It's a lovely day in the Dordogne today... read more

As we had a shorter biking day today and no chateaux that we wanted to visit along the way, we stayed in Chinon for a good look around and to do a tour of the winery cave in Chinon first. We did the Chinon walk (everyone seems to wander) and looked more slowly at the ancient streets and houses that we had toured yesterday. We took the lift up the hill to the fortress but opted not to go in and look. It was first built in 954 and added to over the years by counts or kings. It fell almost into total ruin but in the 1800's onwards it has been recreated and it is still ongoing. We walked downhill on the rough cobbled street and back into the medieval part of the town where ... read more

We got away a little earlier than usual and after buying our baguettes and fillings we began the next leg of cycling by the Amboise Chateau, through the town and uphill past some very old houses before taking several turns to head out into the country - all in the name of staying off the main roads. It was a bit cooler in the morning with a nice wind blowing and shadows in our direction. We went through some forest and then into countryside mostly of grain growing but also dairying much like at home - the milking shed, large tractors, round bales of hay and a workers house (much better than is supplied to many farm workers in NZ). We eventually arrived at the Chateau de Chenonceau which is a must see, as chateaus go. ... read more

Today was to be a big day but I didn't bargain on how big since we were to bike just over 70kms which is more than I've ever done. It was going to be hot too, but I didn't bargain on how hot! It was 35 degrees out at the furthest part of our biking so we were at the point of no return. We left Beaugency at around 9am and biked along the river and flat grain farms mostly as well as small quaint villages that appeared unaltered for years. I expected this trip to be along busy roads with many people but it has been the opposite. The biking path is part of the Loire a Velo so much of it is on a superb surface (except for later). It is truly very picturesque ... read more

Today was a driving day. 650kms from Grindelwald to Orleans in France. The route was essentially to Bern, Newchatel, over the border into France through the Jura's then towards Paris and finally south to Orleans. We left at 9am and arrived at 5.15pm with four stops along the way to give Lindsay a rest, a drink and a shake up for the next 100 or so. The first part of the journey to the French border was interesting enough through cropping country mainly. Into the Jura mountains it became very rocky - mainly weathered limestone and clay. Once out of the hills we went into dairying country, followed by miles of cropping in the rolling country and down to the vast flats. It was surprisingly quite sparsely populated. The further west we went closer to Paris ... read more