This 560-mile French Bike Trail Has Châteaus, Charming Houseboats, Surreal Gardens, and Limestone Wine Caves

"I visited Maison Laudacius, a wine cave carved into limestone in 1961 that holds up to two million bottles at about 12°C and now operates as a cooperative for 15 local winegrowers; Etienne Delannoy led a tasting of six Loire-representative wines (I’m no sommelier, but the wines were, unsurprisingly, good), and I learned about the region’s winemaking history—from monks making wine as early as the 5th century to Chinon grapes’ versatility and the phylloxera crisis and the adoption of American rootstock." - Joe Baur