Day 42 Chinon to Lussault sur-Loire

Day 42. Chinon to Lussault sur-Loire. 72.37 km cycled. 4.04 hours cycling. 39.96 km/h max speed. 17.75 km/h average speed. Weather – Overcast and cool, but with a great westerly wind at my back.

I certainly did my share of chateau hopping today. After an early morning thunderstorm in Chinon around 6am swept in a westerly wind, I set out in anticipation of a big day of sightseeing and cycling – and got both.
First up was Chateau d’Usse – or Sleeping Beauty Castle – as it was used as the inspiration for the castle in the fairytale.
From the approach road the chateau looks amazing, a real fairytale before your eyes. But it costs 13 euro to enter, and because it is privately owned, only a small section of the huge building is open and to be honest doesn’t give good value for money. Most other chateaus are 5 euro max to enter and allow you much more access to the whole property.
Anyway, next up was Chateau Villandry, another huge and spectacular building. As I went in this one in ’07 I chose not to go inside again, but still looked closely at its great façade from outside.
Finally it was onto Tours and a town full of history, chateaus and abbeys. I had been hoping to stay at the Tours campground for the night, but for the life of me couldn’t find it. And wouldn’t you know it, it was Sunday and the tourist office was closed.
As a result I rode around town for a while looking at some of the sights, but soon headed off in search of a campground for the night which I found about 15km further along the track.

Which bring me to my theory for the day. With the Loire Velo (bike) track winding at times unnecessarily through the countryside, I chose on a couple of occasions to ride the shorter route on the road.
And guess what? It was Sunday which meant no trucks, courteous drivers and a hassle free ride.
So what do I deduce from this? Those crazy French mid-week drivers are either (a) out with their wives/girlfriends on a Sunday and don’t want any dramas by driving like an idiot or (b) have already got their quota of cyclists maimed during the week and decide to have Sunday off.
Whatever the reason despite heavy traffic at times, the cycling was enjoyable … something I certainly can’t say is my experience at other times on French roads.


captions: Pic 1: From the jazz concert the previous night in Chinon.  Pic 3, 4, 5: Usse Chateau (Sleeping Beauty Castle)
Pic 6: Chateau Villandry