We’re back!
We were forced to abandon this route last year after only three days of riding—now we are back to complete it and carry on to more riding in France.
We arrived in France Monday July 30, rode from the airport into the centre of Paris, spent the night at a hotel near the Gare Montparnasse, and on Tuesday took the fast TGV train to Angers. Wednesday August 1 we began riding East on the Loire River with its lovely old towns, limestone buildings, vinyards and chateaux.
Our friend Joanne from Vancouver is riding with us for the first 12 days.
It is incredibly hot and sunny, up to 37º, but fortunately we planned shorter stages for the first part of the ride and we’ve had good luck getting early breakfasts at our hotels so we can start early to avoid the worst of the afternoon heat. We’ve visited two chateaux, Chenonceau and Chambord, ridden through endless fields of grapes, enjoyed great views and had some good food and drink.
The first part of the EV6 follows the Loire Cycle Route, the most popular long-distance cycle route in France. It is fun riding with other cyclists and having so many cycle-friendly places to stay. As much of the route is on separate bike paths, there are many families cycling with young children.
A few photos:








Those sunflowers ?!!!
Beautiful photos as always Roy. So good to see Inge and Joanne’s smiley faces and wonderful that you are in good health. Looking forward to the blog updates.
Chateau Chambord looks amazing. Did you tour inside?
We did. It is huge.
Great photos! That looks wonderful!
Fantastic news to hear that You’re back to complete You’re Tour de France 🙂 You have indeed the most Beautiful route along the Loire. You’re blog is so enthousiastic written, and the pictures are Spectaculaire. Save trip! XXX
HI
Great photos. I’m very envious of your daily adventures. Such a wonderful part of the world.
MJ
Bon vélo…
Lovely! So glad you have gone back there!
Have been thinking about you guys amidst reports of the heat. Thanks for checking in with great photos. Travel safe!
So fantastic that your health is back Roy and you both can do this trip as you dreamed. Photos are fun to live the trip with you. A few little chateaus! What a change from the weather you had in Scotland in your spring bike trip. Envying you….
J’aime la belle France.
Bon viyage
so great smiling!
How absolutely gorgeous. Roy, you take such spectacular pictures.
Most of the photos are mine, but some are by Inge.
I wish I was riding along- minus the heat of course.