Rewinding a Day in the Loire Valley.

Day 42: Amboise to Orléans (67 miles / 1680 ft.)

Right now, I’m lying in bed in our Airbnb with the fan blowing over us as Lisa falls asleep beside me. Our legs are tired from nearly 70 miles of riding and another 10,000 steps exploring Orléans, so tonight’s story seems best told backward.

Just before crawling into bed, we walked home through an incredibly quiet and peaceful city. It was after 10:00, but we never felt unsafe. The cathedral dark against the silver sky, the streets were nearly empty, and Orléans felt calm enough to belong entirely to us.

Before that came another memorable evening around a WS dinner table.

Petra and Sébastien had originally agreed to host us through Warmshowers. Unfortunately, after five years and five tours, I made a rookie mistake and also reserved a nonrefundable Airbnb for the same night. We decided to use the room but asked if they would still like to meet for dinner. Thankfully, they did.

Petra is originally from the Czech Republic and teaches English, primarily to adults. Sébastien works for the département, an administrative area somewhat comparable to a county, specializing in mapping and public planning.

We began in the kitchen with a sweet wine, then moved to the dining room for Georgian eggplant rolls filled with walnut paste and a fresh salad. The main course included rice and little pastry parcels filled with spinach, ricotta, and cilantro. Then, because this is France, out came three cheeses with bread and red wine, including Sébastien’s favorite, Comté.

The conversation continued until nearly 10:00, when we began our 30-minute walk back to the Airbnb.

Before dinner, we had checked into our apartment, showered, rested, and caught up on FindPenguins. We had arrived earlier than expected because this had been one of our fastest and smoothest days of the entire trip.

A gentle six-mile-per-hour cross-tailwind helped us click off more than 40 miles before noon. After that, it was mostly smooth sailing into Orléans.

Rewind a little farther and you’ll find us searching a small town for lunch. We navigated to the local boulangerie-pâtisserie, only to discover it was closed. A little more searching led us to a grocery store, where I found a savory crêpe filled with ham and soft cheese. Lisa picked a chicken sandwich, and we shared olives and potato chips before getting back to business.

Before lunch came mile after mile beside the Loire. The route passed Chaumont-sur-Loire, Blois, Beaugency, and Meung-sur-Loire, with château walls, church towers, old stone bridges, and villages appearing along the river. Large birds gathered in the shallows and on the sandbars, occasionally lifting into the air as we approached. We also passed local cyclists and a few other bicycle tourists following the Loire.

The early morning may have been the most beautiful part. We initially rode above the river, watching the rising sun filter through layers of clouds and illuminate the valley below. Eventually, the route descended to the water, where the broad Loire, islands, wetlands, and autumn colors guided us toward Orléans.

Now rewind all the way to 6:45 this morning, one of our earliest wake-up times of the entire trip.

As we prepared to go upstairs, the garage door was open and we said goodbye to Rose as she left for school. Then we joined Anthony, Angélique, and Louis for scrambled eggs, toast, leftover lemon cake, and delicious Egyptian coffee.

There were more stories around the table before Anthony left for his 40-minute motorcycle ride to work. A little later, Angélique took Louis to school. She returned, we finished preparing the bikes, and at about 8:40 we rolled away from another wonderful Warmshowers family.

And that is how we ended up here, another beautiful day along the Loire running backward through my mind.Read more