The MOJO Family: Loire Valley, France Trip Part 1

(written by Meggan)

On April 23, Grandma came to town to help us out (again) so that I could comfortably leave Jason and the kids behind in order to go on an adventure with my Dad (aka Grandpops or Pops).

MOJO family fans will remember that Pops was medevaced home from Morroco in March 2014 after a serious bike crash, and was thus unable to continue his trip in France. In February 2015 he was given the medical clearance to travel again without concern, and we started planning this adventure.

We booked a self-guided cycling tour of the Loire Valley. Below are portions of the emails we sent home and some other information, with photos.

On April 24, we met in the Toronto airport and sat near each other for our red-eye to Paris.

Arriving in the Paris airport

On April 25, we had 4 hours to kill before our train departed. We got euros, SIM cards for our phones, water, etc and tried to stay awake. I screwed up my phone for a while, inserting the card incorrectly at first, but figured it out enough that my phone wasn't busted.

[Sadly, I never could understand enough of the French instructions to actually activate my SIM card and resigned myself to using wifi in our hotels to communicate home, but did not have maps or internet information on the fly.]

We had a 2 hour train ride on a fast train (ie not much scenery) then switched trains to a more rural train to Blois. Despite a quick connection, we did well.

We arrived in Blois and found our way to our hotel. One of the cheaper hotels around, I was nervous that it might be a bit too low budget. But it's lovely and charming.
We walked around town, enjoying old architecture, had an early dinner at a bakery, and walked back. I'm trying to stay awake until 9pm.

The Anne de Bretagne hotel, Blois

View from our hotel room

Blois Chateaux

Art College in Blois

On April 26, we explored the Blois Chateaux and walked around town in the rain. We moved from our hotel to the first hotel of the tour and received our bikes and tour information. Our bikes are HEAVY. I've never had a bike with paniers before and each of us hopped on to try it out and panicked. It felt like we had never ridden before. The bikes felt strange and large.
At dinner, I had to use more French to understand all the instructions we were given, and I felt rusty. We learned that nobody else would be with us on the tour - just the two of us, and nobody official or unofficial to help us find our way or give us tips. We were given a package of instructions, maps and vouchers for each night's hotel/dinner/breakfast, and an emergency phone number. The rest was up to us!
We had a lovely dinner and wine and tried to sleep.

Inside courtyard of Blois Chateaux

Hidden cupboards everywhere in this study

Fancy bedroom

On April 27 (day 1 cycling)

We had a great day. We didn't sleep much but had a nice breakfast, bundled up, and biked away from Blois, France.
It was not raining but cloudy, damp, and windy. We were cold!
We stopped for lunch at an awesome castle 20km (12miles) in and warmed up a little. The castle was called Chaumont sur Loire. The stables of the castle were nicer than any house at home. There was weird artwork scattered around the grounds, which we didn't understand.
The sun came out a little but the wind continued.
We climbed a couple hills as we continued away from the river and onto vineyards, which kept us warmer.
We passed a few other couples as we rode and Dad did very well.
We arrived in Ambroise to check out a Leonardo da Vinci specific castle of all his inventions. It's called Close du Luce.
We made it through town (stressful for me, since I hate riding in traffic and over narrow bridges) to our hotel.
Dad did great, even if he's now tired and sore.
46.6km (29miles) total with 2 cool castles.
I had the special on the dinner menu and wasn't entirely sure what kind of fish I ordered. Turns out it was eel, and eel is gross.

Leaving Blois, cycling along the Loire river

Entering a small 'hamlet' and riding along the road

Typical bike path

Map holder, showing me directions

Dad's bike, holding the map

Chaumont sur Loire Castle

View of the Loire river from the chateaux

A real draw bridge

Sculpture artwork in the castle grounds

Seeing other people biking, which was uncommon

Leonardo da Vinci

Tired after a big day, and still jet lagged

On April 28 (day 2 cycling)...
Hello again from Ambroise, France.
Last night I slept like a log but Dad tossed and turned, so we were shocked to wake at 9am and glad we hadn't missed breakfast.
We cycled through vineyards today, little hamlets, by cloisters and churches and to 1 big castle called Château de la Bourdaisière. We got a little bit lost at one section in the town of Montlouis-sur-Loire, but figured it out. Dad's chain required some repair but we fixed it. The weather was dry with some more sun but still breezy and cool. We ended up cycling 41.75km (26miles) and are both tired and sore.
We had images of touring wineries and wine tasting, and did go through 1 'cave' wine cellar. The caves are really amazing - people have built their homes and wine cellars right into the sides of huge limestone rocks. Since it's shoulder season here, many places are not open to the public yet. We didn't mind - we don't want to buy any bottles and need all the sobriety and energy we can have for navigating and cycling.