Orléans is the city of Joan of Arc, and it takes this seriously. In the spring of 1429, during the Hundred Years' War, the English had besieged the city for months, and a seventeen-year-old peasant girl who claimed to hear saints arrived with a relief force and, in the space of nine days, lifted the siege. The victory turned the war, and the city has celebrated it every year since, with a festival held between 29 April and 8 May. A statue of Joan on horseback stands in the main square, the Place du Martroi, and a reconstructed house of the period shows how she lived while she was here.
The city stands on the northernmost bend of the Loire, and for centuries it was a major river port, with boats carrying wine, salt and other goods to and from the interior. The quays along the water are pleasant for a walk, and the great cathedral of Sainte-Croix, with its soaring Gothic towers, rebuilt after the Wars of Religion, dominates the old town. Orléans was also famed for vinegar, made here from the wine that came down the river, and the town's cuisine includes sweet tarts, local cheeses and the Loire's freshwater fish. About a hundred and twenty thousand people live in the city, so fuel, bike shops and restaurants are everywhere.
The Loire Valley, from here to the west, is a UNESCO World Heritage landscape, a long stretch of river, vineyards and châteaux, built by kings and nobles who found the climate gentle and the hunting good. Chambord, Blois, Amboise and Chenonceau are all within a day's ride. The roads along the river are flat and easy, with long, soft bends, poplars along the banks and fields of sunflowers and wheat, so the Loire is more about the pace of the day than about riding thrills.
Leave the city early, because Orléans is a busy place at rush hour, with tram lines, roundabouts and impatient drivers. Once on the levee roads, traffic eases, though weekends in summer bring cyclists and caravans. Spring is lovely, with new green on the vines, and autumn is golden. The river can flood in winter, and fog is common in the mornings. Stock up on supplies in the city, then head west and let the river lead you, with a stop for a goat's cheese lunch.