A wet and windy cycle to Amboise

After spending a good few days in Blois looking around the Chateaux de Blois, de Chambord (twice) and de Cheverny and much more beside, it was time to pack up our panniers and head back along the Loire à Velo and onto Amboise. But with the car in the car park at Blois, it made sense to leave the clothes we knew we wouldn't need, as sadly the weather had changed.

So leaving flip flops, vest tops, some clean clothes for the last day or so of our trip along with the wine we bought at Chambord, we left Blois in our waterproofs. And typically this was our longest cycle. I wasn't looking forward to the next 43km.

After a good breakfast - well a girl needs fuel - we cycled over the river and turned right cycling along the banks of the Loire until we reached this.

Yes, that was the path. It looks quite wet, doesn't it?  While we were contemplating our next move, I was distracted momentarily by the poppies. Realising that wasn't going to help us progress we turned back to the path, and the map to see what our next move should be. In the distance we could see people approaching from the other direction, getting so far, turning back and heading along what looked to be the road on our map we'd identified. We had a plan, so we were off again.

After about 20km we were approaching Chaumont-sur-Loire, which our guide book told us was "well worth the effort required to climb the outcrop on which it is perched" and originally it had been on my list of chateaus to visit. But as it coincided with a long cycle we'd decided against it, and with the weather on the day we were cycling past I was pleased. And it was up the top of a hill, so while it looked pretty with blue skies in the book, our reality was much greyer.

I was keen though to try and get some decent photos, so I parked my bike under a tree - I didn't want a wet saddle - and went off in search of some photos. It wasn't long though before I was back and keen to get going again, it was just too misty and bleurgh to capture the postcard shots.

The path was directing us back down towards the river. I didn't like the look of the path down, and hesitated. That's before we realised that too was flooded. So we stayed on the quiet road and cycled parallel to the path instead.

It was slow going that day. And actually the rain wasn't that bad, it was warm - or warm enough at this stage of the ride and there was plenty still to see. Another stop had me wondering about this forest. It had clearly been planted, as each tree was equal distance apart. I was fascinated because whichever angle I stood, there were lines...

But there was still more cycling to be done. The guidebook warned us that the next section would be "almost completely deserted" and "exposed to the wind and the sun."  Sadly there was no sun, but it was right on the rest of it. This section was wet and windy, and now I just wanted to be in Amboise. There were hills too, mostly but not always up. 

But we got there and arrived in Amboise above the town, so the good news was that it was all downhill from here.  For most of that I had my brakes on though as there were a few sharp bends. The Loire à Velo path led us into the car park in the town and we opted to head towards the pretty town centre. 

Having seen the main street and the Chateau d'Amboise it was time to locate our hotel. There was a handy hotel locator map outside the chateau, and it was then we realised we still had some cycling to do. Out of town, uphill. Up three of them to be precise, but by the end of our stay in Amboise I was mostly cycling up them. Slowly, but cycling nonetheless.

We walked back into the town that evening, and it took us twenty minutes, so we were quite a way out of town. But it was a pretty town - just look at the charm of those gates and that wall -  and well worth that walk, even in the rain. And I even spotted a passionflower. I really must get one for my garden, they are the strangest looking flowers, but still beautiful. 

So after our five hours on the road, with a moving time of just under four hours, I was pleased to be in the warm and dry. And pleased to have secured the ok from MOH to introduce some tactical pannier packing for our next "with luggage" cycle. But first I needed to recover as next up was our trip to Chenonceau. And yes, another chateau. But more on that next time.

Ceilings, fireplaces and fancy floors

So my last post from the Chateau de Blois was of gargoyles and stonework, this one is, well just a bit fancier. We're inside the Palace and for some of this post inside the Royal apartments, so they should be fancier shouldn't they? 

But before we get there, let's enjoy the ceiling in the Great Hall. It reminds me very much of the ceiling at Saint Chapelle in Paris, and this google search (if the link works) should tell you why. Interestingly enough I was quite taken with the gargoyles outside there too. Yes, I really do have a thing for gargoyles. And ceilings.

Anyway, one of the things that struck me about our visit in Blois was how accessible things were. I mean in this fantastic room there was a pretend throne, which all of the kids - and MOH - tried for size. I'd share that photo here if it wasn't so blurry. I have to practice giggling and taking pictures.

The fireplaces throughout were pretty spectacular. As well as large and highly decorated. They looked similar - and these are just a few of them - and on more than one occasion I found myself popping back to the one I'd just visited to check if it was the same or not. And mostly they weren't.

Some though were more fancier than others.

In the photo below you can see the decorated ceiling too, as well as glimpses of patterned wallpaper around the tapestry. I've said before they really did do pattern and colour didn't they in days gone by?

The lady in the bottom left of the photo above had ten or so school children with her, all drawing elements of the room. And I can tell you they were all so well behaved and polite, and that was great to see too. We kept bumping into them around the chateau as they rushed to the next room for their next activity and having sussed out we were English some tried their English out on us, giggling as they did so.  Hence quite a few more blurry photos.

But anyway, I haven't shown you any fancy floors yet and I promised you some.

Just look at the shine on that.

Shiny huh.  And fancy obviously.  I was lusting after tiled floors on our visit here, but then realised I'd need another house to put them in so that plan's on hold for the moment. 

How about this for a party room? Yeap, I'd be pretty happy with it too.

Apparently most of the entertainment would conclude in the King's bedchamber, which I guess if you can you would, wouldn't you? And that was, as you'd expect, more lavishly decorated than the rooms before it.  The wallpaper in the shot below and the patterned panel on the fireplace are fantastic patterns which would, I think, translate to a modern setting. They might need to be on a reduced scale, but their geometric and repeating patterns don't look outdated to me.

I think I might give this floor a miss, but I can't say it's not fancy.

There's even wallpaper with his initial too.  And an alternative floor H pattern.

Seriously though the decoration throughout the chateau was great to see and at times mind blowing. The ceiling below was so very different than any we'd seen before. But then the more I looked at it, the more I could see a kaleidoscope pattern and couldn't help but wonder, what came first, the ceiling or the kaleidoscope?

Who knows...

So all in all the Chateau de Blois, the Royal Apartments especially were a feast for my eyes. With colour and pattern overload - even for me - but such a great experience. I've more to share from here, but I think my next post in the Loire Cycle Tour will involve a long cycle in the rain, so look out for that one!

Gargoyles and stonework in Blois

I do like a gargoyle. Obviously I don't have my own, although at times I think it would be nice to add one, but where would you start?  I know they're supposed to be grotesque, but did you know they also have a spout designed to guide water from a roof and away from the building to avoid water running down the walls and eroding its mortar. You see, useful. And the more I think about it and our water-on-the-windows problems (a bad design involving windows in our mansard roof) I really do think a gargoyle would help us out.

If only I'd known when I saw these at the Château de Blois. Although they would have been tricky to transport on our bikes wouldn't they?! Before we got inside the chateau in the centre of Blois we already spotted these.

Once inside the chateau this was the view we were met with. Absolutely stunning and my eyes didn't know where to look first. There was the classic French chateau architecture immediately in front of us, reminiscent of many chateaus we'd already seen. But there were plenty of things that were different too, the staircase on the right being just one of them. 

It turns out that the royal chateau of Blois has had quite a bit of work done, with each of the four wings showcasing French architecture from the 13th through to the 17th century, with each addition making it grander and slightly more bizarre. I guess, it really is a rather grand example of adding an extension in a completely different style. And when you learn that seven kings and ten queens of France, it's easy to see why the architecture became grander and grander.

It was the Françoise I staircase though that really caught my eye. It's inspired by the Italian Renaissance and is ornately carved. It was initiated in 1515 and I'm sure was just as fantastic then. It's open to walk up and down too, so of course we did and I'm sure I wasn't the only one to imagine how this might have been in days gone by. 

As we moved through the various parts of the chateau we found ourselves in a section with an exhibition of stonework and some of the gargoyles too. And it was great. There were plenty of information boards in both French and English which meant we spent a fair time exploring this area. 

Did you know that during the French Revolution of 1789 royal emblems were systematically destroyed. Which makes sense when you consider what it was about. But to restore the hammered out emblems castings were made of those found at the nearby Château of Chambord, which as a private residence fared better than the royal palaces. 

Having spent more time than I'll admit looking at these gargoyles my favourites are the creature sort rather than the human sort. Every time I look at the one above I see a certain Labour leader and it makes me smile, I'm not quite sure why.

But don't you think I should have one of these, maybe not a dog - although the one of the right above looks quite a character. Perhaps I should have a cat gargoyle, not a cute fluffy sort that wouldn't go with the ethos behind them would it. But it got me wondering, if you could commission a gargoyle, what type would you have?