Loire à Velo






This past weekend I embarked on a solo bike journey through the Loire Valley. I got the idea several months ago when researching activities in the area and discovered that the valley boasts an impressive, well groomed, and safe 600+kilometers of bike paths, all situated on or close to the Loire river. 

Since I had a three day weekend (Monday, July 14th, being a French holiday), I chose to go then. I rented a bike from one of the many companies that cater to people like me, and chose one that allowed drop off in a different city than pick up. This way I was able to maximize the amount of things I saw without having to backtrack to come home. I simply bought a train ticket to return home on Monday evening. 

I biked somewhere around 150km, visited the chateaux of Villandry, Langeais, Azay-le-Rideau, Chinon, Ussé and Saumur, tried some of the well known loire wines, explored the vineyards, and met some wonderful French natives during the ride. Although it rained the bulk of the first two days, I had a wonderful time! Below are a few picture highlights. 

Poppy fields.


Sunflowers as far as the eye can see!


The unbelievable gardens of Chateau Villandry.


Vineyards of Saumur.


Wine tasting in Chinon.


Chateau Ussé (the inspiration for Sleeping Beauty).


Chateau Azay-le-Rideau.


A benefit of rainy days? Seeing loads of these "French delicacies" on the path.


That's all for now.

A la prochaine,

SwissMissD












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