Blogs from Centre, France, Europe - page 11

We have been to Chenonceau Chateau once before but we remembered it as a lovely chateau to visit to decided to make it our stopping spot on the drive to Beaugency today. It took us a couple of hours to get there but there is a carpark area dedicated to campervans so no problem parking. It was pretty busy as this is one of the most popular French tourist spots. The gardens are lovely, beautifully planted in both main areas. I had rather expected one garden to be in Autumnal colours but both were in pastel shades. We walked round both gardens and then toured the chateau along with quite a lot of other tourists. I have included several photos of the floral arrangements, especially for Lynne as I hope they will give her inspiration. We ... read more

After the big day out yesterday we were ready for a stay at home day and a good lay in this morning. The weather still wasn’t warm enough to be in the sunroom for breakfast so we made do with the kitchen table. It’s lucky we don’t have a newspaper to read at breakfast because the table is just big enough for our plates and spreads and a coffee cup. We did some washing (I should say Gretchen did some washing) and made good use of the washing line out on the lawn. This is a bit of a luxury as we have made do mostly with stringing clothes up in the shower using the nifty little twisted clothes line that has travelled with us for many years. The day was partly overcast with a hint ... read more

It looks like the days of warm summery weather may be over as there is a distinct coolness in the air this morning and shorts and t-shirt are no longer options when we are out sightseeing. With only one more stay of 4 nights before we get to Paris and hand the car back we need to start thinking seriously about compacting our travelling grocery box into a much smaller container and stop buying any food that we don’t consume the same day. Before we left Briguieul we took a walk around the fortified part of the village,through the arched entranceway and into the roman style church built in the 12th century and modified in the 15th century that is one of the oldest remaining buildings. It is a fairly straight run north to what is ... 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

The great thing about staying in a B&B is the quaintness and the fact that the owner is usually extremely friendly. That's certainly how it is where I'm at. This morning I literally opened my door to the living room, and sat down to a home-cooked breakfast. The family dog, Farah, laid at my feet the entire time. And I think I definitely got on the host's good side by admiring her book collection, especially her prized book of Charles Baudelaire's poetry. She's letting me have breakfast earlier than usual tomorrow, since I have to leave early. After hopping on my bike, I set off for the relatively leisurely ride down to Chenonceau, the absolute best of the many chateaux in the Loire. The ride was a little over an hour, and wound through a beautiful ... read more