Day 5 - Sun 14th April 2013

Start - Tours
Finish - Blois
Distance - 78km
Time - 6 hours

Well this is the first anniversary of Sue's death. So, during the morning my thoughts were of her and what a wonderful person she was. Maybe those of you who knew her might want to have a few minutes of quiet thought as well.

On the brighter side, the weather here today has been beautiful and sunny all day. What a change. Being a Sunday in France everywhere was shut this morning until mid-morning and our breakfast pastries had to wait till we had ridden 15kms. The coffee stop was at Amboise which is a lovely small town with its own Chateau. We carried on to Chaumont-sur-Loire where we had a pizza slice and a quiche that we had purchased earlier at a nice boulangerie.

Onward we travelled and managed to loose the track and also the baguette that had been tucked into the webbing on my rack. However things got worse when we went over a large bump and the contents of my front bag decided to throw themselves all over e road causing me to loose control of the bike. I managed to get one foot down but the pedal came round again and hit my shin causing a big lump and a very good graze. You are probably thinking, 'what a wimp' but I needed the treatment of an elderly local resident who had once been a cyclist in the famous Paris - Roubais race. He administered his magic antiseptic spray and I was healed (almost). I must have been delirious because we tried to sing a rugby song to the tune of Bye Bye Blackbird. I think we got many of the words right but would appreciate the full lyrics if someone knows them but whatever you please send them privately!!

We found the correct route again and proceeded in an easterly direction to Blois. Just to help you with the correct pronunciation Blois is the sound made after too many pints and a dodgy kebab! It is actually a lovely town with a nice chateau and cathedral. We particularly enjoyed our first ice cream of the trip when we arrived. The temperature was in the early 20s it was great. There was also a cycle race taking place with most of the top cycling teams involved. I can't understand why they didn't ask us to be a guest entry but maybe there wasn't an over the hill, over 50s race scheduled!

Anyway, we went in search of our chambre d'hote and found it was a nice house on the outskirts of the town. The room is very comfy and there were even cuddly toys on the beds. We will make our own supper of bread, cheese and pate and then have a little cycle into town again as it is too far to walk.

The photos
1, David outside a cafe at Amboise showing his boney t shirt.
2, the cycle race at Blois
3, The front of Blois Chateau
4, Cuddly toys on he bed . cute!