We took a night train from Lisbon, Portugal to Hendaye, France. Before we left Lisbon we needed to pick up our backpacks which were in storage at the Rossio train station. Repacking our clean laundry and snacks into our bags, we headed out to another train station across town, Santa Apolonia.

August 15, 2001: Katie Miller with her pack at the Rossio train station.

August 15, 2001: Katie Miller with her pack at the Rossio train station.

We immediately bought icy treats and waited for the train. Our train arrived and we found our compartment. We shoved our heaping-full bags up to the top storage area, but our compartment-mates soon informed us that our beds were in the lower ones. So after prying our bags out and stowing them below us, all was good. The people, from Cascais, Portugal, were nice and even shared some homemade bread with us. The bunks were very comfy. We were glad we got stuck with a family and not any rowdies!

Katie on the night train to Hendaye, France

Katie on the night train to Hendaye, France

At 7:20 we woke up to a loud obnoxious bell ringing on the train. Time to get up! At Hendaye, on day 51, we experienced our first passport check of our trip! After switching trains in St. Pierre des Corps, we were in Blois in no time.

Blois, France

Blois, France

Our hotel was nice and had those big long French pillows. After a stop at the tourist office we set out for dinner. It was drizzling when we started but by the time we got to the restaurant our hotel had recommended, we were holding the door shut from the wind and rain. Unfortunately, they were full, so we headed out in the wind, rain, thunder, and lightening. We were drenched! But we found a pizzeria and despite some dirty looks, they served us a nice meal. After dinner the rain eased and we found our way back to our hotel early.

Dinner in Blois

Dinner in Blois

After a traditional French breakfast at our hotel (rolls, butter, jam) we set out to see Chenonceau. We stopped in Amboise first. Since we had to wait a couple hours until the next bus to Chenonceau, we decided to visit Amboise Chateau and Clos Lucé (where Leonardo da Vinci lived the last four years of his life). The Amboise Chateau houses Da Vinci’s grave, which was very neat to see. We also saw some troglodyte (cliffside) dwellings. Leonardo da Vinci’s home, Clos Lucé was neat. We saw his bedroom, lounge, kitchen, and some of his inventions.

August 16, 2001: Katie Miller at Chateau Amboise

August 16, 2001: Katie Miller at Chateau Amboise

Chateau Amboise

Chateau Amboise

Chateau Amboise

Chateau Amboise

Brian Kleinman with icy treats at Chateau Amboise

Brian Kleinman with icy treats at Chateau Amboise

Brian Kleinman at Leonardo da Vinci's grave, Chateau Amboise

Brian Kleinman at Leonardo da Vinci’s grave, Chateau Amboise

Troglodyte dwellings in Amboise

Troglodyte dwellings in Amboise

Clos Lucé (where Leonardo da Vinci lived the last four years of his life).

Clos Lucé (where Leonardo da Vinci lived the last four years of his life).

Crepes at Clos Lucé

Crepes at Clos Lucé

We then caught our bus to Chenonceau. We had a snack of hotdogs and crepes. Leading up to the chateau, there is a long tree-lined walkway and a moat. Inside the Chateau, Brian read the room descriptions as we walked through. There were many Renaissance chimneys, paintings, and Flemish tapestries. The kitchen was very cool with a dock where they could get supplies from the boats on the river. The last room was painted black by a former widowing inhabitant. It was very creepy with skulls, thorns, rope, and other death stuff painted on the walls. Settle down mourning French lady! After our tour of the chateau, we walked to the wine “cave” (cellar) and bought Chenonceau wine.

The tree-lined path to Chateau Chenonceau

The tree-lined path to Chateau Chenonceau

Brian Kleinman at Chateau Chenonceau

Brian Kleinman at Chateau Chenonceau

Katie Kleinman at Chateau Chenonceau

Katie Kleinman at Chateau Chenonceau

Gardens at Chateau Chenonceau

Gardens at Chateau Chenonceau

Gardens at Chateau Chenonceau

Gardens at Chateau Chenonceau

Chateau Chenonceau

Chateau Chenonceau

Chateau Chenonceau

Chateau Chenonceau

Inside Chateau Chenonceau, the Cher River below

Inside Chateau Chenonceau, the Cher River below

Brian Kleinman at Chateau Chenonceau on the Cher River

Brian Kleinman at Chateau Chenonceau on the Cher River

The farm at Chateau Chenonceau

The farm at Chateau Chenonceau

The wine cave at Chateau Chenonceau

The wine cave at Chateau Chenonceau

Blois

Blois

Blois Chateau

Blois Chateau

We then headed back to Blois and had an okay dinner near Chateau Blois. The waitress informed us we could only eat something “quick” but it wasn’t even that late and another couple kept staring at us. Anyway… what a big day!

We got up early and walked 1.5 miles to the bicycle shop to rent bikes. We decided to bike to Chateau Cheverny, which was about 31 miles there and back! After we got out of the city, we rode on a dirt path in a forest. It was quite remote and very pretty.

August 17, 2001: The Loire River

August 17, 2001: The Loire River

Brian Kleinman biking to Cheverny

Brian Kleinman biking to Cheverny

The bike path to Cheverny

The bike path to Cheverny

The bike path to Cheverny

The bike path to Cheverny

The bike path to Cheverny

The bike path to Cheverny

Katie Miller on the bike path to Cheverny

Katie Miller on the bike path to Cheverny

Our rented bikes

Our rented bikes

Once we got to Cheverny, we were starving, so we ate at a restaurant but the waitress was quite snooty. After quenching our appetites, we bought tickets to Cheverny. It was very chateau-y with its golf-course-green grass. We also took a tour inside. After we were done we had much needed icy-treats to rejuvenate.

Brian Kleinman at Chateau Cheverny

Brian Kleinman at Chateau Cheverny

Lawn mower at Chateau Cheverny

Lawn mower at Chateau Cheverny

Green grass at Chateau Cheverny

Green grass at Chateau Cheverny

Brian Kleinman at Chateau Cheverny

Brian Kleinman at Chateau Cheverny

Armor in Chateau Cheverny

Armor in Chateau Cheverny

Back to our bikes! We took a different way back to Blois. Katie acted as “biking photographer” taking photos while biking. We saw lots of sunflower fields and grapes.

Brian Kleinman (Katie Miller being "biking photographer")

Brian Kleinman (Katie Miller being “biking photographer”)

Grapes (Katie Miller being "biking photographer")

Grapes (Katie Miller being “biking photographer”)

Sunflowers (Katie Miller being "biking photographer")

Sunflowers (Katie Miller being “biking photographer”)

Katie Miller being "biking photographer"

Katie Miller being “biking photographer”

Brian Kleinman (Katie Miller being "biking photographer")

Brian Kleinman (Katie Miller being “biking photographer”)

Back at our hotel, the nice hotel owner helped us stash our bikes in the back of the hotel. We walked down to the Loire River to eat dinner. The restaurant had cushy seats for our bruised, bike-riding buttocks! We had a nice dinner and then headed back to our hotel to sleep!

The next day, we woke up tired. It was raining. We ate breakfast at the hotel and then took a nap! Some rowdy French kids next door woke us up from our nap, though.

We took our bikes back to the rental store and we spent the rest of the day shopping for wine and chocolates for souvenirs. We had lunch at a Chinese/Thai restaurant. After another nap, we ate dinner at an English/Irish/American pub. The food was filling but not so great. We had another rude waiter. After dinner, we headed back to the hotel. A very relaxing day to recover from biking.

The next day we packed up and headed to the train station for our final destination: Paris!