As I cycle in golden light through the Loire\u2019s vineyards, I have the sudden wish to wear a flowing floral dress, tuck a sunflower behind my ear and answer only to the name Delphine. Opulent chateaux, honeyed stone villages, blazing fields of sunflowers \u2026 the Loire is so ridiculously and relentlessly beautiful it\u2019s no wonder artists such as Leonardo da Vinci and \u00c9mile Vernon made it their home.<\/p>\n
A short zip across to Paris on the Eurostar and then an hour south on the TGV to Saint-Pierre-des-Corps and it feels as if we\u2019ve stepped into a live JMW Turner landscape (he toured the region in 1826).<\/p>\n
As a fair-weather cyclist \u2013 no hills and only in sunshine \u2013 I\u2019ve never fancied a proper cycling holiday. However, my partner, Toby, is a keen mountain biker. Our compromise? A self-guided ebike tour through the Loire valley with Cycling<\/a> for Softies (the clue\u2019s in the name).<\/p>\n The ancient river port town of Candes-Saint-Martin. Photograph: Hemis\/Alamy<\/p>\n A short taxi ride takes us to our starting point, Ch\u00e2teau du Rivau<\/a>, a Renaissance beauty in L\u00e9mer\u00e9, where Joan of Arc is said to have collected her horses before the siege of Orl\u00e9ans in 1429. After we enjoy a glass of chilled local ros\u00e9 and a potter around the gardens, Quintin from Cycling for Softies arrives with our ebikes (offered as an upgrade on normal touring bikes for a few euros a day) and talks us through the itinerary. We\u2019ll cover about 100 miles (160km) over the next three days, cycling along the river, through vineyards and to towns such as Langeais and Azay-le-Rideau, with plenty of time to stop along the way.<\/p>\n double quotation markWithin minutes we\u2019re wheeling through heavenly vineyards and past honeysuckle-draped farmhouses<\/p>\n The chateau, which has been lovingly restored by Patricia and \u00c9ric Laigneau since 1992, hosts a contemporary art gallery in its ancient turrets. Here, classics are reimagined by modern artists \u2013 Pierre Ardouvin\u2019s playful Ile Mona, Jeff Koons\u2019s inspired hunting trophies and Sabine Pigalle\u2019s Dutch Last Supper<\/a>. There\u2019s also a room devoted to Joan of Arc.<\/p>\n Tonight\u2019s dinner is in the Jardin Secret<\/a>, the chateau\u2019s gourmet restaurant led by Andrea Modesto, once second-in-command to globally revered chef and restaurateur Jo\u00ebl Robuchon. In a candlelit gazebo, we feast like royalty on stuffed courgette flowers, roast duck with cherries, and a platter of local cheeses, all washed down with an excellent bottle of chinon.<\/p>\n Tracey Davies cycling in the Loire valley<\/p>\n After breakfast the next morning, we wave goodbye to Ch\u00e2teau du Rivau and our luggage, as Quintin takes care of that. We\u2019re eased in gently \u2013 today is just 27 miles \u2013 and Toby takes the lead with the help of the on-bike GPS. The route couldn\u2019t be simpler, and within minutes we\u2019re following the cycle path and wheeling through heavenly vineyards and past honeysuckle-draped farmhouses. We soon join La Loire \u00e0 V\u00e9lo<\/a>, the 560-mile cycling route tracing the river from Nevers to the Atlantic, the first section of which was opened in 2005.<\/p>\n After an hour or so, we arrive at the confluence of the Loire and Vienne rivers in Candes-Saint-Martin, one of the Loire\u2019s ancient river port towns, and stop for a beer at La P\u2019tite Vienne. Basking in the sun on the banks of the river, it\u2019s so nice that we stay for another. And then order lunch. With wine. Before the pastis menu distracts me further, we grab our bikes and potter around the town with its dusty brocantes, fromageries and wine caves.<\/p>\n We tear ourselves away to cycle on through more vineyards and fields of spent sunflowers, heads bowed. It\u2019s late afternoon when we roll into Fontevraud-l\u2019Abbaye, one of France\u2019s Plus Beaux Villages and Petites Cit\u00e9s de Caract\u00e8re, and L\u2019H\u00f4tel de Fontevraud L\u2019Ermitage<\/a>, our resting place for the night.<\/p>\n double quotation markWe fall into an easy routine of cycling for an hour before stopping for a beer, then another dozen or more kilometres before lunch<\/p>\n Founded in the 12th century, and now a Unesco world heritage site, Fontevraud Abbey is the final resting place of Henry II, Eleanor of Aquitaine and Richard the Lionheart. Set in the grounds of the great abbey, the four-star hotel is light, contemporary and has an almost monastic vibe. The Michelin-starred restaurant is closed on a Monday, but we enjoy a gorgeous picnic prepared by the chefs in the candlelit gardens. Guests of L\u2019Ermitage are also allowed to wander around the hauntingly beautiful abbey after dark.<\/p>\n Day two, and we\u2019re getting the hang of this cycling lark. After breakfast, we leave our cases to be picked up and taken to our next hotel, and set out on today\u2019s 34-mile route. We cross back over the Loire and pick up the riverside cycle path towards Ch\u00e2teau d\u2019Uss\u00e9<\/a>, a huge and heavily turreted castle said to have inspired Charles Perrault\u2019s fairytale Sleeping Beauty.<\/p>\n I love how easy it is to just ebb and flow with the day. Our route is mostly traffic-free as we drift past copses of poplar trees and weeping willows whose boughs touch the flowing river below, the air scented with cut hay and apples. We fall into an easy routine of cycling for an hour before stopping for a beer. Another burst of energy and a dozen or more kilometres before lunch, which is often long and leisurely.<\/p>\n The geometric gardens of Ch\u00e2teau de Villandry.<\/p>\n From Uss\u00e9, we cruise on quiet country lanes banked by cliffs dotted with ancient and often forgotten wine cellars to Ch\u00e2teau de Rochecotte<\/a>, near Langeais, our home for the next two nights. Elegant, regal almost, with ethereal views across the valley, it feels utterly indulgent. Dinner is a lavish affair: fresh langoustine, locally bred roi rose pork and cr\u00e8me br\u00fbl\u00e9e.<\/p>\n On our last day, we clock up 37 miles, largely without breaking a sweat thanks to the ebikes. We wind our way through medieval river towns such as Azay-le-Rideau, past apple and cherry orchards to Ch\u00e2teau de Villandry<\/a>. Built in the 16th century by Jean Le Breton, this glorious Renaissance pile was the last of the grand chateaux to be built along the Loire. One of the highlights is its tiered, geometric gardens, which were restored in the early 20th century by Joachim Carvallo. Wandering around the harp-shaped box bushes in the ornamental garden, the maze and the water garden shaped like a Louis XV-style mirror, I think Delphine would be happy here, especially if she could keep her ebike.<\/p>\n The trip was provided by Cycling for Softies<\/a>; its four-night Loire in Luxury<\/a> trip costs from \u00a31,510 per person, including half-board accommodation, bike rental with ebike upgrades available (\u00a320 a day), luggage transfers and route information<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"As I cycle in golden light through the Loire\u2019s vineyards, I have the sudden wish to wear a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":556508,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[4985,101,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-556507","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cycling","tag-cycling","tag-sports","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/556507","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=556507"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/556507\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/556508"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=556507"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=556507"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=556507"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}