September 5, 2016
Amboise: We get to know Leonardo du Vinci
The most notable thing today was getting to know Leonardo da Vinci. We had a very pleasant and uneventful ride to Amboise managing to avoid most of the hills that the route had in store for us. Ken called in at a Cave to buy local wine along the route and we saw troglodyte dwellings along the way - these are houses cut into the cliff some of which are still lived in - it is these same hollowed out structures that are used to store wine.
Since about yesterday we have been seeing more and more tourist buses because we are now at the very heart of the Chateau country. There must have been a lot of wealth around here in days gone by. When we got to Amboise it was packed with people all of whom seemed to be eating in the very many restaurants. However I imagine that the crowds were small compared with what they would have been a couple of weeks ago as it is now September and the very height of the tourist season will be over.
We found the hotel then set out to find Clos Luce. Clos Luce is where at the invitation of Francoise 1 Leonardo happily spent the last three years of his life painting and working on his myriad of passions. The Chateau and its grounds give a wonderful feeling of his life and genius. His work rooms are shown and there have been great creations of his engineering genius - the first tank, the first automobile, the flying machine, the swing bridge, the parachute and many more. Peter you would have just loved it and it would have been hard to drag you away. All this and to think that he died in 1519. I think he must have been the greatest genius who has ever lived.
Today's ride: 49 km (30 miles)
Total: 1,617 km (1,004 miles)
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