Vive la France - Paris and the Loire valley

Day 1: Arrival in Paris
Here we go! At 4 o'clock in the afternoon, the group meets at the starting hotel in Paris and is welcomed by the tour guides.

Day 2: Paris - Fontainebleau
The Eurovelo 3 is a long-distance cycle route that runs from Trondheim in Norway over 5000 km to Santiago de Compostela in northern Spain. We follow it for a very short distance, from Paris south to Fontainebleau. We will spend the next two nights in this city, which is steeped in history and crowned by a fantastically beautiful Renaissance chateau.

Day 3: Fontainebleau
To the west of Fontainebleau lie vast forests where you can spend hours in total seclusion and silence. Between the ancient trees are sandstone formations that invite you to climb around. In fact, the so-called bouldering was invented here! The Gâtinais français nature park, which adjoins to the west, is known as the "land of a thousand glades". For cyclists, this gorgeous landscape is pure paradise!

Day 4: Fontainebleau - Briare
In the morning, it's only an hour's ride to Nemours, a small town that impresses with its pretty location on the old Loing Canal and its fairy-tale castle, from which you think you can see Rapunzel waving over. Afterwards, we continue to follow the canal, see old locks and anglers who often pull out surprisingly large fish from the shore. In La Bussière there is another remarkable castle. We spend the night in Briare, where we admire the unique canal bridge over the Loire.

Day 5: Briare - Orléans
The Loire Valley is one of the most famous areas in France, which is due to the numerous castles that line up here. There are over 400 of them, and we will pass by some of them today as we follow the country's longest river to Orléans. This beautiful city is dominated by a massive cathedral and a golden equestrian statue of Joan of Arc, the "Maid of Orleans," who liberated the city (and later all of France) from the English on May 8, 1429.

Day 6: Orléans - Cellettes
We continue along the Loire River. Between the castles, pretty little villages attract our attention. The Château de Chambord is nestled in a large, unspoiled forest and of course must not be missed, after all it is the most famous of all Loire castles.