Un tour de le tour de Tours



 Another double header today. We had a beautiful little free camping spot at a park in a small town called Longué as we begin heading eastward again. Just us and two other campers. Oops don’t know why the centring. Can’t fix it on my iPhone.  


Our morning stop was Saumur, another delightful medieval town. We admired the chateau from a distance, biked through the town a bit, then moved on up the Loire valley with sou gps firmly set on “avoid highways”. 



In the afternoon we arrived in Tours for a tour of the tours, but they actually only have one tour (tower) remaining to tour so I don’t know why they call it Tours. We did latch on to a Tours tour though. We spotted a tourist train so we followed it around the town for a few minutes culminating at the magnificent Cathedral with its twin towers. (Oh,,that explains things). 




As we exited, there was a Trumph Dolomite classic English car for a photo op. It was. Brit couple on a tour of Tours (there we go again) with a Morris Minor club. Had a nice little chat and had to show them pix of my Rover and Alvis of course. 


We moved on a bit to Amboise which ye faithful readers will note we stayed at 4 nights ago, the lovely site on the Isle d’Or below the chateau. This may be the only repeat on our return to Belgium as we take a slightly more southern route.





June 2: a couple more accidentally delights. In the morning we realized we were only 20 minutes from Chenonceau, one of the most dramatic and most visited of the Loire chateaux. We almost didn’t go, because we did see it in 2012 on our three month Iberia trip. We did go though, and spent the morning. Happy we did because it was beautiful, and had much more of the fascinating 600 year history, featuring especially some of the powerful women who developed and furnished the chateau while their husbands were off fighting useless wars. 




We set off for a longer drive eastward in the afternoon, with no plan where to spend the night. At about 4 pm our serendipity bunny drew us off into the town of Sully sur Loire where we were confronted with an amazing moated chateau of the 12th C, one of the most authentic in France. The free camping lot was just a half kilometre along the Loire so we settled in. In the evening we rode through the small town a bit then a kilometre or so down the peaceful riverbank and back. 






June 3: Moving on eastward again, with some rain, occasionally heavy, but needed around here. At coffee time we found ourselves in a pretty little market town, Nemours, so had a little stroll, finding this 13th C  edifice. 


The goal for the day was the 11th 12thC walled town of Provins. It is one of very few towns with intact turreted walls, and many original medieval and renaissance shops and inns within. We toured the 11th C “tithe barn” where much of the commercial business was conducted, including collection of the taxes “tithes” from the peasant farmers to pay for all thes chateaux!
Of course there was the usual dramatic church and towering keep. This church was unusual for its round central dome. 






We biked around the outside for a bit, noticing the dozens of sheep down in the dry moat, keeping it trimmed. 


We moved on just a few kilometres to a free camping spot alongside the 12th C church in the small town of Esternay. Heading toward Luxemburg tomorrow. Time to send another blog. 










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