Friday 11/05/21
Today came together unexpectedly well. I got up fairly early, and decided to call another of the various small tour providers to see if I could get to some chateaus. The one I happened to call had a tour going and was happy to have me join them. They were going for a full day, but I ended up getting the guy to drop me off after the morning in Amboise. We went to two of the very classic Loire Chateaus, Villandry and Azay-le-Rideay. There are fairy tale type castles with amazing gardens, My original plan was to have lunch in Amboise and then hop a train back to Tours, but I realized that I could use a one way bicycle rental service and do it by bicycle. So, after lunch, I rented an electric bike and it was a good long ride, somewhat along the Loire River and somewhat inland to get back to Tours. The electric assist is nice but I mostly kept it in the lowest setting. Definitely a very solid day on the exercise front. It was one of those cool, crisp fall days, and fortunately by lunch time had warmed up enough to make riding feasible.
Chateau Villandry 
Gardens of Villandry 
Villandry 
Away-le-Rideau 
Away-le-Rideau 
Amboise Chateau 
On the bike headed back to Tours 
Arriving back in Tours.
Mid way between Amboise and Tours 
Tours cathedral in the distance 
France Explorations, and Camino Del Norte, Spain 