Tuesday 8th July, Chaumont-sur-Loire to Chenonceau

It rained overnight again but the morning was clear. We packed up our wet tent and set off towards Chenonceau. We were 2 km down the road when we realised we were going in the wrong direction. We turned back and from Chaumont we headed up the hill past the castle, passing a group of cyclists from back road tours. They turned off at the Chateau and we headed off towards Valliers-les-Grandes along the D27. We passed some of them again as they had taken a shortcut along a minor road. We were again riding through sunflower and wheat fields and knew we were headed in the right direction when the back roads support vehicle overtook us along with a couple of their stronger riders. We passed through a few small towns and had a couple of hills to climb with the lovely downhill on the other side. We also had spectacular views before descending into the valley along the Cher river.

We stopped for morning tea in Valliers-les-Grandes most of the backroads group also stopped off at the same café. We spoke to a couple of people from the group who were amazed at what we were doing eg carrying all our gear and camping, as they were on a fully supported 5 day trip in just this area, staying in chateaux. When we tried to pay as we left we found their tour leader had inadvertently paid for our coffee/hot chocolate. We overheard one of their members talking about the 6 course meal they had eaten the night before. We laughed about this as we rode towards the Chateau de Chenonceau. Once we reached the town we passed by 3 campgrounds before making it to the Chateâu. When we arrived the weather was starting to close in and there were many tour groups so we decided to return to the closest campground to set up camp. David stacked it in the mud riding into the campground.

Getting mud over his panniers and leg. We set up camp had showers and set off into town for lunch. We found a little bar with an 8€50 plate de jour that we enjoyed with a wine/beer. We bought our entry tickets at the tourist information office to save time but once we arrived back at the Chateâu entrance it bucketed down and we were stuck in the gift shop for around 15 minutes until it stopped. We decided to view the grounds and gardens first while the rain had stopped. Everything looked lovely.

There was an Asian couple having their wedding photos taken int the grounds and we seemed to keep bumping into them as they were having their photos taken at all the best spots.

We had a leisurely tour around the Chateâu and by the time we were leaving the crowds had gone enabling David to take a picture of Catriona by herself on the balcony.

We left via the hedge maze which was fun. Ended the day with a couple of "glasses" of wine in the tent (it was raining again) before heading out to dinner.

Total km ridden for the day 25km.