Ride Day 20 and a day off: Amboise to Blois

 Blois is tough to pronounce. Try "blewahs" Something like that. We are in Blois, having arrived yesterday from Amboise. Today we are trying to do not much of anything except stroll around the town. Maybe wash the bike (it needs it again), rest, eat.

Before we left Amboise we stopped by the Sunday morning market. If we were staying another day we'd have feasted because there was so much good looking food. But we can't take it with us on the bike, so we just drooled.

No shortage of fresh loaves

or fresh pasta

Or pesto (which smelled so very good)

 We met a very nice young vigneron who was in his second year of making wine at his new vineyard, Mouton Noir. He learned his trade in Beaujolais and Burgundy, then along the Loire, and spent every penny he had (plus a lot more) to buy 9 hectares of vines from a guy that was retiring. He wants to do things his way, differently from the monster vineyards in the area, hence the name he chose. We wished him well and when we get home we're going to try to figure out how to buy some of his wine (he is working on getting an agent to import to the US). Bon fortune!

Mouton Noir (Black Sheep)

Leonardo da Vinci spent the last years of his life, 1516 to 1519, living in Amboise as a guest of the King of France. He lived in a house called Clos Luce, which was a summer place for French royalty but which the King gave to da Vinci because the King admired him greatly. On our way out of Amboise, after the market, we spent a few hours strolling through Clos Luce and the grounds. It was really interesting and educational. Here, da Vinci painted (he finished the Mona Lisa and the Virgin of the Rocks), experimented with all sorts of his inventions, wrote prodigiously and worked on his math and astronomy.

Secure parking for the bike,

Clos Luce

We were still fairly early when we arrived and there were very few other visitors. The house and gardens were filled with all things da Vinci, including working models of so many of his inventions and discoveries. The guy was truly a genius.

da Vinci's bedroom

Formal garden

A reproduction of the Mona Lisa

An interesting hologram display

A bicycle. A car.

We both really enjoyed Clos Luce. It was fascinating. But we left da Vinci behind and headed up the road to Blois and had a wonderful ride. For lunch we ate the best olives we've ever had, purchased earlier at the Amboise Sunday market.

Lunch.

Blois showed itself to be a pretty town as we approached along the Loire Velo path. We rode across the bridge and the town continued to impress us.

Our first view of Blois

From the north side of the river.

We will explore Blois tomorrow on our day off the bike. I wanted to mention a really cool thing that the city does. It has a very grand staircase that is just off the right end of the bridge that you see in the photo above. It has 120 steps. Every year, a different artist paints the risers on the stairs to turn the stairway into a giant work of art. Here is this year's version:

2023s stairway art

And here's a compilation of the art from previous years:

Expand this photo and you'll see a spiral, the Mona Lisa, whimsical creatures, a bookshelf and others. Very creative.

Here we are enjoying the stairs.

And of course there are other ways to enjoy the art!