42 kilometers

... that's how far we rode our bikes to see the most beautiful gardens at the Château de Villandry.
First we found a spot on the river to replenish our nutrients through a sandwich and bottle of wine!

Between some of the gardens, we caught some shade under some grape vines...and maybe tasted a few.

Below is a picture of the vegetable gardens. The paths between each veggie patch were for the monks to easily walk through without getting their shoes dirty... and to make it prettier, obviously!

After strolling through the gardens, we were ready to hop back on the bikes for our trip back to Tours. We may have found a couple stops on the way for a cold beverage. After returning, we somehow had enough energy to go down to the river and share a bottle of wine before we all went separate ways in the morning. The valley was so beautiful and we didn't even begin to see all the castles, but I'd like to think we saw the best ones! We also visited Château du Clos Lucé in Amboise. It was home of Léonard de Vinci during his last four years of life. We toured the chateau and looked at some of his invention models. Unfortunately, I didn't take any photos worth sharing. It was so great seeing friends especially during a week that Mark was gone. He felt like he missed out so maybe I can convince him we should take another trip to the area?!? Two thumbs up for the Loire!