56km, just over three hours. Details.
The weather wasn't kind today. Cold and wet, so I kept it short. Pottered around between Amboise and Chenonceux, more to make it worthwhile being out on the bike than anything else, before making the brief hop across to Tours. Things are supposed to improve tomorrow so I'll try then for a more substantial ride.
Notwithstanding the weather, I was thinking today that if anyone wondered whether they might enjoy a bicycle tour, they could hardly do better than the Loire Valley to give it a try. It's very flat, so even the absolute beginner need have no worries about covering 30 or 40km each day; and there's so much to stop and see that they might not want to go further than that anyway. Plus the food and drink are terrific, and there's a host of quiet roads and cycle paths that mean nobody need be intimidated by traffic. Maybe there's a second (or is it fourth?) career for me as a Loire Valley cycle tour leader.
When I was last in Tours we used it mainly as a base for exploring other parts of the valley. That (or more probably, dementia) may account for the fact that I have very little recollection of the city itself. The old part of town is, however, very attractive, with a lot of 15th and 16th century stuff still in use, as here.
Inevitably, I had a look at The Cathedral. It's a nice one.
In particular, a lot of the stained glass is really lovely.
Be reassured, dear reader, that this obsession with late mediaeval architecture will not endure. As the weeks pass the focus of this blog will shift from the man-made to the wonders of nature. But before I pass on, I must gratify once again the flying-buttress fans.
This one is a bit special.
2 comments:
Tours cathedral looks another cracker. I love the way the narrowness emphasises the height. In an earlier blog you were describing the relative flatness of the land and the wind blowing across it, and it triggered a memory. 45 years ago I read Emile Zola's 'Earth'. It's a classic, and about that neck of the woods, roughly. I'm going to read it again, prompted by the blog - give it a go if you don't know it.
I'll do that, Rich. No doubt it's downloadable, and I like reading stuff that's appropriate to the moment.
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