It was a dismal looking rainy start with a rubbish forecast for the whole day, so breakfast was indoors in the big house in the dining room not on the terrace. This was a very opulent French style kind of room with big mirrors, decorations etc. The big chandelier at about head height over the breakfast table, as well as other ornaments round the room, was made completely out of feathers. The breakfast was tasty, and the yoghurt and I think the soft cheese were homemade by owners Dominique and Jean-Renauld. We met the other guests-a French couple from Paris and his mum and a Dutch couple. They were friendly and we had a nice chat over breakfast, thankfully, in the end, in English. The owner chatted a bit too and seemed less grumpy than yesterday. I think it's just because she doesn't smile.
We had a Bléré-Amboise bus timetable and were planning to get the first of the two daily buses, at 9.30, and get ourselves a tandem from the shop in Amboise. Dominique said there was no such bus but as we had the timetable we went to try anyway but didn't find it. We may also have been a minute or so late but although we thought we were in the right place there was no mention of the route in the bus stop either. Hm. So we came back, went into the village and got two separate bikes from a little shop there. The Dutch couple are planning to cycle today too and there were only 2 rental bikes in the shop which didn't bode well for them (well we got there first haha) but in the end he produced two more identical bikes for us from the back anyway. He gave us a retro saddlebag complete with gadgets but didn't give us any helmets (for health reasons!) so in the end I bought one. As well as keeping you safe it stops your hair flapping everywhere. Meanwhile a couple turned up with their little vespa type bike in the boot of their car... How on did they get it in?
The rain had stopped but it was still very grey and a hour and a half away in Montrichard there was a huge cloudburst so we took shelter in bar (what good timing!) and had a panachet, then went straight on to lunch as it seemed to have reached that time already. The Menu du jour was great value so that meant some kind of steak for lunch (faux filet which is?...) and P had the whole 3 courses.
Eventually it dried up and we set off again. Given how long it had taken to get to Montrichard it looked like we'd finish the day's route about midnight but thankfully things speeded up. It was a pretty flat route and the roads and tracks were pretty good. The weather brightened up and we actually had stop and put on sun cream, and although it was cloudy it was lovely and warm and sunny for the rest of the day. We passed by several chateaux and took a few photos and I had a wee in a vineyard. The bikes are a lot less unwieldy than the tandem and less inclined to malfunction but I don't have the advantage of P's extra power and by about 4 when we arrived, via a series of completely unnecessary steep hills, into Amboise I was pretty knackered. After a massive panachet and the world's slowest service ice cream I was perkier but the big and this time definitely unavoidable hill up out of the town proved the panachet etc hadn't quite got through to the fuel stage. Fortunately it was all flat or downhill back to Bléré after that so I hung on in there and we even got back before the bike shop shut.
We had pizza for dinner in the only other restaurant and a kir breton (cassis + cider = had to be tried and was ok but too sweet) followed by a super tasty smoked salmon pizza and some nice local sauvignion blanc. Then a café gourmand, definitely the best pudding invention ever. This one came with: a small ball of vanilla ice cream on a biscuit and topped with chantilly, a baby creme brulée and a little rich chocolate slice. Nom nom nom.
We discussed our plans over dinner and are going to go kayaking on the Cher hopefully all the way down to Chenonceau chateau. Then we found you can do a 2 day trip and camp in the middle so we might do that instead. Especially as we brought all that camping gear.
I also enjoyed the place mat (see photo). Everywhere has paper place mats with local useful things on eg a map and adverts. This one had an unfortunately named funeral guy.
We had a Bléré-Amboise bus timetable and were planning to get the first of the two daily buses, at 9.30, and get ourselves a tandem from the shop in Amboise. Dominique said there was no such bus but as we had the timetable we went to try anyway but didn't find it. We may also have been a minute or so late but although we thought we were in the right place there was no mention of the route in the bus stop either. Hm. So we came back, went into the village and got two separate bikes from a little shop there. The Dutch couple are planning to cycle today too and there were only 2 rental bikes in the shop which didn't bode well for them (well we got there first haha) but in the end he produced two more identical bikes for us from the back anyway. He gave us a retro saddlebag complete with gadgets but didn't give us any helmets (for health reasons!) so in the end I bought one. As well as keeping you safe it stops your hair flapping everywhere. Meanwhile a couple turned up with their little vespa type bike in the boot of their car... How on did they get it in?
The rain had stopped but it was still very grey and a hour and a half away in Montrichard there was a huge cloudburst so we took shelter in bar (what good timing!) and had a panachet, then went straight on to lunch as it seemed to have reached that time already. The Menu du jour was great value so that meant some kind of steak for lunch (faux filet which is?...) and P had the whole 3 courses.
Eventually it dried up and we set off again. Given how long it had taken to get to Montrichard it looked like we'd finish the day's route about midnight but thankfully things speeded up. It was a pretty flat route and the roads and tracks were pretty good. The weather brightened up and we actually had stop and put on sun cream, and although it was cloudy it was lovely and warm and sunny for the rest of the day. We passed by several chateaux and took a few photos and I had a wee in a vineyard. The bikes are a lot less unwieldy than the tandem and less inclined to malfunction but I don't have the advantage of P's extra power and by about 4 when we arrived, via a series of completely unnecessary steep hills, into Amboise I was pretty knackered. After a massive panachet and the world's slowest service ice cream I was perkier but the big and this time definitely unavoidable hill up out of the town proved the panachet etc hadn't quite got through to the fuel stage. Fortunately it was all flat or downhill back to Bléré after that so I hung on in there and we even got back before the bike shop shut.
We had pizza for dinner in the only other restaurant and a kir breton (cassis + cider = had to be tried and was ok but too sweet) followed by a super tasty smoked salmon pizza and some nice local sauvignion blanc. Then a café gourmand, definitely the best pudding invention ever. This one came with: a small ball of vanilla ice cream on a biscuit and topped with chantilly, a baby creme brulée and a little rich chocolate slice. Nom nom nom.
We discussed our plans over dinner and are going to go kayaking on the Cher hopefully all the way down to Chenonceau chateau. Then we found you can do a 2 day trip and camp in the middle so we might do that instead. Especially as we brought all that camping gear.
I also enjoyed the place mat (see photo). Everywhere has paper place mats with local useful things on eg a map and adverts. This one had an unfortunately named funeral guy.
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