Blogs from Tours, Centre, France, Europe - page 2

Spring has finally sprung! The temperature in Tours reached 73 degrees by mid-afternoon, under mostly sunny skies, and we made the most of our good fortune. We decided to walk to the nearby Botanical Garden, and afterwards ride the #4 bus to reach the Château de Tours on the south bank of the Loire river. The Jardin botanique de Tours is a municipal botanical garden and arboretum, established in 1843, that occupies a plot of land along the western side of the Boulevard Tonnellé. Admission is free, and it turned out to be quite a bargain, because we spent more than an hour admiring the diverse array of flowers and plants, representing some 2000 taxonomic groups, which are spread out over 12 acres of lush lawns and gardens. There are also more than 150 kinds and ... read more

It was a long day, but our trip from Bruges to Tours went according to plan, without any surprises along the way. Our pick-up at 7:00 AM in Bruges, the drive to the Brussels airport, and the flight from Brussels to Nantes were uneventful and on-schedule. We were met by our taxi driver at Nantes, who delivered us to our apartment in Tours following a 2-hour drive through the countryside of the Loire Valley. Unfortunately, the wet weather that dogged us in Belgium followed us into France, as it rained throughout the drive to Tours. However, the rain did not dampen the warm welcome we received from our charming hostess, Sophie, who greeted us with fresh flowers and a bottle of champagne! After entering the gate into the grounds of her property, named by a previous ... read more

's Ochtends bergen we onze tassen op in een kast in het Ibis en gaan op zoek naar een stempel. De kathedraal is de mooiste die ik tot nu toe gezien heb, en we hebben ook nog het bijbehorende klooster bezocht. De mensen hier geven ons weer hoop, ze zijn vriendelijk en bekend met de 'Chemin de Sant-Jacques'. Aan het einde van de dag lopen we richting Sant-Avertin langs een enorme rivier. Een priester komt ons vriendelijk lachend tegemoet, en knikt in erkenning. Nu voelen we ons pas pelgrims. We wijken af van de rivier en lopen de bergen in. We vullen onze camelia's nog aan het einde van het dorp en zetten onze tenten op het land van een boer. We eten eindelijk weer wat en komen helemaal tot rust. Opeens valt er een tor ... read more

It turns out that the LAST car of the train is generally reserved for bicycles. Thus, we disembarked about 300 feet from the actual train station. After Bill determined that there were NO CARTS, he decided that the time had come to assemble the bikes...which he was able to do in the hot sun in approximately one hour. It was clear as we clipped on our panniers, and fastened the bags that had carried the panniers, and balanced the boxes on the handle bars, that we had far too much luggage. We left the boxes as close to where the trash was supposedly supposed to be, and called our first SERVAS host: Annie. It turns out that Annie actually lives in a suburb of Tours and she didn't have a car, which we didn't understand until ... read more

We got away a little earlier than usual and after buying our baguettes and fillings we began the next leg of cycling by the Amboise Chateau, through the town and uphill past some very old houses before taking several turns to head out into the country - all in the name of staying off the main roads. It was a bit cooler in the morning with a nice wind blowing and shadows in our direction. We went through some forest and then into countryside mostly of grain growing but also dairying much like at home - the milking shed, large tractors, round bales of hay and a workers house (much better than is supplied to many farm workers in NZ). We eventually arrived at the Chateau de Chenonceau which is a must see, as chateaus go. ... read more