VIDEO. Discover The Cher By Bike, Between Windmills, Chapels And Tomato Gazpachos

With 5,000 km of cycle routes, the Centre-Val de Loire is the leading destination for cycling tourism in France. The region can be explored via 150 loops and is crossed by nine cycle routes. Véloscénie, Cher by bike, Scandiberic and Loire by bike… Head to the heart of France to discover the banks of the Cher.

Heart of France by bike, more commonly known as “le Cher à vélo” is a brand new cycle route along the banks of the Val de Cher and the Canal de Berry. It starts from Tours, passes through Vierzon and Bourges, and ends in Montluçon, in the Allier.

The development of the route will be completed in 2025, but in the meantime it is possible to drive on the Tours-Montrichard section, of about thirty kilometers.

On the road, you have to stop at Bléré to visit its emblematic monument: the Moulin des Aigremonts. It is an authentic cellar mill built in 1848 by a miller-winemaker.

The mill was acquired by the city of Bléré in 2003 and completely restored. It is now able to function and produces flour from time to time during demonstration days.

The exploration of Bléré does not stop there. Going to the city center, you come across a flowery square on which the chapel of Seigne is built.

It was Jehan de Seigne who had it built to house the burial of his father, Guillaume de Seigne, lord of Bléré and who held the position of treasurer and receiver general of the artillery of King François I.

Finally, 15 kilometers from Bléré, is the castle of La Bourdaisière, in Montlouis-sur-Loire. This Renaissance castle is now a four-star hotel.

But it is also home to an unsuspected wealth. For 25 years, the estate has housed the National Tomato Conservatory. In all, 700 varieties of the fruit are grown in the vegetable garden. Some specimens are also very rare.