I exited Normandy and entered the Loire Valley around mile 17. Quickly, everything got brighter. Normandy is dark, erie, and gothic, while the Loire Valley is land of chateaux and the Renaissance. Very interesting the relationship between nature, art/architecture, and emotion.
This is also Tour territory! The pros passed on these same roads just days before me. There are messages written to them on the street with chalk, signs notifying street closures, and bike hype in the store windows. In this way, it's a bit like BRAG.
The countryside is still rolling hills, wheat fields, and lots of sunflowers.
Biking alone for hours on these beautiful roads, I can't help but think how fortunate I am. We are lucky enough to exist in this world, so why not live a little?
I arrived at my B & B in a small town 10k north of Tours. It's a beautiful house, and they were expecting me. They gave me their only room left (their most lovely suite) at half price. Turns out Patrick is the mayor of the town and his wife Beatrice runs the B & B. They have a beautiful daughter Tiphaine who is 9. They have interesting visitors all the time and they were glad to have a cyclist teacher. Patrick let me know what I was doing is courageous and that he hopes his daughter never wants to do something like it. Tough luck -- I can already tell she's smart, daring, and curious.
I had dinner with the family then we drove to Tours for some ice-cream. It was a beautiful evening, and nice to feel welcome.
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