Chenonceaux

The approach to this aire is to say the least interesting. A sharp turn between two buildings takes you to where some motorhomes are parked. But it’s not the aire. That was further on between two stone walls. We looked at it trying to decide if Bertie would actually fit, it did with an inch to spare on either side of the wing mirrors. Our wing mirrors are fixed so we can’t fold them in! The aire was fine, nice and quiet apart from when a train went past which wasn’t that often. Hot air balloons went over every evening. It was positioned next to the forest of Chenonceaux chateau. We did the Chateau on the first day we were there, that was a mistake as we went too late and only just got around it before it closed. Nice chateau set in the middle of the River Cher. At one time it was on the front line in the war and the owners helped people escape across the river on their bridge away from the Germans. The next day we fixed the bike brakes, did the washing and had a short walk along the river, finding a great bar on the river where we could watch the kayakers play in the surf of the weir and reminisce about when we used to do such things (on much smaller weirs). The final day here was spent cycling to Amboise and the Royal chateau. Much more like a national trust house than the others we had been around and very busy inside. Worth a visit, we spent quite some hours looking around. On the way back from the chateau we stopped at Aldi and filled our panniers. All we had to do now was get out of this place and it was my turn to drive!