Loire - the valley of the Kings

From Paris we caught the train to Orléans to pick up a rental car and tour the Loire by car rather than velo *sigh* . We made our way to Blois, a medieval town located adjacent to the Loire River. Apparently Monday was a public holiday so it was a bit of a mission finding accomodation. Eventually we found a hotel/bar 20kms from Blois. Luckily the French tapes Ive been using covered booking a hotel room so I managed to get a twin bed room and explain that I was staying in Clermont Ferrand for three months. After a picnique dinner by the river we wandered around the town and Chàteau de Blois.

The following day we toured three Chateaux : Blois, Chambord and Chevery. Bloise has elements of the four main architectual periods : medieval, gothic, early renaissance and classical. Chambord was huge and has 500 hectares of woodland associated with it. Chevery was smaller but very beautiful and filled with antiques, paintings and weaponry . For Tintin fans this was also the inspiration for Château at Moulinsart. The scale and beauty of the chateaux was amazing, although the ones we saw were just the tip of the iceburg.

We continued towards Tours but being mindful of the accomodation situation we stopped in at an info centre in Ambroise. The area has a lot of Trogolodyte houses (built into the relict rivercliffs, much like hobbit homes) and I was keen to see if we could stay in one. Alas, this was not to be, instead we found a bed and breakfast called Moulin des Landes in Vernou Sur-Brenne. The maison was beautiful, as were our hosts Laude and Juliette and we had a great time chatting with them and enjoying their great hospitality.

The next day we returned to Orléans, home of Jeanne D’Arc. After a wander around we returned to Paris and then on the train back to Clermont Ferrand.

The Loire Valley was very beautiful and would have made an excellent cycle tour *sigh* … maybe another time.

Am off to Londres/London on Saturday so have still got plenty to see and do while the sholder heals. Im also lucky to have the French open on at the moment so am enjoying the clay-court action as well as cruising round Clermont Ferrand and practicing/learning french. Theres also the under 21 world rugby tournement on in the region, a medieval féte in the village Im staying in on Friday night plus cant forget those pastries and tarts….