Brilliance on a Cloudy Day

Today was another good day. It was a short, but beautiful ride from Tours to Amboise. Normally, we would have gone further than just 18 miles in a day, but there is so much to see! We got out of Tours very easily since it is right on the route. First we got our usual breakfast and lunch combo from the patisserie right next to the hotel. We checked at the tourism office on the way out to see if they could make the reservations for us at the hotel Rick Steves recommends in Amboise. They called but didn’t get an answer, so we decided we’d try at one in Amboise when we arrived.

We stopped just outside of town to put on sunscreen. The sun had come out and we didn’t want to stand on a busy downtown sidewalk to do it. Of course, that guaranteed rain was next. It wasn’t much longer into the ride that we got hit with the first few drops of rain, still, we didn’t break out the rain gear right away. It was just short showers that were passing over the trail in front of us. Finally, we caved. We started seeing people coming the other way in ponchos and rain gear. Once we hit a true downpour, we were going downhill through a vineyard fast enough that the rain stung our faces.

We kept the gear on for the rest of the ride. It even came in handy at the castle! There were a few more sprinkles, but it was threatening to rain the rest of the way. We had very little trouble following the trail today. There was one town, where we were passing a colony of “romanies” or gypsies, where the directional sign was turned to go into the area, 180 degrees from the trail direction. We quickly realized the misdirection and got back on the trail. I’m assuming if we had asked the children on the road, we would have been asked for money.

We arrived in Amboise a little after noon. I checked with the office of tourism, which was right on the main road as we arrived in town. They told me the best way to check with this hotel was to walk the 50 meters down the street and ask them. Turns out not only is the hotel easy to find, it sits just outside the wall of the castle! They had a standard double room available for a reasonable price, so I reserved it. They let us stash our panniers here while we visited the châteux since the room wouldn’t be ready until at least 3 pm. The Château Amboise was literally around the corner. There was a lovely tree covered area with bike parking and benches just in front. We locked up the bikes and ate our picnic lunch there, then headed to the castle.

Probably the most famous thing about this castle is that Leonardo DaVinci is buried in the chapel, at his request. His French patron, François I, lived here. I’ll let the pictures say the rest.

So if DaVinci spent his last 3 years of life in this town, where did he live? Just up the street in a smaller château the king let him stay in and gave him a stipend to be the royal painter, engineer and architect: Clos de Lucé. It was from here, it is said, that he drew up the original plans for Chambord, including the design of the double helix stairway. We stood in his chamber, with the bed in which he died. There was also the queen’s chamber and other quarters on that level, but the best was below. There was a large workshop, including a painting studio, down below. IBM has provided a display as well of many working models of his designs. Seriously, I remember learning how prodigious he was, but we owe so much to his designs. Even the diesel powered trucks of today, to which we owe our livelihoods, use things his drawings originally imagined: cams, cranks, connection rods, transmission gears.

After soaking in the beauty of that estate – they’ve done a lovely job of bringing his machines to life in an interactive way in the garden – we headed back down the hill to the hotel. We got settled in, showered and headed to dinner. We chose “Crêperie le Vinci” and it was nice! Again, right in front of the castle.

A fine end to a fine day. Tomorrow is another short trip to Boise. We’d hoped to go further, but as we get farther east of Tours, there aren’t as many towns with much in them as far as hotels. We plan to make Orleans by the weekend.