Tours

We are in Tours, on the Loire river (the last wild river in France). Today we have travelled from Amboise and are headed to Azay-sur-Rideau, through Villandry. The chateau at Villandry is renowned for its acres and acres of gardens (the food gardens alone are a length of 52 km!) The road from Amboise was a bit busier than we are used to but we have a quieter route to Azay. We are in a major wine region - the local vintages are Loire, Vivray, and Touraine. It is hot again; the rain that we had yesterday has stopped. The chateau here (a Tours) has a free exhibition of draings by Fellini. The temperature is high and sunburns on the ears are hard to avoid sur les velos.
We continue to see marvellous chateau along the route and many cave-houses built into the limestone - les grottes - many built into the cliffs after the limestone was removed to build the chateau.