Rain delayed departure, it doesn't show in the photos but it was pretty thick. It at least gave me a chance to take a good look at Chateau Blois, which is not too shabby.Check out time came and I decided that you can't have an adventure without a little discomfort so I donned the kit and sallied forth. The rain immediatly got hevier and very wetting, not to mention cold. I'd brought an extra set of thermals anticipating a change rather than having to wear them all at the same time.
Made for the fabulous Chateau De Chenonceau, not that far away but far enough for the rain to be seeping in through the cracks in the suit. I was very pleased to get there and even more to get inside where they had a welcoming fire to greet their moist guests. It was still raining when I'd finished so I took the opportunity to have lunch in the grounds (it was still raining) this was unsurprisingly a little less fabulous.
The chateaux are very fine but by this point I'd had enough of them and
I can safely say I'm all chateau'ed out. At least the tour busses are
not yet in full swing so the crowds are manageable. Just don't come in
the summer, it will be vile.
The town of Tours is big and appears to have no redeeming
features other than that the rain had stopped. The guide book says of
one town that it is a post war architectural disaster area. This may
not be Tours but it might just as well be. You have to wonder what the
council were on at the time, perhaps it was cheap, lets hope so.
Being near to Le Mans it seemed essential to go and look at the world
famous track. On the down side you can't, it's well screened and on
this occasion not open. On the upside you drive on bits of road that
seem to be part of the track, do they expand for the 24hour? Still not
being able to see the track proper I had to make do with the museum, at
least there are no chateaux inside. Think mostly French marques and
you'd be on the money. There is one that has some considerable family
interest though (see photo)
Time sometimes passes quickly and at half past five I was back outside
the museum with no where to stay and it was cold with a thick overcast
and spiting rain. Le Mans seems to be full of the same quality
establishments as Calais, Etap's and Formula 1's abound, great for the
normal race crowds perhaps but hard to think of anything worse for my
purposes.
Fifteen minutes with the faithful book and I decided that
Chinon would be the place despite Monsieur Garmin suggesting it would
take an hour and a half to get there. Sadly he was right but at least
the roads were entertaining and not too crowded.
The guide book had seen fit not to mention Chinon's big nuclear power
station which, had the hour not been so late, would have made me
rethink my choice. The plant was belching huge quantities of what is
hopefully only steam right over the road so if I now glow in the dark
it will be no surprise.
Finally dead on time, I arrived at the very lovely hotel Agnes Sorel,
500m from the centre of Chinon. Just as described a most friendly
welcome and indoor parking for the moto. They even helped me carry my
bags upstairs and booked a restaurant for me.
This would be the cheapest and best hotel so far and I could also
recommend the fish restaurant, L'Oceanic although this was not quite so
cheap. Curiously the service started well but slowed to a crawl after
the main meal, not really a problem but I could have been in bed
earlier.
This picture of a lavoir (the second I've seen) is included especially for Joan H