a cup of tea and cake at the boulangerie opposite. I had a bite before I thought of taking a photo. It tasted as good as it looked.

This is just a view fro the castle terrasse over the river Indre which I have been following for 2 days.

Yesterday I headed off to Azay de Rideau stopping first at the Chateau Usse which reputedly inspired the stoory of "Sleeping Beauty". it has an unusual setting in that it has forest behind it so was not heavily fortified. Riding up the long straight road towards it was quite aweinspiring. I did the tour which was interesting in that it is privately owned and has a bit of a kitch interior with wax figures with the fashion of the 1920's...the dresses obviously owned by the owner at some stage. It also has a couple of wax dioramas of the sleeping beauty story. Kitch or not it has a very beautiful exterior and setting.

It had a real spiral staircase of stone leading up to my room.

It started to rain and rain and so I thought that I must have a dry night. I sped to the Information Touristes and got them to book a B&B very close. This place was very large and very comfortable ..just a bit expensive ...but it was in the old part of the town of Chinon in which Joan of Arc in 1429 called upon Charles ..bugger I cant remember which Charles to claim the throne.

Monday was meet a cyclist day. I got lost just out of Monotsoreau and so did 2 German guys. We asked directions and ended up riding through a wheatfield . They were starving as the waitress had forgotten them at the last place so the next 10 km were spent trying to find a boulangerie or bar that could give them some food. It was Monday and the shops are generally closed. The I met Robert and Josie from Canada with their tandem, loaded front and back and their "Yak" trailor. They have just started thier travels and have a website that I have managed to lose... but is something like "Robert and Josie nomadesdevelo". They looked very fit. The whole set up was well thought out with disc breaks but I dont know what they had in all those sacks.
"

This is the original thing ...a bit like melbourne uni law school

The kitchen for theis enormous enterprise ahd 8 fireplaces with the layout being in a rosette shape and the roofs being slate.

Saumur to Chinon

Saumur to Chinon happened 2 days ago and you know what my memory is like. I do recall visiting the beautifully restored Abbaye Royale Fontevraud which was a huge affair in the middle ages housing a lots of monks , nuns , a leper colony and hospital, a farm to feed the aforesaid and run by a series of abesses of royal descent. The ministry for culture and patrimonie is pouring millions into restoration. You can also stay there in a very chic hotel built in one of the wings. This doesnt quite capture the height of the romanesque church which is now used for concerts

This is a crappy photo of the next chateau Montreuil-Bellay. It was much older than the previous and privately owned also but we were able to go right thru it . At one stage a cardinal had lived there and all his gear was displayed and the writing room with his gold inlayed tables and secret doors.I did not realize that the upper hierachy of the church vied for many centuries with the monarchy for power and wealth.

The chateau was small by chateau standards but it had the biggest dovecote around.Pidgeons were eaten and the droppings collected for superphosphate. Apparently farmers were only allowed one pair of pidgeons (how do you stop your pidgeons breeding...eat them fast I suppose). The guy who built the dovecote had thousands.

Round Saumur

Having woken up and found thunder and rain I missed the organized ride I'd seen advertised in the tourist info. I did a 70 km triangular ride just looking for interesting things on the map. The first was Chateau Breze. Its privately owned by the Family Colbert and the tours are in French but you get a booklet in English. You also get a self guided tour of the caves and to try and buy the wines that they make. Its on high ground so standing in the garden with the wind blowing from the west was a relief from the heat and humidity. It has a moat and into the outer walls of the moat are a honeycomb of caves which were dug out to provide the stone for the chateau.

Walking past this house I took a shot through the iron bars of the fence.

Just your average Loire Chateau..its looks terrific lit up at night.

The Camping park at Saumur looked across the Loire to the Chateau and other olvely old houses

regional Champagne. (Bar owner of free wifi fame disconnected me and tossed me out due to band playing 2 nights ago so had to finish quick). The girls were so nice there and the tour of the caves was such a relief from the heat that though I pointed out that I couldnt carry any thing extra let alone wine..so they sold me 2 half bottles, one of champagne and the other of red. By the way I saw in an opticians some sunnies that Dame Edna would be jealous of.

To Saumur

Camera has run out of battery w/o warning so still no photos. Made to Saumur via some beautiful and ancient villages on a veloroute track mostly with some not too bad traffic on intervening main road, south bank of Le Loire. I was given a jar of pate de lapin (rabbit pate) by Marie, bought a demi baguette and was going to have it for dejuner but couldn't find a park to eat it in. Ended up in Saumur ravenous after 70 km. Passed troglodyte caves hollowed out into the limestone cliff along the way. ...apparently tres chic as a holiday house for Parisians. The camping park is 4 star and has lovely shady sites with great views over the river of the chateau, a pool complete with lounge chairs and a bar and restaurant over looking it. There are lots of camper vans, the big ones with retired people of all nations here for the warmth and beauty. The man husband and wife ajoining are german with a dog called "fritz" whose owner assures me will guard me. Today I climbed the hill to the chateau. The gardens and an exposition of militaRY equestrian equipment are the only things open. Went on a bit of a look around te old city. Beautiful 16th century Napoleon 111 rococco houses. In the main street is a house that Napoleon adressed the masses from. Melting in the heat I returned to get the bike then found my way to Les Caves of Amiot to enjoy th

Angers

In Angers I sought the Tourist info and booked a Chambre D'Hotel out of town then set about to see the Castle. It was commenced in the 12th century and modified by the various kings and governors who ruled the Anjou region over the centuries. It is unusual in that it is striped due to the alternating use of Tufa and slate. The big attraction was the 12 th century tapestries. They are the "Apocalipse Tapestries" commissioned by Henry 2 in the 12 century to hang in the Cathedral at Angers. The theme is the disobedience of man and the wrath of god and the political implications for the bourgousie for the time were pretty obvious. They are curiously dichromatic ..with blues and reds predominating. The setting was a huge hall , darkened, but the tapestries illuminated.

I cycled around Angers and got lost, fell on some cobble stones and bruised my derriere then set off for the Chambre de Hote. I found it but though it was a house with a lovely garden the garden door had a remote lock and once in I got a bit scared that Le Monsieur who seemed a bit aggitated that I spoke so little french might not let me out. This was reinforced when I couldn't get out the flat door. Was he some weirdo who would lock me in the cellar? He then insisted that I needed to book a restaurant . I got out after a clean up , headed to the ville of St Gemmes and found he was right. The only restaurant that was open was that particular restaurant and the ville was tres petit. The lamb was beautiful especially after a largely vegetarian diet in the preceeding weeks. The waiter spoke English which was a relief. I found that the town was actually on the Loire and had a stroll up the river in a beautiful park called Parc des Amoruex. It was then that the mal returned and the toilettes publique were "sans papiere". "Sans Papiere" is the french expression for asylum seekers. Any way made it back and headed to Samur faire de velo today

I haven't downloaded the photos from the camera and dont have the lead with me so I'm just writing today. Anyway the photos are of 12th century churches, little stone houses with trailing rose bushes, the odd tower of two and the Loire which is a big wide river.Passe really! The funny thing is that everything is old and all the houses , recent or ancient in Brittany or pays de Le Loire are all the same yellowy beige colour. I dont know if this is a heritage thing and compulsory or the just the standard colour of the concrete they slather on to new houses. In the Pays del loire it is understandable because the Tufa stone that everything is built out of is a pale yellow. Its certainly odd in the land of "Liberte".

I had a lovely dinner at a Lebanese restaurant with the Caillard's in Renne then hit the sack. They told me that the path along the Canal Ille et Rance from Dinan to Rennes was 90km which explained my extreme fatigue...or so I thought...until the diarrhea struck the next morning. I think it was a brief attack of the mal de Jensen (c/- Jensens of Egham UK)but it was brief and some codiene and cocoa-cola at the Cafe american in Rennes plus a sit down and I was back on the tourist trail. I checked ot the Rue's that Caitlin bought all those french clothes at on her exchange, the Musee des Beaux artes with a fascinating exhibition of neolithic and roman findings from the entire province then on the way back to the Caillards dropped in on Mme Bebin whom Caitlin stayed with for the majority of her exchange. She had just arrived back from Florida and invited me for tea. I met the 3 goats and her dog Poopy whom Caitlin was very fond of and we nattered away about things in general especially those things I had practiced with the Caillards. Everyone had noted Caitlin's predilection for th TV and shopping. I was also able to entertain both he Caillards and Maryonne with the story of Bibi eating the whole block of chocolate and having to be hospitalized for a huge sum of money. The Caillard's , who run a farm , were , of course shocked ...mind you ..so was I when I heard of the vet bill initially. Bryan assures me that there is a discount.

I set off in rain and got lost trying to find my way put of Rennes. A man who had already been drinking at 10am tried to show me on the map where I was. This was quite unsolicited and I have found that drunken men in the morning are very keen to assist me. In the UK one morning 2 of them tried to assist me . One complimented me on my figure and attributd this to the bicycling. I felt quite thrilled but sad that only a drunken man could appreciate my physical charms. I found my way in the rain to the train station and cought a train to Anger.

Rennes

I arrived at the Caillards at about 5pm absolutely exhausted and never so glad as when Marie offered me a bath! Caitlin stayed at Vezin Le Coquet, just out of Rennes 18 months ago and with the Caillards for Christmas when Mme Bebin was away. This is Etienne , the youngest who went on the bus with Caitlin, his older sister Maille who works as anurse in Paris and Marie his mum. Yves and Marie have a organic farming cooperative shop at their farm and produce the eggs from free range hens but sell produce from other farms organically certified.

Just out of Dinan I came across this Abbey beside the church at the tiny village of Lehon...complete with cloisters.

This particular lock operator had built a small wooden boat which he was showing off.

To Rennes

After few false starts I found the towpath and set off to Rennes. It was very flat , a good surface but very, very long...peut etre 60km or more. Along the way were small ports with facilities for te boats using te canal and beautiful houses for the loch operatrs. They seemd to take a great pride in thier gardens.

Dinan is also a walled city but much older than St Malo. It has a real medieval feel and is a big tourist attraction with lots of painters and sculptors and jewelry makers. Great browsing. Great crepes. It is also the start of the canal Ille et Rance so the are lots of boats moored at the Port waniign to commence the trip along the canal to Rennes then to the Atlantic at Nantes.

Weather forecast looked good so when I reached Dinan I found Le Camping Municipale for 6 euro per night and set up le maison

To Dinan

The ride from St Malo to Dinan was going to be a problem as the bridge ," Le Barriage" approach was clearly marked not for bikes.Incidently La Barriageis also a power station which utilizes the big tides and generates 3% of Brittany's power using giant turbines. Luckily the ferry which was empty on Lundi martin would take me over to Dinard the the instructions in the Lonely Planet book had me ride along the ridge overlooking La Rance. The views were spectacular, the motorists OK but I did discovr that there is a path all along the Rance which would have avoided the hills.

At Port Solidor, Just around the bend from St Malo is a tower which is a museum for sailing especially featuring sailors who have traversed Cape Horn. Unfortunatley it was " Ferme" but it looked great . You could imagine Rapunzel tossing her plait to her lover from the top window. After a days riding I had the local speciality Galettes (buckwheat pancakes) with trout in a cream sauce on a restaurant terrce on the ramparts overlooking the sea and setting sun with the sailing baots returning from their racing.

In the garden the first thing I say was a rose dedicated to Isabel Autissier. I felt this was very auspicious as she is a famous french yachtswoman who sailed alone around the world. I thought that I would be able to think of Isabel as I travelled alone...then I remembered that she has twice been plucked from the southern ocean by the Australian Navy....anyway the gardens were lovely

The Chateau had park like ground which framed a beautiful view across to Dinard.

From Sr Malo you can see acrosss the Rance the swanky french resort town of Dinard. Try as I might I could not find a bicycle route across the Barriage (dam and bridge across to Dinard). It was a freeway. I on the freeway tried but got a bit worried about getting back if the police stopped me. Luckily there was a small road off the freeway which lead amazingly to Chateaux Briantais...my first Chateau.

On the hill top above the Marina is a flat place which was used by the occupying Germnan forces during the WW2. There s also a memorial for the allies with flags of the alliance flying. St Malo old town was mangled during WW2 but was rebuilt and beautifully so . It is really spectacular within the walls and with out.

St Malo

I arrived in St Malo yesterday. Sitting up in the ferry did not allow for a good nights sleep but the city is so amazing that I just dumped the heavy stuff at the hotel and set off on the bike. West of the port is a pretty yucky beach with a rtaining wall to keep water within cooee when the tide goes out. The tides are very high. . There is a big marina and yacht chandlers.

Kath drove me to Portsmouth but by the time we had lunched at Sopley it was a bit late to do anything touristy. Also the traffic was terrifying. It would have been less so if I had found the enlargement of Portsmouth in the street directory before entered the city. I didn't expect it to be so big. We missed out on going to the Spinnaker Tower mainly because I didn't know how to get to it.

This is the thatched roof of the Sopley Pub under repair. It caught fire apparently. Sopley is near Christchurch and I had to nip back there to get my camera so Kath and I stayed for lunch.

This was yesterday and the intervening days could not be recorded pictorially and perhaps its better that they weren't. Kath came back from Turkey with two lovely children stricken with diarrhea and vomiting. Kath herself wasn't in fighting form so I evacuated the "House of Pestilence" and had a lovely ride in to Putney Bridge along the Thames Path. Highlights were the deer and their cute little fawns in Richmond Park. London has huge parks..formerly hunting grounds and palace gardens and in places you really dont feel that you are in one of the largest cities in the world. Another highlight was Hamptom Court Palace which is beautifully preserved , very ornate ..a bit over the top really but Henry V111 was a big man with a big ego. The facade viewed from the Thames is very beautiful. It was added later. Friday, had to have a rest watch Home Alone with Kaitlin (7) and Matthew (5) and had a lovely dinner out with Kath.

For lunch we ate at a very posh new restaurant in Christchurch overlooking the inlet of the river Stour and had the specialty, Open Crab Sandwiches., We also saw Sues marina berth ...she just needs a boat!

The Solent is in the back ground and if you squint you can see the white cliffs called "The Needles" , the weternmost point of the Isle of White.

There is a great spit called Mudford with beach huts a bit more sophisticated than those at Dendy St Beach. They have a communal toilet block and your allowed to reside in them. This is Sue breaking in to her friends hut to make us a cupper.