Cycling in the Loire-Customer Entry

The following was sent to us by Barbara Browne about her trip last fall:

Sept 23, 2008

Wow….in a trip full of gems discovered as we pedal along country roads and bike paths through the Loire Valley, today we came upon the motherlode. The day was absolutely picture perfect for biking. Fair skies, mist burning off over the distant forests, sun kissing off the Autumn chill. Now that we’re in to the rhythm of our biking adventure (and now that we know we can actually cycle that far in a day), we greeted the morning with a thrill of anticipation. It also helped that our Chateau is at the top of a hill so to start our day we coasted for a while before we began to work.

The first part of the morning took us along deserted rural roads and pathways, and through some tiny villages one of which we stopped at for a sip of café au lait and chocolat chaud. We sat on the small sunny patio and were entertained by the resident German Shepherd who we dubbed “Rocky” due to his obsessive love of retrieving and carrying rocks. We quickly became his friends as we indulged his obsession.

The road out of town lead us through wooded countryside and past glimpses of pastures and stone farm buildings We have taken picture after picture of cows, goats and one day, a lama. It’s not that we haven’t seen such animals before (Canada does have farms). It’s just different when you are cruising past them at arm’s length on your bicycle and can actually make eye contact.

It was as we rounded a curve and emerged from the forest that we were greeted by one of the most memorable and beautiful vistas of our trip thus far. In front of us stretched a field of pink, yellow, blue and purple wild flowers. In the distance, seemingly rising from the wild flower field and crowned by a sun-filled sky, a castle’s slate blue turrets gleamed. It was like entering a fairytale scene you’ve only ever imagined before, only ever so much more vivid than your imaginings. We immersed ourselves in the scene for many minutes, drinking it in with our eyes, standing in the field of flowers and snapping picture after picture from every imaginable viewpoint, hoping to take from it some small snippet that will bring us back here, if only in memory. Reluctantly, we left the field of wildflowers behind and approached the castle itself. It was deserted, closed for mid day. But it didn’t matter; though the day was only half over and more delights were to come, we were content.