Day 76: Cour Cheverny to Chenonceau

October 5, 2015

We were watching the weather today. It began when we happened to turn on the TV last night, and the coverage was full of the flash flood disaster in Cannes, Nice, and other cities of the southeast. We knew that Trish and Ken Graham (Three Reasons for Cycling in Europe) were in the region, and waited for them to post that they were ok. Next the weather forecast for us here near the Loire called for the tail end of the storm to pass through around noon. So we planned to get going as early as possible, and have some kms done before getting soaked.

Today's newspaper tells a shocking story of flooding in the south.

There is pretty much wall to wall TV coverage of the disaster

At 7:00 a.m. it was still completely dark, but by 7:45 we judged it light enough to kick off. We started with flashers on, but by 8:15 it was basically daylight. Our destination was Chenonceau, which in any case was just 40 km away. So rain or not, the goal was a very easy one. We had "fun" thinking about the forecast, which called for light rain at first, followed by a 100 percent chance of heavy rain. So as we looked at the rain, we were asking ourselves if this were now just regular rain, or "heavy" rain. Dodie called it heavy before I did, but there was no doubt that we got well and truly soaked . Looking on the bright side, we avoided having to wash our shorts (which were getting grubby) as this was done automatically.

When we set off, though, the weather was still fine and there was no sign of a threat in the brightening sky. Still we took a more direct route route than recommended in some of our books. For much of the time, this was the D52. while the recommended routes are basically no traffic roads, this was just a low traffic road. We found, however, that the French drivers were normally quite polite, and even when traffic picked up a little, it did not feel dangerous.

When we reached nearby Cheverny, the lights were still on

This is really chateau country. My earlier estimate of 50 major chateaux was probably low. The Loire chateau association has 72 members, and we spotted some missing ones in their list!

In this way, (even on D52), we continued the glorious cycle through this region, between the Loire and the Cher, that seems to offer a legendary form of french rural experience. Perhaps Provence has a greater reputation for cottages, flowers - lavender, and the like, but the idea here is the same.

Here again is a selection of cottages that we passed:

This, and the five that follow, are a selection of French country cottages from today.

It is also in this region that we see the beginning of the famous wine properties of the Loire. There are already a few tasting establishments, and of course the vines visible by the roadsides. We are also coming more to the area where wine is stored in caves and where caves are also used for growing mushrooms and escargots. One enterprising cave operator seemed to take a page from Burma Shave or other American roadside advertising, with signs at every intersection saying see the famous cave, turn here. I could not photo these signs because of the rain, but I did sneak out the camera for a shot of one of his ads, on the side of a building:

A perennial favourite for us would be to find a cheese producer with on farm sales. We ran into one of those too, in this wonderful area. It was called simply Fromages Moreau, named for its award winning owner. The only problem, it was a darn goat farm. I have long disdained goat cheese, claiming that it tastes like billy goats smell. But Dodie has been proposing that good, and mild, goat cheese can also be great. We almost bought some at a few of the markets, but I shied away. So here now was a genuine French on farm goat cheese production. What was I going to do. I was going to go in, of course.

There were some people ahead of us, and they seemed to be buying pounds and pounds. So when our turn came, it must have been unique for the man to hear "I don't really like goat cheese, but I would like to try a little bit, if you have a mild one." Now if you look at the photo, you will see that the man had cheeses clearly for professional eaters (or maybe garbage men). Have a close look at the one in the dish. How often have you seen that during a once per year fridge cleanout!

Still, the man kept his cool and insisted that those pyramidal ones were mild. He got out a sample, and yes, they were. In fact, they were kind of addictive (as good cheese is). We actually ended with one that he said was milder yet. As we left, all the staff waved goodbye to the crazy Canadians.

Just outside the towns in this region are found the cottages that I have been trying to photograph. But the towns themselves have a different character from those with the narrow lanes and tightly packed row houses. Here things are spaced out a bit more, there is more green, and maybe individual houses are bigger. Both styles are photogenic, but here it is almost approaching the quaint-expensive level, like maybe Cape Cod or Mendocino.

Here are some shots from towns along our way today:

This small chateau at Fougeres and the four other shots below show in town buildings from today.

It felt really good not only to be going short today, but also having a booking - in this case at the Hostel du Roy, in Chenonceau. It meant that wet as we might get, there was a warm dry place nearby and ready to go. We arrived in the pouring rain, just at noon. It dawned on us that the hotel might not be ready to receive us, or might not be open five, etc. But the reception was not only there, the man popped open an umbrella and braved the pouring rain with us to open the bike garage, down the street and around the corner.

Dodie may look a little damp in the photo, what with the puddle at her feet, but we were fine. We liked our room too, because it had a bathtub (and nice tiles). The tub is really short and quite narrow, but filled with hot water it instantly remedied any rain induced chill or stress. (Once in, though, it was hard to get out. I am not referring to how warm and soothing it was but actually to the gymnastic requirement for making an exit. I have no joint problems, but I did get stuck, enough that I had to think - just what do I do now!)

Dodie wisely was not about to go back out in the rain, but I wanted to check out the Tourist Information, to ask for a map of the "Chateaux a Velo" routes, that we had seen advertised on various info panels. The panels said maps were available at all tourist informations. The man at tourist information produced a couple of single page cycling circuit suggestions, but denied any knowledge of what I was talking about. I also asked about breaking down a 100 euro note. He named a couple of distant towns, where I could try such an advanced and probably dubious financial operation. I also asked about Chenonceau chateau, and he could produce only one small pamphlet.

I find it strange and kind of nice about Chambord, and now Chenonceau town, that these are world famous names but the places are fairly small, at least as regards the hotels and other services. We will test this further tomorrow. We are going to carry our 100 euro note to the Chenonceau chateau ticket office. Our admission will be about 24 euros. Will they have 76 euros change for us in the till?

p.s. When I got back from Tourist Information, Dodie was amazed at how little they could help me. She was almost ready to go out herself and bawl them out. Fortunately (for them), it was still raining too hard for my delicate (but sharp tongued) flower!

Dodie may be standing in a puddle, but a quick hot bath and she is fine (assuming the ability to get out of the thing!).

View from our hotel (Hostel du Roy 55 euros) in Chenonceau

Today's ride: 40 km (25 miles)
Total: 3,709 km (2,303 miles)

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