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Lionheart Day 32 - over and out

As well as having a mild hangover it was very sad waking up this morning knowing our Lionheart adventure has come to an end. We bid everyone farewell and then set about getting ourselves organised for departure.

It took some time but finally we had all bikes, bike bags and luggage in Tessi. I didn’t mention it in yesterday’s blog but Sam kindly picked up Tessi for us so she was ready and waiting when we arrived.

I couldn’t believe our luck that they had a vintage bike randonee finishing at the Abbey today! It was fantastic - everyone dressed up, glasses of local wine, bands playing, dancing in the square - an absolutely amazing end to our adventure!

Finally we got underway, though we only went about 24km. We saw people still cycling, all dressed up. It was very much like L’Eroica - I really wanted to join in.

So tonight we are at Montreuil-Bellay on the Thouet river. Being Sunday and with our late departure the supermarkets were all closed. Thankfully the campground has a very nice restaurant attached so we had lunch and dinner there.

So now it’s time for unpacking, washing and recovering, plus a bit of sightseeing. So this is the end of the Lionheart blog. Tomorrow I’ll be back on the Where in the World blog. It was an amazing adventure with an amazing group of people and I’m definitely sad it’s all over.

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Lunch

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On the road

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Today at Fontevraud-l’Abbaye

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A last photo from yesterday - arriving at the Abbey

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Lionheart Day 31 - Amboise to Fontevraud-l’Abbaye

I can’t believe that we are at our final riding day! It felt at the start like it would go on forever and now here we are at the last day.

So we rolled out this morning and spent a bit of time on bike path as we were heading to Tours to see the Cathedral and for coffee. We also managed to get a spot of shopping in. There were 7 of us that went off a bit to find a place for coffee and then in the traffic leaving Tours we ended up off course.

A climb over a guard rail and down an embankment and all good - back on course! It wasn’t a very long riding day so we didn’t leave until 9am and then stopped for a sit down lunch beside the Loire River. While stopped for lunch we had a call from Phil and Michelle and then I had a call from my friends from school who were having a girls weekend. Really nice to chat to people back home and worked well as I had opted not to have a big lunch.

I think everyone was a bit too relaxed at lunch because next thing we were rushing to get to Chinon for a quick look (I think we’ll need to return to do it properly). Our departure from lunch was further delayed by a massive convoy of motorcycles, there must have been about 400 bikes and it would have taken a good 15-20 minutes to pass by.

So finally after about 100km we rolled into Abbey Fontevraud-l’Abbaye - Richard the Lionheart’s final resting place (well most of him anyway. His heart is in the Cathedral in Rouen and his guts are somewhere else).

After a quick shower we had a tour of the Abbey. Fascinating history and seeing the tombs of Richard and his parents Henri and Eleanor was quite spooky. What I also learnt and hadn’t known previously is that religious orders were outlawed in the French Revolution.

After our tour we had a fabulous meal in the Abbey hotel’s 1 Michelin Star restaurant. I have to say though that I was a little surprised they they didn’t give me the quinoa or almond milk foam in the dessert - no gluten or pasteurised milk there 😙 However that aside it was a lovely meal with lots of local wine.

The grappa club was at large for our last night together, joined tonight by not only Francesca and for a while Bruno, but Sam and Isi too. After 3 night caps we went for a midnight stroll around the Abbey which is nicely lit up, before collapsing into bed s but before 1am.

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Midnight walk around the Abbey

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Dinner

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Fontevraud-l’Abbaye

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Today’s ride

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Today’s ride

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Today’s ride

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Tours cathedral

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Lionheart Day 30 - Chateau Les Muids to Amboise

A much shorter day today with time for some sightseeing. The morning was also much cooler which was quite pleasant. Coffee was at Chateau Chambord. It’s pretty amazing to see so we enjoyed our coffee in the grounds. Apparently it is pretty much empty. A fun fact we’ve learnt is that they use to move their furniture between their residences rather than furnishing them all.

From there we headed to Chaumont sur Loire for lunch and went for a walk through the castle there (well I did with the girls and Jose kept an eye on the bikes). From there it was only about 24km to Amboise where we are staying tonight but my legs are pretty shattered after the last few days so it was a bit slow for me.

We couldn’t believe it, we had just checked in and were heading to the pool for a drink when we bumped into a couple from our apartment complex in Narrabeen. He’s on the exec committee with Jose. After the initial shock they came and joined us for a drink.

So late afternoon we went for a stroll around Amboise. Amboise is probably most famous because Leonardo Da Vinci retired and died there. We’ve been to the Chateau where he lived 27 years ago so today we visited Chateau Royal d’Amboise as he is apparently buried in the chapel there. It also has another cool feature, ramps in the castle that horses could walk up!

Tonight was dinner on our own and we had a lovely meal overlooking the town and had hot air balloons pass overhead.

Tomorrow is our last riding day of the tour. Our legs and bums are thankful but we’re a bit sad as it’s been a great group and we’ve had a fantastic time.

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Tonight in Amboise

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More of the Royal Chateau and Amboise generally

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Chateau Royal d’Amboise (Leonardo da Vinci is apparently buried in the chapel).