From Wine Region to Wine Region

After a couple nights in Bordeaux it is time for the Loire and so Wednesday morning we head for Tours. Since we want to avoid the Péage the N10 is the road of choice and this proves a little frustrating in terms of speed of progress but it does mean we see the countryside. By 1pm we are passing Futuroscope and the weather is really hotting up. Having passed this way before some fifteen years ago we know of a lake at St Cyr just off the main road and head there for lunch. We remember hiring a windsurfer here and Jeremy being the most successful of the family in staying up – unfortunately he had not mastered turning and so we watched helplessly as he set off across the lake and out of our sight.

Today the lake and its beaches have attracted some families and youngsters and we find a spot to sit and sun ourselves with the opportunity of a cooling swim.

Later in the afternoon we decide to get a few more miles North and about 10 miles from Tours at Ste Maure de Touraine we see a sign for a motorhome stop – a field on farm - where we spend the night with 8 other vans and bar-b-q supper.

Bread is delivered in the morning and farm fresh eggs on the menu before we re-join the N10 to Tours. We plan to wander the back roads towards Blois and drive between the vineyards with the Loire a few miles to our left. Although aiming to visit the chateau at Chambord, the lack signage in the village of Cheverny means that we decide to park up and visit that chateau instead.

The pretty village provides an excellent lunch washed down with glasses of the local rosé and sets up for a walk round our first chateau. The park is not great but the house is superb dating from the early 17th century many of the original features remain and the family of the original owners still live in part of the house. This chateau avoided the worst of the French Revolution thanks to the diplomatic skills of its owner. The rooms on show display antique furniture from the era of Louis XV and XVI and most striking are the wall decorations of painted panels and large Flemish tapestries.

On to Blois and an aire beside the Loire a few minutes form the city centre and a popular spot for some free camping, where we are joined by some 15 other motorhomes. We take a quick tour and find a compact and bustling old city clustered around the chateau and cathedral with many medieval buildings and narrow streets on a hill above the river. Blois had its best years in the 16th century and provided the main French royal residence until 1598 when Henry IV moved his court to Paris but still attracts many tourists travelling through the Loire.