A Most Exquisite Chateau

September 18th

Today we drove up to Blois and parked along the bike trail. I wish I had taken a photo of the narrow roads we drove on to get to our parking place but it was too stressful just waiting for a car to be coming at us around a narrow walled corner.  After parking and getting our bikes set up we were off to ride to Chateau Chambord.  We have been to the Chateau before but there was always some kind of scaffolding around a section or two.  This time we were able to see the entire Chateau and it was even more impressive than we remembered.  We will plan to visit the interior in May when we return to France. To get to the Chateau we rode along the Loire through little villages and stopped in Saint Dye-sur-Loire at the church yard for our picnic lunch.  Such an amazing church. This ride does go onto small roads and sometimes some busy roads for a short time but it is fun to see and navigate. We both agreed that Chambord is our favorite to look at but Villandry still has the best gardens.

Eglise Saint Dye

 

Our dinner was at a little restaurant around the corner on Rue Colbert again, La Sourise Gourmande.  The menu has lots of choices but the blackboard had a "burger gourmand" that caught our eye.  It was definitely a perfect choice.  The bottle of Cab Franc didn't hurt either and the dessert of "two chocolates" was great as well.  No complaints from the peanut gallery!