Distance cycled: 115km

Number of snakes spotted: 1

Number of water bottles consumed: 6

Average temperature: 26 degrees

Highlight: Sunset in Chinon (see photo here.)

Lowlight: Finding out the 'gizzards' I was eating was in fact the muscular, thick-walled part of a bird's stomach, used for grinding food, typically with grit.

The Loire Valley in France is a cycle tourist's paradise. It's mostly flat, car-free cycling with plenty of Chateaus and picnic areas to break up the day. On my first day I cycled from the town of Tours along the river and then went south until I reached Chinon, a quaint riverside town with cobbled streets and an impressive Chateau presiding over the township. I camped at Municipal de l'Ile Auger a well appointed campground with top notch facilities perched on the banks of the river Loire.

On the way I visited Villandry, the most exquisite renaissance gardens I've ever seen. The photos have to be seen to be believed, the upkeep would require more than a green thumb, you'd need 10 green fingers and toes to even have a chance.

That evening Jean and Mike Brookes from Les Mortiers kindly offered to let me sleep in one of their converted barnhouses. I was expecting something similar to what Mary and Joeseph slept in, with piles of hay and maybe a donkey but lucky for me while it had the charm of a barnhouse it was a luxury gite (cottage).

I stayed in 'Poppa's' gite which Jean explained was named after her father who they originally built it for. He was 90 years old at the time but very fit and active and had decided to pack up his life in England and move to France. But just before he left, he died suddenly - standing at the postbox. Jean and her family returned for the funeral and were understandably grieving his passing and the fact he never made it to France. When they returned to Les Mortiers there was a letter waiting for Jean from her deceased father. Just moments before he died he had posted this letter. She opened it and found it to be a letter explaining how happy he was to finish this chapter of his life in England and how much he was looking forward to the new adventures he was going to have in France. Despite the despair she was feeling at losing her father, how incredible it must have been to receive this final memoir, confirming his happiness in the final moments of his long life. His grandchildren always called him 'Poppas' so they gave the cottage the same name and I had the honour of staying there for the evening.

Mike then said he had something i might be interested in and lead me out the back garden, I was thinking he was going to show me a plant or a flower but as I turned the corner I spotted the swimming pool. Cycling in near 30 degree heat is wonderful but you sure earn your shower or swim in the evening. After a refreshing swim Mike gave me a lesson in silk fishing line manufacturing. His business Phoenix Lines produces the most exquisitely crafted silk fishing lines - a 30 yard line takes approximately 5 weeks to make!

We dined outside with a meal of roast vegetables (straight from garden to dinner table), roast pork and a delicious bottle of local wine (Domaine de la Chanteleuserie at Benais in the Bourgueil appellation). We debated it's flavour and the wine and conversation flowed beautifully until I retired to Poppas cottage for the night.