Day 6 - Amboise to Loches

Our journey down the Loire Valley continues, with the destination of Loches our aim for the day.  Today is the day of the four rivers.  Leaving our accommodation, we cross the Loire and head South to Château Chenonceau which literally sits astride the Cher.  Continuing South we cross the Indrois on the run into Loches and follow the Indre into town.  It's a short day, to leave plenty of time for sightseeing, with no real climb to speak of.

Route

Stay and Eat

The restaurant in the Hotel Chenonceaux is more fine dining than casual, but to their credit didn't blink when a couple of smelly cyclists in riding gear fronted up for lunch.  Whilst this would easily have been our most expensive lunch on this trip, all the food was superb including a self serve cheese board the like of which I've never seen before or since.

We stayed at the Hotel de France in Loches.  The hotel is in an historic building with a very pleasant internal courtyard.  The rooms have not been renovated recently - possibly not in my lifetime - but they were clean.

See and Do

Clos-Lucé was the final residence of Leonardo da Vinci and is worth a visit.  You can tour the Château and there is a lovely garden that contains working models of Da Vinci's inventions.  It's located at the top of the ridge behind Amboise, about a kilometre from the river front.

Château Chenonceau was our other stop for the day.  It's a spectacular and baffling piece of architecture, being a house that's also a bridge albeit one that leads nowhere.  The fascinating history of the estate involves a cast of powerful women, including the mistress of King Francis I, Diane de Poitiers and Catherine de Medici.