We said goodbye to the delightful young son and daughter (and chickens) of our hosts in Nouatre, passed the site of the tragic WWII massacre of all of the inhabitants of the town of Maillé (Maison du Souvenirs), and cycled in dense French fog (see moody photo of dead sunflowers in field) until we reached the small town of Veigne when the fog lifted and the sun kind-of came out to reveal a lovely Friday morning farmers’ market. (I looked longingly at the huitres-monger, but…)
At the 53 km marker we found our hotel. Travellers’ tip: Tours is a big city. The downtown core takes a while to reach but it is special. We were encouraged by a wonderful young concierge – “Nils” – to ride our bikes right through the very twee lobby and into the twee and secure courtyard, so we did just that. We were too cold to argue!
We had a definite plan in mind for our one night in Tours so after hot showers (ooh lah lah the bathroom in Les Tresorieres was posh) we hit Les Halles (the market), Vieux Tours, and Place Plumereau to see the 15th Century half-timbered buildings. Every city we visit right now is preparing for Christmas and Tours was no exception. (See photos.)
The Tours Cathedral is spectacular. Here’s a quibble, though: why oh why, in the month we’ve been tootling around Spain and France, have we heard NO church music? No choirs rehearsing, no organists practicing, no performances? I’d kill for an Evensong and I’m not even religious. Quibble over.
I was very excited to visit the Musee de Compagnonnage. It’s a museum that honours all “companions of trades”, loosely described. Kind of a history of the guilds in France, e.g. carpenters, roofers, farriers, blacksmiths, bakers… it was an eccentric museum, beautifully curated, full of curiosities. We have a number of friends who would absolutely love this museum. <Cough, Brian Knapp.> Take a look at the artistry in the spiral staircases INSIDE the miniature houses carved by the master carpenters. It was fascinating.
John especially loved the various modes of transit available in Tours. Block after block of pedestrians only areas. Tramlines, all very quiet. Bike lanes. The city sounded and felt very calm. Coming from Toronto, glaringly obvious is the complete lack of overhead wires, even for the trams. The trams use “ground-level power“, where a segmented strip of metal between the rails is turned on when occupied by a tram.
Travellers’ observation: everything seems more beautiful and doable when the sun is shining and you’re not shivering.
”Nils”, our trusty concierge, had made a reservation for us at a meat-lovers’ restaurant, Chien Fou (easy to remember that name, since every dog we ride past barks his head off at the sound of our bikes), and it did not disappoint. After four weeks on the road, a bowl full of braised, HOT vegetables and mashed potatoes accompanying a whole (!) roast chicken was the perfect comfort-food. Plus, those French sauces…. We slept well that night.
Saturday morning we skipped the expensive hotel breakfast and enjoyed the typical French petit dejeuner of coffee and a croissant in a cafe across the street from the farmers’ market. A stroll through the stalls, then we hopped on the bikes for the short (25km), very cold ride to Amboise, our next Loire Valley town. BTW we found this website very helpful in choosing where to go what to see: https://loirelovers.fr/en/.
Grégoire at the fabulous Hotel et Restaurant Le Clos d’Amboise very kindly recommended the cafe across the street as a good place to grab a hot lunch and warm up our innards before we set out to explore the town. John chose Black Pudding (blood pudding), and Pork stew (see the menu onto). OMG. A meal to remember.
We walked easily to Chateau Clos Lucé where Leonardo Da Vinci had lived and worked. (Who knew. Google it. He spent a lot of time here.) His living quarters and studio and models of his inventions were fascinating to visit. And then, your navigator relied too heavily on Apple Maps and we climbed a very, very high hill in an effort to find Chateau Amboise, so we then descended through a gnarly path back down to the Loire River level. It was actually kind of fun. And we had no time agenda… the chateau (where it turns out that Da Vinci was buried) awaited. Poking around in the mist in scenic Amboise. What a funky way to spend a November afternoon.
Walking back through the pedestrian-friendly town we found a store that catered to hunters. AHA: we now FINALLY own very warm mittens. Also, the prey for the hunters in this area is wild boar, not deer as we had supposed. See photos.
Dinner last night was at the hotel here, as it will be again tonight because there is a very gifted female chef.
This morning, Sunday morning, we splurged on the hotel breakfast and then hit the roads to the mother lode chateau: Chenonceau. Things were going swimmingly until John opted to ignore a route barree and skirted around red tape and a very obvious steel barrier to the path we had been following along the river’s edge. He had mapped out this route because it would have given us a spectacular view of Chenonceau as we approached it from the back side, so he was reluctant to give it up. However, high school French from 1972 intimated to me that following that route was INTERDIT et DANGEREUSE and, well, the French don’t appreciate interlopers taking liberties with rules as we already knew from four infractions earlier that morning. (Details available upon request.) I think we ended up having to cycle an extra five km to work around that detour but it wasn’t raining, we made it to the chateau and had a wonderful walk around inside and out.
Travellers’ tip: Chenonceau would be spectacular in Spring and early Summer. Probably insanely crowded, too. It was completely civilized today. No waits at all.
The fresh flower arrangements in every room were gorgeous. There were some gorgeous copper pots, gorgeously gleaming. The female-driven history makes for good reading. And of course there’s Louis Quatorze, plus the three graces.
We spent the rest of the day editing photos, catching up on blog details, planning what we will do tomorrow and the next day in Blois, swapping out bike batteries, watching music arranging videos (John), anticipating tonight’s Argos game (John), and realizing that after the next two nights in Blois we are one night in Donnemain Saint Mames and one night in Chartres where we will store the bikes until the Spring.
Friday morning we’ll hop on a very early train to CDG and we have a noon hour flight home to Toronto. By five on Friday, Toronto time, we’ll be doing laundry. EEK.
Observation: we continue to have heartbreaking conversations with Americans – Pennsylvania, New Jersey – and Europeans about the results of the election. People are still in shock.
