September 5, 2024
Day 3 - Saché to Montsoreau
With some chateau stop-offs along the way
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When we awoke this morning, it was raining. Not just a bit. It was truly pouring. Fortunately we had recourse to the Windy weather app and it showed a rain cell right over our head that was moving slowly northeast. If we waited long enough, it would pass by and clearer weather would be behind it.
This proved to be true. We lingered over breakfast and lingered in the room, watching out the window until about 1030 or so. We loaded up the bike with the rain still spitting a bit.
By 1045 we were on the (soggy) road, with just a heavy mist coming down.
We rode the 7km to Azay-le-Rideau, and walked the bike down the entrance road to the chateau. We checked out the bike parking, and it was far from the road and very well screened from the flow of visitors. We both wanted to see the chateau again (it’s Rich’s favorite), so we nervously stowed the bike and bought tickets. We didn’t tour inside the castle this time, but walked around the outside enjoying the views.
Our quick visit over, we hopped back on our undisturbed bike and rode out of town. We hung a right at the train station and climbed away from the Indre, then crossed open farmland before starting to descend toward the Loire.
We dropped down to the Chateau de Fontenay, which was unfortunately not open when we arrived. Tours at 1000 and 1500 only. It was even hard to get a good picture of it, since the gates were closed.
Miraculously, we were both starting to feel a bit hungry. After all the eating we’ve been doing, it seemed impossible! We decided to cross the river to Langeais and see whether we could score a lunch. And maybe check out the chateau there.
We stumbled onto the sweet “Cafe du Chateau”, which provided a couple of beautiful omelettes. Fortified, we walked up the street to the chateau.
We didn’t really want to go inside, and the bike parking was super-exposed. So we took turns walking up the stairs and checking out the building.
Then, back on the road. We crossed back over the Loire and rode for a long while on top of the levee, sharing the road with cars and quite a few cyclists. We made good time on the smooth surface, and enjoyed the slightly sunnier weather.
Our next stop was the Chateau of Ussé. We could see it against the hills, and finally took a hard left off the levee road to ride over to it.
Once again, the bike parking was super-exposed. And since we like the outsides of these buildings better than the inside, we didn’t go into Ussé. It was enough for us to walk around the outside and take pictures.
Then, onto the bike for a final charge to our hotel. The bike infrastructure along the Loire is incredible, and it got even better as we approached Avoine. The telltale steam column rising from the river signaled a nuclear power plant, and all the communities that adjoin these plants are strangely very well furnished. A perfect bike path threaded along between manicured hedges, passing some of the most impressive sports fields we’ve seen in a long time.
We took a short break in Avoine (which weirdly means “Oat” in French), then knocked off the final few kilometers of the day. We crossed the mouth of the Indre where it flows into the Loire on a narrow bridge, but traffic was so light it was pretty low-stress.
Finally, we climbed the hill to our hotel “Hotel Le Bussy” in Montsoreau. Our room has a killer view of the Chateau de Montsoreau. Nice!
After cleaning up and waiting for a rainstorm to pass over our heads, we walked down to the Petite Sel Creperie for dinner. The lighter dinner really sat well with us after a couple of days of overindulgence.
We walked back along the river, enjoying the sunset and eventually walking back up the hill to the hotel. Time to rest!
Today's ride: 60 km (37 miles)
Total: 190 km (118 miles)
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