4: Architectural Grandeur

By 10:00 we had loaded the car and were on the road, having enjoyed our last breakfast at Domaine de Sainte Barbe.

We arrived in Orleans by 11 and then explored cathedral (fabulous candelabra and beautiful stained glass telling the Joan of Arc story) and walked through old quarter of town where we stopped at a take-out place and ate poulet frites for lunch (I have to have it once every trip to France!). Then walked to river then back dawdling towards car, on the way taking lots of pictures and stopping at a grocery store for more provisions.

By 3:00 we were on the road to Bracieux, arriving an hour later. We unloaded and settled in and grabbed a cup of coffee at the cafe around the corner where I reserved our sandwiches for lunch the next day. [map style="width: 300px; height:300px; float:right; margin:10px 0px 0px 20px; border: 1px thin #777777;" gpx="http://saras-bike-travels.de/wp-content/uploads/gpxFiles/20130826_day3_part2_reduced.gpx"] By shortly after 5pm we were on our bikes riding towards Chambord. It was great to be there in the early evening light, after most of the day tourists had headed home. We spent an hour riding around and taking lots of picks then headed back to Bracieux, a lovely 10km ride through the forest.

After we got back we picnicked at the table outside our room as we discussed our plans for the next day.