Blogs from Loches, Centre, France, Europe

This is a lovely campsite, very green, very peaceful and our quite privately located pitch has a view to the spires and towers of the medieval city as well as one step away access to the sanitaires. Add in a pool and electricity and the wifi mast just 5 metres away and all for £13.33 a night. Today is the first day we have not been driving anywhere so we got up gently, collected fresh baguette and croissant from reception, showered and then strolled along the river into town. Weather exactly as forecast, cloudy but no rain but 22° so quite pleasant for a walk round the city even if not for getting a tan. I am still waiting for my “summer of 2012” suntan, I still have my hopes for later in the week, ... read more

Much better weather today. Checked the forecast via my trusty laptop and the campsite somewhat intermittent wifi and found only 10% chance of ‘precipitation’. We took the umbrella all the same but didn’t need it as it was lovely and sunny all day. Had a really lovely day. Walked along the river from the campsite into the town and climbed up to the medieval centre which looks out over the Indre river and the rest of the town. We can see the turrets of the castle and the spires of the church from Tandy on our campsite below. The heart of this Royal City is the chateau, church and fortress tower (donjon). We entered through the main gate, the Porte Royale, and paid a very reasonable entrance fee of €7 for an exceptionally interesting few hours ... read more

Spent the morning in Loches, exploring the citadel. The dungeon is a ruin, so you have to use your imagination for what each level might have looked like. Then a nice cycle through the woods, farmland, then Chateau Chenonceau. It is a beautiful castle, extending over the river, with classy ostentation and the best kitchen in all the world. It started to rain when we arrived and rain blew down quite hard, such that a paddler sought shelter under the chateau kitchen and as a result, is in probably a hundred photos taken by tourists. ... read more