Loire valley cycle, day 7 - Amboise to Blois

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We started the day with our usual trip to the boulangerie, and then a tour of Chateau Clos Luce, where Leonardo da Vinci stayed his last years. Leonardo was everywhere, with drawings and images and quotes in every room. In the description of the place, they highlight the model machines made from the drawings, and I was very excited to see them. Sadly, none of the reproductions could be handled, and even some models seemed like lazy approximations of the drawings. In the park surrounding the chateau were a few large reproductions that could be operated, but again, I was disappointed because of the lack of effort in making the displays actually show interesting science. But it was still fun, and the gardens and woods lovely.

We then cycled up onto the plateau through an industrial park and then farmland, before descending towards the river. We had a little picnic on the side of the road of baguette, chevre and camembert cheeses, and fruit. We had bought the fruit and cheese in a lovely shop where they kept scolding us to not touch the fruit. We hadn't known the rules and they must have been exasperated with us.

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