23 May, 2015

Every campsite we have stayed on so far this trip there has been just us and perhaps one other tent.  Not so tonight, everyone and his dog has come out to camp for the weekend.  Maybe because of the numbers the internet is particularly slow and I have given up trying to upload photos.  I will add more to this post tomorrow, if I can get a better connection.

Ken’s jacket was back on today for the duration.  We woke up to grey skies and cold winds.  No solar panel today then – Ken thinks we should invest in a wind turbine instead.  Never mind, a good day for getting going and putting the miles on the clock.

The route was full of variety again.  It started by the river, ran through a few small villages, through one big city, Tours (that is the name of the city – confusing I know – at first, when I saw the sign for ‘Tours’ I thought it directing people who were on a tour) and finally through an area of vineyards, before we dropped back to the river here at Amboise.

The villages in the vineyard areas are partly cut into rocky cliffs and traditionally caves were carved out of the rock faces to store the wine, keeping the temperature constant.  Many of these caves have been converted for other uses, such as art galleries and as unusual accommodation for tourists.  The whole of this area is very pretty and very touristy, with prices to match (for example, a stay in a small, stone-built village hotel costs upwards of 140 Euros per night).

Amboise is one of those touristy places, but it is clear to see why.  It has a fantastic fortified royal château set on a spur overlooking the river, where Leonardo de Vinci lived and worked for a time.  Not sure that we’ll actually visit it tomorrow, it depends on whether there is somewhere we can safely leave the bikes whilst we go inside.