Day 5 Brissac-Quince 52 km

We had planned to do the usual +100km ride today, but our plans were undone by the weather, French opening times and a longer-than-expected château tour.

When we woke up persistent rain, which continued on and off (generally more 'on') for most of the day. We forced ourselves back on the bike only because Ingrandes did not really offer many tourist attractions, and we were keen to visit the château in Brissac-Quince – the tallest in the Louire valley.

Already completely soaked, we stopped for coffee in a small village by the Loire about an hour into the ride. Unfortunately, we managed to leave behind our cycle computer and, after much angst (particularly from Simon), we cycled back to the cafe where the owner rushed out to return it to us.

By the time we reached Brissac-Quince, the château was closed for lunch so we were forced to rest at a busy little pizzeria nearby. We joined a tour when the château re-opened at 2:00pm, which was fascinating but took nearly 2 hours. We learned about the conversion of the medieval towers into a renaissance château and about the Dukes/Marquis of Bressac. The current Marquis still owns and lives in the château, two stories of which are used for a private theatre/cinema. Apparently, although they lost one Marquis to a mob in Versailles, the French revolution had minimal impact on the aristocrats in this region.

By the time we left the château it was 4pm and raining heavily, so we decided to ask the local tourist info office for help with accommodation. The B&Bs/Hotels in town and on our route were either booked out or not answering their phones – in the end we were forced to cycle in heavy rain to B&B in a rural community 15 mins away. We spent most of this trip wondering how we were going to get dinner without cycling back out into a storm.

Thankfully, our hosts were willing to make dinner. Although Brittany was rather fretful, given her picky eating habits (sorry, 'dietary requirements'), they put on a good meal with an omlette, fish, two salads, local cheese and wine, rounded off with yogurt/ice cream. We went to bed happy and full.