I have a cycling background, but for some reason I've never gone on a proper tour. I vowed to change that this year and was lucky that I got an assignment to cover Loire à Velo (Loire By Bike) on its 25th anniversary. It was only for three days and just over 100 miles total, but it was a great taste for a first-timer. Looking forward to doing more.
For memory's sake, I filmed along the way. This video is the night before + day one, cycling from Orléans to Beaugency where I picked up a train to Blois and continued to Domaine de Chaumont-sur-Loire where I spent the night. In the two days after that, I cycled from Chaumont-sur-Loire to just outside of Tours and then finished in Chinon.
The trail is part of the Euro Velo network and easy to follow, especially with a GPX route. What's interesting is how much the trail varied in just three days. Day one I was almost always separated from vehicular traffic and often on crushed limestone trails. On day two, it was a mix of bike/pedestrian-only trail and day three finished almost always sharing with cars –– partly because I had to leave the official trail to get down to Chinon and finish.
Definitely a trail worth considering for any cycling trips in France!
by BaurJoe