Amboise, France - 1 October

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Amboise, Loire Valley 1 October

The trip to Paris on the night train was uneventful, but a disturbed night of sleep. The night trains are fast which means they rock from side to side and are noisy. Not the best conditions for sleep. We woke around 7.30am expecting to arrive at Paris by 9am. Somewhere in the night we had lost 2hrs and were informed we would arrive at 11am. Our next train from Paris to Amboise was at 11.40am. When we looked at our ticket we noticed it left from a different train station. As it was an open ticket we figured if we missed it we would just have to catch the next one. We made a quick dash from the Bercy station to the Austerlitz station across the Seine (didn't have time to admire the view) in a mad dash to try and catch our train. As is always the way when in a hurry, there was a huge line of travellers waiting for taxis, so dragging our heavy cases through the streets was our lot. We arrived with 2 minutes to spare, but pleased that we didn't have to wait at yet another train station for hours. Waiting for transport is the travellers lot, but anytime it can be reduced is a blessing.

As we were travelling through the peaceful French countryside dotted by farms, I started to get worried that I had booked accommodation in a sleepy, one horse town with no restaurants! This was confirmed when we reached our stop, but when the taxi (always a good sign when there is at least 1 taxi) drove us to the Hotel we were pleasantly surprised by a small but lively town nestled around a large Chateaux. We learned later when we visited the Information centre that Amboise is a popular tourist centre for visitors to the Loire valley, so there are plenty of shops, restaurants etc. Whew my reputation was intact.

By the time we reached Amboise at 2pm we needed a shower, some food and sleep which we found in short order. We ventured out and looked around the town, found the Information Centre and booked a tour to visit some of the Chateaux on Friday. The hotel owner recommended a nice restaurant which we went to for dinner. The food was typically high French cuisine, not too expensive and absolutely divine. Geoff's fledgling French worked a treat as he communicated effectively our needs and wishes. Thank god for those classes! We walked slowly home ready to take on some serious walking tomorrow.

Au revoir from the Notty travellers

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