Stage Beaugency - Blois

Between Beaugency and Blois the Way continues down the Loire along its right bank and enters the Loir-et-Cher department. It is a day of moderate length and practically flat profile, linking riverside villages separated by stretches of farmland, market gardens and vineyard, always with the river as a reference.

Tavers, Lestiou and Avaray are the first villages on the way: small clusters of white stone, with their churches, their wash houses and the occasional private château looking out over the river terrace. The route alternates paths by the water with quiet local roads. At mid-distance, the town of Mer lies a short way off the route and allows supplies to be bought.

Suèvres is one of the surprises of the stage. This former Gallo-Roman settlement preserves two Romanesque churches, Saint-Christophe and Saint-Lubin, and a web of lanes, mills and little bridges over the streams running down to the Loire. Shortly afterwards, Cour-sur-Loire gathers a very harmonious ensemble around its church on the riverbank.

At Menars the landscape gains in grandeur with the château that belonged to the Marquise de Pompadour, whose terraces and gardens descend to the Loire. The way skirts it before continuing through Saint-Denis-sur-Loire and La Chaussée-Saint-Victor, already on the outskirts of Blois.

The entrance to Blois reveals a city built like an amphitheatre above the river. The royal château, residence of several kings of France, sums up four centuries of architecture in its four wings, with the celebrated François I staircase as its masterpiece. The cathedral of Saint-Louis, the church of Saint-Nicolas and the steep streets of the old town complete the visit to a stage end with every service.